Search problems in X7.4

I’ve just upgraded to X7.4 after years using X4, and I’m finding it very difficult and time consuming to search.

  1. Is there no keyboard shortcut to Quick Search? If there isn’t, how can it be “quick”?

  2. Quick Search is supposed to “quickly search your entire library” (so says the manual). But in reality, if I have a particular group selected, it will only search that group; if I have a search term already entered into the search box, it will include that search term. In other words, if it really just duplicates the function of the search panel, is it “quick”?

  3. Using Quick Search makes the search panel appear. Doesn’t this defeat the point of a quick search?

  4. Is there no keyboard shortcut to clear previous searches? Or to conduct a new search? Quick Search used to do this automatically in X4: each new search was, well, a new search. But is this no longer the case in X7?

  5. To make matters worse, the search panel automatically reverts after a search to a size that displays just one line of search terms. If I’ve put in another search term, that means I usually can’t see whether I have another search term entered. Is there no way to stabilise the search panel (fix it to a particular size? make it automatically display any content it does contain?)

In other words, in order to “quick search” my whole library for a keyword, I usually need to: select “all references” with the mouse; go to “quick search” with the mouse; no results (even though I know there are results); show search panel; manually resize search panel to see all keywords from the last search I did some time ago; manually clear search terms from one or more boxes; go back to “quick search” with the mouse; enter term.

This is a lot slower, and frankly tedious, than pressing Ctrl-F and entering a search term, which is what “quick search” used to do.

Have I missed a magical move in this process that would make it quicker? Can I define some of my own keyboard shortcuts to restore or enable a quick search? I’d be grateful for some help - I’m thinking of stepping back to X4 at this point. (Also X7 renames pdfs - clever - but files them on the hard drive in folders consisting of a string of numbers, again unlike X4, which sensibly named its folders. It’s nice to have an editable reference window open to the right, so you don’t have to open the whole reference to edit it, but is it really worth all the rest?)

Many thanks!

Micha