I don't think I agree on #1. I see the search bar as a filter for the current view, and switching to a different view as taking you to a completely different context where you're quite possibly looking for different things and where having nothing show up could be alarming. iTunes, for example, clears the search box when switching between playlists.

There is an inconsistency with the tag selector, though, which does preserve the tag selection. That's actually even more problematic, since that can result in nothing showing in either the items list or the tag selector itself (since the tag selector shows tags that match the current view). So I think that's what will change, not the behavior of the search bar.

#2 is reasonable.

Sorry, that's way too complicated and non-standard.

We'll do #2, though.

I agree, search history for that box would make a lot of sense.

Another google based suggestion: check out Google Documents. If you search within a label, you get a message above the search results with links to "Search in All Items" or "Clear Search".
Also the label that you searched inside appears automatically in the search box, complete with a mini x on it which, when clicked, will delete the label from the search, and then rerun your search for you.
That's two alternative easy ways to rerun the search in their equivalent of Zotero's My Library with a single click.

I think result filtering is pretty central to the use of the quicksearch box in Zotero — especially when it becomes quick again (hobby-horse alert). I've observed quite a lot of users of Zotero, and they do tend to use quicksearch as a quick filter.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of low-cost solutions that are useful to many users and easy to implement, and it sounds like search history for that box, as Dan Stillman suggests, would be the most expedient starting point.

OK it doesn't have the greyed out search term I suggested in response to your comment about iTunes.

That's all I was referring to as being non-standard and complicated. I already explained my reasons for not wanting the search to persist across collections above. You suggested—in bold—that it didn't have to and proposed a convoluted alternative, which I was rejecting.

And I'm not sure why you keep mentioning the X to clear the box. The Zotero search box already has that.

Dan, I thought you were making a broader claim. It's not obvious to me why you would think that greying out a non-active search filter is convoluted or complicated, though I respect your opinion.
I think you misunderstood one of my remarks about Google Docs. The mini x on the name of the label you just searched within is different from the big X at the end of the search box (that's why I mentioned it). So that would be my suggestion of another place in the UI to add a way to rerun the search in My Library.

Dan, I can't think of a current example of my greyed out inactive search filter suggestion. Windows 7 explorer places greyed out text in the search box, but it tells you which folder or library will be searched rather than recording the last search term.

We're not going to display a line across the top like Google Docs does. Feel free to suggest another place in the UI to add a way to rerun that search in the library root.

Why not consider this?

A linked message such as "Search Again in My Library" could conditionally trigger only when there are no results, so that it wouldn't interfere with normal search results if that's the worry. Windows 7 explorer works this way.

Alternatively, Google Docs and Mendeley provide a link of this kind at the top of every result page. Mac Finder provides buttons that are essentially the same thing.

Papers simply retains the original search filter across folder/category changes, like www.google.com does.

Barring other suggestions, search history, which would have general usefulness beyond your specific request, has the best chance of happening.

That sounded like Dan's last word on this and it seems reasonable to me - sure one could do more nifty things with the search bar, but a search history solves the practical issue you raise and has broader applicability - and dev time is limited.

Dan, thank you for responding, search history and that tweak combined would be very helpful :-)

I agree with the requests for search persistence or at least an option to quickly rerun the last search.

for me that would just shift the annoyance from "damn, I've typed my search with the wrong collection selected, now I've got to type it again" to "damn, where have the items gone from this collection - oh, I've forgotten to clear the search bar again".

If it comes down to choosing the lesser of the two evils, some people - I for one - would prefer the second evil; you can clear the search bar with one click of the mouse but retyping the search word takes several keystrokes.

FYI, I created a solution for the use case I described above. It involves either manually hitting the follow keystroke combinations, or programming them somehow and mapping to a hotkey (on Macs this can be done with Applescript+Fastscripts, or using Better Touch Tool):


1) cmd+shift+L (focuses Libraries Pane)
2) Home key (highlights My Library
3) cmd+F (focuses Quick Search Bar)

It's a real cludge on the back end, but the best I can do until this feature is supported natively.

I have created an Applescript so that hitting cmd+shift+F in Zotero instantly allows me to start typing a search of my entire library. Works well.

Also created another script so that I can use a keystroke in any application that will trigger an all-library search in Zotero for whatever text I currently have highlighted.

I am currently not using the Zotero 7 beta, but as for Zotero 6, there is still no search history, no "Search again in My Library" button, nor the option to persist searches across collections.

I find myself expecting the search to be persistent all the time. There seem to plenty of user who desire some feature to make redoing a search in another collection easier.

Dan mentioned iTunes, but I think that is different because such searches are probably much more context specific (like a certain song on an album) than for example a thematic literature search.

A more pertinent comparison might be Mendeley, which does persist searches across collections until the search is cleared. This message appears when there are no results:
"No search results for "keyword" in this collection, try another collection or different keywords."

Given such a message, I would argue that the absence of displayed articles is not alarming.

Perhaps one of the options discussed here is or will be implemented in Zotero 7?