====== Basic Instructions ======

Something in Zotero not working correctly for you? Here are some steps you can take to help us find and fix bugs.

1. First, make sure you're running the **latest version of Zotero** available from the zotero.org.

2. Next, be sure to check the [[known_issues_and_planned_features|Known Issues]] and [[Known Translator Issues]] pages, as well as the [[http://forums.zotero.org/categories|forums]], to see if we're already aware of the problem.

3. If the problem is related to **site translators**---for example, if an item isn't being saved correctly from a library catalog when you click the icon in the location bar, or if the icon doesn't show up at all on a site where you'd expect it to---check the [[/translators|list of compatible sites]] and, if necessary, add a post to the appropriate discussion in the [[http://forums.zotero.org/6/|Site Translators]] section of the forums.

4. If you think you've found a bug in other parts of the software, check the Actions menu ({{cog.png?nolink|gear icon}}) in the Zotero toolbar for the status of the "**Report Errors...**" menu option. If a potential Zotero error has occurred, "Report Errors..." will appear in black; otherwise, it will appear in gray and won't be selectable. If it is active, you can first use the error reporting wizard to report the issue and then post the Report ID you received in the forums. (We generally don't read error reports sent via Report Errors unless there's a forum post pointing to them.) Not all problems will show up in the wizard, and not all errors that show up in the wizard will necessarily be related to Zotero, but it's the first thing to try when encountering a problem.

5. If you can't use the error reporting wizard, the most important thing you can do to help us fix the problem is to get it to happen again: if you can **provide us with steps to consistently reproduce the problem**, we can almost certainly fix it quickly or tell you how to fix it. Note that after an error occurs, other things in Zotero may temporarily break, so it's important to restart the browser and try to repeat what you did before the initial problem occurred. Post a message to the forums with the steps you took to reproduce the problem (or, if you're not able to, with what you were doing when the error first occurred). When submitting bug reports manually, it's also helpful to mention the operating system you're running, in case the problem is platform-specific.





====== Advanced Instructions ======

Generally, using "Report Errors..." and/or providing us with "steps to reproduce" will be sufficient for us to fix the problem, so most users can ignore this section. However, for more serious problems that prevent you from using the reporting wizard---such as the Zotero pane not opening at all---we may need a bit more information:

1. First, make sure JavaScript error logging in Firefox is enabled by going to the special Firefox %%URL%% about:config, typing 'showInConsole' into the ''Filter:'' field, and making sure ''javascript.options.showInConsole'' is set to ''true''. (You can toggle the setting by double-clicking on the row.)((After submitting a bug report, you may wish to return to about:config and set ''javascript.options.showInConsole'' to ''false''.)) You should also make sure that the debugging pref ''nglayout.debug.disable_xul_cache'' is ''false'' or nonexistent, as it tends to wreak all sorts of havoc on Firefox 2.0.

2. Restart Firefox to ensure that you're only seeing the original error.

3. Go to the Tools menu and select Error Console. In the new window that pops up, click Errors to view only important messages.

4. Do whatever you did to reproduce the problem. (If the Zotero pane isn't showing up at all, you should already see errors in the console and shouldn't need to do anything else.)

5. Look in the console for lines that contain a %%URL%% beginning with "chrome:%%//%%zotero/..." or a message without a %%URL%%. (You can ignore any lines with URLs from other websites.) For each line, click on the pink background, go to the Firefox Edit menu and select Copy (or hit Cmd-C (Mac) or Ctrl-C (Win)), and paste the message into your forum post.

With any luck, this will give us enough information to quickly identify the problem.