Add bookshelf view?

[Smalis]

First, thank you, thank you for the ability to create custom columns - I have always wanted a yes/no column for whether I have read a book or not.

2nd, I have always liked the bookshelf views of reader programs such as Adobe Digital Editions - for example:



Could such a browser be added to Calibre, with different size options for the book covers? I find that view much more useful than the current cover browser view.

Thanks!

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Smalis

Could such a browser be added to Calibre, with different size options for the book covers? I find that view much more useful than the current cover browser view.

Kovid has stated that this is somewhere on his ever growing To Do list. I like this view also, but I don't see how it is "more useful" then the current cover browser/book list combination. I guess I'd have to use it a while to see which would work best for me.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Kovid has stated that this is somewhere on his ever growing To Do list. I like this view also, but I don't see how it is more useful then the current cover browser/book list combination. I guess I'd have to use it a while to see which would work best for me.

It would provide an at a glance view of more covers than calibre's current cover views. Many people, when searching for a books vaguely sticking in their memory, more often remember how the cover looked than the actual title or author. This kind of a view of one's books could be faster for manual searches in that kind of a situation (personally, it wouldn't be of much use to me that way). Others may want a flashy display of their books, sort of a cyber books on the wall display to impress people with. An auto page turn option, like a slide show, would be useful here (again, I would have little use for something like that but then, I'm not everyone).

[suecsi]

+1 for this concept. It's about the only thing I like about ADE ....

[phenomshel]

Love this idea, as well. I was disappointed when I found it hadn't already been implemented, after a stray remark Kovid posted back in ... I think it was March? While I realize Kovid's "to do" list probably rivals the to do list equivalent of the Empire State Building, ... it'd be REALLY nice to have it as an option.

[Kaitou Ace]

Just wanted to add that I would love having this view also, I often remember a cover and not a book title, but I don't know how many other people have that issue.

[toddos]

I must be the only one who hates the bookshelf view paradigm that has taken over. Do you line up your paper books with the cover facing out on bookshelves? No, you line them up with the spine facing out so you can read the title and author easily. Doing it the other way takes up too much space.

In the digital realm of ebooks, at least for me covers are much less important. I see the cover once when I first open a book to read it and then never again, unlike a paper book where I see the cover every time I pick it up. I'm much less likely to associate a specific cover with an ebook than I am the title or author.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by toddos

I must be the only one who hates the bookshelf view paradigm that has taken over. Do you line up your paper books with the cover facing out on bookshelves? No, you line them up with the spine facing out so you can read the title and author easily. Doing it the other way takes up too much space.

In the digital realm of ebooks, at least for me covers are much less important. I see the cover once when I first open a book to read it and then never again, unlike a paper book where I see the cover every time I pick it up. I'm much less likely to associate a specific cover with an ebook than I am the title or author.

I am with you. Bookshelf view is a "Selling Tool".

Use the cover browser, It lets you see parts of the adjoining covers.

You can also click on the Book Browser window and see a larger cover and the Summary, Scrolling is provided.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by toddos

I must be the only one who hates the bookshelf view paradigm that has taken over. Do you line up your paper books with the cover facing out on bookshelves? No, you line them up with the spine facing out so you can read the title and author easily. Doing it the other way takes up too much space.

In the digital realm of ebooks, at least for me covers are much less important. I see the cover once when I first open a book to read it and then never again, unlike a paper book where I see the cover every time I pick it up. I'm much less likely to associate a specific cover with an ebook than I am the title or author.

I also do not have any use for a bookshelf view. I don't even like to view books on a shelf with the spine out. It's too hard on this old lady's neck! A list I like!

[speakingtohe]

I think you could achieve the same thing by saving books to a single directory and dragging them to ADE.

I find calibre's cover browser more than adequate and wish that more space was allocated for the comment section. I like the pretty shiny covers but don't actually find them useful.

Helen

[itimpi]

When people talk about a "bookshelf" view I think they really mean a grid view with the cover fully visible (as used in something like iBooks). I find this works very well as long as the number of books is not too large, but it tends to become cumbersome as the number grows. As a result I find it tends to work quite well on the reading device, but not on the main library.

What might be nice to have is a variant of the list view with a column for thumbnails added. However although this might look nice and be usable from a user perspective I think it may have unacceptable performance implications unless a very sophisticated method is used to populate the thumbnail column.

[Manichean]

As long as the book list will be available as it is today, I don't care either way. I've switched cover flow on once, found it very nice and pretty, and switched it off never to be used again. Same with bookshelf view, I guess.

[kovidgoyal]

As I've said before, it's on the TODO list and for those of you that dont like it, it will be optional

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

As I've said before, it's on the TODO list and for those of you that dont like it, it will be optional

For Pete's sake Kovid, make up your mind. Everything in this program is optional, for once try committing to something.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

For Pete's sake Kovid, make up your mind. Everything in this program is optional, for once try committing to something.

He did... the database and folder structure!