How to move entries from one collection to another?

Ok, this is a pretty basic question – which is why it's pretty frustrating to have to ask it (it seems that either I'm an idiot, or the Zotero interface has some design problems). Here goes: I'm trying to *move an entry from one collection to another*. That's it. I hope you'll forgive me if my initial assumption was that I could move an entry simply by dragging it from one collection to another, since that's how moving is implemented in virtually every other comparable app. I soon realized that this action *copies*, rather than moves, the entry. I then figured that I'd need to delete the entry from the original collection. This seemed to work for a few entries, but after a I while I realized that some of the entries that I deleted from the original collection were also deleted from the collection they were copied to. I ended up losing a bunch of references as a result. Could someone please explain why this is happening. As I mentioned, this issue – whereby every instance of an entry is deleted, even if it has copies in other collections – seems to hold for some entries, but not for others. Is this because some entries were 'merged' and others not? Or because I happened to change a setting at some point? What is the best practice for moving (without copying) an entry from one collection to another? What is the best metaphor for conceptualizing how entries in Zotero work?

(Again, it's somewhat bizarre and frustrating to have to ask this question. I would've thought that software developers had figured out their basic UI design metaphors at least 20 years ago...)
  • Think of collections like playlists or photo albums, not folders. As in most software with this model, dragging items simply adds the item to the destination. Similarly, deleting from the library root moves to the trash, while deleting from a collection simply removes from the collection.

    From Collections and Tags:
    To move items between collections, hold down Cmd (Mac) or Shift (Windows/Linux) when dragging items to the new collection.
    I'd recommend reading through that page to understand better how this works.
  • Thanks for your help!
  • If I put an item in folder A online, and then try to move it to a new folder A.1, I wind up with two copies of that item (in both folders). There is no way to delete the item in folder A without also removing it from folder A.1. This is creating a lot of needless duplication. Why can't we just move items from one folder to another one?
  • @sarad16: Read the above. They're not "copies", and it's not "duplication" — it's the same item in both collections, just like a song existing in multiple playlists. This is an entirely standard way for software to work.

    The modifier key for removing from the source collection doesn't currently work in the online library, but for any significant work in Zotero you want to be using the desktop software, which lets you do that, as I explain above.
  • edited April 26, 2022
    @dstillman - that doesn't work when you're using the online feature. So what's the point of having an online platform if you can't move the items from one to another? Are you saying I should have my main computer with me when I'm in each and every library - even those that have their own? I guess you have better insurance on your laptop than I have on mine.

    Also, I have playlists on 4 separate platforms. I can move without copying just by dragging them on all of them. I've been able to for about 8 years. Please stop telling people that this is a 'normal' function. It's not. It's both counter-intuitive and awful for note management.
  • edited April 26, 2022
    @nsalomone: The desktop app has always been and likely always will be the primary platform for using Zotero. It's what people almost always mean when they say they use "Zotero", it's what all documentation on this website refers to, and it will always have more functionality. We have an open ticket to add a way to do this in the web library, but you should never be surprised if something is possible in the desktop app that isn't available in the web library.

    I don't know what platforms you're referring to, but it's absurd to argue that this isn't entirely standard behavior. On Macs, dragging between playlists/albums in iTunes/Music/iPhoto/Photos has worked this way for 20+ years. Dragging between playlists in Windows Media Player works this way. The Photos app on Windows has an option to add an image to another album but not to move it. Same with Google Photos. This is just how library-based programs generally work, which is why Zotero has done it for 15+ years.

    But there's no point in arguing about this. There's zero chance this will ever change as the default in Zotero. You can use the modifier key in the desktop app, you can just press Delete after dragging in the web library (which hardly seems like a big deal?), and we're planning to add quicker ways to do this in the web library and on iOS in the near future.
Sign In or Register to comment.