Answers to common questions about the CardCite Chrome extension and the CardCite Google Docs™ add-on.
CardCite has two parts. The Chrome extension builds a citation for the page you are reading when you open it, and can save that citation to your library. The Google Docs™ add-on shows the same library in a sidebar, so you can put a citation into the document you are writing. This page covers both, and how to get help.
The extension is where a citation is made. You open it on the page you want to cite, check the fields, and copy the citation or save it to your library.
Open CardCite on any webpage or PDF from your browser toolbar: click the puzzle piece icon, then CardCite, or pin CardCite so that it stays in the toolbar. Alt+C opens it too.
Check the fields, then use Copy Citation, or Save to Library to keep it. When you are signed in, a saved citation syncs to your account, so it is ready to insert from the Google Docs™ add-on on any device.
Settings is where you set the format: field order, brackets or parentheses, author on or off, font size per section, and your team name. Open it with the Settings button at the top of the popup.
You can also reach it from Chrome's own menu:
Changes are saved with your Chrome profile, so they follow you to the other computers where you are signed in to Chrome.
Chrome updates extensions on its own, usually within a day of a new version being published, and your settings and saved citations are kept.
To take an update straight away, open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode at the top right, then press Update. The same page shows which version you have.
The add-on is a sidebar inside Google Docs™. It reads the library you have saved with the extension, so you can search it and put a citation into the document.
Open any Google Doc, then use the Extensions menu to open the CardCite sidebar:
The CardCite sidebar opens on the right side of the document and stays available while you write.
Sign in with the same Google account you use for the CardCite Chrome extension. That shared sign-in is what links your saved library to the add-on, so your citations appear in the sidebar.
If sign-in doesn't complete, grant the requested permissions when prompted. The add-on needs them to read your citation library and to write a citation into the current document. Once permissions are granted, sign-in finishes and your library loads.
Citations aren't made inside the add-on. You save them with the CardCite Chrome extension as you read, and they then appear in the Google Docs™ sidebar for that same account.
If the sidebar is empty, check that you are signed in with the same Google account you use for the extension, and that you have saved at least one citation with the extension.
In the sidebar, search or scroll to find the citation you want, then click Insert. The formatted citation appears at your cursor in the document, with its formatting intact and no retyping or reformatting needed.
Bug reports, questions and suggestions are welcome. Email elliott7987@gmail.com, and you will usually have a reply within two business days.
