How to merge none adjacent items ?

PinaColada

If the items are not adjacent, how do you merge them ?
And is there an indication which collections are merged ?

adamsmith

merge where? For what purpose?
If you mean merge as duplicates, you can do that for any two or more selected items
And you can't merge collections, so I don't understand that part of the question. In general you'll get better&faster answers if you spend a bit more time providing details of what you're trying to do.

PinaColada

If you select 2 or more adjacent items, rightclick, you see the option Merge Items. That is what I refer at. Is there an opposite command to "unmerge"?
I cannot select not-adjacent items.

adamsmith

you can select non-adjacent items using ctrl+click on WIndows/Linux or option+click on Mac. That's not Zotero specific, but true for any list view on your computer. Merge shows up in the right-click menu for such pairs. I'm not sure what you'd want unmerge to do - generally no there is no such function, but you can duplicate an item by right-clicking it.

PinaColada

I had 7 items from YouTube
On merging them I only got one left
The other 6 have just disappeared

dstillman

That's what merging does. What were you trying to accomplish, if not that?

PinaColada

I thougth merging means to collect all those items under one single title. Not to delete them for ever.

dstillman

Well, it puts the other items in the trash. It doesn't delete them forever automatically.

But merging means to merge multiple regular (i.e., top-level, bibliographic) items into a single regular item. Regular items never exist as child items, so what you're describing isn't possible.

And merging is meant for duplicate items. Why would you want to keep the other ones around? Child items (i.e., notes and attachments) from the deleted items are combined under the one remaining item, and the merge interface gives you the option of choosing field versions from different items to keep.

adamsmith

no, that's a misunderstanding, sorry. You should just merge items that are actual duplicates.

PinaColada

Adamsmithy: It is not my intuitive understanding of "merge"
But if that is your terminology, it explains my surprize.
Dan Stillman: Why I would want to keep the other ones around ?
With 7 YouTube films on the same theme (in this case an orchestra with the same conductor) would be nice to collect them in one collection placed under one folder.
I am not sure about your terminlogy such as "folder" vs "collection" but I call folders those that have icons as folders and then I may have collections inside them (but there is no icon for collections)

fbennett

If each of the videos is of a separate performance (even performances of the same work on different dates), each should be recorded as a separate item (as you say). That's the only way to generate correct citations for each, if you need to refer to them in a document.

If they have common characteristics and you want a convenient means of retrieving them as a bundle, you have three options:

• Place them in a common collection (some people call them "folders", but "collection" is the more accurate term);


• Give them a common tag or tags; or


• Inter-link them via the Related tab

The methods are not mutually exclusive; which to choose is a matter of personal preference.

adamsmith

Adamsmithy: It is not my intuitive understanding of "merge"

- that's a language issue then. The English "merge" means exactly that, both in common usage (e.g. if two companies merge, they are one single company afterwards) and in computer terms (merging two files creates a single file). If you're using Zotero in a different language and the term used was confusing and you have a better suggestion, please do let us know.

k1235188

How can I merge items from a collection?

adamsmith

sorry, you need to provide a bit more detail on what you're trying to do.