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fidvo · 08-14-2014, 07:23 PM

#1:

Short answer: Yes.

Medium answer: Yes. Absolutely. Don't even think about it. Just do it.

Long answer: Using the built-in fields the way they're intended will save you a lot of grief down the road. The most common reason for people trying to cram too much info into the title field is to get it to display the way they want on their ebook reader. Inevitably, they discover why this is a bad idea when they get a new reader and suddenly they need to change the titles to a different scheme. Then they end up on the forum asking about complex search-and-replace, when it would have been easier if they had just filled in the fields properly, and they would just need to change their Save-to-Disk/Send-to-Device template and/or plugboard.

Addendum to the long answer: It's best to get into the habit of reviewing and cleaning up all metadata manually every time you import a book or download metadata. Think of the downloaded metadata as "suggestions" rather than gospel truth, because every site does it differently.

#2:

As others have mentioned, if a series really doesn't have an order, use "0" as the number.

HOWEVER:

I noticed you read Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I recommend you install the "Search the Internet" plugin and get used to looking up authors on ISFDB.org. (Or skip the plugin and just bookmark it) You'll find that their series numbering is pretty accurate, even more accurate than Fantastic Fiction in most cases where they disagree. You might be able to find series numbers there for series you didn't think actually had that info available. (It's also the first place I check for covers)

And, as others have mentioned, add a custom "subseries" column. IMHO, this should be built into Calibre by default. When I first started using a subseries column, I finally stopped pulling my hair out in frustration over how to categorize those pesky two-level series from authors like Anne McCaffrey and Andre Norton.

08-14-2014, 07:23 PM	#4
fidvo Addict Posts: 296 Karma: 1599870 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: none	#1: Short answer: Yes. Medium answer: Yes. Absolutely. Don't even think about it. Just do it. Long answer: Using the built-in fields the way they're intended will save you a lot of grief down the road. The most common reason for people trying to cram too much info into the title field is to get it to display the way they want on their ebook reader. Inevitably, they discover why this is a bad idea when they get a new reader and suddenly they need to change the titles to a different scheme. Then they end up on the forum asking about complex search-and-replace, when it would have been easier if they had just filled in the fields properly, and they would just need to change their Save-to-Disk/Send-to-Device template and/or plugboard. Addendum to the long answer: It's best to get into the habit of reviewing and cleaning up all metadata manually every time you import a book or download metadata. Think of the downloaded metadata as "suggestions" rather than gospel truth, because every site does it differently. #2: As others have mentioned, if a series really doesn't have an order, use "0" as the number. HOWEVER: I noticed you read Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I recommend you install the "Search the Internet" plugin and get used to looking up authors on ISFDB.org. (Or skip the plugin and just bookmark it) You'll find that their series numbering is pretty accurate, even more accurate than Fantastic Fiction in most cases where they disagree. You might be able to find series numbers there for series you didn't think actually had that info available. (It's also the first place I check for covers) And, as others have mentioned, add a custom "subseries" column. IMHO, this should be built into Calibre by default. When I first started using a subseries column, I finally stopped pulling my hair out in frustration over how to categorize those pesky two-level series from authors like Anne McCaffrey and Andre Norton.