Add Zotero plugin advice to your library guide

Students ask which Zotero plugins are safe to install. zoteroplugins.org checks the code of all 1,566 Zotero plugins and grades each one, and its plugin packs give every stage of study a short list of checked plugins. Copy the box below into your guide. It links only to pages we keep current, so you never have to update it.

The box for your guide

How it looks in a guide

Zotero plugins: check before you install

Plugins add features to Zotero, but anyone can publish one. Before you install a plugin, look it up on zoteroplugins.org, an independent, non-commercial directory that checks the code of every Zotero plugin and grades it from A+ (recommended) to C (not recommended). Each plugin's page shows what it does, what it needs and where it sends your data.

Not sure where to start? Short lists of checked plugins for each stage of study:

The box title is yours to set. In your guide the box takes your own fonts and colours.

In LibGuides, edit the page and add a Rich Text / HTML box or asset.
Open the editor's Source view (the <> button).
Paste the HTML and save.

Show the HTML

<p>Plugins add features to Zotero, but anyone can publish one. Before you install a plugin, look it up on <a href="https://zoteroplugins.org/">zoteroplugins.org</a>, an independent, non-commercial directory that checks the code of every Zotero plugin and grades it from A+ (recommended) to C (not recommended). Each plugin's page shows what it does, what it needs and where it sends your data.</p>
<p>Not sure where to start? Short lists of checked plugins for each stage of study:</p>
<ul>
  <li><a href="https://zoteroplugins.org/for/undergraduates">Plugins for undergraduates</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://zoteroplugins.org/for/masters-students">Plugins for master's students</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://zoteroplugins.org/for/phd-students">Plugins for PhD students</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://zoteroplugins.org/for/researchers">Plugins for researchers and faculty</a></li>
</ul>

Or add it as a link

For a LibGuides Link asset, or any list of resources:

Name: Zotero Plugins Atlas
URL: https://zoteroplugins.org/
Description: Every Zotero plugin, graded from a check of its code: what it does, what it needs and where it sends your data. Includes short lists of checked plugins for undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.

One line for a page that already lists plugins

If your guide recommends plugins, this line can stand in for an "install at your own risk" note, so students can check any plugin, including ones you don't list:

Before you install a Zotero plugin, look it up on zoteroplugins.org, which grades every plugin from a check of its code.

<p>Before you install a Zotero plugin, look it up on <a href="https://zoteroplugins.org/">zoteroplugins.org</a>, which grades every plugin from a check of its code.</p>

Handouts for workshops

Each pack is one US Letter page, rebuilt whenever a grade changes. Print them for orientation sessions or attach them to a guide.

Why you can point students here

Independent and non-commercial. No ads and no paid listings, and nobody can pay for a better grade. Not affiliated with Zotero or the Corporation for Digital Scholarship.
The method is public. Every grade comes from a check of the plugin's code, with the evidence (file and line) on its page. How we grade.
Current. Plugins are re-checked daily from GitHub, and each plugin's page says which Zotero versions it works with, up to Zotero 10.
Open. The data is CC BY 4.0 and the code is MIT, on GitHub.

Tell us what to change

If your students rely on a plugin the packs leave out, or you'd advise against one they include, email [email protected] (or open an issue on GitHub). Librarians' suggestions decide what goes into the next version of the packs, and a reply comes from a person.