Also, I'm having trouble getting the plugin to work on .docx files. I am using the following steps:
1. Set Export Quick Copy Item Format to Scannable Cite. 2. Drag and drop scannable cite citations into footnotes (in Scrivener) 3. Export Scrivener file to .docx. 4. Use plugin to convert "Markers → Zotero citations". 5. View produced document and "Refresh" to sync it back to Zotero.
I am actually more accustomed to exporting it to .odt, converting the .odt file, syncing in LibreOffice, using the "Switch to a Different Word Processor" tool, then saving the .odt as a .docx and syncing again back to Zotero. This process still works. However, when I try to use the plug to convert markers on a .docx file I've exported from Scrivener nothing happens to the markers.
(For testing purposes, I tried saving the original .docx from Scrivener as a .odt, then running conversion on that .odt with the plugin. That converted the markers to citations as expected. So to my understanding this does seem to be an error with the .docx conversion process and not, say, the Scrivener export process.)
Could you email me a . docx file produced by Scrivener? I'm assuming that's the problem. Also, try opening and saving the docx in Libre and see if it scans then
@jkuo11 -- please update the plugin to version 3.1.0 (I've also fixed updates now, so using check updates in plugins should suffice) and dark mode should work properly and docx scan should work for items in footnotes (the docx format saves footnotes to a different file in the .docx file bundle and the scan wasn't even looking in there).
I can confirm that automatic updating, dark mode, and .docx scan in footnotes are all working! I really appreciate all the work you've done here — had been clinging on to Zotero 6 for the old plugin and happy to finally upgrade.
I just tested the Pandoc --> Zotero Citations conversion on a document with multiple Pandoc citations in a single footnote and am running into an issue. Although the parser recognizes the citations, something happens in the process that removes all citations except for the last one when you refresh the links in Microsoft Word.
Word Document after conversion: Bentel, Modernism and Professionalism in American Architecture, 1919-1933 (1993)Cayer, Incorporating Architects: How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire (2025)Dutta, Architects “Getting Real”: On Present-Day Professional Fictions (2019)Johnston, Drafting Culture: A Social History of Architectural Graphic Standards (2008)Tombesi, Capital Gains and Architectural Losses: The Transformative Journey of Caudill Rowlett Scott (1948–1994) (2016)
After refresh: Paolo Tombesi, “Capital Gains and Architectural Losses: The Transformative Journey of Caudill Rowlett Scott (1948–1994),” The Journal of Architecture 21, no. 4 (2016): 540–63, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2016.1192425.
So you're saying after refresh there's only one citation left? I'm not seeing that in my tests. Can you email me both the original document and the converted document prior to refresh.
@thejamesheard -- thanks for report & testing. 3.1.1 is now out with a fix, should auto update or you can re-install from github (also removes the weird characters in the pre-refresh document).
Thank you! It's now working with multiple citations. Appreciate your help.
As I was running tests I found another issue. Zotero's citation picker will insert Pandoc markers as [prefix @authorTitle1234, p. 10 suffix]. When exported using Pandoc workflow the prefix and suffix are integrated into the citation upon refresh. When using ODF/RTF Scan, though, the prefix and suffix are stripped when the document is refreshed.
Version 3.2.0 now released. I think all pandoc syntax should now be fixed (I don't include the {} syntax for complicated things in the pandoc docs). Also includes some additional bug fixes
I haven't tested this particularly rigorously — I have a marker that looks like this:
{For a detailed contemporary analysis of the 1973 Act, see | Battistella, & Chester, 1973 | | |zg:4931373:9NG45GUJ}
Field 1 (the prefix) is not functioning properly. On ODT export and conversion, the base citation is created (field 2) but field 1 is omitted. On .docx export and conversion, the base citation is mis-formatted ("Battistella, & Chester, 1973"), field 1 is omitted, and the subsequent citation is lost.
——
I have a separate issue with a marker that looks like this:
Here, this works fine on odt export and conversion. On .docx export and conversion all but the first markers are deleted and the subsequent citation is lost.
(By subsequent citation, I mean that if an error occurs with citation 8, then citation 9 is deleted entirely and the numbering continues from citation 10. There is a space left in the footnotes where citation 9 would be but it doesn't actually exist.
hmm, that's odd, that shouldn't happen. Have you actually refreshed/set a citation style? I don't pay particular attention to how the citation looks right after conversion and I believe affixes don't show there.
Ah, you're right on the odt file that the affixes don't show until a citation style is set. So there's no legitimate issue there.
On the .docx file, it seems a real error in the conversion. More specifically: - When opening the file, it gives the following dialog box: "Word found unreadable content in "[file name]". Do you want to recover the contents of this document? If you trust the source of this document, say yes." - Upon clicking Yes, a dialog box titled "Show Repairs" opens that states "Errors were detected in this file, but Word was able to open the file by making the repairs listed below. Save the file to make repairs permanent." The repairs listed below are "Footnotes 1" and "Footnotes 2" (presumably corresponding to the error in my previous post). There is a "Go To" button I should be able to click to navigate to these errors but the button is greyed out. - Upon closing this dialog box, the errors mentioned in my above post can be identified on scroll through. - On trying to refresh/set citation style, I can select a style, but then a dialog window opens: "The highlighted citation no longer exists in your Zotero database. Do you want to select a substitute item? (etc., etc.,)"
The last dialog window iterates through every citation. even in the footnotes that are not identified as unreadable.
Upgrade Storage
1. Set Export Quick Copy Item Format to Scannable Cite.
2. Drag and drop scannable cite citations into footnotes (in Scrivener)
3. Export Scrivener file to .docx.
4. Use plugin to convert "Markers → Zotero citations".
5. View produced document and "Refresh" to sync it back to Zotero.
I am actually more accustomed to exporting it to .odt, converting the .odt file, syncing in LibreOffice, using the "Switch to a Different Word Processor" tool, then saving the .odt as a .docx and syncing again back to Zotero. This process still works. However, when I try to use the plug to convert markers on a .docx file I've exported from Scrivener nothing happens to the markers.
(For testing purposes, I tried saving the original .docx from Scrivener as a .odt, then running conversion on that .odt with the plugin. That converted the markers to citations as expected. So to my understanding this does seem to be an error with the .docx conversion process and not, say, the Scrivener export process.)
Also, try opening and saving the docx in Libre and see if it scans then
I can confirm that automatic updating, dark mode, and .docx scan in footnotes are all working! I really appreciate all the work you've done here — had been clinging on to Zotero 6 for the old plugin and happy to finally upgrade.
I just tested the Pandoc --> Zotero Citations conversion on a document with multiple Pandoc citations in a single footnote and am running into an issue. Although the parser recognizes the citations, something happens in the process that removes all citations except for the last one when you refresh the links in Microsoft Word.
In Scrivener: [@clarkMakingAmericanCreative2021; @baconFederationArchitectsEngineers2017; @heifetzRoleProfessionalTechnical2000; @gingerColdWarLabor1987; @schumanProfessionalizationSocialGoals1988].
Word Document after conversion: Bentel, Modernism and Professionalism in American Architecture, 1919-1933 (1993)Cayer, Incorporating Architects: How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire (2025)Dutta, Architects “Getting Real”: On Present-Day Professional Fictions (2019)Johnston, Drafting Culture: A Social History of Architectural Graphic Standards (2008)Tombesi, Capital Gains and Architectural Losses: The Transformative Journey of Caudill Rowlett Scott (1948–1994) (2016)
After refresh: Paolo Tombesi, “Capital Gains and Architectural Losses: The Transformative Journey of Caudill Rowlett Scott (1948–1994),” The Journal of Architecture 21, no. 4 (2016): 540–63, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2016.1192425.
Thank you! It's now working with multiple citations. Appreciate your help.
As I was running tests I found another issue. Zotero's citation picker will insert Pandoc markers as [prefix @authorTitle1234, p. 10 suffix]. When exported using Pandoc workflow the prefix and suffix are integrated into the citation upon refresh. When using ODF/RTF Scan, though, the prefix and suffix are stripped when the document is refreshed.
{For a detailed contemporary analysis of the 1973 Act, see | Battistella, & Chester, 1973 | | |zg:4931373:9NG45GUJ}
Field 1 (the prefix) is not functioning properly. On ODT export and conversion, the base citation is created (field 2) but field 1 is omitted. On .docx export and conversion, the base citation is mis-formatted ("Battistella, & Chester, 1973"), field 1 is omitted, and the subsequent citation is lost.
——
I have a separate issue with a marker that looks like this:
See { | Wilson, 2012 |p. 215–216 | |zg:4931373:NV3GNPUN}{ | Sivanandan, 1985 | | |zg:4931373:237XE5LR}{ | Alexander, 1998 | | |zg:4931373:STMY92ZF}
Here, this works fine on odt export and conversion. On .docx export and conversion all but the first markers are deleted and the subsequent citation is lost.
(By subsequent citation, I mean that if an error occurs with citation 8, then citation 9 is deleted entirely and the numbering continues from citation 10. There is a space left in the footnotes where citation 9 would be but it doesn't actually exist.
On the .docx file, it seems a real error in the conversion. More specifically:
- When opening the file, it gives the following dialog box: "Word found unreadable content in "[file name]". Do you want to recover the contents of this document? If you trust the source of this document, say yes."
- Upon clicking Yes, a dialog box titled "Show Repairs" opens that states "Errors were detected in this file, but Word was able to open the file by making the repairs listed below. Save the file to make repairs permanent." The repairs listed below are "Footnotes 1" and "Footnotes 2" (presumably corresponding to the error in my previous post). There is a "Go To" button I should be able to click to navigate to these errors but the button is greyed out.
- Upon closing this dialog box, the errors mentioned in my above post can be identified on scroll through.
- On trying to refresh/set citation style, I can select a style, but then a dialog window opens: "The highlighted citation no longer exists in your Zotero database. Do you want to select a substitute item? (etc., etc.,)"
The last dialog window iterates through every citation. even in the footnotes that are not identified as unreadable.