Zotero Gets an Upgrade to Version 4.0

The ProfHacker perennial favorite Zotero got a significant upgrade last month with the release of version 4.0. (You can see this page for all the ProfHacker coverage on Zotero.) The Zotero website has a blog post detailing what’s new in the upgrade, but here are a few of the features that I’ve found most useful.

First, Zotero now lets you select a few tags that can mark items with a special color. This might seem minor, but it’s actually a big improvement to usability. One of the things that Zotero has lacked is a way to clearly mark items as “to read” or “read.” While it’s always been possible to use tags for that purpose, the colors really make the items stand out.

Second, you can set up Zotero sync to download files as you use them, rather than downloading them all at once when you install Zotero. This feature is very useful for setting up new computers with Zotero.

Third, an under-the-hood upgrade involves BibTeX files. If you download a BibTeX file from a website, such as Google Books or Google Scholar, Zotero will now import it automatically.

In other Zotero news, they’ve increased the amount of storage available for Zotero sync, whether you use the free version or subscribe for more space.

Have you upgraded to Zotero 4.0? How do you like it?

Screenshot taken from the Zotero announcement post. “Four” image by Flickr user jiz is Creative Commons licensed.