Zotero: PDF: right pane: notes

grahamperrin
@RamonMi wrote:

"You can click the '+' in the Notes section on the right pane …"

Very useful, thanks.

Can we have Item Notes visible by default?

I previously assumed that there was some file type-based restriction, because scrolling to the foot of the pane does not reveal anything relevant:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u9523/ah515cvxvp1gmz044gxj.png

It took a while for me to realise that there's a separate button to replace the default contents of the pane (nothing for notes) with two notes-oriented sections.

Thanks
  • RamonMi
    Can we have Item Notes visible by default?
    Do you mean pin section and unpin section?

    A separate line exists between the grouped side pane icons ( which can be pinned) and the Notes icon. And the notes section can not be pinned.

    PS: The notes section does not belong to the grouped sections, so we cannot scroll to the foot of the page to read it.
  • dstillman
    I think @grahamperrin is asking why item notes don't appear along with the other item-details sections as they do in the main library view.

    Notes have special behavior in the reader to account for workflows where you want to edit the same note across different tabs — that's why there's a separate Notes pane. Having item notes also be in the details pane would be confusing and would require a duplicate notes icon in the sidenav (which appears in the screenshot above, but I think that's caused by some plugin — it doesn't appear there by default).
  • grahamperrin
    edited 13 days ago
    … workflows where you want to edit the same note across different tabs …
    Different tabs for a single item?
  • dstillman
    No, different items.
  • grahamperrin
    … a duplicate notes icon in the sidenav (which appears in the screenshot above, but I think that's caused by some plugin …
    I had not noticed duplication of an icon, thank you.

    In retrospect: the uppermost Notes icon seems to be a misrepresentation of the Non Duplicates feature of version 3.0.8 of Zoplicate. The two words are visible at the foot of the earlier screenshot.

    @chenglongma with Zotero upgraded to 7.0.15.SOURCE.ef52cd042 (64-bit) and, presumably, the same version of Zoplicate, there is a distinctive icon, in an orderly position. The new Zotero is in the background in the screenshot below.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u9523/7ydnsbt2f0kwmk7xxvcj.png
  • grahamperrin
    It took a while for me to grasp the 'shared note' or 'multi-item note' workflow:
    • partly because of the earlier learning that a non-modified drag-and-drop (to the Collections Pane) produces a copy, not a move, so I instinctively experimented with the Shift key modifier, could not achieve anything other than a move
    • partly because I experimented with drop of an example note on a PDF that lacks a parent item (impossible)
    • partly because I sought a relevant option in the context menu for the note.
    Whilst focusing on those possible approaches – with a maximised window, much larger than what's pictured below – I failed to notice the Related tab. (UX: bottom right, visually the farthest from all things on which my eyes were focused.)

    https://www.zotero.org/support/notes#tagging_and_relating taught me what to do. Neat.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u9523/mqvyf5st3yh2vsb4q17t.png

    Discovered without documentation: the context menu option to create a parent.
  • dstillman
    edited 13 days ago
    That's not what I'm referring to, though. This is about the Notes pane in the reader. It lets you switch between tabs and work on the same item note or standalone note. The behavior is subtle and hard to explain, but basically, if you try to edit the same note across tabs, it will let you, while still letting you edit other notes in other tabs. It only makes logical sense because of the separate notes pane.
  • grahamperrin
    Thanks, I think I discovered that already.

    Also, the separate window for a note, where clicking a related item will reveal the related item in the main Zotero window. Very intuitive.

    The earlier mental block was the inability to have a single note for more than one item.
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