I found an easier way to migrate my Endnote library to Zotero and excluding the tags. I simply copied the RIS output style and edited it removing keywords (KY) in the bibliography - template section. After export and import into Zotero I had zero tags. I suppose that this way one can also delete tags in an existing Zotero library if it is first imported to Endnote.
I suppose that this way one can also delete tags in an existing Zotero library if it is first imported to Endnote.
Note that this will break updating citations in current documents, as well as almost certainly resulting in some data loss, so I couldn't really recommend it as a method of removing tags from an existing library. If you want to migrate from endnote without tags though, this is the way to do it.
I decided to remove all auto-generated tags, using the above method with sqlitebrowser. However, all tags where of type "0", even the auto-generated ones, so the method is not applicable. I've been using zotero since last year, and none of the auto-generated tags were of type "1".
All my user tags had the prefix "et-", so it was easy to remove all others:
delete from itemTags where itemTags.tagID in ( select
tags.TagID from tags where name not like "et-%")
Alleluia and praise the Lord! Your instructions to delete all the tags worked PERFECTLY. I got tired of deleting each tag invidually after about 5 minutes. Your method took only 1 minute (REALLY!) after downloading the SQLbrowser. I will spend the extra time saved sleeping. Thanks so much again for sharing!!!
Could someone help me with this: I need to delete all tags too (about 5000 tags). So I tried Imullen's method (downloaded the same SQLITE browser). Like Shashj and JoWohrle, if I executed the two lines of commands together, the browser freezed, and when I executed them separately, the tags can be deleted IN THE BROWSER. But after I saved the database and open firefox, I got the message something like the Zotero database is corrupted. I tried a couple of time and deleted tags with different types (0 or 1). The same thing happened:
1. Executed both commands together, browser freezed;
2. Executed the two commands separately, tags were deleted in the browser, but the newly saved file was corrupted.
Is there anyone having the same problem or good solutions? Many thanks!
The problem that I raised yesterday is solved. I simply used another Sqlite browser, which is a firefox add-on https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5817/
1.I made a copy of the whole Zotero folder and switched zotero to the new folder. Restart the firefox.
2. Install the sqlite manager, then In firefox tool, find the sqlite tool, open it and connect the original zotero sqlite file.
3. Execute the two lines of commands separately, and quit the sqlite brower (it saved the database automatically).
4. Switch back to the original Zotero fold and restart the firefox.
In my case, no error information occurred. The tags were deleted and I checked the integrity of the database, so far so good.
Hello everyone,
I just noticed that even unchecking the option "Automatically tag items with keywords and subject headings" would not hinder tags to be imported automatically when you are using the "citation export feature" of the database itself while it works properly when you are using Zotero (the folder shown in URL bar) to import the citations. I am using FireFox 3.6.12 and Zotero 2.0.9.
How can I ask this bug to be fixed?
I am importing the citations directly from scientific databases like "JSTOR" and "EBSCO" and regularly they are giving the option of exporting the multiple selected items through different pages of the search results. They do not give the option to choose if the tags should be exported or not. If I wanted to do this citation import by Zotero (the folder shown in the URL bar) I should have gone through each page of results and do import process once for each page.
Then it seems when the related option is unchecked, Zotero should not allow the tags to be imported even if it is the database website that exports the citations to the Zotero database.
I think this might have been discussed before, but I can't find it. I'm not sure if behavior on import should be the same as when you click on an addressbar icon & use a site-specific translator.
To be clear, I have unchecked the respective option and I think it means that the user does not want automatic tags to be imported under any circumstances. This is what I understand from the option called "Automatically tag items with keywords and subject headings".
Additionally, having such functionality would really make it easier to import hundreds of citations at the same time, while I have to go page by page when I am importing through URL bar icon.
adamsmith meant you have the 'Use Zotero for downloaded RIS/Refer files' checked. I do not think it is unambiguously clear that manual file imports should not have tags imported: in many cases, those files are exported by Zotero. I wonder if the translators could be revised to detect the pages that lists the multiple records.
I hope reviving an old discussion works. I'm about to import items from Procite, which will bring both my keywords and the automatic ones Procite imported as they were downloaded. This will make a mess of my Zotero tags. I'm wondering if someone can tell me how to do a SQLite command that will enable me to change all my present Zotero tags to type 2. And if it's possible to do a command like etiennesky above to change tags with a certain prefix to type 2. Then I would simply delete all the type 0 and 1, which were autogenerated.
Or, I guess just as easy, if there's a way to give a command which would allow me to change all my present Zotero tags to have the same prefix as the keywords that I used in my Procite database.
Jackliu008 your method works - the previous methods that mention using an external sqlite editor don't work.
Zotero thinks the database is corrupt if you edit it outside firefox it seems.
Just thought I'd share what I learned.
Thanks!
I find that whatever SQLite editor I use (including the FF add-on), the foreign key restraint linking table "tags" and table "itemtags" through tagID removes the ability to delete any tags from "tags". I have Zotero 3.0b2 installed.
I had to rename tags to tagsBACKUP and make a copy of tags called tags2. I could then delete what I wanted from tags2, delete corresponding tagids in itemtags, and then renamed tags2 to tags.
The only properly safe and reliable way to do work like this is by interacting with Zotero programmatically-- either by running JavaScript against the local Zotero install using something like MozRepl, or by using the server API to make the changes server-side.
One relatively straightforward way to use this, if you're OK working in Python, is to combine Gnotero's libzotero, which provides access to items in the local database, and the server API library pyzotero. I have some documented example code that shows how you might do that: http://github.com/ajlyon/zotero-bits/raw/master/api-bridge.py
Something like this can make it relatively easy to make batch changes -- and the tag changes could probably be done with pyzotero alone.
Thanks to the previous posts I was able to get rid of over a 1000 tags that were created when importing over a thousand papers. Notice that I disabled auto-tagging beforehand on Zotero 3.0b3.
So I first backed up my Zotero folder, which does not live inside my Firefox profile folder, then installed the Sqlite Firefox add-on mentioned above and opened the backup database.
Select the itemTags table and click on the Empty button. Do the same for the tags table. Disconnect from the database. Quit Firefox. Replace the original Zotero folder with the backup folder that contains the modified database. Relaunch and enjoy!
This constraint prevents deleting anything from 'tags' that is being used in 'itemtags'. Therefore, you need to delete from 'itemtags' first, that's all.
How about creating an ad-hoc Zotero plug-in so that only with a single click, the jungle of unintended wild tags can be removed without destroying data integrity? Or, a standalone simple script for general user for Zotero database maintenance for this purpose without the need to understand database?
In the beginning, I thought the automatic tagging was useful for me, but later, it disturbs my mind. Useful tags are only those tags I previously created intentionally.
Or, does anybody has any experience on how to use these jungle of wild tags?
But if nobody feel the usefulness of automatic tagging, how about changing the default behavior for any fresh installation of Zotero by un-checking this option from the first time?
The tag panel was not displayed in one of my two installations and after a bit of import I came to a computer where it is and realised that I have quite a few tags, very few of which I need.
Most of these are just attempts to come up on any search by publishers.
> But if nobody feel the usefulness of automatic tagging, how about
> changing the default behavior for any fresh installation of Zotero
> by un-checking this option from the first time?
However, if the default were "no automatic tagging" then people might loose valuable tagging data from their citulike-etc account perhaps. And I found that I had used some automatic tags which I would not have wanted deleted.
I guess multiple tag delete, one day, is the solution.
Perhaps automatic tagging (and turning it off) might be mentioned in some "list of things you may wish to change before you get started" - a one item list for me.
I do hope that turning off auto tagging will turn off all tag importation. The only tags I would like are my own.
I do hope that turning off auto tagging will turn off all tag importation. The only tags I would like are my own.
yes, it will. I'm in favor of changing the default, but I know some people love the automatic tags, so I don't have a strong opinion either way. There is a long list of things people should ideally be aware of when they start using Zotero, but the downside of software that doesn't require a manual for the most part is that only a fraction of all users will read any of the documentation ever.
If you could just somehow select multiple (or all) the tags and delete them, that would be really useful!
edit: At the moment, I bet most people don't use the tags, as they just have this inconsistent and unweidly sea of automatically generated tags that they cant do much with...
+1 this. I've gone through this before, exporting and re-importing, and now I again have hundreds of tags from various databases, entirely unsystematic which sort of defeats the purpose of tags... we don't need anything fancy, but it should be possible to just "select all" tags and then delete them all.
Upgrade Storage
it worked when i ran them separately
All my user tags had the prefix "et-", so it was easy to remove all others:
delete from itemTags where itemTags.tagID in ( select
tags.TagID from tags where name not like "et-%")
delete from tags where name not like "et-%"
Alleluia and praise the Lord! Your instructions to delete all the tags worked PERFECTLY. I got tired of deleting each tag invidually after about 5 minutes. Your method took only 1 minute (REALLY!) after downloading the SQLbrowser. I will spend the extra time saved sleeping. Thanks so much again for sharing!!!
thegrasshopper
Could someone help me with this: I need to delete all tags too (about 5000 tags). So I tried Imullen's method (downloaded the same SQLITE browser). Like Shashj and JoWohrle, if I executed the two lines of commands together, the browser freezed, and when I executed them separately, the tags can be deleted IN THE BROWSER. But after I saved the database and open firefox, I got the message something like the Zotero database is corrupted. I tried a couple of time and deleted tags with different types (0 or 1). The same thing happened:
1. Executed both commands together, browser freezed;
2. Executed the two commands separately, tags were deleted in the browser, but the newly saved file was corrupted.
Is there anyone having the same problem or good solutions? Many thanks!
(I use the latest Zotero version 2.09)
1.I made a copy of the whole Zotero folder and switched zotero to the new folder. Restart the firefox.
2. Install the sqlite manager, then In firefox tool, find the sqlite tool, open it and connect the original zotero sqlite file.
3. Execute the two lines of commands separately, and quit the sqlite brower (it saved the database automatically).
4. Switch back to the original Zotero fold and restart the firefox.
In my case, no error information occurred. The tags were deleted and I checked the integrity of the database, so far so good.
I just noticed that even unchecking the option "Automatically tag items with keywords and subject headings" would not hinder tags to be imported automatically when you are using the "citation export feature" of the database itself while it works properly when you are using Zotero (the folder shown in URL bar) to import the citations. I am using FireFox 3.6.12 and Zotero 2.0.9.
How can I ask this bug to be fixed?
Thank you
Then it seems when the related option is unchecked, Zotero should not allow the tags to be imported even if it is the database website that exports the citations to the Zotero database.
Thanks
Additionally, having such functionality would really make it easier to import hundreds of citations at the same time, while I have to go page by page when I am importing through URL bar icon.
Thanks
Down to 102 useful tags from a useless collection of 3500 !!
Many thanks.
~a.
I hope reviving an old discussion works. I'm about to import items from Procite, which will bring both my keywords and the automatic ones Procite imported as they were downloaded. This will make a mess of my Zotero tags. I'm wondering if someone can tell me how to do a SQLite command that will enable me to change all my present Zotero tags to type 2. And if it's possible to do a command like etiennesky above to change tags with a certain prefix to type 2. Then I would simply delete all the type 0 and 1, which were autogenerated.
Or, I guess just as easy, if there's a way to give a command which would allow me to change all my present Zotero tags to have the same prefix as the keywords that I used in my Procite database.
Thanks.
Zotero thinks the database is corrupt if you edit it outside firefox it seems.
Just thought I'd share what I learned.
Thanks!
I have Zotero 3.0b2 installed.
I had to rename tags to tagsBACKUP and make a copy of tags called tags2. I could then delete what I wanted from tags2, delete corresponding tagids in itemtags, and then renamed tags2 to tags.
Seemed to work.
One relatively straightforward way to use this, if you're OK working in Python, is to combine Gnotero's libzotero, which provides access to items in the local database, and the server API library pyzotero. I have some documented example code that shows how you might do that:
http://github.com/ajlyon/zotero-bits/raw/master/api-bridge.py
Something like this can make it relatively easy to make batch changes -- and the tag changes could probably be done with pyzotero alone.
So I first backed up my Zotero folder, which does not live inside my Firefox profile folder, then installed the Sqlite Firefox add-on mentioned above and opened the backup database.
Select the itemTags table and click on the Empty button. Do the same for the tags table. Disconnect from the database. Quit Firefox. Replace the original Zotero folder with the backup folder that contains the modified database. Relaunch and enjoy!
This constraint prevents deleting anything from 'tags' that is being used in 'itemtags'. Therefore, you need to delete from 'itemtags' first, that's all.
In the beginning, I thought the automatic tagging was useful for me, but later, it disturbs my mind. Useful tags are only those tags I previously created intentionally.
Or, does anybody has any experience on how to use these jungle of wild tags?
But if nobody feel the usefulness of automatic tagging, how about changing the default behavior for any fresh installation of Zotero by un-checking this option from the first time?
Most of these are just attempts to come up on any search by publishers.
> But if nobody feel the usefulness of automatic tagging, how about
> changing the default behavior for any fresh installation of Zotero
> by un-checking this option from the first time?
However, if the default were "no automatic tagging" then people might loose valuable tagging data from their citulike-etc account perhaps. And I found that I had used some automatic tags which I would not have wanted deleted.
I guess multiple tag delete, one day, is the solution.
Perhaps automatic tagging (and turning it off) might be mentioned in some "list of things you may wish to change before you get started" - a one item list for me.
I do hope that turning off auto tagging will turn off all tag importation. The only tags I would like are my own.
There is a long list of things people should ideally be aware of when they start using Zotero, but the downside of software that doesn't require a manual for the most part is that only a fraction of all users will read any of the documentation ever.
edit: At the moment, I bet most people don't use the tags, as they just have this inconsistent and unweidly sea of automatically generated tags that they cant do much with...