How do you indicate the order of books to be read in a series?

icspots · 08-03-2013, 12:44 PM

I have just downloaded a 12 set of books that I want to read in a specific order. I can't seem to find anything that will allow a tag or note or anything attached to the cover that would show what number the book is. I ended up going to the first page and adding a note to the last word of the title but this isn't what I would like to do. Has anyone discovered if it is possible to add something to the cover so that you can see it in the library?

PeterT · 08-03-2013, 12:50 PM

If you use calibre, many people use a concept called a plugboard to massage the title of a book to add the series info to it.

Additionaly, the database on the Kobo includes fields for series name and series number. that yet again, calibre can populate.

Additionally, a tool was posted this week that might help. See small tool for filling book library in Kobo Aura. I have no experience though with this tool.

ficbot · 08-03-2013, 02:41 PM

I always rename the book in Calibre. So, book 1 of the 'In Death' series by J.D. Robb is called 'Naked in Death.' I change this in the title field to 'In Death #01: Naked in Death' and then they all sort on my devices.

icspots · 08-03-2013, 08:41 PM

I was hoping that I had just missed the page in the user manual for the Arc but I guess I will have to learn something new (Calibre). Thanks.

dwig · 08-03-2013, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

I always rename the book in Calibre. So, book 1 of the 'In Death' series by J.D. Robb is called 'Naked in Death.' I change this in the title field to 'In Death #01: Naked in Death' and then they all sort on my devices.

I do the same, but only in the output file by using a Plugboard. This leaves the Calibre master file with an unchanged title and the series info in only the series field.

The string in the title field of my Plugboard for save to device is:

{series} {series_index:0>2s} {title}

RoGuE_StreaK · 08-04-2013, 08:20 PM

While I do add the series data in Calibre, I usually cheat and have a master-list "book"; eg. In Death "#0" stays on the front screen on my wife's Touch, just open it up, find the next book, type in two or three letters of the next title into the search box, and it's usually the "first cab off the rank".
On my Touch the oft-referred master-list is the chronological order of Star Wars novels; there's so many sub-series in there that it would take forever to try to figure out what came next.
It's nice to have the series' in shelves, but I personally find it too slow to navigate.

As another cheat, through Calibre you could extract the cover jpgs and hard-code the name of the next book somewhere on it?

Nick Payne · 08-05-2013, 06:55 PM

If your reader is a Touch, Glo, Mini, or Aura HD, you can do the following to see the series name and number under the book title on the reader:

Use the Series and Number metadata fields in Calibre to set the series name and number in the series for each book
Go to Preferences / Change Calibre Behaviour, under Advanced select Plugins, expand Device interface plugins, scroll down and select the KoboTouch plugin, and click on Customize plugin
Ensure that "Read metadata from files on device" and "Set series information" are checked and click OK
Delete the books from your reader and re-send them from Calibre

Now, when you view book titles on your reader in the library or shelves, between book title and author name you will see <series name> - <number>. This works for me with Aura HD. I don't have a Touch, Glo, or Mini to test with, but they use the same device interface plugin so I would assume you can set the series information on them in the same way.

DNSB · 08-06-2013, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Payne

If your reader is a Touch, Glo, Mini, or Aura HD, you can do the following to see the series name and number under the book title on the reader:

Use the Series and Number metadata fields in Calibre to set the series name and number in the series for each book
Go to Preferences / Change Calibre Behaviour, under Advanced select Plugins, expand Device interface plugins, scroll down and select the KoboTouch plugin, and click on Customize plugin
Ensure that "Read metadata from files on device" and "Set series information" are checked and click OK
Delete the books from your reader and re-send them from Calibre

Now, when you view book titles on your reader in the library or shelves, between book title and author name you will see <series name> - <number>. This works for me with Aura HD. I don't have a Touch, Glo, or Mini to test with, but they use the same device interface plugin so I would assume you can set the series information on them in the same way.

One note is that you have to send the books, disconnect, let the books be processed, connect, send the books again (or use davidfor's KoboUtilities to send the metadata), disconnect and let any processing happen before the series data will show up.

Basically, the first processing cycle adds the books to the database so the metadata can be added in the second cycle.

Regards,
David

Xennex1170 · 08-06-2013, 06:53 PM

What would be a cool feature would be to have a field in the DB that could be changed via a function while in shelf view. You would simply reorder your books in the shelf and then save the order. Any new books added to the shelf would be placed at the end of the list ('series' order mode) until you decided to reorder your shelf again. Would be useful for those unable or unwilling to use Calibre and save the back-and-forth otherwise involved.

davidfor · 08-06-2013, 07:36 PM

You can fudge the series order using a shelf. One of the sort order is "Date Added". This is the date the book was added to the shelf. If you add the books one at a time to the shelf in the series order, they will appear in the correct order when you use this sort.

twowheels · 08-06-2013, 07:54 PM

On my Kindle, I add the books to a collection along with a .txt file with a list of the books in the order that they're supposed to be read. As I finish each book I look in the text file to see which one to read next.

rem736 · 08-06-2013, 07:56 PM

if you don't want to use calibre (and i don't because it just adds a layer of complexity i don't want to deal with) you could just create a text file with the names of the books in order and side-load the file into the reader. when you are ready to pull up the next book in the series, pull up the text file first. it'll tell you where you are and where the next book is. this is a very simple concept that someone else on this forum suggested to me.

i guess twowheels just beat me by two minutes in suggesting the same idea.

TechniSol · 08-06-2013, 10:35 PM

I have to differ concerning Calibre adding a layer of complexity. I think that the final results obtained by simply downloading a free software package and applying yourself for likely under an hour more than make up having to spend a few minutes on the PC. When you consider how easy it is to restore all your shelves/collections in the event of a firmware reset, or a bad update, it's a magnificent return on your investment in time. Further, the flexibility of how you want things to work both in Calibre and on your reader cannot be beaten.

When you consider all the other features offered by Calibre, especially ebook format translations, ability to manipulate and replace or provide missing covers it really becomes a no-brainer. The best part is that with Peter's shelves sticky it makes even more complex tasks like massaging filenames and setting up shelves a walk in the park.

rem736 · 08-06-2013, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechniSol

I have to differ concerning Calibre adding a layer of complexity. I think that the final results obtained by simply downloading a free software package and applying yourself for likely under an hour more than make up having to spend a few minutes on the PC. When you consider how easy it is to restore all your shelves/collections in the event of a firmware reset, or a bad update, it's a magnificent return on your investment in time. Further, the flexibility of how you want things to work both in Calibre and on your reader cannot be beaten.

When you consider all the other features offered by Calibre, especially ebook format translations, ability to manipulate and replace or provide missing covers it really becomes a no-brainer. The best part is that with Peter's shelves sticky it makes even more complex tasks like massaging filenames and setting up shelves a walk in the park.

in order to do what it does, calibre makes copies of your ebooks from their original locations into its own library and then adds additional files. i just don't want to deal with multiple copies of the same book as well as the additional files it creates per book. this becomes a file management issue for me and hence, the complexity. it's just my personal preference. most people don't know and don't care how calibre works, just that it works for them. it's a matter of taste.

PeterT · 08-06-2013, 11:50 PM

@rem376: Many people are more than happy to after adding material to calibre to remove it from elsewhere on their system.

08-03-2013, 12:44 PM	#1
icspots Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Kobo Arc	How do you indicate the order of books to be read in a series? I have just downloaded a 12 set of books that I want to read in a specific order. I can't seem to find anything that will allow a tag or note or anything attached to the cover that would show what number the book is. I ended up going to the first page and adding a note to the last word of the title but this isn't what I would like to do. Has anyone discovered if it is possible to add something to the cover so that you can see it in the library?

08-05-2013, 06:55 PM	#7
Nick Payne Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 39898 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Canberra, Australia Device: Kobo Clara HD, Kobo Libra H2O	If your reader is a Touch, Glo, Mini, or Aura HD, you can do the following to see the series name and number under the book title on the reader: Use the Series and Number metadata fields in Calibre to set the series name and number in the series for each book Go to Preferences / Change Calibre Behaviour, under Advanced select Plugins, expand Device interface plugins, scroll down and select the KoboTouch plugin, and click on Customize plugin Ensure that "Read metadata from files on device" and "Set series information" are checked and click OK Delete the books from your reader and re-send them from Calibre Now, when you view book titles on your reader in the library or shelves, between book title and author name you will see <series name> - <number>. This works for me with Aura HD. I don't have a Touch, Glo, or Mini to test with, but they use the same device interface plugin so I would assume you can set the series information on them in the same way.

08-06-2013, 10:35 PM	#13
TechniSol GranPohbah-Fezzes r cool! Posts: 1,056 Karma: 3151024 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Nook STRs, Kobo Touch, Kobo Glo	I have to differ concerning Calibre adding a layer of complexity. I think that the final results obtained by simply downloading a free software package and applying yourself for likely under an hour more than make up having to spend a few minutes on the PC. When you consider how easy it is to restore all your shelves/collections in the event of a firmware reset, or a bad update, it's a magnificent return on your investment in time. Further, the flexibility of how you want things to work both in Calibre and on your reader cannot be beaten. When you consider all the other features offered by Calibre, especially ebook format translations, ability to manipulate and replace or provide missing covers it really becomes a no-brainer. The best part is that with Peter's shelves sticky it makes even more complex tasks like massaging filenames and setting up shelves a walk in the park. Last edited by TechniSol; 08-06-2013 at 10:39 PM.

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08-03-2013, 12:50 PM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,693 Karma: 79983758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	If you use calibre, many people use a concept called a plugboard to massage the title of a book to add the series info to it. Additionaly, the database on the Kobo includes fields for series name and series number. that yet again, calibre can populate. Additionally, a tool was posted this week that might help. See small tool for filling book library in Kobo Aura. I have no experience though with this tool.

08-03-2013, 02:41 PM	#3
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I always rename the book in Calibre. So, book 1 of the 'In Death' series by J.D. Robb is called 'Naked in Death.' I change this in the title field to 'In Death #01: Naked in Death' and then they all sort on my devices.

08-03-2013, 08:41 PM	#4
icspots Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Kobo Arc	I was hoping that I had just missed the page in the user manual for the Arc but I guess I will have to learn something new (Calibre). Thanks.

08-04-2013, 08:20 PM	#6
RoGuE_StreaK Member Posts: 22 Karma: 72952 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch	While I do add the series data in Calibre, I usually cheat and have a master-list "book"; eg. In Death "#0" stays on the front screen on my wife's Touch, just open it up, find the next book, type in two or three letters of the next title into the search box, and it's usually the "first cab off the rank". On my Touch the oft-referred master-list is the chronological order of Star Wars novels; there's so many sub-series in there that it would take forever to try to figure out what came next. It's nice to have the series' in shelves, but I personally find it too slow to navigate. As another cheat, through Calibre you could extract the cover jpgs and hard-code the name of the next book somewhere on it?

08-06-2013, 06:53 PM	#9
Xennex1170 Addict Posts: 355 Karma: 289856 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Device: Kobo Touch	What would be a cool feature would be to have a field in the DB that could be changed via a function while in shelf view. You would simply reorder your books in the shelf and then save the order. Any new books added to the shelf would be placed at the end of the list ('series' order mode) until you decided to reorder your shelf again. Would be useful for those unable or unwilling to use Calibre and save the back-and-forth otherwise involved.

08-06-2013, 07:36 PM	#10
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	You can fudge the series order using a shelf. One of the sort order is "Date Added". This is the date the book was added to the shelf. If you add the books one at a time to the shelf in the series order, they will appear in the correct order when you use this sort.

08-06-2013, 07:54 PM	#11
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,855 Karma: 13432974 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro, Boox Note Max	On my Kindle, I add the books to a collection along with a .txt file with a list of the books in the order that they're supposed to be read. As I finish each book I look in the text file to see which one to read next.

08-06-2013, 07:56 PM	#12
rem736 purpose priority passion Posts: 646 Karma: 9002000 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: socal, usa Device: sony prs-350, rM2, kindle scribe, boox poke5	if you don't want to use calibre (and i don't because it just adds a layer of complexity i don't want to deal with) you could just create a text file with the names of the books in order and side-load the file into the reader. when you are ready to pull up the next book in the series, pull up the text file first. it'll tell you where you are and where the next book is. this is a very simple concept that someone else on this forum suggested to me. i guess twowheels just beat me by two minutes in suggesting the same idea.

08-06-2013, 11:50 PM	#15
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,693 Karma: 79983758 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	@rem376: Many people are more than happy to after adding material to calibre to remove it from elsewhere on their system.