pdfs without metadata, doi known

WTStuber

Hi guys
I just started with Zotero and imported a large number of pdfs into the standalone version. Many of them are too old for Zotero to find metadata. I don't mind finding the papers online and get the DOI myself. However I can't seem to find a convenient way to add this information.
So far I have been able to create new items via the DOI and then drag the pdf into that item, but this gets difficult once there are more than 20 or so items on the list and as the pdf have really random file names I am afraid of attaching pdfs to the wrong parent items.
Is there any easy way to add the doi to the pdf in some way and them have Zotero get all other information?
Really sorry if that is already explained somewhere...

adamsmith

No, sorry, I'm afraid what you're doing is currently the easiest way to do this.

WTStuber

In case anyone else has the same problem:
It sort of helped creating a collection where I add the pdfs, create a parent item and then remove them from the collection again. At least this way I can reduce the amount of files for a better overview.
If there was a way to create the parent item directly for the pdf (instead of creating a new item and then adding the pdf) and enter the DOI there this would simplify things a lot.

dstillman

It might make sense to have a "Create Parent Item by Identifier" option in the item context menu for top-level PDFs, along with the existing "Create Parent Item". (Similarly, entering a DOI for an otherwise empty item could populate the rest of the metadata, but that would be a bit harder to discover.)