Does highlight collections an item is in (by pressing Ctrl, Option, or Alt) work on saved searches?

yao.li-rah
Hello Zotero community,

I enjoy using this feature https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/collections_containing_an_item to see all collections an item belongs to by holding down a shortcut key (Ctrl on Windows for example).

But today I realized this feature only highlights **collections**. Pressing the shortcut key does not highlight any saved searches or special collections (like "Duplicate Items") the item is in. Is this the intended behavior of this shortcut? If yes, is there a way to see all saved searches an item is in?

Also I see for Zotero 7 improved collection search is implemented (https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/111074/available-for-beta-testing-zotero-redesigned/p1), which is great news. For clarification, does Zotero 7's collection search include search for saved searches and special collections, or only operate on collections the vanilla kind (for lack of a better word)?

  • dstillman
    No, sorry. That would require running every saved search just to trigger the highlighting, which would likely be too slow.
    I see for Zotero 7 improved collection search is implemented
    It matches anything in the collections pane. To be clear, it's just filtering the titles in that pane — nothing related to items.
  • yao.li-rah
    That's all right, dstillman. I appreciate the confirmation that Ctrl, Option, or Alt shortcut key only highlights regular collections.

    Also you can't nest saved searches (unlike how you can nest subcollections inside a collection), right? I tried to cheat the limitation of the shortcut key by placing a saved search inside a regular collection, which wasn't allowed.

    A final follow up question regarding Zotero 7: Sorry I misunderstood what collection search means (and I am too technologically timid to try out beta version of any software). But in your original post of https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/111074/available-for-beta-testing-zotero-redesigned/p1, the 4th bullet point of the new feature list says:

    > A new item-pane section showing the collections and libraries an item is in

    Does this new feature have the same function of pressing the Ctrl, Option, or Alt key in Zotero 6 but with improved interface? If yes, is it correct to assume that this new item-pane section would still only show regular collections - not any saved searches - an item is in because that would be computationally intensive?
  • dstillman
    Does this new feature have the same function of pressing the Ctrl, Option, or Alt key in Zotero 6 but with improved interface?
    You can decide whether it's improved for you, but it's certainly more discoverable.
    If yes, is it correct to assume that this new item-pane section would still only show regular collections - not any saved searches - an item is in because that would be computationally intensive?
    Yes, sorry.

    But thinking about this more, it might actually be possible to do this in a relatively fast way. No promises, but we'll see what we can do.
  • yao.li-rah
    No problem. Knowing what the highlighting key (and similar feature in the upcoming Zotero 7) does and doesn't do already helps me refine my approach in setting up collections vs. saved searches.

    Plus, thank you for considering the possibility of showing saved searches an item is in. I understand you and your team have other priorities. So if this becomes possible, please share it in the documentation.

    I will check out the new item-pane section in Zotero 7 when it official arrives!
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