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Old 01-16-2013, 12:18 AM   #17
toddos
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Posts: 695
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Join Date: May 2010
Device: Kobo Aura, Nokia Lumia 920 (Freda)
Quote:
Originally Posted by saoir View Post
- Book cover library display.
Dammit. I knew this was going to end up in here. Calibre should never have a "book shelf" view. That is a data-poor UI, and the only people who like stuff like that are those who only have < 10 ebooks (or however many fit on 1 page of your chosen display). Faux-wood or not, it's always better to display the book/author name than just a 60x60 (or whatever) book cover thumbnail.

Quote:
Originally Posted by saoir View Post
Advanced users can then turn on the Advanced Mode, where the UI is populated with the present huge range of tasks and sub menus etc. etc. and fiddle and convert and manage their database and Meta data to their hearts content.
"Advanced mode" is a cop-out. What is advanced? Is book conversion advanced? Is sending to multiple devices advanced? If you have a device with two memory locations (for example, a Nook STR with built-in memory and an SD card), is "basic" to send only to the built-in memory and "advanced" to allow sending to SD card? What do you do when the "basic" user runs out of space on his device because calibre's ignoring the SD card? Tell them to turn on advanced mode, even though they don't need any of the other "advanced" functionality?

That said, here are two suggestions:
  1. Calibre is open source. Go checkout the source code and have a go at modifying the UI. You could start off simple, changing text labels ("Metadata" -> "Book Info" or whatever), or go all out and try to split off basic vs advanced functionality. And then get Kovid to accept your diffs.
  2. Most of calibre's functionality is exposed in command line tools, and in theory you could probably even import various libraries. Why not take that as a "backend" (calibre's database, conversion tools, meta data tools, device sync tools, etc) and build your own OS X-specific UI?

Obviously those options require you having the ability to write this kind of software. So if that's not the case there's always option 3: Send Kovid a sizable donation (I'd suggest something in the ~$50,000+ range) and then ask him to make some special changes for you. I doubt you'll be able to buy him off, but you can try and I'm sure he'd appreciate the donation.
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