Aura New User questions

[DrAtomic]

Hey guys (and girls),

I would like to say I'm the proud new owner of a Kobo Aura, however some issues are really killing the experience for me thus far. Please assist.

Is there really no option to checkout your wishlist in one go?

Is there really no option to export your wishlist to the kobostore?

Is it really impossible to sort the order in a bookshelf? (through using the Aura itself, I understand from reading this forum I can hack (add) metadata to do this through a tool called calibre, but really? This isnt the eighties now is it?

Is it really impossible to add sections to my library? I mean in a real library you have sections, book cases and bookshelves... Have these programmers never seen a library on the inside? I only bought 30 books and it's allready a mess...

Also when I enable the light there is a small strip of light on the top, almost as if my screen placement has shifted down 2 milimeters, is this normal? Kinda annoying looking into that strip of light to be honest.

On top of it all I seem to experience WiFi connection isses, but as far as I can tell that's a current firmware issue between Kobo 3.1.1 and Fritzbox routers. I'll trust that get's sorted soon.

Sorry to let my frustration shine through, but I really did my homework before deciding which reader to go with. Sadly I seem to have assumed that, which is basic functionality in my eyes, normal book management options and buying options would have been crystalised over the years (I focussed on reading eperience when deciding which one to get). I figured that once developers start adding stuff like facebook integration, games and getpocket the basics would be covered and covered well.

Anyway I hope this isnt too rant-ish, answers would be greatly appreciated.

[paola]

Originally Posted by DrAtomic

Hey guys (and girls),

I would like to say I'm the proud new owner of a Kobo Aura, however some issues are really killing the experience for me thus far. Please assist.

Is there really no option to checkout your wishlist in one go?

Is there really no option to export your wishlist to the kobostore?

Is it really impossible to sort the order in a bookshelf? (through using the Aura itself, I understand from reading this forum I can hack (add) metadata to do this through a tool called calibre, but really? This isnt the eighties now is it?

Is it really impossible to add sections to my library? I mean in a real library you have sections, book cases and bookshelves... Have these programmers never seen a library on the inside? I only bought 30 books and it's allready a mess...

Also when I enable the light there is a small strip of light on the top, almost as if my screen placement has shifted down 2 milimeters, is this normal? Kinda annoying looking into that strip of light to be honest.

On top of it all I seem to experience WiFi connection isses, but as far as I can tell that's a current firmware issue between Kobo 3.1.1 and Fritzbox routers. I'll trust that get's sorted soon.

Sorry to let my frustration shine through, but I really did my homework before deciding which reader to go with. Sadly I seem to have assumed that, which is basic functionality in my eyes, normal book management options and buying options would have been crystalised over the years (I focussed on reading eperience when deciding which one to get). I figured that once developers start adding stuff like facebook integration, games and getpocket the basics would be covered and covered well.

Anyway I hope this isnt too rant-ish, answers would be greatly appreciated.

I dont' have an Aura, but to organise the library you can create "shelves" and assign books to shelves. Unlike a physical library, though, a book can be on many shelves.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DrAtomic

Hey guys (and girls),

I would like to say I'm the proud new owner of a Kobo Aura, however some issues are really killing the experience for me thus far. Please assist.

Is there really no option to checkout your wishlist in one go?

Kobo have only just added a cart to their site, so buying more than one book at a time is new. And I don't think it is on the devices.

Is there really no option to export your wishlist to the kobostore?

The wishlist is part of the store. When you view it, you can buy the book. But, I think you mean something else and I am not sure what.

Is it really impossible to sort the order in a bookshelf? (through using the Aura itself, I understand from reading this forum I can hack (add) metadata to do this through a tool called calibre, but really? This isnt the eighties now is it?

When you are viewing a shelf, the sort order is displayed at the top of the list. Press that and a list of ways you can order the shelf is displayed.

Is it really impossible to add sections to my library? I mean in a real library you have sections, book cases and bookshelves... Have these programmers never seen a library on the inside? I only bought 30 books and it's allready a mess...

Sorry, but that is a really weird statement when it immediately follows a complaint about the shelves. What do you think shelves are? But, there are some filtering in the main list. Press the "Show: All" at the top of the list.

The above comments suggest you haven't noticed something about the interface. In almost all places that italics are used in the interface, pressing the word it will do something.

[filmo]

Calibre is free book management program and a lot more it has plugin system that extends it's capability. A recent plugin manages Kobo book shelfs. I have included link to sticky thread how to use this Calibre plugin.
I don't have Kobo Aura but you should only see bright line at top of screen at extreme angle that you would not use for reading and high light levels higher than you would use for reading. If the bright line interferes with reading return your reader while it is still in warranty. Some of the Aura readers from first production run had such quality control problems.

http://calibre-ebook.com/demo
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=193184

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by davidfor

When you are viewing a shelf, the sort order is displayed at the top of the list. Press that and a list of ways you can order the shelf is displayed.

Perhaps what the OP is hoping for is a sorting order like we see with physical books. Perhaps something like a shelf displayed on a ribbon of titles in a category for History books that allows you to sort the books on the ribbon in a way similar to shelves in a bookcase. For example, you might want a shelf for History and on it you shelve first Roman History books sorted by several titles on the Early Republic next to several on the Punic Wars, next to books on Greek History arranged by a series of titles on the Golden Age of Athens followed by titles on the Peloponnesian War, etc.

If that is what is wanted, I don’t know of anything that can duplicate it. There have been some eReaders that exposed the file system to the user so you could nest folders inside of folders but people found it confusing and it didn’t really duplicate what a physical bookcase can do. I think that this is one area where physical books can do something very easily and naturally that is hard to replicate digitally.

[DrAtomic]

Originally Posted by filmo

Calibre is free book management program and a lot more it has plugin system that extends it's capability. A recent plugin manages Kobo book shelfs. I have included link to sticky thread how to use this Calibre plugin.
I don't have Kobo Aura but you should only see bright line at top of screen at extreme angle that you would not use for reading and high light levels higher than you would use for reading. If the bright line interferes with reading return your reader while it is still in warranty. Some of the Aura readers from first production run had such quality control problems.

http://calibre-ebook.com/demo
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=193184

Bummer, sounds like I have a first run product one then.

Thanks for pointing out Calibre, still this kind of thing should be native no?

[DrAtomic]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Kobo have only just added a cart to their site, so buying more than one book at a time is new. And I don't think it is on the devices.

Ow wow, they have some catching up to do then. My Aura doesnt have a shopping cart that's for sure.

Originally Posted by davidfor

The wishlist is part of the store. When you view it, you can buy the book. But, I think you mean something else and I am not sure what.

No and yes, yes I can buy a book straight of my wishlist by pressing buy, but I can't checkout my entire wishlist or make multiple wishlists (i.e. work, vacation). What I expected was the ability to checkout my entire wishlist on my device or at least upload my wishlist to the webbased store and check it out there. However the webbased store seems to lack a wishlist alltogether.

Originally Posted by davidfor

When you are viewing a shelf, the sort order is displayed at the top of the list. Press that and a list of ways you can order the shelf is displayed.

Cheers, I missed the sort order thing (cant believe i did but i did), must have been distracted by the options pull down to the right.

Originally Posted by davidfor

Sorry, but that is a really weird statement when it immediately follows a complaint about the shelves. What do you think shelves are? But, there are some filtering in the main list. Press the "Show: All" at the top of the list.

If I walk into a physical library that library is divided into sections (sci-fi, fantasy, technical, kids, etc, etc), then each section has bookcases with authors or subject matter, the shelves themselves are sorted by author and suborganised on topic or by series. This is basicly what I was (am) looking for in shelf management.

Originally Posted by davidfor

The above comments suggest you haven't noticed something about the interface. In almost all places that italics are used in the interface, pressing the word it will do something.

Funny enough I did notice, but for some reason I got absorbed by the options pulldown to the right and missed the sort order. Sadly enough the sort order doesnt help, unless you buy something in order (which I didnt).

[DrAtomic]

Originally Posted by 6charlong

Perhaps what the OP is hoping for is a sorting order like we see with physical books. Perhaps something like a shelf displayed on a ribbon of titles in a category for History books that allows you to sort the books on the ribbon in a way similar to shelves in a bookcase. For example, you might want a shelf for History and on it you shelve first Roman History books sorted by several titles on the Early Republic next to several on the Punic Wars, next to books on Greek History arranged by a series of titles on the Golden Age of Athens followed by titles on the Peloponnesian War, etc.

If that is what is wanted, I don’t know of anything that can duplicate it. There have been some eReaders that exposed the file system to the user so you could nest folders inside of folders but people found it confusing and it didn’t really duplicate what a physical bookcase can do. I think that this is one area where physical books can do something very easily and naturally that is hard to replicate digitally.

Spot on! I expected the same ability as organising my bookshelves in real life. The only way to do this it seems is by using an external programm called calibre which involves removing the drm if im not mistaken.

If they add a manual sort order combined with a simple drag and drop system (highlight one book and drag it down to it's position) this whole thing would be solved (allthough sections and bookcases would still be nice, nested folders in geek speak).

[DrAtomic]

Thank you all for your responses, seems like I expected the Aura to be able to do more then it currently can.

I'm halfway reading my first book on it and I must say that I love the reading experience, for that alone I've made the right choice. Hopefully the other features come soon.

[TechniSol]

I suspect there has been very little time put into modeling the real world in terms of a hierarchical model of sections, shelves, etc. However, if you give up the multilevel interface requirements, you can easily create collections organized whatever way you like... ie, it would be possible to create a collection called History:WWII:Japan and other collections like History:WWII:Artillery, etc. The multi level aspect would have to be in the names you assigned.

Calibre as a management tool is MUCH quicker than organizing a bunch of books by hand and once done allows you to recreate a whole raft of collections simply by syncing the reader to calibre again. Plus, Kobo's database requires you to only store the book once, but also allows you to have it appear in as many collections as you like. To me, that, and the ease of recreating the collections with Calibre make the database approach worthwhile, if perhaps not fully realized yet by Kobo.

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by DrAtomic

Is there really no option to checkout your wishlist in one go?

Despite having had my Kobo Touch for over a year now, I bought my first books from the Kobo store within the last few days. I used the web interface on my computer rather than from the Touch (I don't feel entirely secure doing financial transactions on mobile devices), but I too was a bit surprised that I had to go through the books I wanted one at a time! However, no-one ever said that owning a Kobo isn't an interesting experience!

[robko]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

I used the web interface on my computer rather than from the Touch (I don't feel entirely secure doing financial transactions on mobile devices), but I too was a bit surprised that I had to go through the books I wanted one at a time!

Must not have made it to your side of the pond yet, but Kobo has in the last 2-3 months rolled out a shopping cart that will allow you to buy more than one book at a time. You could also try clearing your cache in case your browser is just using an old version of the site. I can't remember where all has/hasn't got the cart yet.

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by robko

Must not have made it to your side of the pond yet, but Kobo has in the last 2-3 months rolled out a shopping cart that will allow you to buy more than one book at a time. You could also try clearing your cache in case your browser is just using an old version of the site. I can't remember where all has/hasn't got the cart yet.

Thanks, Robko. It isn't a problem - I'm unlikely to be buying much else for a few months anyway. The only reason I was there is because I'd come across a couple of books that I was willing to pay for, and then ended up buying a couple of others because they were recommended based on the grand total of two purchases - either the algorithm Kobo uses for analysing its users is really good, or science fiction fans are a pushover when it comes to anthologies! Thinking about it, it is probably a good thing I had to keep going back and forth to buy stuff - who knows how many more books I'd have bought

It is unlikely to be the cache - I can't remember the last time I was on Kobo's site, and I have my browser set to clear the cache every time I close it anyway.

Of course, I could have been using the site wrong ...

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

then ended up buying a couple of others because they were recommended based on the grand total of two purchases - either the algorithm Kobo uses for analysing its users is really good,

Once you start buying books from Kobo, the recommendations get better. But,

or science fiction fans are a pushover when it comes to anthologies!

I suspect this is the case. But, I think most heavy book readers are pushovers for buying more books.

Thinking about it, it is probably a good thing I had to keep going back and forth to buy stuff - who knows how many more books I'd have bought

Yes, sometimes an inefficient system is good for us!

[Peakcrew]

I have a strong suspicion that it is a learned response - when "ah were a lad" SF was still largely short stories (or the books in the local library were, anyway), and that is what I got hooked on. From the age of about seven or eight, the word "anthology" has meant far more to me than merely "collection" - it's a word that wraps up pleasure, imagination, escapism, warmth, and variety all in one. It's one of my favourite words.

But, yes, the point that book-lovers have an addiction that crystal meth pushers could only dream of is true, too ...