zoteroRoam
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v0.5
v0.5
  • Introduction
  • โ–ถ๏ธDemo by Cortex Futura
  • ๐Ÿ”„Updating from older versions
  • ๐Ÿ†˜Help/Getting Support
  • ๐Ÿ Getting Started
    • 1.1 Pre-requisites
    • 1.2 Installation in {{roam/js}}
    • 1.3 Basic Setup
  • ๐ŸงชUsing the extension
    • 2a. The search panel
    • 2b. In-text references
  • ๐Ÿ› ๏ธCustomizations
    • 3.1 What's Available
    • 3.2 Constructing data requests
    • 3.3 Creating your own formatting functions
      • Nesting metadata
      • Code snippets
    • 3.4 Creating custom shortcuts
    • 3.5 Other Settings
      • autocomplete
      • funcmap
      • typemap
      • Copying an item's reference
    • Extension defaults
  • About the Zotero API
    • Zotero API Docs (v3)
  • Support the project
    • Roadmap/Future Development
    • Buy me a (virtual) coffee
    • GitHub Sponsorship
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  • Better BibTeX & pinned citekeys
  • Zotero API credentials

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  1. Getting Started

1.1 Pre-requisites

Last updated 4 years ago

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Better BibTeX & pinned citekeys

The extension's functionality is centered on the use of citekeys as a system to organize references. Citekeys are short, meaningful identifiers for library items ; within Roam, they're excellent as page titles because they're unique, concise, and meaningful. In Zotero, is an amazing citekey manager ; it lets you define your own naming patterns, can ensure all of your citekeys are unique within your library - and much more !

Better BibTeX also has a really important feature, which is necessary for the extension to work : it can pin citekeys to your items automatically. This is crucial because currently, the only way to retrieve item citekeys through the Zotero Web API is to have them be pinned.

Setup Checklist

Zotero API credentials

The extension relies on the Zotero Web API (v3) to obtain data, which requires authentication. Zotero needs to make sure you're really you, so that it knows it can send over your data. This is implemented by an API key, and also your user ID if it's your own library you want to load. (Note that your user ID is different from your username !)

  1. Log into your Zotero account in your browser, and navigate to Settings > Feeds/API ().

  2. You'll see a line of text at the top of the page, saying "Your userID for use in API calls is XXXXXXX". The XXXXXXX (typically a 7-digit expression) is your user ID ; make a copy of it somewhere; you'll be using it later.

  3. Next, you need to set an API key. You can use a pre-existing one, if you like, or create a new one.

    1. Make sure to give the appropriate permissions to the API key you'll be using with the extension. If you want to be able to import your notes, check the box "Allow notes access". If you want to be able to import data from group libraries, check the "Read Only" permission.

    2. Once you save the key settings, the value of the API key will be displayed on the screen. This is the only time it will be available directly, for security purposes, so store its value now !

๐Ÿ 
๐Ÿ› ๏ธ
Better BibTeX
Install the Better BibTeX plugin
autoPinDelay
zotero.org/settings/keys
A configuration example. Here I'm creating a key that I can use to access my items and my notes.