Hide certain info fields

willemsleegers
Hey all,

Is there a way to hide certain info fields? Rarely do my references have, say, a Library Catalog or Call Number. It would be nice to not clog up the Info pane with mostly empty fields.

Thanks!
  • bwiernik
    Not currently, no.
  • JG_KIT
    Totally agree, but they have a comment from 2015 about adding a feature to hide unused items soon and still in 2021 nothing has happened. So sadly I think, there is not much hope in getting a feature to hide unused fields :/
  • adamsmith
    Depending on difficulty or priorities, features can take many years; that's not at all unusual and doesn't mean they won't eventually happen.
  • Calorion
    +1. Many similar programs hide all empty fields unless you are in an Edit mode. I would like to see this behavior in Zotero.
  • thomasgutjahr
    +1. I would also welcome the option to hide unused fields, especially the item type "journal article" has way too many unused fields.
  • Negyb
    edited February 14, 2025
    +1 yes a simple toggle to collapse or hide unused fields so some other tab (like the attachment) can be visible without the need to scroll
  • drmichh
    +1 The default setting should be set to "No Show" emtpy fields. For editing the fields, the already existing function "Expand All" can be used.

    If one regards the wider context, the whole concept of setting different fields for different Item Types becomes obsolete. (Which I personally think positive. )
    The Item Type could become a simple descriptor (like a tag), and all fields are always open to be filled.
    This will have more benefits:
    - the fields which are accessible for a given Item Type are presently rather arbitrary. This will vanish. (Why does the Item Type Document NOT allow number of pages? )
    -new item types can be easily added, such as "Manual", "Prompt", "IFU" or other categories useful to the user
    - bulk changes or copy-paste (like with Zutilo) can be implemented

    Right now the behaviour is very annoying because it distracts and wastes desktop acreage.
  • anbuwi
    +1 Would be great to have a toggle option to hide unpopulated fields
  • clitesbr
    +1 for the option to hide unused fields under the INFO for each item.

    Even better, Zotero should add the option to customize fields within an entire library (so that each user can hide the fields not relevant to their citations & collections).

    An additional improvement would be a set of pre-populated INFO views under the general settings, so that scientists could use the "science" field view, humanities, journalism, undergraduates, etc.

    No one but actual librarians needs all these darned fields, and it's so annoying that the ones that I need to use cannot be moved to the top or reordered, forcing me to scroll on my laptop in order to find and verify/enter that info!
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