Feature Request: A toggle button to 'Condense' the Item Pane view to exclude empty fields

jvoros

Hi all,

I've looked to see if this has been requested, but not seen it. Apologies if I have missed such a request.

Way back when it was still around, ProCite had a handy feature wherein one could choose (via a toggle button) to view the item info (in what is the Item Pane in Zotero) with the empty fields _excluded_ from the view. This allowed for a condensed view that could resized so that all relevant info was visible on screen without the need to scroll to see it. This made working with the item pane quite efficient.

Of course, this type of feature was never implemented in EndNote. Now that I have made the switch and gone all-in with Zotero, I thought I'd raise the question of whether this very handy feature is being planned.

I hope it is, because while it is a small thing, it does make workflow just that little bit more frictionless.

Thanks for all your efforts with Zotero. I am finding it to be a really terrific citation manager, especially with Better BibTeX. I also really enjoy the fact that it is possible to export to a BibTeX file (and **keep it updated**) which I use as the source file for Zettlr.

dstillman

This has been something we've considered since the very beginning, but the reason not to do it is that it actually makes editing less efficient, because to edit a field that's missing (e.g., to add a date, or a publication title) you have to first reveal the missing fields, as opposed to being able to just click in them and start typing.

jvoros

Hmm. Well, that's why a toggle button, for example on the frame of the item pane, would be handy, as an option to be used if required.

My workflow moves between bulk editing and adding records, which obviously needs all fields to be visible, and simply viewing (but not editing) records during other work tasks. The option to choose either mode via a simple toggle would still leave it to the end-user to choose the mode that suits their current workflow in the moment.

qqbb

@jvoros: Maybe Zotero reports could be suited for what you're after. You can set keyboard shortcut for reports with the Zutilo add-on.

jvoros

Hi @qqbb,

I do have Reports installed, and that functionality is quite nifty - so thanks for the idea - it's just that it is much more convenient & efficient to look at the condensed format on screen (which is what I used to do with ProCite, All Those Years Ago™) rather than generate the Reports. However, the Reports format is still good for generating hard-copies of needed Refs, so thanks again.

adamsmith

There's a plugin that generates a citation preview in one of the tabs on the right -- that always seemed like the right approach to me for a quick item overview. Came out about 4 weeks ago, shouldn't be hard to find on the forum (not sure if it ever got added to the list of add-ons)

jvoros

@adamsmith : You mean this one: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/378914/#Comment_378914 ?

Yes, now installed. Very handy, but not quite what I am looking for, unless there is a style that shows all non-empty fields.

Thanks.

jvoros

A follow-up to the above: I installed the Report Customizer and am finding it excellent, so a thank-you to @emilianoheyns for another great add-on!

emilianoeheyns

Very welcome.

jvoros

I am still wondering if anyone has come up with an add-on for this (what seems to me to be a) fairly simple feature.

Put simply, a toggle, or perhaps a tab, in the Item Pane that "collapses" the view to only show the non-empty fields. As I noted above, the old ProCite had this as a toggle button in its main view. It is a small thing, but I do miss the simplicity of just viewing the non-empty info on a single screen, most especially in the Stacked View.

So, still hoping...