How to Edit the Author Field in Windows 7 Explorer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter AndyUrquijo
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Edit Fields
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the ability to edit the 'author' field for files in Windows 7 Explorer, particularly in relation to organizing articles and books. Participants explore whether this functionality exists, especially for different file types like multimedia and PDF files.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks to edit the 'author' field to improve file organization and searchability.
  • Another participant suggests that while files can be arranged by author in Windows Explorer, editing the author field may not be possible.
  • A different participant claims that editing the author field is possible for multimedia files in Windows 7, mentioning additional editable properties.
  • Some participants note that PDF files do not have editable properties for the author field, contrasting this with their experience in Windows XP.
  • There is speculation about whether Microsoft has intentionally limited compatibility with non-Windows formats, such as PDF, in Windows 7.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the ability to edit the author field across various file types, with no consensus reached on the overall capabilities of Windows 7 in this regard.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include uncertainty about the specific file types that allow editing of the author field and the potential differences in functionality between Windows XP and Windows 7.

AndyUrquijo
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone,

I own a pc with Windows 7 and I need help to organize my files, specially the folders with articles and books. What I want to do is to edit the ‘author’ field. This way I can search books by this parameter if they have common names such as "Quantum Mechanics Vol I"

I could do this with Windows XP before so I hope it’s still possible here. If you can’t do this with the explorer’s options, is there any property editor available on the web?
 
Computer science news on Phys.org
Do you actually want to edit the author field, or just select files based on the value in the author field?

You can display only the files authored by a particular person in Win 7. In Windows Explorer, at the upper right corner there is a control titled Arrange by. This control has a drop-down menu with Author, Date modified, and other menu options. Click Author to arrange the files by their author. You can choose one or more authors whose files should be displayed.

As far as actually editing the author for a file, I don't believe you can do that in Win Explorer, and I don't think you could do it in Win XP, either.
 
I want to edit the author field.

This was possible! Actually in win7 you can still do this easily with multimedia files. In the properties dialog there is an aditional set of editable properties such as interpeter, genre etc.

Well any editable property would be fine actually. I wouldn't mind having a file with extension '.D_Griffiths'. But this is not possible in windows :(
 
Borg said:
Have you tried this?

I have. It seems pdf files don't have any editable properties. Which is stupid... way to go windows!
 
AndyUrquijo said:
I have. It seems pdf files don't have any editable properties. Which is stupid... way to go windows!
I'm using XP and there is an editable author field for pdf files. I don't know if it's been stripped off in Windows 7 but, it doesn't make sense that they would take that away. Can you see the author field on doc files?
 
Borg said:
Can you see the author field on doc files?

Yes. Its visible/editable in several other (windows) types as well... but not pdf. My guess is that they are just sore about microsoft word losing popularity. So they create compatibility issues with non-windows formats (they did it even to their own older formats).
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
9K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
  • · Replies 37 ·
2
Replies
37
Views
7K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
3K
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
5K
Replies
5
Views
4K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
7K