[GUI Plugin] FanFicFare

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by dailyalice

Looking for some clarification on backups. Hopefully this is an easy one to answer. Want to make sure i'm getting things right in that guide I'm working on.

All of the FFF plugin settings, including personal.ini, are in the library database (which is in the library folder). This is so they can be library specific.

A few GUI details, such as window size/placement and the "show this dialog again" checkboxes are stored... somewhere? Calibre's settings folder in gui.json (and other files?), it looks like.

I would recommend backing up the Calibre settings folder because there are numerous Calibre settings features and plugins (other than FFF) that do store their settings there.

[Chrystalline]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

It's pretty common for ffnet to not update the metadata on the first chapter immediately. FFF has an option (check_next_chapter) to look for another chapter past the one reported by chapter one.

Well, now I feel stupid. Scroll all the way down and there it is. Thank you!

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

...

Searching this thread for 'cover inject' iss a good source for past discussions on this.

Notably:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

'Update EPUB Cover' is one of the oldest options in FFF and is implemented as basically injecting never_make_cover:true under [overrides] in the ini config during the BG job, and doesn't directly effect else.

So it doesn't surprise me that newer options under Calibre Cover tab take precedence.

Realistically, you should probably turn 'Default Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB?' on if you ever want covers from sites and then ignore it. It was a feature for those who only ever wanted their own covers and was long before integration with GC.

I'm still parsing all your posts and trying to set up to duplicate.

[JimmXinu]

@AbyssalAriel,

I think have a handle on what's going on.

First, as previously mentioned, you should probably have Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? checked all the time, otherwise FFF applies never_make_cover:true.

Second, on the Calibre Cover tab, I'd uncheck Inject/update the cover inside EPUB.

The Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, unless FanficFare found a cover image setting means any cover image found inside the epub. Including the one FFF injected on the previous run.

Since FFF has no way of knowing the difference between a generated cover and one lovingly hand crafted by the user, it treats both the same.

This is indicated by the metadata entry cover_image. You have to use generate_cover_settings settings instead of the GUI if want to use different values rather than simply 'has cover_image or not'. See defaults.ini.

  cover_image can be:
## specific -- The site has an image that is specifically this story's cover
## first -- The first image in the story or story desc is used as cover
## default -- A default_cover_image was used
## old -- There was already a cover image in the epub.

Calibre automatically injects the cover on Convert. I was sure it also did so on Send to device and Save to file, but now that I test those, I'm not seeing that behavior...

[AbyssalAriel]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

First, as previously mentioned, you should probably have Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? checked all the time, otherwise FFF applies never_make_cover:true.

But one of the issues I was seeing is that, for works that didn't have a defined cover image, it updated the cover even when Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? is not checked, but this doesn't seem to make sense.

If Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? is not checked, surely that should override all the other settings and never change whatever cover is there?

Like, I want to be able to control whether or not the cover gets updated when I update the actual story contents (or metadata), not just be at the mercy of other settings; sometimes never_make_cover:true is what is desired, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Second, on the Calibre Cover tab, I'd uncheck Inject/update the cover inside EPUB.

But this would mean the epub itself won't ever have any cover updates, right? Sometimes this is desirable (just not when I specifically make a point of leaving Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? unchecked).

In fact, generally, in every case where I want the cover to change, I want the cover inside the EPUB to also change with it. The problem is that the behavior for when the cover changes, is difficult to control or make sense of.

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

The Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, unless FanficFare found a cover image setting means any cover image found inside the epub. Including the one FFF injected on the previous run.

Since FFF has no way of knowing the difference between a generated cover and one lovingly hand crafted by the user, it treats both the same.

Oh, my assumption was that this setting was only referring to either the site's "official" cover that it initially downloaded, or to the "first found image" based-covers. I didn't think it would be based on any cover at all.

But then why does it happily update the existing (generated) covers for new stories, when using "update from saved metadata column"? I figure it must be to do with the cover_image being absent, but then why does it change to "old" when I use "Update EPUB"?

And at risk of repeating myself, I have yet to see any situation where Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? has literally any effect. Whatever happens to the cover, seems 100% determined by other options, because in every test I've done, the behavior is exactly the same whether I leave it checked or not.

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

This is indicated by the metadata entry cover_image. You have to use generate_cover_settings settings instead of the GUI if want to use different values rather than simply 'has cover_image or not'. See defaults.ini.

  cover_image can be:
## specific -- The site has an image that is specifically this story's cover
## first -- The first image in the story or story desc is used as cover
## default -- A default_cover_image was used
## old -- There was already a cover image in the epub.

Newly downloaded stories for me seem to either have "first", or have no cover_image entry at all (judging by looking in the saved metadata column), and if I Update EPUB Always, the story ends up with "old", no matter what it was before.

Stories that have first or old don't seem to update unless Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, always is set; that makes some sense, but then the ineffective Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? checkbox rears its ugly head and I have to be real careful to turn the Generate Calibre Cover setting back, because otherwise if I ever update any other

Basically, I think all of the undesirable behavior I'm experiencing, can be boiled down to:

cover_image is changed to/set to "old" if I ever update the story from the website, no matter what it was before (or if there was even a cover_image field at all).

never_make_cover:true, apparently just does not work, or maybe leaving the checkbox empty is failing to set it. Leaving Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? unchecked does not prevent the cover being updated, in any circumstance at all. If the cover doesn't change, it's because of other settings that apply to only that story, every time. As a consequence, if I have Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, always on, absolutely nothing prevents the cover from being forcefully changed, so perfect vigilance on that one setting, is necessary to avoid permanently erasing covers that I like/am settled on.

[sandmanwake]

FYI. I see there's an open issue (#876) in the github's homepage for FFF regarding scribblehub. Whatever issue the site had seems to have magically resolved itself as I was able to download several stories this morning successfully.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

If Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? is not checked, surely that should override all the other settings and never change whatever cover is there?

Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? / Update EPUB Cover stops the FFF downloader from getting a cover from story specific cover images, first images or default cover during download. It's one of the oldest things in FFF plugin and pre-dates all other cover settings and features.

What happens after download, while putting info into Calibre and especially Generated Covers, is controlled by the other settings.

Honestly, Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? / Update EPUB Cover is redundant with never_make_cover:true and should probably be removed. I started looking into that spring 2021 but never got back to it. The issue is whether FFF should automatically append that setting to personal.ini for the users who do have it unchecked be default or now.

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

Basically, I think all of the undesirable behavior I'm experiencing, can be boiled down to:

cover_image is changed to/set to "old" if I ever update the story from the website, no matter what it was before (or if there was even a cover_image field at all).

cover_image will contain specific, old, etc. But when you are injecting the cover, yes, they will all have some value. So unless you use generate_cover_settings it doesn't matter and they are treated the same.

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

never_make_cover:true, apparently just does not work, or maybe leaving the checkbox empty is failing to set it. Leaving Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? unchecked does not prevent the cover being updated, in any circumstance at all. If the cover doesn't change, it's because of other settings that apply to only that story, every time. As a consequence, if I have Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, always on, absolutely nothing prevents the cover from being forcefully changed, so perfect vigilance on that one setting, is necessary to avoid permanently erasing covers that I like/am settled on.

I would say instead that it doesn't do what you expect because you're not understanding the division between downloading and metadata integration into Calibre that exists for historical reasons. FFF was an existing downloader that was integrated into Calibre as a plugin and is still released as a CLI.

Again, Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? is old and only affects the download process itself, not the calibre integration afterwards. So, yes, Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, always will always generate a cover.

And yes, if you want to generate and replace covers and inject them into the epubs, but only some of the time, depending on your own criteria, it falls to you to turn that setting on and off as needed.

At that point, I'd turn off GC in FFF and generate covers manually if it were me.

[fdwojo]

Dang it, can't delete a post ��

[AbyssalAriel]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? / Update EPUB Cover stops the FFF downloader from getting a cover from story specific cover images, first images or default cover during download. It's one of the oldest things in FFF plugin and pre-dates all other cover settings and features.

What happens after download, while putting info into Calibre and especially Generated Covers, is controlled by the other settings.

Honestly, Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? / Update EPUB Cover is redundant with never_make_cover:true and should probably be removed. I started looking into that spring 2021 but never got back to it. The issue is whether FFF should automatically append that setting to personal.ini for the users who do have it unchecked be default or now.

-snip-

I would say instead that it doesn't do what you expect because you're not understanding the division between downloading and metadata integration into Calibre that exists for historical reasons. FFF was an existing downloader that was integrated into Calibre as a plugin and is still released as a CLI.

Again, Update EPUB Cover when Updating EPUB? is old and only affects the download process itself, not the calibre integration afterwards. So, yes, Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, always will always generate a cover.

Okay, I think I understand now why it's apparently not having an effect; would checking that option mean that if the story itself on the site updates its cover, FFF would update the cover accordingly in the epub? Is that all it's for?

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

cover_image will contain specific, old, etc. But when you are injecting the cover, yes, they will all have some value. So unless you use generate_cover_settings it doesn't matter and they are treated the same.

But is it supposed to change the value from "first" to "old" whenever "Update EPUB Always" is run?

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

At that point, I'd turn off GC in FFF and generate covers manually if it were me.

How can I inject manually generated covers inside the epub? What I hope to do is basically:

1. Download a story initially, with a cover either taken from the site (if there is one), or from the first image (if there is one), or be given a generated cover template, based off the site (or ideally, even more specific metadata, like the fandom/category). This seems more or less possible already (though I only have per-site ones set up, not per-category).

2. When updating the epub story or metadata, to never change the cover gotten from the download, unless I do so deliberately/purposely (it shouldn't happen just as a side-effect of running the updater, as it does now for the generated covers).

3. To be able to deliberately/purposely update the cover for either one or many stories at once (if many, it would be some kind of template), and have this change injected into the epub, and this updated cover will, again, not be changed until I deliberately change it.

What would you recommend for this?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by fdwojo

Dang it, can't delete a post ��

In the future, if you press the '!' (report) button next to 'karma,' you can ask a mod to delete it.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

Okay, I think I understand now why it's apparently not having an effect; would checking that option mean that if the story itself on the site updates its cover, FFF would update the cover accordingly in the epub? Is that all it's for?

No. Forget the Update EPUB Cover option ever existed. I'm going to remove it. Should have a year ago. New behavior will always be as if it was checked. Probably with a pop up dialog warning users who had it off by default.

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

But is it supposed to change the value from "first" to "old" whenever "Update EPUB Always" is run?

No. cover_image will contain 'specific' if the site adapter called setCoverImage() indicating there was a specific author selected cover images (AO3 for example, never has 'specific'); 'first' if setting make_firstimage_cover:true and there is at least one image; 'default' if a default_cover_image setting was applied; and finally 'old' if updating an existing epub that has a cover image and none of the previous applied. Even if you have inserted some other cover image. Because FFF's cover_image metadata entry is about what FFF found.

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

1. Download a story initially, with a cover either taken from the site (if there is one), or from the first image (if there is one), or be given a generated cover template, based off the site (or ideally, even more specific metadata, like the fandom/category). This seems more or less possible already (though I only have per-site ones set up, not per-category).

2. When updating the epub story or metadata, to never change the cover gotten from the download, unless I do so deliberately/purposely (it shouldn't happen just as a side-effect of running the updater, as it does now for the generated covers).

I thought we had a 'New Only' checkbox for covers, too. I vaguely recall that there is a way to do it, but if I can't remember it, it was probably too complicated.

I'll look into adding a 'New Only' checkbox for covers similar to Standard Columns. Should be straightforward.

Originally Posted by AbyssalAriel

3. To be able to deliberately/purposely update the cover for either one or many stories at once (if many, it would be some kind of template), and have this change injected into the epub, and this updated cover will, again, not be changed until I deliberately change it.

You can use Generate Cover manually (or other tool) and then Calibre's Polish or Modify Epub to inject it into the epub if you want it there. Or switch the 'New Only' cover checkbox once it's added on and off.

I'm not anymore interested in adding a special mode to FFF specifically for updating covers than I am for title page.

FYI, regarding:

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Calibre automatically injects the cover on Convert. I was sure it also did so on Send to device and Save to file, but now that I test those, I'm not seeing that behavior...

I dug out a 2/3 dead Nook and coaxed it back to life long enough to see that sending an epub with a Cover in Calibre, but not in the epub did end up with the cover image on Nook. So I believe Calibre does send the cover when it knows how, just not in the epub.

[Mandabar]

I don't know if this applies or not to the above cover situation but I have something to add. If I edit the cover of a FFF book thru any of several methods (custom image, larger higher quality image or generated cover) it will default back to the original UNLESS I manually edit the book (using the Calibre edit functions built in Sigil-like editor) and then change something before saving it. Then the cover will remain as I manually set it on FFF updates.

Edit: Feels like it basically does the same as injection/polish methods described

[ownedbycats]

Personally, I find the cover generation options to be kinda a confusing mess and sometimes not working the way I expect it to do.

I've found that a story-URL section with never_make_cover:true (generated) or default_cover_image:{localpathtosavedimage} (image) to help.

[AbyssalAriel]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

and finally 'old' if updating an existing epub that has a cover image and none of the previous applied.

Well then it doesn't seem to be behaving as intended, because for a story that is downloaded and has the value 'first' for cover_image, updating the epub changes it to 'old', even if it doesn't actually change the cover (whereas what you're saying here sounds like it shouldn't change to 'old' if it already was 'first').

For example, this one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31387700

With these settings:

Settings in Calibre Cover tab:
Update EPUB cover from EPUB: Yes, if EPUB has a cover image
Generate Calibre Cover: Yes, unless FanficFare found a cover image
Generate covers only for new books: Disabled
Inject/update the cover inside EPUB: Enabled
Allow generate_cover_settings from personal.ini to override: True

And update the story with Update EPUB Always.

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

You can use Generate Cover manually (or other tool) and then Calibre's Polish or Modify Epub to inject it into the epub if you want it there. Or switch the 'New Only' cover checkbox once it's added on and off.

Okay, that sounds like it will suffice, thank you.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by Mandabar

I don't know if this applies or not to the above cover situation but I have something to add. If I edit the cover of a FFF book thru any of several methods (custom image, larger higher quality image or generated cover) it will default back to the original UNLESS I manually edit the book (using the Calibre edit functions built in Sigil-like editor) and then change something before saving it. Then the cover will remain as I manually set it on FFF updates.

Edit: Feels like it basically does the same as injection/polish methods described

Calibre's Edit book feature has a checkbox in its Preferences under 'Integration with Calibre' for 'Update metadata embedded in the bookk when opening' which is checked by default. Which includes cover.

So, by default, when you open Edit book, Calibre does inject its cover into the epub. But, as you saw, you have to save from Edit book to keep it in the epub.

Calibre's Polish book 'Update the cover' option will also inject the Calibre cover and allows for multiple books at once, FYI.