Conducting research online can be much simpler when working at an institution with extensive resources. Online databases are particularly useful, but can often be a hassle to use off-site, owing to the need to log into a proxy system. Zotero can streamline this whole process by managing the complicated rewriting of URLs involved. When Zotero detects that you are using an institutional proxy to access a particular site, it will ask if you want to remember it in the future. If you agree, from then on, Zotero will then automatically use the proxy for matching URLs. You should be routed through the proxy login site if you're not already logged in, then you can access the database as you normally would.

Zotero users should be able to make complete use of the proxies feature without ever looking at this preference tab. By default, Zotero will prompt you to store the proxy and then route you through the proxy automatically and without further input.

Proxies can be added manually by clicking on the + button. From there, you can specify the URL of the database being accessed under hostname and the URL scheme of the proxy. By selecting the Multi-Site option, you can redirect multiple sites/databases through a single proxy.

The Proxies preferences allow you to adjust the following options:

Enable proxie re-direction (default: selected) - Deselecting this will disable Zotero's proxy re-direction feature. You can do this temporarily and your proxy settings will remain saved. Do not use this option if you no longer have access to the proxies saved in Zotero. In that case, delete those settings by selecting them in the “Configured Proxies” box and pressing the minus (-) button below it.

Automatically remember proxied resources (default: selected)- Deselecting this will prevent Zotero from prompting you to store proxies it detects.

Disable proxy redirection when domain name contains… (default: unselected) - Typically you won't need to use a proxy when you are connected to the internet through your institution’s network. This option automatically disables Zotero's proxy re-direction when the domain of your internet provider contains the given string. In the United States, “.edu” (the default setting) will usually work, in other countries you will have to find out your institution's domain name.

Configured Proxies (default: empty) - Proxies can be added manually by clicking on the + button. From there, you can specify the URL of the database being accessed under hostname and the URL scheme of the proxy. By selecting the Multi-Site option, you can redirect multiple sites/databases through a single proxy. You can remove proxies by clicking the minus button. You can check multi-site proxies by double-clicking them.