# Columbia Libraries, Mendeley Collaboration on prototype CSL editor

**URL:** <https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/columbia-libraries-mendeley-collaboration-on-prototype-csl-editor/1063>\
**Category:** CSL Development\
**Created:** [January 19, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/columbia-libraries-mendeley-collaboration-on-prototype-csl-editor/1063 "2012-01-19T14:52:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Steve\_Ridout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Steve\_Ridout](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Steve_Ridout)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/columbia-libraries-mendeley-collaboration-on-prototype-csl-editor/1063/21 "2012-01-21T14:17:50Z")

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> > A similar approach, that doesn’t rely on free text parsing, is what  
> > Dan Stillman originally suggested: have predefined formatted data, and  
> > allow users to modify it. Of course, there are a range of ways to  
> > approach this as well (pure free text, pop-up tokens that allow one to  
> > select from options, etc.).
> 
> It looks like Steve Ridout implemented this idea, as linked by Ian above:
> 
> [http://steveridout.com/cslEditor/cslFinder/](http://steveridout.com/cslEditor/cslFinder/)
> 
> I’ve been meaning to incorporate this sort of functionality into the  
> Zotero styles page (and was actually planning to sit down and finally  
> try it today), so it’s great to see a working PoC. As you say, there are  
> a bunch of ways this could work—free-form, tokens, fixed, customizable,  
> client-side, server-side—but I still think this is one of the easiest  
> ways to meet a lot of people’s needs and allow more people to benefit  
> from the authoring work done by Sebastian and others.

If you want you can check out the source code here:  
[https://github.com/SteveRidout/csl-editor](https://github.com/SteveRidout/csl-editor)

It would be nice to see a user friendly implementation of this idea.  
Aside from the direct benefit, it could collect formatted citation  
data for styles which don’t yet exist, help identify bugs in the  
existing styles, and help to crowd source a large test suite of  
formatted styles.

Steve

PS. Simon’s csl-inference tool sounds cool, I’ll try it out when I get a chance.

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**Author:** ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/columbia-libraries-mendeley-collaboration-on-prototype-csl-editor/1063/22 "2012-01-21T14:43:04Z")

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…

> If you want you can check out the source code here:  
> [https://github.com/SteveRidout/csl-editor](https://github.com/SteveRidout/csl-editor)

Great; thanks!

> It would be nice to see a user friendly implementation of this idea.

So what might that involve?

Maybe:

1. easier, quicker, more robust input of more variable, and complex,  
input data; the sort of stuff behind this issue:

> <https://github.com/citation-style-language/styles/issues/4>
>
> We need a way to standardize input data (possibly for different areas: social sc…iences, sciences, humanities, law), and easily visualize diffs.

1. the ability to do something with the results. For example, if the  
edit distance is 0, then other results should be hidden or  
deemphasized, and the user should be given the choice to either use  
that style (click “install style”), or to create a dependent style  
with a new name (for journal styles). If there is no direct match,  
then ideally it would take the closest match, ask if the user wants to  
create a new style, and then simply create it straightaway, and create  
a preview for the user to confirm.

> Aside from the direct benefit, it could collect formatted citation  
> data for styles which don’t yet exist, help identify bugs in the  
> existing styles, and help to crowd source a large test suite of  
> formatted styles.

Yup; love how this idea has evolved.

Bruce

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**Author:** ![Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Bruce\_D\_Arcus1](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/u/Bruce_D_Arcus1)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://discourse.citationstyles.org/t/columbia-libraries-mendeley-collaboration-on-prototype-csl-editor/1063/23 "2020-04-08T15:54:09Z")

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Just wanted to bump this older thread, since I think this is the primary thing the CSL world needs to easy style creation. I see the parsing code mentioned earlier is still being developed; would be cool for some developer to pick this up and see if they can use it to create good CSL styles from formatted references and citations.

> **[inukshuk/anystyle](https://github.com/inukshuk/anystyle)**
>
> Fast and smart citation reference parsing. Contribute to inukshuk/anystyle development by creating an account on GitHub.

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