MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - calibre is so powerful that it overwhelms me. any help on guidance on initial set up?

somewhat · 04-21-2020, 12:35 AM

Hello,

I have made several attempts at calibre over the years. It is obviously very robust and designed with power users in mind. I can imagine myself become such a user but can never seem to catch the groove.

The problem is that I get so overwhelmed with the great bounty of plugins and customization. So many neat things to fiddle with.

I find it mentally difficult to keep track of what's installed and what the functions are. The system for organizing the toolbars only really makes sense if you already know how something works. If, when you install a plugin it's not entirely obvious what the workflow will be, it's unclear what to do. (It would be great if plugins would all have a suggested set up to start with.)

There are *ten* different toolbar locations in the preferences pane. The only way I would be able to learn this is by making a bunch of diagrams like in school. There's no easy way to see an overview of the installed plugins to tell what is going on and what needs to be organized.

Anyway I am not here to complain about the software being what it is. I'm sure this flexibility is beneficial once you get used to the systems. I am wondering if there is some 101 help available about getting things set up in a useful way without going overboard with a zillion plugins (my natural inclination). What would be extremely perfect would be if there was a way to download a config file or script or something that would set up a general purpose environment. Assuming that's not available I would also follow instructions manually.

I am having a hard time finding this on my own because all search lead to tutorials and tutorials lead to so many plugins.

If it's relevant, my main needs are

Organize ebook files in such a way that I will find them at a later date (rather than just hoarding them)
Transfer to my old kindle and mobile app
Keep track of reading progress and notes

Thanks for any help. I did try searching but my terms are too vague. All searches lead to more plugins. I have a mild cognitive impairment which interferes in these sorts of tasks.

04-21-2020, 12:35 AM	#1
somewhat Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2020 Device: none	calibre is so powerful that it overwhelms me. any help on guidance on initial set up? Hello, I have made several attempts at calibre over the years. It is obviously very robust and designed with power users in mind. I can imagine myself become such a user but can never seem to catch the groove. The problem is that I get so overwhelmed with the great bounty of plugins and customization. So many neat things to fiddle with. I find it mentally difficult to keep track of what's installed and what the functions are. The system for organizing the toolbars only really makes sense if you already know how something works. If, when you install a plugin it's not entirely obvious what the workflow will be, it's unclear what to do. (It would be great if plugins would all have a suggested set up to start with.) There are ten different toolbar locations in the preferences pane. The only way I would be able to learn this is by making a bunch of diagrams like in school. There's no easy way to see an overview of the installed plugins to tell what is going on and what needs to be organized. Anyway I am not here to complain about the software being what it is. I'm sure this flexibility is beneficial once you get used to the systems. I am wondering if there is some 101 help available about getting things set up in a useful way without going overboard with a zillion plugins (my natural inclination). What would be extremely perfect would be if there was a way to download a config file or script or something that would set up a general purpose environment. Assuming that's not available I would also follow instructions manually. I am having a hard time finding this on my own because all search lead to tutorials and tutorials lead to so many plugins. If it's relevant, my main needs are Organize ebook files in such a way that I will find them at a later date (rather than just hoarding them) Transfer to my old kindle and mobile app Keep track of reading progress and notes Thanks for any help. I did try searching but my terms are too vague. All searches lead to more plugins. I have a mild cognitive impairment which interferes in these sorts of tasks.