The Zotero forums receive tens of thousands of posts per year. Zotero developers (and a number of Zotero enthusiasts who volunteer their time and effort) read every post. To allow them to respond quickly, efficiently, and accurately, and to maintain a friendly and helpful atmosphere, please follow the guidelines outlined below.

Be sure you've followed the Getting Help steps.

Before you post, search the forums to see if someone has posted about the same issue. If you find an existing thread, read the entire discussion—not just the thread title—to make sure it's relevant, that a solution or workaround hasn't already been provided, and that additional feedback is still necessary. You should also check the date of the last comment to make sure it's not referring to a very old issue that's no longer applicable.

If you're not sure if your issue is exactly the same as that in an existing thread, it's better to start a new thread, and someone will point you to an existing discussion if appropriate. (You can include links to other possibly relevant threads in your post.)

Syncing issues and word processor plugin issues generally require individual troubleshooting and should almost always go in new threads.

Don't post on the same issue to more than one thread. Developers and many community members read every post regardless of category, and posting in more than one place makes things harder both for the people who respond to you and for other people trying to find information on the same issue.

This also applies if you have an existing thread on an issue: don't create a new one for the same problem, even if you've been waiting for a response. If you have additional related comments, just post them to the same thread.

If you posted to the wrong category, you can change the category by editing your original post.

See Reporting Bugs for instructions for what to include in your post.

Please help keep the atmosphere in the forums helpful and friendly. You can do this in a number of ways:

• Post when you're calm. In many cases, the reason for posting to the forums is that you experienced some kind of frustration: something isn't working, you are uncertain or unable to figure out how to do something, or maybe you found that a certain feature is missing. If you have gotten worked up, take some time to calm down before posting. The forums are not a place to vent your frustration or anger.
• Keep an open mind.
  • Different people use Zotero in different ways. Not everybody will share your priorities, it's possible that you're the only person experiencing a particular problem, or maybe you just didn't discover the best way to solve a task. Avoid generalizing statements like “it is obvious that without this feature, Zotero is useless for anybody”.
  • Every so often, somebody on the forums will feel offended. However, personal attacks or insults are extremely rare. Allow room for humor, typos, and people with different opinions.
  • You may receive a (very) short reply to your question, e.g. a simple “yes” or “no”, or a link to a previous relevant discussion. Don't interpret a short answer as a dismissal of your question. Bear in mind that the people lending user support have to deal with a large volume of posts and don't have the time to write extensive replies to each one. If you aren't satisfied with the answer, feel free to ask for further elaboration. In many cases, the first response you get will be a request for additional information to help others understand and solve your problem.
  • Your thread might be closed with a link to another thread, even one on which the issue hasn't been resolved. This is done to ensure that any discussion that might lead to a solution happens in one place. It does not mean that your request isn't being taken seriously.
• AVOID ALL-CAPS. Don't write in all capital letters. It is interpreted by many as screaming and makes your post less readable.
• Respect others. Don't be rude.

Finally, remember that you and anyone who might respond to you share the same goal: resolving your issue as quickly as possible.

Zotero developers and many community members read every post.

While many forum posts are answered within minutes, others may not be answered for several days. In other cases—particularly for feature requests—developers may wait to see if other people chime in in support of an idea before responding.

If you don't receive a response right away, give it time. If you're having a serious issue and think your post may have slipped through the cracks, post a polite follow-up to the same thread asking if anyone has had a chance to look into your issue. Don't create a new thread for the same issue, as it will likely just be deleted.

After posting to the forums, be sure to follow up. Use the e-mail notification options or Atom/RSS feeds in the left column of forum pages to watch for responses, which may request additional information. If a suggested solution solves your issue, post a comment to the thread to let others know. If it doesn't, confirm that you've tried what was suggested, and explain what happened when you did so.

If you resolve a problem on your own, post an update to the thread, and say what you did to fix it. Other people may be having the same issue and may benefit from your experience, or you may be able to provide the developers with additional information to fix the problem.

Go to the Zotero Forums