Would it be possible to make first and middle names searchable and viewable? As is, you cannot see the full names without selecting edit data which makes it more difficult to review the metadata. This makes sense for articles with a large number of authors, but it seems a bit over the top for articles with 1-3 authors. Furthermore, it is apparently impossible to search by first name which is not a massive obstacle by any means, but sometimes conflicts with how my brain decides to go about things.
We deliberately left out middle and first names from the main list. That should keep the clutter out of the list. Showing only the initials makes it unambiguous what’s the last name and easier to parse.
We could add them in the details view though so you don’t have to open the edit window but can just expand the entry and see all the names.
Searching is not possible at the moment. You can click on an author however and it will only show this exact authors with the same initials, if the problem is to distinguish e.g. Smith H from Smith C
We will add new search capabilities later this year and will think about it.
Couldn’t you show the full name for articles with only a few authors? Isn’t presentation of available information more important than the minimization of clutter?
I do agree that you should keep the neat and minimalistic interface, I just think the tradeoff in this case is in favor of presenting the names clearly.
Hi there, is there any update on this feature? I also find it really important to be able to see the author’s first name. It’s not so bad only have surnames and initials in the overview, but I would expect to be able to see the full name when viewing the details.
@FCF Welcome to the Paperpile community! This feature isn’t currently planned, but I’ve added your feedback to our internal feature tracker for consideration in the future.