Zotero 2.0

Rachelle A.
Hello,

I have been playing with Zotero on my home computer and really love it -- thanks to all the developers for your hard work.

I was wondering if a release date has been scheduled for version 2.0? I work on a research team that is rethinking article management right now, while we have some down time on a project. Unfortunately, I don't think the current version of Zotero will work for us because there doesn't seem to be a way to share a collection yet (?). I've thought about using Firefox Portable on a shared drive with a few users -- not sure how well that would work though, plus I have a feeling that our IT department wouldn't go for it.

If the new version is expected to come out soon, I might be able to persuade the powers that be to wait a bit before overhauling our system...

Thanks,
Rachelle
  • noksagt
    SQLite only allows a single program to access it. The firefox plugin won't allow concurrent access for a VERY long time.

    Otherwise, you should read what has been said about synchronization. There will be a central zotero server (?this year?). This will allow easier sharing.

    You should read what has been said about import/export and synchronization. I listed options in:
    <http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/945/merging-zotero-libraries/#Item_2>;

    In addition to Firefox Portable, you can just have your zotero database in a common location. Again, only a single copy of firefox could use it at once. However, you can "take turns" from different computers. I don't know why your IT department would have problems with a copy of firefox portable on the network, though. I personally think that your best bet is to either use a third party literature database or wait until the zotero server comes for "live sharing." Otherwise, import/export works pretty well.
  • Rachelle A.
    Thanks, noksagt. I'll check out those options today.

    Rachelle
  • CB
    I too would like to know if there is any public schedule, even if only aspirational, for release of the server-based aspects of Zotero (web access? sharing?). I'd find it useful for planning and thinking out how I divide my information between Zotero and other tools over the next few months.

    I know how much, to developers, their users asking this question can be like a child's grating "are we nearly there yet" on a long car trip. You guys may not want to create this sort of rod for your own backs, which would be understandable. And of course, "we don't publish roadmaps", a-la Google, is a possible answer.
  • dancohen
    edited July 5, 2007
    Rachelle & CB (and the many others who have asked this question),

    We're grateful that everyone is really looking forward to the 2.0 features and appreciate all of the pep talks and thanks expressed on the forums. We are coding the 2.0 components as fast as we can while also continuing to try to add some of the great feature suggestions for the client that have been posted here. (Alas, we can't respond to every suggestion and also have put other features into our planning system so we can address them later.) Each of the seemingly minor beta release bumps in 2007 were really major updates, adding dozens of new features, many of which we had not planned to do originally, thus pushing back our schedule a bit.

    We have probably addressed this piecemeal in other locations, but we expect to release a 1.5 version this summer that enables remote access and backup of Zotero libraries to any server running certain basic services. 1.5 will be a critical release for public computers and situations where you have, say, a computer in your office and another at home that you want to keep synched (since you'll be able to log in and grab your Zotero library from the server and then push it back when you're done with research in that location).

    The server and the 2.0 release that will go along with it--I believe what Rachelle is really asking for--will add full sharing capabilities, groups, feeds, recommendations, a server API (in addition to our existing client API) and many other goodies that I will try to outline in a coherent description on this site in the near future. Suffice it to say that we think Zotero 2.0 with the server connection will be well worth the wait--a nice combination of advanced Web 2.0 functionality and the flexible client we have built.

    As CB notes, it's a always a little tricky to pin these things down--thus my hesitation to jump in when this question arose in earlier posts, when the future was a little fuzzier--but I now suspect that we'll hopefully have a beta of 1.5 within a month and begin to roll out pieces of the 2.0 server to the Zotero community by the end of September. Obviously those dates are subject to change, depending on how much coffee we drink.
  • CB
    Thanks for the update, Dan. There's a lot to look forward to in what you've outlined. Best of luck, and make sure it's really good coffee you're drinking.
  • Rachelle A.
    Thanks Dan. My apologies for failing to check back here, and missing your update all this time.

    Can't wait for the new version! But... I'll wait :-) There is really nothing in this category right now that quite does what research teams need, it seems to me, so I'm excited to see that this project is underway. Double lattes for your team on me...

    Rachelle
  • bbouling
    Apparently it's an old thread (summer 07) but still an up to date consideration.

    I haven't seen the 1.5 release but I've noticed that the blog talks about the join effort of Zotero and the Internet Archive group. The year 2008 is mentioned. Is it still the guideline ?
    Will the 2.0 version have the feature to create and manage our own citation styles ?
    Cause that new version would be awsome for many research groups with all that features.

    Regards and best of luck with the develpoment schedule.
  • gb07
    I just ran into Zotero today and have really been enjoying its features. I ran into this post after realizing the one feature it lacks that I require most is easy sharing capability. Most of the research I do involves others and passing back and forth import/exports will be awkward.

    I'm with bbouling, is this still a plan for 2008?

    Thanks for the great tool.
  • bdarcus
    edited February 8, 2008
    Dan:
    We are coding the 2.0 components as fast as we can ...
    And where is that code? Design discussions? Documentation?

    bbouling:
    Will the 2.0 version have the feature to create and manage our own citation styles?
    See here. As soon as I have help from someone with the coding skills to do this, we can make it available. I do not personally think style editing should be built-in to Zotero, and that this approach would be better and quicker to develop.
  • Matthias
    It is still my hope that the Zotero devs are open to discuss their planned server implementation with interested third-party developers on the Zotero dev list.

    I think it would be very beneficial for Zotero and the many third-party tools to agree on some kind of standard exchange protocol. This would essentially create a common platform for bibliographic data exchange.

    Thanks for listening.
  • delius
    I am a bit worried by the fact that no zotero developer has responded on this thread since last July, over 8 months ago. Is the discussion of zotero 2.0 taking place in another place that I have not yet found? Or are they being conducted in privacy?
  • delius
    I am happy to report that the discussion of zotero 2.0 has started again at http://groups.google.com/group/zotero-dev/browse_thread/thread/4b7e8453b3b4c95d?hl=en
Sign In or Register to comment.