[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

This will be my last go 'round with you on this.

I do think you are misunderstanding what I am saying. I'll put it down to lack of clarity in my writing.

No, I just completely disagree with what you are saying. I find most of the suggestions pointless, and some of them ugly. And I thought I was clear in stating that.

Again, when I say 'stacking' I don't mean that there should be something that looks identical to how the Nook shows it. I don't care about the misaligned covers, which does seem to overly bother you.

But, the fact that you keep pointing them out suggests that you do like them and want them.

As I mentioned already, Kobo could use the same UI that is already being used for series. Just show the cover of a book with the lines behind it to indicate there is more than one. The author's name would be underneath the 'stack' with a number in one of the corners on the cover thumbnail to indicate how many books by that author are currently on the device. If there is only one book by that author on the device, don't show the lines. Simple. (I believe books are sorted alphabetically by author and then title on both Nook and Kobo already, so the cover shown would be the first alphabetical title).

Honestly, those lines are pointless. I don't really see them when I look at the series list. They just look like dirty smudges. Or e-ink ghosting. And when I do look at them, they look more like the shading used to imply movement than that there are multiple books. And looking at the Nook list, the circle with a number lets me know there are multiple books quicker than the misaligned stacking.

And of course they could base a new view off the current ones. That is basically what they did when they added the authors list. It is basically the collections list. Hopefully there is a lot of code reuse happening.

In fact, if they did that they could also improve the series tab, by displaying the series name underneath the stack and use a number in the corner to tell you how many books in that series are currently on your device. The current series cover view reminds me of your point about being worried about not seeing the author's name. Why isn't series name displayed on the Series tab in cover view?

I have made no claim that I think the current views are perfect. But, I don't find any of the cover views very useful. They don't work for me as they don't display information in a way I find useful, and are missing information that I find useful.

Look at the screenshots I attached.

Now remember, there are two things I am asking for:

1. Cover/List view option on all four tabs
2. The option to stack books by the same author when using cover view in the Authors tab

Attachment 1 shows List view for authors in both Nook and Kobo. They are about the same. (I question Nook listing a title for each author, plus additional books instead of only showing a number, but that is neither here nor there).

I see the intention of the single title as it might remind anyone looking at the list of who the author is. A long as it was not one of their more obscure works or something like "The best of ...". But, it either makes the list busier, or means less authors can be displayed per page.

Attachment 2 shows cover view for authors with stacking turned off. Again, it is about the same as Kobo's Sort by: Author

No, it is not. And there is nothing you can say to convince me. The Kobo list shows every book for every author (within the other filtering being used). That supplies me with different information when looking for a book than the single cover and name.

Or are you simply trying to say that Kobo can produce a list of something that shows covers with a line of text and that they should be

Attachment 3 shows cover view with books stacked by author. If Kobo implemented it, again, they could use the same UI elements used in Series cover view (though I wish they would make that look a little better too).

An exactly where have I said that they couldn't do something like that? You accused me of not understanding you. Apparently you do not understand me.

Where have made I claimed that Kobo shouldn't have cover views in more places? My statement is that I do not believe they are useful. That I do not believe that they way the covers are displayed in these view add anything useful. And that I do not think that the changes you are suggesting would actually improve things. A that I do not agree with you that the Nook lists are a good model for future changes. And I, from a purely selfish point view, hope that Kobo spend what development resources they have elsewhere.

No information is lost and if you don't like one view there are options.

My point is that Kobo could do all three of these in the Author tab. Then you wouldn't need Sort by: Author

Which I don't agree with. As stated, I do use Author sort. Especially in collections. Or with a filter. And I do use the Author list.

They already do that.

Again, you didn't understand me. By "series cover", I meant an image that was representative of the series. Not just the cover image for random book that I happen to have on the device in the series. I have already explained how it is chosen, and since had it confirmed by Kobo,

As mentioned, show the author's name below the cover stack. Add a number to the thumbnail to show the total number of books. As it is already done on the Nook.

And I don't think that that is a bad design for cover views. But, as stated, I think the the two "stacking" methods we can see are pointless.

Nobody keeps a garbage can on their desktop either. But when translating things to the digital world, sometime tweaks are made to make things easier to use.

You didn't have a spot on your desk where you put used paper so that you could easily carry it to be recycled when you left for the day? I did. Actually, I had two spots. One was for paper I had printed on one side and could use the other for scribbling and the other was what need to go into the "destroy under supervision" bin and eventually recycled. Windows having a bin on the desktop wasn't much of a stretch to me.

I like the way the Nook does the stack because it uses portions of the cover instead of generic lines.

And I can see that. But, honestly, they show so little of the other covers that it is pointless. And for a series that uses similar cover designs, it is probably less.

But that's not the hill I'm looking to die on. I don't expect Kobo to wholesale swipe the look of the Nook stacks. Use the UI already used on series cover view.

And I hope they don't. I don't see anything in those screenshots that jump out at me as a must use.

Really, this is all about opinion. You think certain things are useful, and I don't. Which one of us Kobo agrees with, I don't know.

And that's the important thing. What happens is what Kobo wants to do. What they think their users want. And what fits in with the direction they have for the devices. I don't know how they decide what to do. But, they do listen to their customers. If you want Kobo to change something, you need to tell Kobo. This forum is not a support channel. They will pay more attention to people who contact them directly rather than an obscure little forum like this one.