"Basic search": folder or Library

bjohas

I would love to be able to select whether the basic search window searches in the current collection or the current library. I've described this problem before. Say I have some papers in a collection. Now I want to check e.g. whether there are duplicates (not found by the duplicate detection) or whether there are other papers by the same authors.

I then have to
- click the library
- do the search (keyboard shortcut)
- go back to the folder

It would be much neater to be able to be able to set the basic search to search the whole library, in which case you can just use the keyboard shortcut to do the whole thing (no mouse clicking).

(The search could be done via the advanced search, which means being able to have a separate window open that you can switch to more easily. But, the fields in the advanced search, and what you can do with the search results differs... hence doesn't quite work for my use cases.)

dstillman

The problem (as I've probably said in the past) is that it just doesn't work conceptually from the main search bar, which, like the tag selector, is actually a filter, not a search.

But I certainly recognize the problem, and I think there are some ways we can help with this, both in the advanced search window (equivalents to the quick search modes, right-click/delete/etc. in the results) and in the main window.

bwiernik

One UI option I would love to see to this effect is a button to "Repeat search in My Library [or Group Name]" or similar next to the Quick Search bar when a Quick Search filter is applied in a collection. This would change the focus to the library root and apply the same filter.

bjohas

@bwiernik Or, similarly, a button that 'locks' the filter. Then, if you click on the root or another folder, the filter is maintained.

@dstillman - sure, thanks! Happy to have this improved in whatever way suits!

dstillman

Or, similarly, a button that 'locks' the filter. Then, if you click on the root or another folder, the filter is maintained.

Thunderbird's pin button is a good example of that (though one that I've never remembered to use in many years of using Thunderbird).