Kobo Website Ideas

remcdonald · 06-23-2011, 01:40 AM

So we have on here threads dedicated to both the readers and changes we would like to see made to them in the future but no thread for the actual kobo website. So I thought I would make one and see what people think.

There are several things that could be suggested but I think the one that sticks out to me most is one I noticed today. I was cruising around the net checking a few blogs and places for new book recommendations and as I found ones I thought looked promising I checked to see if I could get them on my Kobo and pricing and all the rest. I of course found several books that I couldn't get on my Kobo which led me to check to see what they cost for the actual books. That's when I noticed that Amazon has something very interesting on their website a small button on books with no kindle version that can be clicked to let the publisher and amazon know that you would like it on kindle. I thinks something for the Kobo site maybe done through borders and chapters or in another fashion would be great. It would allow readers to let authors and publishers know that they want ebook versions and encourage them to do it and also alert Kobo to which companies they should be contacting to see if they can get ebooks from them or help in bringing their books into the digital realm.

Anyhow that's my suggestion. What would you guys and gals like to see added as functionality or tweaks to the Kobo website?

kiwipippa · 06-23-2011, 01:54 AM

Decent search function so that you don't get hundreds (or even thousands) of books returned for a simple search.

Remember me function that actually works - I always have to login again even though I select the remember me option.

CazMar · 06-23-2011, 01:55 AM

Yes - and something which asks for particular formats as well. It's frustrating when the only format offered is A4 sized PDF and you own a Kobo!

remcdonald · 06-23-2011, 01:57 AM

they actually talked about the remember me function somewhere on here and they were looking into changing that right now its built in as a security function I think but yeah a better search would be nice too.

taming · 06-23-2011, 06:06 AM

I know that with Amazon and Chapters, they remember who I am (cookies) when I am on the website, but have a second log-in to the secure server when I actually initiate a purchase. Something like that would do the trick. And letting the user who chooses to have the log-in remembered via that function in their browser (vs a check box for the site itself) seems like a no-brainer.

p_a_smith · 06-23-2011, 07:12 AM

Anything to improve the search function would be appreciated, especially the ability to search by date. When I am looking to see if a favorite author's new book is out I don't want to wade through ten pages of books...

taming · 06-23-2011, 07:16 AM

I have noticed that putting the search term in quotes helps narrow the search.

ltr · 06-23-2011, 08:34 AM

The search does need improvement. They need to add to the sorting pull-down entries for "Date of Publication" and perhaps "Relevance" that Amazon uses. If I search for an auuthor, I want to see their books listed in date of publication.

And of course, like most everyone else, I don't want to login every time I visit. It's not a bank. At the very least the site should be able to remember my user name.

I do like the layout of the site with respect to books, but the customer support areas are a disaster.

ltr

deborahjeanne · 06-23-2011, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

Remember me function that actually works - I always have to login again even though I select the remember me option.

I'm not alone!!! I tried asking for tech support with this and got no where. It drives me nuts.

ficbot · 06-23-2011, 11:39 AM

A wishlist. I don't like having to add it to my 'library' and then having the sample clutter up my ACTUAL library until I either purchase the book or lose interest and delete it. It's high time we had a proper wishlist feature.

Lordvic · 06-23-2011, 11:55 AM

I like the dea OP. some sort of feedback to publishers what we'd like to see available.

Sadly, in most cases this isn't up to Kobo or bookstores themselves but the Publishers who decide to make a digital version or not.

with the wave of the future being digital, more and more e-readers, and even full fledged tablets having built in ereading software, you would think more publishing houses would jump aboard and get as much in digital format as possible.

considering it means they make more money that way. no books to publish, no paper to buy, no shipping (BOOKS ARE HEAVY!!!), no store fronts, none of the retail chain overhead.

just servers and bandwith. the rest is PROFIT!

jackastor · 06-23-2011, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by remcdonald

So we have on here threads dedicated to both the readers and changes we would like to see made to them in the future but no thread for the actual kobo website. So I thought I would make one and see what people think.

There are several things that could be suggested but I think the one that sticks out to me most is one I noticed today. I was cruising around the net checking a few blogs and places for new book recommendations and as I found ones I thought looked promising I checked to see if I could get them on my Kobo and pricing and all the rest. I of course found several books that I couldn't get on my Kobo which led me to check to see what they cost for the actual books. That's when I noticed that Amazon has something very interesting on their website a small button on books with no kindle version that can be clicked to let the publisher and amazon know that you would like it on kindle. I thinks something for the Kobo site maybe done through borders and chapters or in another fashion would be great. It would allow readers to let authors and publishers know that they want ebook versions and encourage them to do it and also alert Kobo to which companies they should be contacting to see if they can get ebooks from them or help in bringing their books into the digital realm.

Anyhow that's my suggestion. What would you guys and gals like to see added as functionality or tweaks to the Kobo website?

i guess i would like the website to also have a firmware available announcement as well. Also the option to sync books to my kobo or kbt when i want them as opposed to syncing them all the time.

regards

jack

digiSara · 06-23-2011, 05:40 PM

I noticed the other day that they have now added books in other languages (since the Kobo Touch is "international") - but they really clutter up the search results - and it's an extra click to then filter for English only. It would be nice if it remembered your preference so you don't have to click every time.

And when you are searching, it brings up suggestions in the drop-down, but even if you click on the suggested search (say for a particular author), it still brings up a lot of random results.

artifact · 06-27-2011, 12:18 AM

Ditto on the searching. Its also not a very intuititive site overall and I personally dislike the waste of space design. The landing page is horrible for a bookstore as well since I have to -scroll- to see anything not an ad. The webmaster should be shot for making me scroll

.

#1 complaint so far is content. I have a $10 coupon burning a hole in my pocket and have yet to find anything to spend it on. The last search I tried the book is at Baen, BnN, Amazon, Smashwords, -Borders-, but NOT at Kobobooks. Title search is 0 results, author search is 0 results, series name search 0 results.

I hope they aren't planning on making money as a bookstore.

taming · 06-27-2011, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artifact

I hope they aren't planning on making money as a bookstore.

Well, they made money off of me in the past 12 months as I bought about 100 books from kobobooks.com. That being said, a moment ago I just bought a book by Canadian author Louise Penny from Amazon, which offers quite a few of her books, after finding that only one was available from kobobooks.com, and that one was in German.

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06-23-2011, 01:40 AM	#1
remcdonald Connoisseur Posts: 60 Karma: 49376 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo, Kobo Touch	Kobo Website Ideas So we have on here threads dedicated to both the readers and changes we would like to see made to them in the future but no thread for the actual kobo website. So I thought I would make one and see what people think. There are several things that could be suggested but I think the one that sticks out to me most is one I noticed today. I was cruising around the net checking a few blogs and places for new book recommendations and as I found ones I thought looked promising I checked to see if I could get them on my Kobo and pricing and all the rest. I of course found several books that I couldn't get on my Kobo which led me to check to see what they cost for the actual books. That's when I noticed that Amazon has something very interesting on their website a small button on books with no kindle version that can be clicked to let the publisher and amazon know that you would like it on kindle. I thinks something for the Kobo site maybe done through borders and chapters or in another fashion would be great. It would allow readers to let authors and publishers know that they want ebook versions and encourage them to do it and also alert Kobo to which companies they should be contacting to see if they can get ebooks from them or help in bringing their books into the digital realm. Anyhow that's my suggestion. What would you guys and gals like to see added as functionality or tweaks to the Kobo website?

06-23-2011, 01:54 AM	#2
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Decent search function so that you don't get hundreds (or even thousands) of books returned for a simple search. Remember me function that actually works - I always have to login again even though I select the remember me option.

06-23-2011, 01:55 AM	#3
CazMar Book Geek Posts: 596 Karma: 1499085 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Adelaide, Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Asus MemPad 7" tablet, Nexus 5, Asus 10" tablet	Yes - and something which asks for particular formats as well. It's frustrating when the only format offered is A4 sized PDF and you own a Kobo!

06-23-2011, 01:57 AM	#4
remcdonald Connoisseur Posts: 60 Karma: 49376 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo, Kobo Touch	they actually talked about the remember me function somewhere on here and they were looking into changing that right now its built in as a security function I think but yeah a better search would be nice too.

06-23-2011, 06:06 AM	#5
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I know that with Amazon and Chapters, they remember who I am (cookies) when I am on the website, but have a second log-in to the secure server when I actually initiate a purchase. Something like that would do the trick. And letting the user who chooses to have the log-in remembered via that function in their browser (vs a check box for the site itself) seems like a no-brainer.

06-23-2011, 07:12 AM	#6
p_a_smith Me, Myself, but not I Posts: 161 Karma: 228652 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kobo Original, Acer 200, Asus FHD, Kobo Touch	Anything to improve the search function would be appreciated, especially the ability to search by date. When I am looking to see if a favorite author's new book is out I don't want to wade through ten pages of books...

06-23-2011, 07:16 AM	#7
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I have noticed that putting the search term in quotes helps narrow the search.

06-23-2011, 08:34 AM	#8
ltr Addict Posts: 399 Karma: 104628 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Canada Device: Kindle PW-2	The search does need improvement. They need to add to the sorting pull-down entries for "Date of Publication" and perhaps "Relevance" that Amazon uses. If I search for an auuthor, I want to see their books listed in date of publication. And of course, like most everyone else, I don't want to login every time I visit. It's not a bank. At the very least the site should be able to remember my user name. I do like the layout of the site with respect to books, but the customer support areas are a disaster. ltr

06-23-2011, 11:39 AM	#10
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	A wishlist. I don't like having to add it to my 'library' and then having the sample clutter up my ACTUAL library until I either purchase the book or lose interest and delete it. It's high time we had a proper wishlist feature.

06-23-2011, 11:55 AM	#11
Lordvic Connoisseur Posts: 85 Karma: 19104 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Toronto / Ontario Device: Blackberry Playbook	I like the dea OP. some sort of feedback to publishers what we'd like to see available. Sadly, in most cases this isn't up to Kobo or bookstores themselves but the Publishers who decide to make a digital version or not. with the wave of the future being digital, more and more e-readers, and even full fledged tablets having built in ereading software, you would think more publishing houses would jump aboard and get as much in digital format as possible. considering it means they make more money that way. no books to publish, no paper to buy, no shipping (BOOKS ARE HEAVY!!!), no store fronts, none of the retail chain overhead. just servers and bandwith. the rest is PROFIT!

Advert

Advert

06-23-2011, 05:40 PM	#13
digiSara Groupie Posts: 158 Karma: 153344 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo wifi	I noticed the other day that they have now added books in other languages (since the Kobo Touch is "international") - but they really clutter up the search results - and it's an extra click to then filter for English only. It would be nice if it remembered your preference so you don't have to click every time. And when you are searching, it brings up suggestions in the drop-down, but even if you click on the suggested search (say for a particular author), it still brings up a lot of random results.

06-27-2011, 12:18 AM	#14
artifact Addict Posts: 276 Karma: 3569616 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: jetBook (RIP), Kobo Touch	Ditto on the searching. Its also not a very intuititive site overall and I personally dislike the waste of space design. The landing page is horrible for a bookstore as well since I have to -scroll- to see anything not an ad. The webmaster should be shot for making me scroll . #1 complaint so far is content. I have a $10 coupon burning a hole in my pocket and have yet to find anything to spend it on. The last search I tried the book is at Baen, BnN, Amazon, Smashwords, -Borders-, but NOT at Kobobooks. Title search is 0 results, author search is 0 results, series name search 0 results. I hope they aren't planning on making money as a bookstore.