In Zotero >= 2.0, translators are just javascript files. While Scaffold 2.0 can ease translator development, some prefer to work directly on the filesystem. To do this, one must

1. find or create a Zotero development environment
2. find or create a translator development environment
3. create or modify a translator file
4. edit, run, test, debug
5. contribute your translator

One develops a translator to run on/against a given version of Zotero, which runs on/against a given version of Firefox. The easiest way to do this is just to use the current version of Zotero that is running in your current Firefox profile. While convenient, using one's current Zotero

• runs the risk of corrupting one's current Zotero data, i.e. one's saved citations.
• does not allow one to develop against another version of Firefox or Zotero.

To create a separate Zotero development environment,

1. Use Firefox's Profile Manager to create a Firefox profile, and start Firefox using that profile. (Note that, by default, only one Firefox profile can run at any given time.)
2. install the desired version of Zotero into your Firefox profile. One can install either
   • the latest Zotero release
   • a development XPI
   • from the Zotero code repository