Add Note from Annotations (as 1 note per annotation so note tags show up individually in search?)

machadorobert
When I annotate a PDF, add tags to those annotations, then use the function: Add Note from Annotations, all annotations are then combined into 1 Zotero note. If I then search a collection for tags, the search results just show that one (in my case, long) Zotero note without showing which notes from annotations have which tags; I have to go back to the PDF and read through the annotations to see which annotations have which tags. Is there a way to Add Note from Annotations as one Zotero note per annotation, so that each annotation becomes a separate Zotero note, which would then allow the tags for each note to be more directly searched and located? Thanks much!
  • kjetildk
    But should it just be possible to search directly for annotations? And be directed directly to the location in the file where the annotation is. Or isn't this possible? If its possible to generate notes for annotations, the it also should be possible to include annotations in search and open document at location of annotation.

    Maybe I misunderstood your ask, that you prefer to have notes for all annotation (which will also be a long list) :-)

    Anyhow do agree that the need for a better structure to get back to where the annotation was written would have been nice.
  • dstillman
    Annotations will be viewable in the items list in a future version and be searchable directly, and yes, that will likely be the best option here. For now, you can search for annotation comments and tags, but the parent attachments are what will show up as matches.

    Annotation tags aren't applied to notes created from annotations, though we could consider that. Creating an individual note for each annotation doesn't make sense, though — that would just be duplicating data for no reason. Direct matching of annotations will be the solution there.
  • ulahcherubim
    Well, I have been trying to overcome this limitation by creating a note per annotation. It's pretty easy with pdf reader's right pane and add item note option. Instead of doing it twice and having limited searching capacity, I just walk the walk. But since you care about what you annotated and not what you noted, this option may seem unnecassary to you. But using this option, if you want to jump to pdf to see the context, just click on the auto-created citation via adding an item note from an annotation, it will take you to the corresponding page of the pdf.
  • ulahcherubim
    @dstillman It might be not reasonable for most users to create an individual note per annotation but that is exactly how I use them. In future implementations, hope you consider people like me (though I don't believe there's many of us).
  • emirsale
    edited February 14, 2024
    It is just a point in the area of atomic-notes workflow. And there is no clear way to implement it without using strange plugins like Better Notes, Zotcard or external md editors with an excessive sequence of plugins (Obsidian: Zotlit/Zotero-Integration+Dataview+Creases+List Callouts+Kanban etc. (Feral Flora workflow), comparably complicated Obsidian workflow of Alexandra Phelan, and so on). But the native, plugin-less framework with clear UX within Zotero is the very expected thing.
  • dstillman
    But what do you actually want to do with those individual notes? As I say, individual annotations will be shown as separate items in the items list in a future version. So what does that not accomplish that duplicating those as separate notes would?
  • if87
    @dstillman

    "Annotations will be viewable in the items list in a future version and be searchable directly"

    Hi, was this feature implemented in the last versions or Zotero 7 beta?
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