Support for Word Online would be a game changer

Thanks Stefan. So what Im understanding from this is that if I were to download a GDoc to Word ( with paperpile links) which allowed collaborators to edit etc. and then re-uploaded the revised doc to Paperpile, the reference links will change accordingly? My main concern is that when I re-upload the document, the references/citations are no longer updating automatically when I “Format citations” so Id have to manually go through and fix each of them up ( which is precisely what Im trying to avoid).

If the links are intact and you upload it to Google Drive Paperpile will pick up the citation information correctly and you can use “Format citations” as normal.

Any news on a possible Word plugin? I’m a PhD student who completely fell for Paperpile… I’ve signed up and am paying, but I can’t write my dissertation with Google Docs! The editing and formatting is too much time. I’d love an update, thank you!

Yes, I’m happy to say we almost have some news here. We hope to have a first early alpha version for testing out in the coming weeks. It will support Word for Mac 2011/2016 and Word for Windows.
It depends on how these tests go when we can release a public version that is stable enough for a thesis.

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Thank you! Please keep us all in the loop :slight_smile:

Hi Stefan,

Can you clarify whether the Word plugin is for the desktop or online version (or both)? The original post was asking for Word Online support. Thanks!

Our plugin will work with the Desktop versions (not the online version).

Bummer. :frowning:

Does Word Online not provide an API? i.e., is there any hope for PaperPile (or any citation manager) to integrate with Word Online?

To clarify, I found the Word Online API is expanding quickly, so I’m curious if the API is not yet suitable for a citation manager, or if it’s just not a priority for Paperpile right now. The reasons I’m hoping for Word Online support are: (1) I just don’t like Google docs, and (2) my organization only provides Office 2011 for Mac, which is an abomination.

Is Word Online not a priority, or are there still technical roadblocks? I know I’m an edge case, but still curious.

Thanks!

We’ve waited almost 2 years and were watching regularly the development of this API.

We finally gave up as it was not powerful enough to deliver the experience we had in mind. Simple things you take for granted when coming form EndNote or Mendeley are just not possible. Ironically, many things this Javascript based API has to offer are not available for Word online but only for the Desktop versions.

We don’t rule out having a add-in for Word online. Please consider we have a completely separate Google Docs add-on on top of our main plugin. It’s limited but has some value. I could see a similar scenario for a Word add-in as well (e.g. it would also run on iPad) eventually. But for now this is not on our priority list.

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Thanks Stefan, I appreciate the explanation! I was finally able to get my digital hands on Office 2016. I signed up for the PaperPile Word beta a while back. Looking forward to trying it out as the beta expands!

Any movement on this? Just to clarify, you stopped development on the online versions, or on all the word plugin versions? (i.e. desktop included) Would really love this functionality - could finally get collaborators on board.

After an excruciatingly painful experience using Word 365 in place of Google Docs for one paper, I don’t have any plans to go back. It is remarkable how Microsoft is not even close to the document collaboration capabilities offered by Google (painful sign-on experience, disconnect between in-browser and desktop functionalities (no track changes in the browser version!), lack of notifications for comments, terrible interface for comparing revisions, terrible management of permissions and sharing). There’s Mendeley for Word, and I would leave it there. I am glad support of Word is not on priority list for Paperpile! That would be a very disappointing waste of resources, in my opinion.

Any hope on that?

The Word plugin is in beta on macOS and we are working towards a public beta on both operating systems. As for Word Online, we do not currently have any current plans for support there; the API provided is very limiting, incompatible with the approach we use in the Desktop version, and has not evolved much over the last few years.

Word has significantly improved online functionality, and we already use the online version and likely will do so even more in the future. Any updates on Paperpile integration with Word Online in 2023?

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Welcome to our forum, @Oleg! No news on this front just yet, although it is within our plans. I’ve added your +1 to the topic on our internal tracker for the team’s reference.

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  • 1 from me as well.
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Another +1 from me. Our university is migrating from G Suite to Office 365. I’ve been using the Google Docs Paperpile extension for months. I use the desktop plugin for Word, but it’s not available for the web app.

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In many organisations, it is quite difficult to get IT to make changes to software (like installing a plugin for Word). So if Paperpile was able to integrate with Word Online, like it does with Google Docs it would greatly increase the potential pool of users