Can't copy improved entries back to original Group library

caspar.trimmer · May 23, 2019

I've been creating small project Group libraries using entries from a much larger Group library. If I improve an entry in the project library – even if I change item type, author or title – I can't copy that improved version back into the original library.
If I delete the original entry (in the original library) and try to copy the improved entry back into the original library in its place, the original entry reappears instead.
I find this weird, as Zotero recognizes the entries in the different libraries as separate entities.

It's frustrating, as working these project libraries is often a good opportunity to tidy up poorly done library entries.

Can anyone explain why this is happening and if there's a workaround?

Thanks

dstillman · May 23, 2019

If I delete the original entry (in the original library) and try to copy the improved entry back into the original library in its place, the original entry reappears instead.

Empty the trash in the original library first, and then copy the items back.

(This will be fixed in an upcoming version.)

caspar.trimmer · May 23, 2019

Thanks a lot! I'm constantly impressed with how responsive and clear people are on this forum.

caspar.trimmer · May 23, 2019

I'm interested to know how it will be fixed. If I delete the original entry and clear it from trash that means I can't merge the original and improved entries, so I lose links in any documents citing the original entry. Will that still be the case?

dstillman · May 23, 2019

No, when this is fixed, it will overwrite the existing item and preserve citation links.

caspar.trimmer · May 23, 2019

That's great. But I do wonder about cases where, for example, an original Book entry has been used to create a new Book Section entry, or for some reason you want to keep both the original and the edited version (say one has a translation of the title and the other one doesn't, for use in different contexts). Would it be possible to have a "keep both" option, or an option to simply break the link between the original and the moved copy?

dstillman · May 23, 2019

Would it be possible to have a "keep both" option, or an option to simply break the link between the original and the moved copy?

Maybe. There are a lot of tricky situations here, which is part of the reason this doesn't work better yet.

for some reason you want to keep both the original and the edited version (say one has a translation of the title and the other one doesn't, for use in different contexts)

If you're going to duplicate it anyway, you could just duplicate the item in your personal library before dragging it to the group, and then delete the duplicate in your personal library.