Search is slower in version 5?

sharachchandra · November 21, 2017

I notice that in version 5, if one types in a keyword in the search window, a spinning wheel (?) pops up to the left of the window, and then the search results show up in the middle window. More important, the searching seems much more sluggish than in version 4, where just typing in a word fragment would immediately start filtering the list of references in the middle window. Have others noticed this phenomenon?

dstillman · November 21, 2017

a spinning wheel (?) pops up to the left of the window, and then the search results show up in the middle window

The spinner is just an indicator that a search is ongoing— in Zotero 4 it blanked out the middle pane and said that a search was in progress.

Speed shouldn't be any different from 4. If you're finding it slow, make sure you're not in "Everything" mode ("Title, Creator, Year" is fastest). If it's still slow, provide a Debug ID for a search.

sharachchandra · November 23, 2017

Thanks, Dan.

Maybe it is just psychological, but i sense a slightly longer pause before getting results in version 5 than in version 4. But will wait to see if others have the same experience.

muneca8320 · November 23, 2017

I have experienced the same thing. While Title, Creator, Year is ok, "Everything" mode definitely feels slower than the same mode felt in 4.

zurpher · March 6, 2018

+1

For me it also seems slower – every search including 'Title, Creator, Year'. I have a very large database with many entries. However, it has not grown significantly after the version 5 upgrade.

The slow search of version 5 annoys me so much that I decided to invest in a SSD. I really hope this brings desirable speed improvements.