tagging multiple items at once?

FizzGlow
Hello! I searched the forum and the docs, but didn't spot anything like this; is there a way I can select a group of items in a Zotero collection, then add the same tag to all of them at once? I've been able to add tags one item at a time with no trouble, but I'm keeping track of my reading assignments for a class and have thus run into a situation where I frequently add several PDFs at once that are ALL note-taking handouts, OR ALL required readings, etc.

Any ideas? Thanks!
  • adamsmith
    You can drag a set of items to a tag in the tag selector on the left.
    For colored tags, you can also press the assigned number key to assign (and unassign) multiple tags at once.
  • FizzGlow
    Ah, brilliant! I'd been trying to do the reverse and drag the tags onto the items. :) All set now. Thank you!
  • Gurdas_Sandhu
    Assigning colored tags by number key - thanks, did not know that!
  • andymeek
    Thanks adam smith - that's brilliant!
  • kbcohen
    Thanks--the number key idea would be great. How can I found out which numbers I have already assigned?
  • adamsmith
    If you have a colored tag, right-click it and it will say so. If you don't have a colored tags (colored tags always show at the top of the tag selector on the left bottom, so you'd know), they keyboard numbers are shown (and adjustable) as you make tags colored (right-click --> Assign tag color)
  • edward.langham
    Nice tips, thanks!
  • Alb
    Would it be possible to also remove the tag from the selected items?
    I mean, first you select and drop the entries over the tag you want to add and then if you just repeat the same you'd remove it (like a switcher)?
    Hope to be clear enough,

    Cheers
  • qqbb
    @Alb: You can use colored tags to quickly remove or add tags. See here.

    The Zutilo add-on can be useful for tagging multiple items at once. You can set keyboard shortcuts for these functions:
    https://github.com/willsALMANJ/Zutilo/blob/master/docs/COMMANDS.md#item-menu-functions
  • Alb
    @qqbb thanks for the usefull hints! If I understood correctly, zutilio can delete all tags from items but the solution proposed with the colored tag (https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/220878/#Comment_220878) covers my case.

    Considering this solution I agree with @SaskiaP comment that it would be usefull/nice (but not crucial at least from my point of view) to have a direct solution (drag and drop as I proposed or something specific in a context menu)
  • dstillman
    @Alb: It looks like we actually implemented a version of that five years ago, forgot to announce it as new in Zotero 5, and then broke it last year. In any case, in the latest Zotero beta, you can remove a tag from one or more items by dragging the items to the tag selector and holding down Shift (Windows/Linux) or Cmd (Mac) while dropping. This will be included in 5.0.86.
  • Alb
    That's great, looking forward for the next release update then!

  • fschuman
    Dragging multiple items to a tag is brilliant!

    A suggestion (as a feature request), could it also be made the other way around: dragging a tag towards a group of selected items ?

    The feels so much more intuitive to me. It's for way that comes to mind for tagging multiple times. The other way - dragging multiple items on the tag - just didn't occur to me. I only found out about it because at some point I thought it must be possible to tag multiple items, and then googled it.
    (And now I know, great to have this, but perhaps the other direction could be possible as well sometime ?)


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