Full text search in PDFs

I signed up for Paperpile, but will have to switch to Zotero without an ability to do full-text search and search for specific fields (title/abstract).

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We’re almost there, @Brian_Keane – advanced search options will be implemented in the upcoming revamp of our web app and UI. Private betas will begin soon and public release is expected before the end of the year :crossed_fingers:t4:

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Just checking in on the status of this - hope it truly is coming soon. Looks like we got similar “just around the corner” messages in Dec '20 and April '21 and here we are in August '22… might be time to jump ship for zotero

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@Bill I understand your hesitation. It has never been our intention to mislead or make empty promises (particularly on a public forum). We are truly nearly there, though – sharing a roadmap earlier this year was a way of solidifying our commitment to releasing all the items marked as Started before the end of 2022. Nothing else I can ask besides a couple more months of your patience.

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Thank you, this is very helpful!

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Another +1 for full-text search. The ability to search a term across my Mendeley Desktop library and see a list of preview snippets of where it comes up in each PDF, in context, is incredibly helpful and is the last thing keeping me from switching over to Paperpile.

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Just discovered Paperpile this past week and am glad that this will soon be added as a feature! I’ve been shifting between various reference managers for the past year as a grad student looking for a good tool. Hopefully I won’t have to switch again.

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@vicente, full text search was listed as an option for 2022, do you have an update on this? This is one of the things that is enticing me back to Zotero.

Thanks in advance

Welcome to our forum, @Gareth_Lock! A new, completely-rewritten web-app and extension are currently in technology preview stage – most things are implemented, but the interface/design is still being finalized. Full-text PDF search is not implemented in this version but should be in a wider release, expected by spring. That and other upcoming features are listed on our roadmap.

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Thanks. I presume ‘Spring’ is 2023? :smile:

Yes, @Gareth_Lock – within the next couple months :crossed_fingers:t4: :slightly_smiling_face:

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8 years and counting!

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Although most of the big changes are already in beta (click to sign up), full-text search has not yet been implemented in this version. This and the other missing features are basically ready to go; we just need a bit more time to make sure everything else is running stably. There should be good news soon :crossed_fingers:t4:

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+1 for easy full-text search. That this feature is STILL not available after nearly NINE years of user requests is absurd. It is amazing that after stringing people along for so long you still have any devoted users. I am evaluating solutions for companies. This kind of speed and responsiveness does not instill confidence. Please provide something concrete or I will need to move on…Thx

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@Joe_Maglitta Welcome to the forum, and thank you for your request. I’ve noted that you also contacted us by email and Vicente replied to you. I’m happy to say that the team are actively working on implementing full-text search, and it is close to being ready to test. Once it is ready, we will contact interested users by email and update this forum thread.

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Saw a new post here, was hoping for good news since the last formal update was "…expected by spring. " and we are now into summer but it seems like just more “coming soon”. Almost on the 9 year anniversary of coming soon

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Thank you, Suzanne. I appreciated your rapid response and personal email from Vicente. It was great to see this feature listed as started on the roadmap. I understand the transparency and the dangers of too closely predicting a specific launch date, especially with a smaller development staff. That said, a ballpark estimate would be useful. I need to make a decision for our research team within the next month. Paperpile is my top choice - I like the attractive and usable interface. Can you provide a rough estimate of when we might see full-text PDFsearch?

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@Joe_Maglitta Thanks for your understanding. The team is currently testing PDF full text search internally, and it should be available in the new Paperpile private beta for user testing within the next month. As soon as it is ready for testing, you will hear from us by email.

We’re happy to announce that full text search of PDFs in your library is now available in beta!

The feature allows you to include full-text of PDFs in your searches of your Paperpile library, and it also has the option to narrow your search to the full-text field only. If you’ve already activated the new Paperpile, you’ll find these options by going to the search box in your library, and clicking on the search options menu icon.

And if you haven’t tried the new Paperpile yet, you can still sign up.

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This is a monumental day. Thank you Paperpile team for all your hard work. :tada::champagne::confetti_ball::partying_face:

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