[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by pypeke

I have never side loaded anything (that I know of) so I don't understand anything but Nook and Kindle ereaders. I have used the Kobo Sage for a couple of weeks.

When I use Calibre to put books on my Kobo that were bought 10-20 years ago, is that what side loading means? Did I sideload those books?

When I get a book from Kobo Plus or buy a book from Kobo, that is NOT side loading? What is it called?

Now that I have used the Kobo for a couple of weeks, is there anything else I need to do? Do I need to backup the Kobo? Is it good enough to have all books on Calibre?

My Calibre skills are very basic, and I don't understand some of the terminology people use on posts. I have yet to figure out what CSS is or whether I need it...

Thanks

Yes, loading books from Calibre is sideloading. Downloading a Kobo ebook directly from the store to your ereader is not.

There is nothing you need to do, other than back up your calibre library, if you want. For this, the simplest method is copying and pasting the entire library folder to an external hard drive (not a flash drive, USB stick or memory card, as those can be unreliable. A proper portable external drive).