Automatically tag references? Or default collection?

toddt
Hi, all. I've just discovered this tool, and it's absolutely fantastic. Thanks to the developers!!

Is there a way to change the default collection for new references? Or a way to automatically tag them?

I'll often skim the table of contents for a particular journal, note several articles I'd like to read, then save them at once for later sorting. It'd be great if I had a way of automatically marking those articles as "To Be Read", until I got around to sorting them.

Of course, this might already exist, and I just don't know which option to check...
  • dstillman
    There's no way to set default tags or collections currently, but it's an interesting idea. The closest you can get currently is with a saved search for items with Date Added in the last x days.

    We'll think about adding something like this—any other feedback is welcome.
  • turkeyphant
    I second the request for some way of auto tagging new references.
  • kkraus
    toddt, you might also consider creating a new collection in the left column of your Zotero pane, calling it something like "To Be Read." Then the next time you browse your favorite journal, you can opt to capture the references and download the full texts directly into that folder.
  • toddt
    kkraus - Thanks for the suggestion. Most of the time, I'm reading through e-mail tables of content or watchlists. Those have direct hyperlinks to the articles, so, for me, it's fairly rare that I'll be at a page that lets me download multiple references at once.

    I could change the way I try to keep current, but I find it's easier just to work around it by manually labelling items as "To Be Read" every so often.

    Obviously, this isn't a show-stopping issue for me, but it seems like it'd be a nice addition to the program. Optionally, it might be nice for a right-click on the Zotero page-icon (in the address bar) to allow you to choose a tag/label, while a left-click continues to insert the reference, untagged, into the main library.
  • fbennett
    Short version: Have come across a bit of a glitch in translator behavior. Zotero does not associate translator-captured items with the last-visited collection until after the Zotero panel has been opened at least once after startup. Most users will not expect this, and it may lead to unnoticed duplicates in user libraries.

    Long version:

    While working to adapt the Nagoya University OPAC translator to a new site design, I noticed that when a translator is run against a page right after starting up Firefox, and before opening the Zotero pane, a captured item is not placed in the current collection (the last-visited collection that Zotero will display when it is opened).

    For people with very large libraries who rarely restart Zotero this may not be very noticeable, but it is unexpected (at least it was to me -- I thought my translator was failing until I stumbled across several captured test items in the main library), and could be a cause of unnoticed duplicates.

    I don't know how difficult it would be (say, whether variables set up during panel initialization are necessary to the capture process), but if possible it would be nice if captures done before Zotero is opened could also be directed to the last-visited collection.
  • abbkell247
    I think having an option to tag things by default (i.e. "To be read") or choose a default collection would be very useful! I hope to see that feature in the future!
  • LiborA
    You can add tag "To-be-read" manually for all items what you can (I do it too), and if you use coloured flag, you see these items directly in the middle pane.
    The item is imported to the focused/actual collection in the Zotero. You can select each collection before importing. And I see somewhere in the forum, that developers will try to implement the possibility to select the collection in the connector, but I do not know, how far it is.
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