HELP!!! Inserting bibliography instead of editing a citation.

chbr14
Dear go(o)d(ness) please help me.
Problem 1: I am trying to finish up a very important paper.
Last night I accidentally told Zotero to insert bibliography. After doing the 10-ish Command-Z's to undo that, I tried to edit a citation and Zotero seems to keep thinking that I want to keep inserting a bibliography. I really don't need a bibliography on page 3 of 19. Nor do I need one right now. I need to edit a citation.

Zotero Report Number: 143638304

Problem 2: Also, the preview pane is not working for me anymore.

Problem 1 is obviously my biggest. This has completely crippled my work. Please help.

Thank you
  • adamsmith
    which word processor?
    And that's Zotero 2.1.1 on a Mac, right?

    And with problem 2 - what exactly are you referring to?
    This
    chrome://zotero/content/tools/cslpreview.xul
    this
    chrome://zotero/content/tools/csledit.xul
    or something else entirely?
  • chbr14
    Yes Z 2.1.1 on a Mac using MacWord 3.1.1

    for the preview pane I've been using ...cslpreview.xul
  • adamsmith
    just to be complete - which Word version?
  • chbr14
    edited March 24, 2011
    Word 2008 (12.2.8)

    I just attempted again. It edited the citation properly and inserted the bibliography. I manually deleted the bibliography (as opposed to the plethora of command-z). I just edited another citation without a biblio being inserted. I may be in the clear. Feeling a bit silly for panicking. Still, a strange behavior that I hope not to see again, nor would I wish upon anyone.

    Is there a way for zotero to insert the bibliography in one step so it can be deleted in one step? Or does it, and my Word 2008 is just weird?
  • chbr14
    Nevermind. Apparently another biblio was inserted. Me no happy.
  • chbr14
    So, I just moved all contents into new blank docx and when I try to edit a citation, I'm told that I don't have any citations to edit. Grrrreaaaaaat. Citation data does not transfer from one document to another?
  • adamsmith
    you should be able to display field codes with alt+F9 - or something corresponding on a mac - There should be a "View Field Codes" option somewhere.
    My guess would be that you didn't fully delete the bibliography you inserted.
    Look around the area where the bibliography gets inserted - could be something there.
  • adamsmith
    and yes, data should copy from one file to another.
  • chbr14
    What is "alt+F9"? What is the command supposed to do?
  • chbr14
    Thanks for your time on this by the way.
  • chbr14
    I just did the alt(option)-F9 thing. Holy F'n poo! I found the bastard. That's insidiously awful. Besides these forums how would anyone know about that? Yikes. Thanks for that. Wow.
  • fbennett
    Depending on your word processor, "alt+F9" will make the hidden codes that control Zotero references in the main text and bibliography visible. The method for making the codes visible may differ for your platform, but it should be accessible via a menu item in the word processor.
  • adamsmith
    well - it's not supposed to happen - if you ever insert a bibliography again, don't use cmd-z, but rather just select and delete the whole thing. - ideally with a line before and after to make sure.
  • chbr14
    edited March 24, 2011
    OK.
    What do you mean by "a line before and after to make sure"?
    And how can I get the Preview Pane working again?
  • adamsmith
    think of it like Zotero inserting the bibliography with a "bibliography begin" and a "bibliography end" tag (that's not quite the case, but close enough) and you want to make sure to get both of them - so when you select a bibliography to delete it, you might want to select the (presumably empty) line right before the bibliography starts as well as the (again, presumably empty) line after the last entry - that's all. It's probably not necessary, but why not play it safe.

    The Preview pane looks like it's broken in Zotero 2.1
  • adamsmith
    Continue to follow the preview issue in its own thread here:
    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/17073/preview-panel-is-broken/#Item_1
This discussion has been closed.