A Faster Release Cycle for Zotero
Zotero 8, which we announced today, is a huge release, representing more than a year of development. It brings together a large number of new features, improvements, and internal changes that have been in progress for quite some time.
Going forward, we’ll be changing how we manage Zotero releases, with the goal of getting stable features out to all users more quickly.
Instead of waiting months for a large update, we plan to release new versions of Zotero on a regular, rapid schedule, roughly every 6–10 weeks. These releases (Zotero 9, Zotero 10, and so on) will include new features and improvements that are ready for general use.
Between these feature releases, all changes will continue to appear immediately in the Zotero Beta, and we’ll periodically publish maintenance updates (such as Zotero 8.0.1) that include only bug fixes and small refinements to recently released features.
For Zotero users, this means:
- New features will reach everyone sooner
- Bug fixes are less likely to be tied to major releases
- Updates will be smaller and more predictable
If you’ve been running the Zotero Beta mainly to get early access to new features, but aren’t interested in running beta software or reporting issues in the Zotero Forums, we recommend switching to the regular release version of Zotero from the download page. With more frequent releases, you won’t need to wait long to get new functionality.