CiteIt! - Legal citation software for the Bluebook and ALWD citation manual, imports citations from legal databases, creates a table of authorities, and stores legal research.

It has come to our attention, that in some circumstances, that when it is first installed, CiteIt! Version 2 may have difficulty initializing.

This may result in a problem reading the key diskette or a user may receive a string of dialog boxes which have the message, "DBOpenUnrecognized database format" when attempting to open or register the program.

This is a result of a defective file that was included on an initial run of CD-ROM's,
and this problem is easily resolved by updating CiteIt!.

If this does not resolve the problem, or you need assistance with updating CiteIt!, please call Sidebar Software, toll-free at (877) 743-3227.

We have recently discovered that some users are having problems importing citations from Lexis-Nexis when they log into the research service from the law school login page, which is usually an address similar to: http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/

However, if users log in to Lexis-Nexis from their main login page at http://www.lexis.com, these importing problems generally do not occur. Therefore, we encourage users to use and bookmark this main Lexis web address so that CiteIt! will be able to import from the Lexis-Nexis service.

Sidebar Software is currently investigating this issue and we will release an update addressing this issue as soon as we have it resolved.

This error generally occurs as a result of attempting to insert a citation, a table of authorities, a brief outline or a source list without having Microsoft Word open. If Word is not running when CiteIt! attempts insert information into Word, CiteIt! will attempt to open Word. This generally results in a series of errors. After these errors occur, if you try to insert a citation you may receive the "Ambiguous name detected: TmpDDE" error. You can fix this error easily.

When using versions of CiteIt! earlier than 2.08 with Word 10 (Office XP), if CiteIt! was configured to insert table of authorities fields for citations, then regardless of the cite form that was selected for insertion, CiteIt! may incorrectly insert the long citation form. This issue has been resolved in CiteIt! Versions 2.08 and later. To resolve this issue, you should update CiteIt!.

As a temporary measure, this problem can also be avoided by making sure that "Insert Table of Authority Fields" is NOT checked on the "Configure" pull-down menu on the main CiteIt! screen.

CiteIt! has very basic system requirements. It requires Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP and is compatible with Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP/2003 and Corel WordPerfect 9/10. Internet Explorer 4.0 or later is also required.

Unfortunately, at the present time, the program is designed only for IBM compatibles. We are currently evaluating the prospects for a Macintosh version.

CiteIt! installation requires that files be written to areas that are only available to someone with administrator level access. Log in as a system administrator and install CiteIt!. Users can then log in and CiteIt! will run normally.

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Because CiteIt! is closely integrated with your word processor, it needs to be installed locally on each individual computer. CiteIt! can, of course, user your network to access and share citation files, just like you use it to access and share your word processing documents.

When you install CiteIt!, the installation program should automatically detect your installed versions of Microsoft Word and should automatically place a CiteIt! toolbar button on the far left side of your Standard Word toolbar.

If the CiteIt! button does not appear on your Microsoft Word toolbar, first try re-installing CiteIt!, making sure that all instances of Microsoft Word are closed. When InstallShield displays a screen which asks whether you would like to "Modify, Repair or Uninstall" CiteIt!, choose "Repair." The CiteIt! button should now appear on your toolbar when you re-open your new word processor.

If the toolbar button still does not appear on the far left side of your Standard Word toolbar, try the following:

1) Using Windows Explorer, go to your Microsoft Office Startup directory, (generally, this is found at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup") and see if there is a file in that directory named "CiteIt_Word32". If this file DOES EXIST in your Microsoft Office Startup directory, then go to step 3, if the file DOES NOT EXIST, then continue with Step 2.

2) Find the "CiteIt_Word32" file in the directory where you installed CiteIt!, which is generally "C:\Program Files\Sidebar Software\CiteIt!". COPY this file to your Microsoft Office Startup directory that you found in the previous step.

3) Open up Microsoft Word and see if the CiteIt! button appears. It generally appears on the far left side of your Standard toolbar in Word.

4) If the CiteIt! button does not appear, then from the pull-down menus in Microsoft Word select "Tools>Templates and Add-Ins"

5) In the bottom section of the Templates and Add-Ins dialog box, make sure that "CiteIt_Word32.wll" is listed and that its checkbox is checked.

If the button still does not appear or you would like assistance with this process, call Sidebar Software toll-free at (877) SIDEBAR and we can help you resolve this issue.

In Microsoft Word, if there is a CiteIt! entry in your Tools pull-down menu in Microsoft Word, you can easily add a CiteIt! button to your Word toolbar:

1) Right-click on any Word toolbar and choose Customize.

2) When the Customize Window appears, select the Tools pull-down menu from the top of the Word screen.

3) While holding down the Control key, left click-and-drag the CiteIt! menu entry from the Word pull-down menu to the position where you would like the CiteIt! button to appear on the toolbar. When you release your left mouse button, Word will copy the CiteIt! command from the pull-down menu to a button on your toolbar.

CiteIt! is designed to work with the most updated versions of both Word and WordPerfect. In order to assure compatibility with CiteIt!, and to make sure that your system is as stable as possible when using your word processor, it is HIGHLY recommended that users make sure that they have installed all of the available updates for their word processor.

Service Packs are provided by both Microsoft and Corel to fix any bugs which are discovered subsequent to the release of a version of Word or WordPerfect. These service releases are free, and they can be downloaded from the following links:

Microsoft Word service packs can be found here.
Corel WordPerfect service releases can be found here.

Any information that is imported can be edited by simply pressing the 'Edit' button on the main CiteIt! screen. To change any citation just simply edit the information that is either not correct or that you want customized.

Unfortunately, Westlaw and Lexis do not provide citations for sources in a standard citation forms. Therefore, CiteIt! attempts to interpret these incorrect citations and create accurate citations. In these situations, you might try finding the citation for the source in the text of a source. One way that this can be done quickly is to Shepardize or KeyCite the citation, and then choose one of the sources that cites your desired citation.

Unfortunately in some versions of Internet Explorer, the Westlaw link browser window does not allow third-party applications such as CiteIt! to communicate with it. In these situations, in order to import citations, press the Maximize button which will bring your current document up in the main Westlaw window. You should then be able to import citations from the main Westlaw window.

Because there is an infinite combination of citation sources, forms, and styles, importing citations is a difficult and complex task. Although CiteIt! is designed to import a variety of citations, under some circumstances, CiteIt! may have difficulty importing citations. To assure maximum accuracy when importing citations, follow these guidelines:

1) CiteIt!'s import capabilities are constantly being updated to allow it to recognize more citations and import citation information more accurately. To make sure that you are always using the latest version of CiteIt!, and to download free updates, visit www.citeit.com on a regular basis.

2) Import long citation forms. For most types of citations, CiteIt! relies on long citation forms to import citation information since they provide all of the information necessary to create a complete citation. Therefore, if you find a short citation form, look earlier in the document and import the long citation form.

3) CiteIt! was designed to import citations which have common citation errors, however, some errors in citations may prevent CiteIt! from accurately importing citations. Citations which are missing citation information or have incorrect punctuation such as extra commas or parenthesis may result in a citation not being imported. To avoid this problem, if possible, try to import citations which are as close to standard Bluebook or ALWD citation styles as possible.

4) Some online services such as Westlaw or Lexis provide numerous parallel citations to non-standard citation sources. These types of citations can be difficult for CiteIt! to import, so if possible, try importing from a selection which doesn't include the parallel citations.

5) Because of they have fairly standard citation styles, cases and statutes are generally the most accurate citations to import. Other sources may require more editing or correcting.

Each purchase code is designed to only work on one computer. Therefore, if you purchase another computer or reinstall your computer's operating system, you may have to obtain a new purchase code from Sidebar Software.

To obtain a purchase code:

1) Download a trial version of CiteIt!

2) Install the trial version

3) When you run CiteIt!, you will see a trial information screen. At the bottom of this screen is a 16 digit trial code

4) Email your trial code, and full name and contact information to sales@sidebarsoft.com

Sidebar Software will only provide new purchase codes to Registered Purchasers of CiteIt!. You are a Registered Purchaser of CiteIt! software if you either: 1) purchased CiteIt! directly from Sidebar Software; or 2) purchased a retail version of CiteIt! and sent in your registration card provided with that retail version.

If you need any assistance with obtaining a purchase code, please contact Sidebar Software by sending an e-mail to sales@sidebarsoft.com.

If you are a registered purchaser of CiteIt!, to update your version of CiteIt! to the most recent version, simply download and install any of the CiteIt! trial versions.

All CiteIt! downloads are the same for both registered purchasers and trial users. If you install CiteIt! and do not have a valid purchase code or key diskette, CiteIt! will run as a trial version. If you have a valid purchase code or key diskette, the software will unlock, and work as a fully purchased version.

As you install the trial version, CiteIt! will automatically detect that you have already purchased CiteIt! and it will unlock itself to a purchased version. If you have not purchased CiteIt!, after installing a trial version, CiteIt! will run operate as a limited trial version until a purchase code or key diskette is used to unlock CiteIt! into a purchased version.

CiteIt! supports the 17th Edition of The Bluebook, which was published in 2000 and is the most current edition.

Yes. There are two versions of CiteIt! available for purchase. One supports The ALWD Citation Manual and the other supports The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.

Unfortunately, at this time, you cannot have ALWD and Bluebook versions of CiteIt! installed on a computer at the same time. However, if you need to use the other citation system for a specific project or writing assignment, you can, for example, uninstall the Bluebook version of CiteIt! and reinstall the ALWD version of CiteIt! (and vice-versa).

Warning: you must fully uninstall and reinstall the full CiteIt! version, you cannot use a CiteIt! update patch to change citation manuals. If you need to change versions, you should contact Sidebar Software and we can provide you with more detailed directions for this procedure as well as provide you with an additional purchase code for the new version.

CiteIt! has been designed so that in certain cases, you can leave certain fields blank, and CiteIt! will still create the proper citation. There are a number of situations, where by leaving a field blank, CiteIt! will be able to figure out what your intent is and create a proper citation.

An example of how leaving a field blank will result in a proper citation is if you wanted to cite AN ENTIRE CASE to make a general point. In this situation, if you leave the Pinpoint Page field blank, CiteIt! will provide you with a correctly formatted cite form that doesn't include the pinpoint page.

Another common example would be a situation where because the case reporter unambiguously indicates the court name, therefore you don't want to include the court name in the year parenthetical. Again, if you can simply leave the court name field blank and CiteIt! will create a proper citation.

Therefore, if you run across a situation where CiteIt! is including information that you don't want in the citation, you can generally just omit that information on the "Add New Cite" screen and CiteIt! will be able to come up with the cite forms that you need.

Simply choose "Font" from the "Style" pull-down menu on the main CiteIt! screen and select your desired font.

Simply choose "Select Signal Style" from the "Style" pull-down menu on them main CiteIt! screen. Then use the four formatting buttons to select the right text characteristics for your signals.

In any field in CiteIt!, Control+P will create the paragraph symbol, and Control+S will create the section symbol.

CiteIt! was designed to insert citations at the exact location of your cursor in your Microsoft Word document. If it appears that CiteIt! is inserting or deleting spaces between your cursor and the citation, this is likely a result of Word's "Smart Cut and Paste" feature being enabled. To turn "Smart Cut and Paste" off, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose Options from the Tools pull-down menu in Microsoft.

2. Click the Edit tab.

3. Uncheck "Use Smart Cut and Paste" then Click OK

Note that when inserting a cite sentence, CiteIt! will automatically add two spaces after the end period of the citation.

If you have already previously imported or marked citations in a particular document, when you import or mark the document again, CiteIt! may incorrectly think that the citations are duplicates and not import or mark the citations in the document. If this occurs, simply select New from the File pull-down menu on the main CiteIt! screen to start with a new citation file and then try the import process again.

In order to accurately mark short citations, CiteIt! must first find a long form of the citation which which contain all of the citation information. Therefore, if CiteIt! does not mark a short form of a citation, make sure that there is a corresponding long form for that citation and that the long citation appears before any short form for that citation, which this is also a requirement for accurate citation.

Because CiteIt! uses your word processor's table of authorities functionality, if you are familiar with how to mark citations manually with your word processor, you can mark the citations using that method. If you are not familiar with that process, you can insert the citation into your document with CiteIt!, and CiteIt! will automatically mark the citation. If you don't yet have the citation in your CiteIt! database, you can enter that citation into CiteIt! manually and then insert the citation into your document.

The Advanced and Professional Editions of CiteIt! can automatically create table of authorities tags in Word and WordPerfect. The characters that you seeing after the citation which look like "{/ta /1... etc.}" is the Microsoft Word table of authorities fields.

If you don't want to see these fields in Word, choose Tools>Options>View from the Word pull-down menus and make sure that the "Hidden Text" and "All" check boxes are unchecked.

If you don't want CiteIt! to insert Table of Authorities fields as you insert citations, then you can select Configure in the CiteIt! pull-down menus and uncheck the "Insert Table of Authorities Fields" entry.

Yes. Sidebar provides site license discounts for professional version purchases.

For a quick introduction to the benefits of using CiteIt!, you can view our interactive demo which will show you how to create legal citations and tables of authorities with CiteIt!. For a more hands-on experience, you can download a trial version of CiteIt! and have a Sidebar Software representative take you through a quick 15 minute "phone tour" of CiteIt!. For more information, you can e-mail Sidebar's sales staff at sales@sidebarsoft.com or call Sidebar toll-free at (877) SIDEBAR (743-3227).

If within thirty days after your initial purchase you decide that you would like to buy additional seat licenses, Sidebar will total the copies of CiteIt! purchased in the first and second transaction and provide you with a volume discount on the total purchase. If you decide that you would like to order additional copies of CiteIt!, or have any questions about this policy, please e-mail sales@sidebarsoft.com or call Sidebar toll-free at (877) SIDEBAR (743-3227) and a sales representative will assist you on your purchase.

Sidebar can either work with your systems integrator or with your firm directly. Also, if you do not have an integrator and are looking for technology assistance, Sidebar will be happy to offer a recommendation to one in your area.

When you open up CiteIt! from within your word processor, CiteIt! looks in the same directory as that document and attempts to open the ".cit" file with the same name as your document. If it is unable to locate a ".cit" file with the same name, then it will ask you if you would like to create a new ".cit" file.

What probably happened was that the ".cit" file that you had created earlier is not in the same directory, or it has a different name than your document. Simply find the previous ".cit" file on your system and copy or move it into the same directory as your document, making sure that it is named the same as the document but with a ".cit" file extension.