Touch Series/Collections sorting

[Nakaleen]

I am getting a Kobo Touch next week (now that my local JB Hifi stock them). I am currently using a Kindle3 (which my nephew will now get for xmas hehehee)

The one thing I am wondering, I have a lot of books that are in series, from normal books to manga. I have read that the Kobo can't have collections like the Kindle can, so I am wondering what is the best way to name/sort/organize my collection. Since I am going to put a big(ish) SD card in (8-16gb) I need to move around my collection with ease.

I have attached a screenshot of my Caliber to show you how I have laid out some of my collection

[The Terminator]

You could add a number or something to the title with Calibre.

[PeterT]

Take a look at the use of the MetaData plugboards in Calire.

Mine is set to

format:ePub
Device:Kobo
Source Template: {series:re(([^\s])[^\s]+(\s|$),\1)}{series_index:0>2s| - | - }{title}
Destination Field: title

This results in books with no series going unchanged

Books IN a series have "A Shortened Name Of The Series" - "Series Index" - added to the title so that
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
becomes
THGttG - 01 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Nakaleen]

Thank you.

Just got my Kobo and tried this and it Works well. Pity I can't do it with cbz as 50% of my series of books are comics, but if I convert them to epubs then it works.

eg My Full Metal Panic series is now FMP - (chapter no.) - (title) and my Full Metal Panic Sigma series is under FMPS - (chapter no.) - (title)

I would of never of work that out on my own. Again Thanks.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by Nakaleen

Pity I can't do it with cbz as 50% of my series of books are comics, but if I convert them to epubs then it works.

Or you could just rename the .cbz. Since .cbz files contain no metadata, the filename's all the Kobo has for sorting purposes.

[IxiaAurea]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Take a look at the use of the MetaData plugboards in Calire.

Mine is set to

format:ePub
Device:Kobo
Source Template: {series:re(([^\s])[^\s]+(\s|$),\1)}{series_index:0>2s| - | - }{title}
Destination Field: title

This results in books with no series going unchanged

Books IN a series have "A Shortened Name Of The Series" - "Series Index" - added to the title so that
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
becomes
THGttG - 01 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Ooh this has me interested in how to use the metadata plugboard. I'm looking to have titles of the book like those on goodreads.com:
Title (Series, #1)
So what happens is you change the plugboard template, then for the books in calibre, you have to change the series data for each book? Is that correct?

[PeterT]

The plugboard is used when the book is sent to your device. So within calibre, both the device and library view still shows the book as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, number 1.0; the Kobo though shows the book's title as THGttG - 01 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Look at this post for more info.

[IxiaAurea]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The plugboard is used when the book is sent to your device. So within calibre, both the device and library view still shows the book as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, number 1.0; the Kobo though shows the book's title as THGttG - 01 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Look at this post for more info.

Thanks! I was able to get it to the title I wanted

Edit: But it messes up the 'no series' titles.

[PeterT]

It shouldn't... Take a look at Advanced formatting in http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/template_lang.html . Pay attention to

For example, assume you want to use the template:

{series} - {series_index} - {title}

If the book has no series, the answer will be - - title. Many people would rather the result be simply title, without the hyphens. To do this, use the extended syntax {field:|prefix_text|suffix_text}. When you use this syntax, if field has the value SERIES then the result will be prefix_textSERIESsuffix_text. If field has no value, then the result will be the empty string (nothing); the prefix and suffix are ignored. The prefix and suffix can contain blanks.

Using this syntax, we can solve the above series problem with the template:

{series}{series_index:| - | - }{title}

The hyphens will be included only if the book has a series index, which it will have only if it has a series.

Notes: you must include the : character if you want to use a prefix or a suffix. You must either use no | characters or both of them; using one, as in {field:| - }, is not allowed. It is OK not to provide any text for one side or the other, such as in {series:|| - }. Using {title:||} is the same as using {title}.

[IxiaAurea]

I figured it out! Awesome stuff. Thanks !

{title} {series:|(|}{series_index:0>1s|, #|)} If anyone's interested in using it.