I have released a course "The Organised Scholar" V1.0 25 Jan 2024 that includes this and 7 other templates and videos and notes on integrating Zotero and Obsidian courses.ricraftis.au/courses/organised-scholar
Thank you Ric for putting together this tutorial. This is the one that got me over the line in setting up Zotero-Obsidian integration. Just one remark: I didn't understand your instruction to enter the path of the Template File (7:36), but it made sense retrospectively after you described The Template in full from 8:11. I'm actually using your template for my integration. Thank you again!
This was super helpful. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has found all the other tutorials provided way more information than I actually need. Like you, I just really want the notes and the source information to move from Zotero to Obsidian. Thanks for making it easy to understand.
Thank you so much for the template! I've been racking my brains trying to figure it out for the past 24 hours. I can finally move on to doing my actual literature review. Cheers!
I can't see a format for bringing the Preview citation across from Zotero as a title field. Other writers have manually adjusted on import, but I find this could be fraught with danger through forgetting to do one or two. Personally, I like workflows to be rigid to avoid errors.
@@ricraftisau I have adjusted the citation key in Better BibTex to [author.etal][year] Works the finest :) Courtesy of peer review th-cam.com/video/tZ7utIV5znw/w-d-xo.html
@@TheJoshtheboss Only just saw your reply for some reason, but I have done the same already and added the suffix of -Z to the end so I know it is an imported note from Zotero. So it becomes a searchable field for me as in "-Z".
If I change an annotation/highlight in a Zotero pdf after already importing it into obsidian will obsidian update the new annotation/highlight accordingly? Or do I have to re-import the pdf from Zotero after making changes? thanks
No, not automatically. It isn't asynchronous. I suggest deleting the one in Obsidian if you haven't made changes to the note itself and importing again. Alternative is to shift the existing note to a new folder, import the new one and then edit between the two. The problem is that Zotero does not store annotations in the PDF, but in the database. That's why I use the system editor. ;-) Cheers.
Updating the Template has worked, but regarding the first version, where did you get the hex parameters from, that you assign to the colors that next assign the headings? Very impressed how you mastered the nunjucks ... I am still confused ^^
@@ricraftisau ah thanks for the fast reply. I absolutely got the script wrong then, because I was wondering how the pdf utility is getting the Colors from the pdf and what they are called. As in zotero 6 there are additional annotation colours pink and purple, and I have been trying to find out to understand, how this pdf utility works, as I couldn’t find it in nunjacks documentation. It’s nice to learn that the zotero colors are not at all represented in the script … how do you sort the highlights then, by what does the script learn, what is what? Cheers, Laura
@@laurap.5970 You absolutely have to use the correct Zotero hex colors (that are coded into Zotero) in order for the colors to work properly. I don't know where @ricraftisau got the colors from, but the ones in his template are correct. Here is the complete list of correct Zotero highlight colors: \['general.yellow', '#ffd400'\], \['general.red', '#ff6666'\], \['general.green', '#5fb236'\], \['general.blue', '#2ea8e5'\], \['general.purple', '#a28ae5'\], \['general.magenta', '#e56eee'\], \['general.orange', '#f19837'\], \['general.gray', '#aaaaaa'\] Here is the source: www.reddit.com/r/zotero/comments/114i9e7/a_question_about_the_hex_code_for_the_new/ I wanted to add purple highlighting and I just chose a random purple hex code, which didn't work. A quick internet search revealed the correct Zotero highlighting hex codes above.
Also I think there is an issue the template, at least on my side. If I make additional annotations in Zotero PDF. Import again in obsidian. All the previous annotations disappear.
Try renaming the Obsidian note, complete your annotations in Zotero, and import the note again. It should bring them all across. I know Readwise brings additional notations across, so I always delete notes and reimport them. I do the same with Zotero.
Hi Ric, this is so helpful but I am encountering issues trying to import my reading notes when I have used the zotero ipad app to annotate. Do you have any wisdom on this please?
I haven't used the ipad app so I can't really comment. If the rest of the data is coming across though and not the notes, that seems a bit odd. You may be better off importing only the data and doing the annotation in Obsidian.
Sorry to hear that. Believe me, I know the frustration of not getting the papers across. If you aren't seeing the Zotero selection box, check the next video on how to fix it.
@@german4044 Well I sincerely hope you work it out. It does work, not just for me, but several other people who have downloaded the template etc as well. It is probably a really simple thing. They trip me up all the time. Good luck with it.
This helped me so much. Had no idea how to use this plugin. Thanks Ric! One problem I am having is the colors are not showing up. Even in the template file the little icons are not colored like yours. They are all just white. I am new to obsidian. Is there another plugin I need to install or something I need to do in the settings? Thanks.
Try adding the Highlightr plugin and setting up the hex codes in that. Obsidian is so diverse that it's hard to provide advice without digging deeper. Are you highlighting using the colour codes in Zotero Logan?
@@ricraftisau Here's another image after I pulled in highlights from an article drive.google.com/file/d/19Q80_J2wrSiMkWAlEa0r0AK42hIBJKMa/view as you can see no colors.
Hi Ric, if I import the notes from zotero and then write some additional notes in the obisdian file - how can I update the obsidian file after I went back to the text in zotero and higlighted a new section there?
It isn't a two way asynchronous relationship unfortunately. There are several ways to approach this and it will be up to you to devise your method. 1. Go back to Zotero and add your notes, highlights etc. Delete original note in Obsidian and resync. 2. Take the Zotero PDF and add it to the Obsidian note as an attachment, and make additional notes in there. Make sure to make a note in Zotero that you are doing this and also on the Obsidian note page. Hope this helps.
Fantastic Steve! I love to hear about plans coming together. I intend to do an update when the new Properties frontmatter is released to the General Public. Cheers.
This may seem "simple" and the "best experience" to many, but to me (and I code and work in cybersecurity) - this is incredibly convoluted and fussy. The documentation is very poorly done. For the last hour, I've been looking for an import command/menu item. The interface is difficult to see (way too light) and not using text to describe the functions is great for expert users, but a disaster for people just starting out. They seriously need a decent usability test from real beginning users. It's obvious the developers care about the program - but they can't and will never be able to experience it as a new user - and that's what it needs right now. Thanks for the video though...
Thank you for your comments Jake. I would be more than happy for you to provide greater detail and a list of things that could be improved by me. I can't do much about others. It took me a long time to wrap my head around this and develop a workable solution. As you would be aware with your industry experience, getting two programs to talk to each other is so often a challenge. Feel free to reach out via my website and email. Cheers.
I have released a course "The Organised Scholar" V1.0 25 Jan 2024 that includes this and 7 other templates and videos and notes on integrating Zotero and Obsidian courses.ricraftis.au/courses/organised-scholar
Thank you Ric for putting together this tutorial. This is the one that got me over the line in setting up Zotero-Obsidian integration. Just one remark: I didn't understand your instruction to enter the path of the Template File (7:36), but it made sense retrospectively after you described The Template in full from 8:11. I'm actually using your template for my integration. Thank you again!
This was super helpful. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has found all the other tutorials provided way more information than I actually need. Like you, I just really want the notes and the source information to move from Zotero to Obsidian. Thanks for making it easy to understand.
My dude. Excellent introduction to zotero for Obsidian. Thank you !
Thank you so much for the template! I've been racking my brains trying to figure it out for the past 24 hours. I can finally move on to doing my actual literature review. Cheers!
Does the template work for you? It seems not for me. Did you buy his template? Thanks!
07:06 I would like to use Author, Year instead of citekey or title. But it does not work for me for some reason
I can't see a format for bringing the Preview citation across from Zotero as a title field. Other writers have manually adjusted on import, but I find this could be fraught with danger through forgetting to do one or two. Personally, I like workflows to be rigid to avoid errors.
@@ricraftisau I have adjusted the citation key in Better BibTex to [author.etal][year]
Works the finest :)
Courtesy of peer review
th-cam.com/video/tZ7utIV5znw/w-d-xo.html
@@TheJoshtheboss Only just saw your reply for some reason, but I have done the same already and added the suffix of -Z to the end so I know it is an imported note from Zotero. So it becomes a searchable field for me as in "-Z".
If I change an annotation/highlight in a Zotero pdf after already importing it into obsidian will obsidian update the new annotation/highlight accordingly? Or do I have to re-import the pdf from Zotero after making changes? thanks
No, not automatically. It isn't asynchronous. I suggest deleting the one in Obsidian if you haven't made changes to the note itself and importing again. Alternative is to shift the existing note to a new folder, import the new one and then edit between the two. The problem is that Zotero does not store annotations in the PDF, but in the database. That's why I use the system editor. ;-) Cheers.
Thank you for this, I have it all set up.
Excellent! Lots more videos here that can help.
Thank you very much for the video and the template. It works for me🎉
That's a very good tutorial! Is there a video planned for the Bulk Bibliography and In-text citations mentioned at 10:57? That would really be great!
I will make a note of it.
@@ricraftisau Thanks 👍
Here is that video you asked for. I forgot to let you know previously. th-cam.com/video/tOTa19w-NT0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DF515769cBo52pH5
@@ricraftisau Thank you very much.
Ric, this is simply outstanding.
Updating the Template has worked, but regarding the first version, where did you get the hex parameters from, that you assign to the colors that next assign the headings? Very impressed how you mastered the nunjucks ... I am still confused ^^
The hex parameters were simply chosen to reflect the colours I wanted. Anyone can change them.
@@ricraftisau ah thanks for the fast reply. I absolutely got the script wrong then, because I was wondering how the pdf utility is getting the Colors from the pdf and what they are called. As in zotero 6 there are additional annotation colours pink and purple, and I have been trying to find out to understand, how this pdf utility works, as I couldn’t find it in nunjacks documentation. It’s nice to learn that the zotero colors are not at all represented in the script … how do you sort the highlights then, by what does the script learn, what is what?
Cheers, Laura
@@laurap.5970 Perhaps a little outside the scope of the video Laura.
@@ricraftisau absolutely! Thanks anyway!
@@laurap.5970 You absolutely have to use the correct Zotero hex colors (that are coded into Zotero) in order for the colors to work properly. I don't know where @ricraftisau got the colors from, but the ones in his template are correct. Here is the complete list of correct Zotero highlight colors: \['general.yellow', '#ffd400'\],
\['general.red', '#ff6666'\],
\['general.green', '#5fb236'\],
\['general.blue', '#2ea8e5'\],
\['general.purple', '#a28ae5'\],
\['general.magenta', '#e56eee'\],
\['general.orange', '#f19837'\],
\['general.gray', '#aaaaaa'\]
Here is the source: www.reddit.com/r/zotero/comments/114i9e7/a_question_about_the_hex_code_for_the_new/
I wanted to add purple highlighting and I just chose a random purple hex code, which didn't work. A quick internet search revealed the correct Zotero highlighting hex codes above.
Also I think there is an issue the template, at least on my side. If I make additional annotations in Zotero PDF. Import again in obsidian. All the previous annotations disappear.
Try renaming the Obsidian note, complete your annotations in Zotero, and import the note again. It should bring them all across. I know Readwise brings additional notations across, so I always delete notes and reimport them. I do the same with Zotero.
Hi Ric, this is so helpful but I am encountering issues trying to import my reading notes when I have used the zotero ipad app to annotate. Do you have any wisdom on this please?
I haven't used the ipad app so I can't really comment. If the rest of the data is coming across though and not the notes, that seems a bit odd. You may be better off importing only the data and doing the annotation in Obsidian.
Very useful video. I followed your instructions but in obsidian i am not retrieving data.
Sorry to hear that. Believe me, I know the frustration of not getting the papers across. If you aren't seeing the Zotero selection box, check the next video on how to fix it.
@@ricraftisauI watched it and also worked perfectly! But it's in that box that is not finding anything.
@@german4044 Well I sincerely hope you work it out. It does work, not just for me, but several other people who have downloaded the template etc as well. It is probably a really simple thing. They trip me up all the time. Good luck with it.
The solution for me was directing to zotero Integration installed plugin options and select PDF Utility download.
this is super helpful, thanks for sharing this!
This helped me so much. Had no idea how to use this plugin. Thanks Ric! One problem I am having is the colors are not showing up. Even in the template file the little icons are not colored like yours. They are all just white. I am new to obsidian. Is there another plugin I need to install or something I need to do in the settings? Thanks.
Try adding the Highlightr plugin and setting up the hex codes in that. Obsidian is so diverse that it's hard to provide advice without digging deeper. Are you highlighting using the colour codes in Zotero Logan?
@@ricraftisau Here's another image after I pulled in highlights from an article drive.google.com/file/d/19Q80_J2wrSiMkWAlEa0r0AK42hIBJKMa/view as you can see no colors.
Hi Ric, if I import the notes from zotero and then write some additional notes in the obisdian file - how can I update the obsidian file after I went back to the text in zotero and higlighted a new section there?
It isn't a two way asynchronous relationship unfortunately. There are several ways to approach this and it will be up to you to devise your method.
1. Go back to Zotero and add your notes, highlights etc. Delete original note in Obsidian and resync.
2. Take the Zotero PDF and add it to the Obsidian note as an attachment, and make additional notes in there. Make sure to make a note in Zotero that you are doing this and also on the Obsidian note page.
Hope this helps.
@@ricraftisau Thank you so much for your explanation and the workaround!
Very helpful!
Thanks Ric - I actually got this to work!!!😀
Fantastic Steve! I love to hear about plans coming together. I intend to do an update when the new Properties frontmatter is released to the General Public. Cheers.
Great video. Thanks.
Thank you!
This may seem "simple" and the "best experience" to many, but to me (and I code and work in cybersecurity) - this is incredibly convoluted and fussy. The documentation is very poorly done. For the last hour, I've been looking for an import command/menu item. The interface is difficult to see (way too light) and not using text to describe the functions is great for expert users, but a disaster for people just starting out. They seriously need a decent usability test from real beginning users. It's obvious the developers care about the program - but they can't and will never be able to experience it as a new user - and that's what it needs right now. Thanks for the video though...
Thank you for your comments Jake. I would be more than happy for you to provide greater detail and a list of things that could be improved by me. I can't do much about others. It took me a long time to wrap my head around this and develop a workable solution. As you would be aware with your industry experience, getting two programs to talk to each other is so often a challenge. Feel free to reach out via my website and email. Cheers.