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 Bib(La)TeX listed as one of 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. Over and above this improvement, it adds the following features to Zotero:
- 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\"owill be converted to their unicode equivalents on import (e.g.,\"{o}toö). 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 Bib(La)TeX 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.
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.