Highlight searched words within items

strangec · June 1, 2017

In EndNote, after opening any item in a library it is possible (using 'go to') to highlight any symbol, number, word or string of words that appear in the selected item.

Is it not possible to do the same in Zotero? This is an essential feature I have used in EndNote, as I take long notes on cases and I currently copy large chunks of text into WORD to search, which is inefficient. Thanks

bwiernik · June 2, 2017

When you open a PDF in your PDF viewer (Adobe, Preview, Reader, etc.), you can use that program's search functions. Currently, Zotero has no way to show blocks of text in the Zotero window when searching full-text of items. Such a feature is generally, but no ETA on when it will be implemented.

adamsmith · June 2, 2017

I think this may be about searching within notes? I don't have the beta here right now, but I believe that's available in the beta.

strangec · June 2, 2017

Thanks. Yes, that's what I need to search, within notes (not searching pdfs, which is not the problem). How is it possible to access the Beta version, please?

adamsmith · June 2, 2017

Beta is here: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/59829/zotero-5-0-beta/p1
just confirmed that it indeed has search (&replace) in individual notes. It's not the greatest implementation, to be honest, (you can't edit the note and have the search window open at the same time) but it works pretty well.

strangec · June 6, 2017

Hi. Sorry to take so long to thank you. I'm playing it cautious and fully backing up my library before I take the plunge. I've also asked a Zotero instructor for help converting my Zotero library back to Endnote. I tried it and the formatting is a mess. I never would have switched to Zotero if I'd known the search function was so poor. Thanks for your help.