Request for upgrading the search function

alevcinar
I have two important requests for the Zotero search function:
1) I have a huge Zotero library with two different accounts each of which have several (in the dozens) collections and many of these have 4-5 level subcollections in them. It is getting increasingly difficult to find a collection in all of this. It would be great if there was a search function similar to Windows-search where typing up the name of the collection can easily display the place of the collection.

2) More importantly: Can you PLEASE add to the Zotero-Search display fields other than Title and Creator? What is absolutely necessary is to add a "Publication" column. It would also be great if a column that shows the location of the item is added.
  • joycekwc
    Re 1 - this already exists. If you are in the library pane, you can start typing the folder name and it will navigate to the collection.
    Re 2 - the quick search field also has an option to search all fields (use the dropdown to change this). You can also sort by publication name (I find this fastest if I have a small collection).

    If you do that search regularly, you could also create a saved search by publication name and then just edit it when you want to search,

    Personally I have never searched by publication name as I generally remember the article name or author, and suspect that would be why this is the default quick search.
  • alevcinar
    Re 1 - yes but that only works for the first letter of the collection. When you have several dozen collections with 2-3 word titles like I do, there is no way to search for a specific collection. Also, if you have several collections which start with the same word, this only takes you to the first one. You can't find the others.

    Re 2 - The problem with quick search is not being able to search fields like tags or notes. If I want to search for a keyword in the Tags field, I get the results with Advanced Search, but I can't see which publication it is in (I have hundreds of journals in my library). I have to click on each entry separately to see the publication. If you know of a faster way to do this, please let me know.
  • joycekwc
    Re 1 - yes, I don't think I ever realised that. I rarely have a lot of subfolders, so it's not usually an issue for me.

    Re 2 - you can change the quick search to 'All fields & tags' using the dropdown arrow in the quick search field, although personally I tend to use Advanced searches for this for faster search and so I can repeat the search. If you use Advanced search, and then save the search (https://www.zotero.org/support/searching#advanced_search), you should be able to open it like any other collection and, if you don't see the Publication title, you can add the Publication title to the middle pane just as you can any other field by right-clicking on the headers and adding 'Publication'.
  • dstillman
    yes but that only works for the first letter of the collection
    No, there's just a regression in the current version that's preventing find-as-you-type from working properly.
  • joycekwc
    Ah, thanks for clarifying @dstillman! I thought that I'd used it for more than two letters in the past, but it isn't a function I use very frequently.
  • wrlssqi
    But when the collection name is not in English letters(such as Chinese or Japanese), the typing and navigating function won't work. It would be really useful to search in collection/subcollection field.
  • rachoz
    when i search in Chinese, it works with a trick. if the title has 10 characters, I type in the first 4-5 and delete 1. then it appears.
Sign In or Register to comment.