note panel display - toggling between old and new?

echoesinthestairwell

I am using Zotero 7.0.6 on Mac OS Sequoia 15.1. Sometimes when I am adding notes the side panel displays notes for the current item and all items (as it did in older versions of Zotero). It also allows me to search notes in the side panel and returns a list of notes (from all items) meeting the search criteria. If I need to add another note there is a 'back' arrow in the upper left of the side panel that lets me exit the current note and return to a side panel that displays notes for the current note at the top and all recent items below.

At other times, I get only the new Zotero 7 type side panel and I can only toggle a drop down list notes icon that gives only a list of notes for the current item. If I click on the '+' button to add a new note, the side panel displays only that note and there is no back arrow in the upper left of the side panel to return to the item. If I want to add another note, I have to click on the item in the center panel and then click the '+' button on the side panel. There is no search bar in the side panel that returns a list of notes from all items fitting the search criteria. The search bar available at the top only searches the current note.

Presumably I have toggled the behavior of the notes/side panel with an inadvertent swipe of the trackpad. How do I return to the first (older) type of notes/side panel behavior?

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

echoesinthestairwell

Another difference I should note is the order in which notes are displayed: In the first mode they are ordered by time modified, and in the second alphabetically.

dstillman

I think you're just confused here. There are no "old" and "new" modes. The item pane works differently between the library view and the reader.

In the library view, you only see data for the selected item, including a section for any child notes.

In the reader, child notes don't appear in the main item-details pane. Instead, there's a separate Notes pane with separate sections for child and standalone notes, because you might want to take notes on multiple documents in a single note or vice versa.

This worked the same way in Zotero 6.

echoesinthestairwell

Apologies for the bother, I just figured it out. The difference is when I am viewing a collection versus an item in a tab. The latter corresponds to what I was taking as the first (older) mode of behavior. Double-clicking on an item in a collection, thus opening it in a tab, produces the behavior I am seeking.

dstillman

Right, that's what I explained above. As I say, it's about the library view (the first tab) vs. the reader (all other tabs).

echoesinthestairwell

Thank you, you're right. I was confused. Our messages crossed. But this might be helpful for questions about searching notes, i.e. that an item tab provides an additional (display) option besides the general search - https://www.zotero.org/support/notes.