Backspace behaviour can be confusing.

sparkyc

In firefox, backspace is a navigation key, taking you back to the previous page/anchor. In most other (windows) applications I use which have some sort of object browser (files, music tracks, etc), it does either the same thing or nothing, and has a very different function from the delete key.

--edit The big exception here being that it does delete stuff in a document-editing context, but to my mind that usage is quite seperate.

In zotero, backspace does exactly the same thing as delete - it tries to delete an entry. I sometimes try to use backspace in zotero without thinking to return to a previous item/collection, and get a delete confirmation instead. This isn't really a biggie, especially since I have to confirm, but on Windows at least (and I think Linux, but can't test right now) it would be good if backspace could follow convention and do navigation.

Just a thought.

ams_esg

Yes, I experience this too, and it's rather frustrating. Going to have to return and rebuild a lot of stuff I deleted WITHOUT getting a delete confirm dialogue...

adamsmith

ams: If you didn't get a delete dialogue it's almost certainly not deleted. Probably you just removed something from a collection - it's likely still in your library. (note that collections are not like folders - the same item can be in several collections or in no collection at all)

I'm not sure I agree on the original post. I think most people assume backspace does delete stuff.

dstillman

In firefox, backspace is a navigation key, taking you back to the previous page/anchor.

Yes, backspace can be used as a navigation key, but on OS X, Backspace is nevertheless equivalent to Delete in Places (the Firefox bookmark manager), which is analogous to the Zotero items list. On Windows XP, however, Backspace doesn't appear to delete in Places, so it might make sense to unbind Backspace from delete on Windows for consistency.

ams_esg

Thanks, Adamsmith, for your post.

Just to elaborate a bit to explain how this problem might occur:

I go between XP and OSX - sometimes running XP on a Mac. I've deleted a lot of stuff inadvertently due to keyboard layout and dumb speed. Indeed, it may only be removed from the collection, but I put things in collections for a reason, and if I don't know I've deleted it (which is usually the case), it can cause a little trouble/frustration later (especially if I think I'm providing all the necessary citations for something, when I'm not). When I've noticed I did it, then it's sometimes easy to fix -- but sometimes I don't even know which item I've deleted, if, for example, I've just imported a bunch of stuff and I'm not yet familiar with the contents.

I think unbinding backspace from delete in XP is a very good idea. As for OS X, the issue there is one of user (well, my!) habits: I'm so used to using backspace to navigate that I sometimes use delete to navigate but because Zotero is open and in focus, I end up deleting, same issues, etc.

Thanks!

mark

I agree on the desirability of unbinding backspace from delete in XP. It's unexpected behaviour for Windows users, and especially confusing in case of items in collections (where it removes items without asking for confirmation).

Rintze

Yes, backspace can be used as a navigation key, but on OS X, Backspace is nevertheless equivalent to Delete in Places (the Firefox bookmark manager), which is analogous to the Zotero items list.

An important difference between item lists in Zotero and Places is that for the latter, the visual cue for what's been selected (the web page or the Places-window/Zotero-pane) is much clearer. I had to unlearn using backspace as a navigation button in Firefox on MacOS X due to many accidental item-from-collection-removals in Zotero.

Could we perhaps get a item-from-collection-removal-confirmation popup? Maybe as a hidden pref?