A practical step-by-step guide for authors, researchers, educators and editors of scientific content on WordPress.
1. What is Zotero WP Cite?
The Zotero WP Cite connects your bibliographic manager Zotero directly to the WordPress text editor. With it, you can:
- Search in real-time for your academic references without leaving the article;
- Insert citations in the text with just 2 clicks;
- Automatically generate the bibliography at the end of the article according to official academic standards (APA 7th edition, Portuguese Standard 405, Harvard, Chicago, ABNT, etc.);
- Allow your readers to consult preview boxes (tooltips), jump directly to the bibliography, copy citations and DOI links with 1 click, and download BibTeX / RIS files.
2. Step 1: Obtain Credentials from Zotero
For WordPress to access your reference library, you need to obtain two free pieces of information from the Zotero website: your User ID and an API Key.
- Go to zotero.org and log in with your account.
- In the top right corner, click on Settings and then on the Feeds/API tab (or go directly to
https://www.zotero.org/settings/keys). - At the top of the page, you will see your numerical identifier:
Your userID for use in API calls is XXXXXXX. Keep this number safe. - Just below, click on Create new private key :
- Key Description: Write a name to identify the key (e.g.:
WordPress BlogorMy Site). - Permissions: Leave the default permissions active (Allow library access / Read permission).
- Key Description: Write a name to identify the key (e.g.:
- Click on Save Key.
- Important: Zotero will display a sequence of letters and numbers (your API Key). Copy it immediately, as for security reasons it is only shown once.
3. Step 2: Configure the Plugin in WordPress
General Site Configuration (Administrators)
- In the WordPress admin panel, go to Settings > Zotero WP Cite.
- In the Account Settings tab:
- Zotero API Key: Paste your private key.
- Zotero User ID: Enter your User ID.
- In the Citation Style tab, select the desired standard:
- National Official Standards: Portuguese Standard 405 (NP 405), Portuguese Journal of Archaeology, FPCEUP (University of Porto), ABNT (Brazil).
- International Standards with Adapted Language: APA 7th ed. (Portuguese pt-PT), Harvard (Portuguese), Chicago Author-Date (Portuguese).
- International Standards in English: APA 7th (EN), Chicago (EN), Harvard (EN), MLA (EN).
- Custom Style: Allows you to enter the identifier of any style from the official Zotero repository (e.g.:
nature,ieee, etc.).
- Click the Test Connection button. If the data is correct, you will see a green confirmation of success.
- Click on Save Changes.
Personal Setup by Author (Teachers and Researchers)
If the site has multiple authors and each wishes to use their own personal Zotero reference library:
- Go to Users > Profile.
- Scroll down to the Zotero WP Cite — Personal Credentials section.
- Enter your User ID and your API Key and click on Update Profile.
- From that moment on, all articles written by you will automatically use your personal library.
4. Step 3: How to Insert Citations in the Gutenberg Editor
The plugin integrates the Zotero Official Quick Format Bar directly into text blocks:
- When writing a paragraph in Gutenberg, place the cursor exactly where you want to insert the citation.
- In the floating toolbar of the paragraph, click the book icon Zotero (or use the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+Alt+Z/Cmd+Alt+Z). - The quick search bar will open:
- Type at least 2 letters (of the author’s surname, a word from the title, or the year).
- The plugin instantly searches your Zotero library and presents the list of results with the type of document (Book, Article, Thesis, etc.).
- Click on the desired document to add it to the bar as a tag (pill).
- If you wish to cite more than one work in the same parentheses (multiple citation), continue writing and add the remaining works.
- Press Enter on the keyboard or click on Insert Citation.
5. Step 4: Format Citations (Narrative, Pages, Secondary Sources)
By clicking on a tag (pill) of the work in the quick bar, a window of refined options opens:
1. Add Page Number or Locator
- Choose the type of locator from the menu: Page (default), Chapter, Section, Paragraph, Figure, Equation, Table, Volume, etc. (27 locators available).
- Enter the value (e.g.:
12for p. 12, or15-20for pp. 15–20, or3for chap. 3).
2. Choose the Presentation Mode
- In Parentheses (Default): Formats the full citation in parentheses, e.g.:
(Samara & Tavares, 2008, p. 45). - Narrative (APA 7th): Integrates the authors into the flow of the sentence in English, e.g.:
Samara and Tavares (2008, p. 45). - Year Only: Hides the author and keeps only the date, useful when the author’s name has already been mentioned in the sentence, e.g.:
(2008, p. 45).
3. Citing Secondary Sources (‘Cited by’)
If you are citing a classic author through a more recent study:
- In the Original Author field, enter the original author (e.g.:
Liljedahl). - In the Original Year field, enter the year of the original work (e.g.:
2016). - The plugin automatically formats the formal rule:
- Narrative:
Liljedahl (2016) cited by Vale and Barbosa (2020, p. 5) - Parentheses:
(Liljedahl, 2016, cited by Vale & Barbosa, 2020, p. 5)
- Narrative:
6. Step 5: Insert the Final Bibliography List
- At the end of your article, click the + button (Add Block).
- Search for Zotero Bibliography and insert the block.
- In the editor, the block will show a real-time preview of all works cited in the text, formatted strictly according to the configured standard.
- Convenience Note: If you forget to insert the block, the plugin automatically adds the list of references at the end of the article as soon as it detects citations in the text.
7. Step 6: Interactive Features for Readers
When readers visit your published article, they have access to a set of tools:
- Preview Boxes (Tooltips): Hovering over or focusing on a citation in the text opens a window with the complete bibliographic details of the source.
- Smooth Navigation and Highlighting: Clicking on the citation smoothly scrolls the browser to the exact reference in the bibliography and highlights it with a fluorescent yellow marker effect.
- Return Button (
↩): In the reference list, each item has a return arrow that takes the reader back to the exact sentence in the text where they were reading. - ‘Copy Reference’ Button: Allows the reader to copy the formatted reference to their clipboard with one click.
- ‘Copy DOI’ Button: Copies the direct and permanent link of the scientific publication.
- Export BibTeX and RIS: Quick download buttons to import all sources from the article into Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote or LaTeX.
8. Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting
1. I added a new book to Zotero, but it does not appear in the WordPress search. What should I do?
The plugin searches in real time in the Zotero API. Ensure that you have synchronised the Zotero application on your computer (by clicking the green synchronisation button in the top right corner of Zotero Desktop) so that the data uploads to the cloud of your account.
2. How does sorting work for multiple citations?
According to the APA 7th edition standard, when you select multiple works for the same parentheses, the plugin automatically sorts them in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author (e.g.: (Antunes, 2019; Barbosa, 2022; Silva, 2024)).
3. Has the site become slower by using Zotero?
No. The plugin has been designed for maximum speed:
- All references are stored in an ultra-fast internal cache for 30 days.
- When publishing or updating an article, the plugin pre-loads the bibliography in the background (Warmup), so that the reader receives the page immediately without waiting for the Zotero API.
- On pages or articles that do not contain academic citations, the plugin does not load any additional CSS or JavaScript files (0 bytes of impact).
4. How to clear the reference cache?
If you have changed details of a work in Zotero and want to force an immediate update in WordPress:
- Go to Settings > Zotero WP Cite.
- On the Cache Management tab, click on Clear Cache.