What happened to the PDF preview?

kayarros
I used to be able to see a preview of the pdf in the pdf window but now I only see a link. This makes it very difficult to categorize pdfs because I have to open each one in a new tab then work back and forth between tabs to make notes and add tags. This makes Zotero unusable for my purposes. This used to work. It may have started happening after the last upgrade. Can I go back to my previous version? I would be lost without Zotero but it's not workable this way.


Thanks for the help.
  • dstillman
    Zotero has never had that. There's a plugin that does it.
  • dstillman
    @kayarros: At least, if you're talking about a PDF preview tab in the right-hand pane in the main library view. If you mean something else, you'll need to say more.
    I have to open each one in a new tab then work back and forth between tabs to make notes and add tags
    I'm not sure what you mean by this, though. You can open the right-hand pane in the PDF reader to add tags to the item and take notes.
  • kayarros
    Thank you so much for your comment! I’m not sure what I’m remembering about the process—only that I had to create a bunch of tags earlier this summer and it wasn’t such a pain as it was yesterday. Maybe I was working on two screens?

    Anyhow—I found “Zotero PDF Preview” on GitHub. It is fantastic.

    Https://GitHub.com/windingwind/Zotero-pdf-preview.
  • dstillman
    edited November 22, 2022
    Again, though, you can edit metadata, tags, and notes while actually viewing the PDF in the built-in PDF reader. With that plugin, you have to switch back and forth between the Preview tab and the other tabs. You may prefer having the Preview tab in the library view in general, but for the actual task you're identifying, I'm not seeing why you wouldn't want to do it in the PDF reader.
  • kayarros
    Because of efficiency. I have over 3500 pdfs that I need to reviewed, sorted into subcollections and tagged. With the pdf viewer, I only need to click on the line then I can instantly see the pdf and sort it into the subcollection.

    I can also instantly see whether or not I need to tag the item. If not, I can quickly move to the next line.

    Without the preview viewer I have to right click on the Zotero item > choose "open pdf" > switch tabs > wait for it to load> review the information > switch back to the other tab > sort into the subcollection then if it needs to be tagged, I need to back to the tab > review the information > switch back to the other tab >add a tag > switch back to the preview > add another tag, if needed.

    This might now seem like a big deal, but with 3500 pdfs, having the ability to instantly see which subcollection(s) the pdf needs to be sorted into is invaluable. In addition, I don't have great working memory so if I need to sort it into several subcollections, I have to work back and forth several times to get all of them.

    With tags, I only have to tag a few of them so having to manually open them to see whether or not they need to be opened is also an issue. I don't want to open a bunch of pdfs to see IF they need to be tagged. With the PDF viewer, I only need to click on the line to determine whether the pdf needs a tag. If not, I can move on to the next line but with Zotero OOTB functionality, I have to open every pdf to see if I need to tag it.

    And then we have the third example of a pdf that doesn't need a tag or categorized because it doesn't belong in the collection. I can also instantly see this and delete it.

    This might not seem like a big deal, but I estimate that having to click on the pdf > Choose "open pdf" > wait for it to load > switching tabs multiple times wastes ~ 3 seconds per pdf. (3500 x 3 sec)/60 = 175 minutes --That's a lot of non-value added time spent.


  • dstillman
    OK, you hadn't mentioned collections — that you'd obviously need to do in the main pane. Though I'm not really clear on why seeing the PDF in a tiny preview pane would be necessary to sort something into a collection?
    Without the preview viewer I have to right click on the Zotero item > choose "open pdf" > switch tabs > wait for it to load> review the information > switch back to the other tab > sort into the subcollection then if it needs to be tagged, I need to back to the tab > review the information > switch back to the other tab >add a tag > switch back to the preview > add another tag, if needed.
    It's still not clear to me that you understand that you can edit metadata, tags, and notes in the right-hand pane of the PDF viewer. You don't need to switch back and forth to add multiple tags. (Also, you can just double-click on items to open their PDFs. You don't need to right-click and select from the menu.)

    We still might implement a built-in PDF preview function, since a lot of people seem to find it useful, but for what it's worth, Zotero 7 will make opening the PDF reader much, much faster.
  • kayarros
    edited November 24, 2022
    Yes. I get your point about being able to edit the tags from the pdf tab but it not nearly enough in terms of time savings. I still have to open the tab EVERY time whether I need to add tags or not.

    If I double click or right click, it’s still a different tab. I don’t want to work back and forth between tabs And yes, if I open a pdf in a tab, I do have to work back and forth because the library is in a different tab. And if I don’t have to open a pdf in a different tab just to see what’s in the paper then that is a big time saver.

  • dstillman
    You edited your post somewhat, but you seem to be seriously misunderstanding what's going on here. I'm the lead developer of Zotero, and I'm trying to 1) make sure you understand Zotero's current capabilities, some of which you seemed to be unaware of and 2) understand your workflow, because user feedback influences future Zotero development. From How Zotero Support Works:
    Beyond technical support, the forums allow the entire community — Zotero developers and users alike — to help shape Zotero's future. Many of Zotero's features began with discussions in the forums, and many changes are the direct result of feedback from users there, so we strongly encourage you to get involved.
    Your original response here was wildly inappropriate. If you're not interested in having normal, polite, productive discussions, don't post here.
  • kayarros
    edited November 24, 2022
    Hence, the post was edited (and edited again) and I apologize.

    That being said, you may want to consider how you respond.

    "it's not clear to me that you understand" and "you don't seem to understand what's going on here" aren't responses designed to solicit opinion. I also work in IT as an IT business analyst and if I framed my comments to users in that way I wouldn't expect to get an open exchange of ideas.
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