[Item] all annotations and notes by tag

[windingwind]

Description

Author: @windingwind
Discuss: #191

Only for Better Notes 1.1.3+

Search annotations & notes with these tags in the selected items.

• Tag 1
  • note link 1
  • annotation 1
  • annotation 2
• Tag 2
  • note link 2
• Tag 3
  • annotation 3

Import Template

One-click to import.

1. Copy the template below (just an example).

Click to show the example template

name: "[Item] all annotations and notes by tag"
content: |-
  // @beforeloop-begin
  ${{
    sharedObj.tagsDict = {};
    sharedObj.updateData = (item, tag) => {
      if (!(tag in sharedObj.tagsDict)) {
        sharedObj.tagsDict[tag] = [];
      }
      sharedObj.tagsDict[tag].push(item);
    };
    return "";
  }}$
  // @beforeloop-end
  // @default-begin
  ${{
    const annotationsAndNotes = [];
    if (topItem.isRegularItem()) {
      const attachments = Zotero.Items.get(topItem.getAttachments()).filter((i) =>
        i.isPDFAttachment()
      );
      attachments.forEach((i) => {
        annotationsAndNotes.splice(0, 0, ...i.getAnnotations());
      });
      const notes = Zotero.Items.get(topItem.getNotes());
      annotationsAndNotes.splice(0, 0, ...notes);
    } else if (topItem.isNote()) {
      annotationsAndNotes.push(topItem);
    }
    annotationsAndNotes.forEach((item) =>
      item
        .getTags()
        .map((tag) => tag.tag)
        .forEach((tag) => {
          sharedObj.updateData(item, tag);
        })
    );
    return "";
  }}$
  // @default-end
  // @afterloop-begin
  ${{
    let res = "";
    for (const tag in sharedObj.tagsDict) {
      if(tag.startsWith('zotero://')){
        continue;
      }
      res += `<h1>Tag: ${tag}</h1>\n`;
      for (const note of sharedObj.tagsDict[tag].filter((item) =>
        item.isNote()
      )) {
        res += `<p><a href="${Zotero.BetterNotes.api.convert.note2link(
          note
        )}">${note.getNoteTitle()}</a></p>\n`;
      }
      res += await Zotero.BetterNotes.api.convert.annotations2html(
        sharedObj.tagsDict[tag].filter((item) => item.isAnnotation()),
        {
          noteItem: targetNoteItem
        }
      );
      res += "\n";
    }
    return res;
  }}$
  // @afterloop-end

2. Goto Zotero menubar, click Edit->New Template from Clipboard.
3. Click OK.

[Ravenclawer]

I keep getting this massage when applying this template

[anandkumar89]

I'm also facing same problem while interesting template on workspace note.

[windingwind]

fixed. please import the template again.

[Ravenclawer]

now it keeps showing another error for every item

[windingwind]

Only for 1.1.3+, which only runs on Zotero 7.
Zotero 6 versions (<1.1.0) are no longer maintained.

[windingwind]

And this is a format for template import. Do not directly paste into the template editor. Please read the instructions.

[Ravenclawer]

OK, zotero7 is still under development， so I may stay at zotero6 for a while。

[jppmarujo]

Just what i've been looking for! You just made writing my thesis a whole lot easier, @windingwind, so thank you very much for being AWESOME.

[Rhydderch]

Hi @jppmarujo ! I'm working on my thesis as well and I just discovered better notes; could you explain a bit your workflow with better notes?

[logicfollows]

I've been trying to troubleshoot this feature for so many days! I know it is not longer maintained in Zotero 6 so just to use this I finally just updated to Zotero 7 and used your template and it finally worked!! Thank you so much!

[dexter-gh]

Did you change anything else? I just updated to Zotero 7 but still get the exact same error (SyntaxError: missing : after property id SyntaxError: missing : after property id SyntaxError: missing : after property id)... Any tips?

[Lyricism0001]

Hi @windingwind, thank you for your amazing work!
Is there a way to get the results with the tags in alphabetical order? Or, if not, is there a way to reorder them alphabetically after the note is obtained? The pictures shows how I’m currently getting the results. The second picture is the tree view.
Thank you so much!

[gregorylearns]

Still works in July 26,2025 with Zotero 7.0.22 (binary) in Linux using BetterNotes 2.5.3