I know that I can hide fields for which there are no entries by clicking the minus sign, but this is not what I wish to do. I would, for example, like to quickly be able to enter something in the notes field for a given item. If a given reference has nothing in the notes field, I will not see the field when the minus sign is clicked. If I click the plus sign, I see about 30 fields, and have to scroll down to find the notes. (This is one of the great advantages of Papers, and some of the other bib software–a dedicated notes field that is easily accessible.) Is there no way to move the notes field up, or to have it open in a separate window?
A cludgy workaround is to edit your library, and add a character (a space might do it) to all the notes fields. In X6 this is the Change option (“insert after field contents”, so you don’t delete affect any existing notes) the Change/Move/Copy field in Tools. In older versions it was the Change/Move option, but not sure where it lived in the menu system.
Now that field contains something, so it will show in the “hide empty fields” view.
PS, you can edit the import connect and filters so they incorporate a space for future downloads).
That’s a cool idea–thanks. I’ll have to make sure my library is backed up though. The idea of changing all individual fields is a bit scary.
But in the bigger picture, given that one of the primary activities one does with bib entries is to annotate them, it would be great to have this interface rethought.