Feature suggestion: Each LIBRARY has it's own TAB-BAR

Luram
At the moment the libraries (the little folders on the left), only function as sub-collections of your literature.
But wouldn't it also make sense if, just by clicking on one of the libraries, we could then also see a fresh and clean and empty tab bar? Kind of entering a new work environment, though not even so radical - just concerning the tab bar. So that this library on which we clicked could have it's own 'collection' of pdf-tabs?
Like different windows of a browser that have their own tabs. Right now my Zotero is filled with tabs because I have two projects going for my studies. Both of my projects also have their own little library. It would be easier if I could open the PDF files for project A WITHIN the library 'A', so that I don't see these tabs when I am working OUTSIDE the library of my project A. So when I am inside my library B, then I only see the tabs that I have opened out of library B.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    An interesting idea, Luram. I'd like it, so long as I still have the capacity to view PDFs from different collections side-by-side, if desired.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    If PDFs are the only consideration, possibly a button or menu item or dropdown list that allows you to filter the Reader's PDFs to a collection (and all of its subcollections?).
  • Luram
    I think about it in the following way: If you want to open twho texts in the context of one collection (maybe for comparative reasons), why not including the other text into your other collection. It certainly has something to do with your collection.

    But I think that's only the case, when you create collections with the purpose of collecting in gerne/scientific disciplines. Instead creating collections to organize your PROJECTS this wouldn't be an issue, for you can just insert the text in question into your project.
  • Luram
    I organize my zotero in this latter way, where I use collections for differentiating the projects from one another. But when sorting texts from different genres/scientific disciplines, I use the tags/filter function. The text that is a contribution in a philosophical discourse I give it the tag #PHILOSOPHY (and multiple hashtags for when it's a interdisciplinary contribution). Different types of texts, for instance reviews, textbooks or handbooks, I give them the tag +textbook or +review or +handbook etc.
  • DonnaCoxBaker
    edited September 26, 2023
    My work on any given day can have me bouncing between many things (and I keep just about everything--business, scholarly, and personal--in Zotero).

    To manage the constant bouncing without having to scroll endlessly back and forth, I created a collection folder titled "_Projects in Progress." With the underscore, it rises to the top, just beneath MyLibrary, so I always know exactly where it is. I have a freestanding note in it called "Quick List." I use Zutilo to paste a little menu of links to the collections and/or items in my bouncing day. I open this note into a separate window and place it outside the main Zotero workspace. Then I can move quickly from place to place without having to keep scrolling up and down through all the collections and deep into subcollections.

    Here's what it looks like:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oIFJQanF0uYSCBOqGwPWm7Ke801aSfrG/view?usp=sharing

    It would be cool if Zotero had a way to turn this hack into a feature so that a keyboard shortcut could open a Quick Menu that we can constantly recreate with our items or collections in use at the moment. Maybe even allow for creating multiple quick lists, in case we're moving from project to project. We could just right-click on the thing we want on the list and choose "Add to Quick List" and there it is, until we clear it off that list.

    It's not a collection-specific workspace, I realize, but it could quickly give us a way to isolate our options down to what matters right now.
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