Breaking up a collection into subfolders

cormanaz

I frequently find myself creating a collection, then as it grows wanting to organize its items into subfolders. When I create a subfolder and drag an item into it, it now appears in the main folder and the subfolder. If I move the item in the main folder to the trash it deletes the item in both the main and subfolder. Is it only possible to copy but not to move items? If so that would make Zotero the only such system I know of that works that way.

mjthoraval

Show Items from Subcollections
By default, items added to a subcollection do not automatically appear in parent collections. This can be changed by toggling “Show Items from Subcollections” in the View menu. This setting is not currently available in the online library.

https://www.zotero.org/support/collections_and_tags#show_items_from_subcollections

And also this one:

By default, the items will be added to the new collection but won't be removed from their original location.
To move items between collections, hold down Cmd (Mac) or Shift (Windows/Linux) when dragging items to the new collection.

https://www.zotero.org/support/collections_and_tags#adding_items_to_collections

cormanaz

Hmm...this is strange for two reasons. First, I never set up my desktop client to override what you say is the default not to show subcollection items in parent collections, yet they are showing. Second my view menu doesn't have a "Show Items from Subcollections" option. According to the update checker I have the latest version. I can't find any relevant setting in preferences.

mjthoraval

Which version are you using?

cormanaz

6.0.30 on Windows 10

mjthoraval

I have a Zotero 6.0.30 running on Windows 10, and the "Show Items from Subcollections" does appear in the View menu (the last one). So it seems to be strange indeed.
Do you have any plugin running?

That option is still available from the Config Editor in the Advanced tab of the Preferences. What value do you see when you search for "recursiveCollections"?
You can change it from there for testing, but you should also figure out why it doesn't appear in your View menu.

See an old post on this before it was added to the View menu:
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/17117/solved-subcollection-items-not-shown-in-collection

adamsmith

If you drag an item from one collection to another, including to a child collection, the item is in both places. You need to shift-drag or delete the item from the original collection (*not* put it in the trash). The show subcollections option is irrelevant here

cormanaz

OK now this is really getting strange. I just dropped it down again, it is there, and it's a completely different group of menu items. Does it change based on context?

Anyway, it was unckecked. So I checked it an unchecked it, and the items from subcollections are still there. Again, to be clear, these items started in a main collection and I then created subfolders in an attempt to move them around. Instead of moving they seem to have copied.

cormanaz

OK so I removed a duplicated item from the child collection, the click-dragged to put it back, and it's still in both places. When I right-click on the parent item, the menu does not have remove or delete, only move to trash.

adamsmith

You would only not have that option if you are looking at an item at My library (or the top level of a group library)

adamsmith

(and I said shift-drag, not click drag)

cormanaz

I meant shift-drag and I am looking at the top level of a group library.

mjthoraval

A group library behaves the same as "My Library":

Remember that the “My Library” view always shows all items in your library, so you cannot “move” items out of this view. To see only items that do not belong to any collection in your library, open the Unfiled Items special collection.

https://www.zotero.org/support/collections_and_tags#adding_items_to_collections