Custom Column Recommendations

[Tanjamuse]

Hi.

What kind of recommendations do you have for custom columns? I'm using the FanFiction Plugin.

Thanks

[fidvo]

This is kind of an odd question. Normally you add custom columns as needed rather than trying to figure out how to use them.

That said, here are some suggestions:

Subseries. (Series-like column) In my opinion, this should come with Calibre by default. There are a lot of authors out there who have a 2-level series for their books.

Hierarchy. (Or something similar. Hierarchical text column) If you're used to organizing your books as files in folders, it can help ease the transition to Calibre if you use a custom column to simulate this system. And contrary to what the manual says, you CAN store your entire folder structure in a single field and create a save-to-disk template that will export it properly.

Since you're into fan fiction, there are 2 more columns you probably want to include:

Original Author. (Author field) Store the author of the original series that the fan fiction was based upon.

Original Series. (Text field) Store the series that the fan fiction was based upon.

[aleyx]

I'm assuming that using FFDL, you already use (or already decided not to use) columns for words, chapters, last update, etc, which FFDL can automatically use, if not create for you.

I'm personnaly using the Count Pages plugin, for an estimation of pages numbers, and View Manager, because not every virtual library has fanfictions, and it seems like a waste of space to keep empty columns on screen.

I've set up the Series field as a hierarchical item, which takes care of the 'subseries' problem well enough for me. Although to be honest, I only set up series hierarchy to keep track of Undocumented Features arcs, and I only use the series field when the fic's author made their fic into a cycle. I don't keep track of a fic's source in any series-type field, there's too much crossovers for it to be anything but a mess, so I just use tags.

What else... I guess you could make a 'status' column, and use Column Icon rules to display a status (in-progress, completed, on hiatus, abandoned...).

And if you're into micro-management (and/or S/M), there could be a column for mean time between releases, and another Yes/No based on that which could tell you whether the author's late or not for their next release. Although the Fanfiction Tools GM script can calculate that, so maybe it's something that FFDL could do one day.

[edit: huh. I just realized that all the data's already there to calculate it... -_-;; ]

In other words... Yeah. It really depends on what you want to do.

N.

[Tanjamuse]

What do you mean a view manager?

I think the update date is a good idea ... thanks

[fidvo]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

What do you mean a view manager?

I think the update date is a good idea ... thanks

View Manager is another plugin. It allows you to easily switch between custom views. Each view has its own set of columns as well as sort order and optional search.

[Tanjamuse]

is there a way to make custom column for virtual libraries? Bear in mind I have almost no knowledge of html or templates

[aleyx]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

is there a way to make custom column for virtual libraries? Bear in mind I have almost no knowledge of html or templates

As far as I know, no, custom columns are created in the main library, and virtual libraries share them all. Or rather, since virtual libraries are just subsets of the main library, custom columns are not affected by whether or not the library is virtual.

Which is why the View Manager plugin is so useful. Although unfortunately, it doesn't (yet?) switch presets when changing virtual libraries. It can when switching full libraries though.

N.

[Snow Sciles]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

is there a way to make custom column for virtual libraries? Bear in mind I have almost no knowledge of html or templates

Have you created a virtual library for your fanfics? If so, it might be worth creating a separate library instead. That way you can have fanfic specific columns, and other settings, and not have to concern yourself about how they relate to your other books. This is what I've done, and I find it more organised and easier to manage. Once you create a new library, you can toggle between libraries with the Library button.

[Tanjamuse]

When copying from one library to another, do you know if there is a way for it to overwrite the old file and keep the new? If you have edited metadata or a cover?

[BetterRed]

@Tanjamuse - I think you'll find that the Add Books settings apply to Copy to Library - there are settings in there that control duplicates and overwriting

BR

[Tanjamuse]

When I choose to overwrite existing duplicate formates, it doesn't add the new metadata in existing files...

[BetterRed]

@Tanjamuse - Aaah right - I think you'll need to extract them from the new format file in Metadata Edit. To get the metadata , select the format and hit the blue button with an 'I', to get the cover click the brown book cover.

You could also use the ebook-meta command line tool ===>>> http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/cli/ebook-meta.html

But say you replaced EPUB and you have an existing MOBI with the old metadata - then you'll have to create a new MOBI via conversion, save to disk or send to device to get new metadata in it.

BR

[Tanjamuse]

What other fun things can I do with the Column built from other columns? I've had to redo my entire archive and I'm looking for new things and ways to sort...

[speakingtohe]

I have columns built on other columns for creating my collections. Might not be applicable for a tablet.

For books with multiple authors, anthologies, collaborations etc. I want eliminate the many one book collections that these create but keep all the authors in calibre.

A custom column gives me twenty pages of collections instead of 63.

Helen

[Tanjamuse]

I mostly use it on my computer, then I upload the books I want to read to my tablet, so it will be on the computer that I make all the columns.