ppaspp / zotero-better-bibtex

Make Zotero effective for us LaTeX holdouts

Better BibTeX for Zotero

This extension aims to make Zotero (and soon Juris-M) effective for us text-based authoring holdouts; currently, that translates to the LaTeX/Markdown crowd. To get started, read the Installation instructions. At its core, it behaves like any Zotero import/export module; anywhere you can export or import bibliography items in Zotero, you'll find Better X listed among the choices. If nothing else, you could keep your existing workflow as-is, and just enjoy the improved LaTeX ↔ unicode translation on import and export and more accurate field mapping.

Zotero does all its work in UTF-8 Unicode, which is absolutely the right thing to do. Unfortunately, for those shackled to BibTeX and who cannot (yet) move to BibLaTeX, unicode is a major PITA. Also, Zotero supports some simple HTML markup in your references that Bib(La)TeX won't understand.

BBT will convert from/to HTML/LaTeX; Currently supports <i>⇔\emph & \textit, <b>⇔\textbf, <sub>⇔_{...}, <sup>⇔^{...} and <sc>⇔\textsc{...}; more can be added on request. BBT contains a comprehensive list of LaTeX constructs, so stuff like \"{o} or \"o will be converted to their unicode equivalents on import, and their unicode equivalents back to \"{o} if you have that option enabled (but you don't have to if you use BibLaTeX, which has fairly good Unicode support). With BBT you'll have:

• Stable Citation Keys, without key clashes! Generates citation keys that take into account other existing keys in your library that are not part of the items you export. Prevent random breakage!
• Converts from/to HTML/LaTeX: Currently supports <i>...</i>/\emph{...}/\textit{...}, <b>...</b>/\textbf{...}, <sup>...</sup>/\_{...} and <sub>...</sub>/^{...}. The plugin contains a comprehensive list of LaTeX constructs, so stuff like \"{o} or \"o will be converted to their unicode equivalents on import (e.g., \"{o} to ö). If you need literal LaTeX in your export: surround it with <pre>...</pre> tags.
• Set your own, fixed Citation Keys, generate citation keys from JabRef patterns, drag and drop LaTeX citations, add other custom BibLaTeX fields.
• Highly Customized Exports.
• Fixes date field exports: export dates like 'forthcoming' as 'forthcoming' instead of empty, but normalize valid dates to unambiguous international format.
• Push/Pull Export from the embedded webserver.
• Automatic journal abbreviation.

Better BibTeX works from BibTeXing and Tame the BeaST for BibTeX, and The Biblatex Package for BibLaTeX, but since there isn't really a definitive manual for either format that is universally followed by Bib(La)TeX editors/processors, I'm pragmatic about implementing what works.

Got problems? We got fixes!

If you have any questions on the use of the plugin, please do not hesitate to file a GitHub issue to ask for help. If you're reporting a bug in the plugin, please take a moment to glance through the Support Request Guidelines; it will make sure I get your problem fixed as quick as possible. Clear bug reports commonly have really short time-to-fix, so if you report something, stick around -- it may be done as you wait. The support request guidelines are very detailed, perhaps to the point of being off-putting, but please do not fret; these guidelines simply express my ideal bug submission. I of course prefer very clearly documented issue reports over fuzzy ones, but I prefer fuzzy ones over missed ones.

Sponsoring BBT

While the development needs of BBT are to a large extent covered by the use of services such as github and circleci, my development system does require the occasional upgrade. My trusty MacBook Air is not really hacking it anymore, and in order to do decent cross-platform support, a MacBook (or a system capable of running macOS in VMware player) is what I need. Anything you can spare towards making that upgrade a reality is very much appreciated. If you'd rather contribute a little bit each month (and a little means a lot) so I can save up for a replacement a year or so down the line, head on over to Patreon. Many, many thanks, also to the existing contributors -- thanks to you I'm currently at 34.5% of target; so looking forward to replace my trusty manchineel.