Some suggestions for Calibre

[dotancohen]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Do you mean in the left-hand user category pane (authors, formats, tags, etc)? At the bottom there is a drop-down "sort by" button that will let you sort by name, popularity or avg rating.

Thanks, I don't know how I missed that! Maybe it should be hidden away in some submenu of some cryptic icon where I could find it!

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by dotancohen

Indeed, however I find the cover browser to be too limited to find the book that I need. I have a few hundred books, and I would like to narrow down by a tag or two before I start looking for covers. Also, the whole animation thing is nice but not productive.

> The cover browser allows you to browse by cover while in
> the library view.

Only by cover, and in a very limited way. Ideally, an image of the cover would be in a column.

Just so we're on the same page the cover browser isn't a all or nothing proposition.

I attached what I see if I open all panes in calibre at once. I can use the search feature, narrow down by a tag or two, and still see the library view and covers at the same time. Clicking on any cover opens a book. Browsing by cover is not a "only by cover" feature. If your cover browser pops up in a separate window this can be changed in Preferences - Look & Feel.

As you can see in the attached images the various panes can be resized.

[meryvn]

One thing i would like added if possible is an option to auto-restart when i change a preference that needs restarting. At the moment i get a window saying i won't be allowed to make any preference changes until i restart. It would be nice to have a button that automatically shutdown calibre and restarted it.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by meryvn

One thing i would like added if possible is an option to auto-restart when i change a preference that needs restarting. At the moment i get a window saying i won't be allowed to make any preference changes until i restart. It would be nice to have a button that automatically shutdown calibre and restarted it.

How about two buttons: CTRL R.

[Graham]

Thanks for showing me that the covers could be inset in that way, dwanthy.

If anyone (like I was) is struggling to get them to appear across the top, the trick is to change the interface layout to Wide from Narrow in Preferences > Look & Feel.

Graham

[BookJunkieLI]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

How about two buttons: CTRL R.

Thanks for that tip. It makes things easier and a bit faster.

Originally Posted by Graham

Thanks for showing me that the covers could be inset in that way, dwanthy.

If anyone (like I was) is struggling to get them to appear across the top, the trick is to change the interface layout to Wide from Narrow in Preferences > Look & Feel.

Graham

Or, if you look at the top of the column where the books are listed and see a yellow bar put the mouse over it and then drag down a little. The covers will popup. Mine had already been set to Wide but I wasn't seeing the covers until I did that. I will say your tip did tell me why one of my computers was showing the Book Details pane on the bottom instead of the side like it does on all my other computers.

Or, and I just found this, , on the bottom right is a button with an arrow on it that will show/hide the cover browser above the book list.

[meryvn]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

How about two buttons: CTRL R.

That is a great tip, thanks.

[Gary_M_Mugford]

Originally Posted by dotancohen

> Clicking on the book image in the cover browser opens the
> book in one click.
>
Indeed, however I find the cover browser to be too limited to find the book that I need. I have a few hundred books, and I would like to narrow down by a tag or two before I start looking for covers. Also, the whole animation thing is nice but not productive.

Hi,

I'm a little late to this thread (Saturdays are for catching up). But can't you do a search for the tags or terms that you want (or simply select an author or a series from the tag browser) and get the targetted set you want. Then when you invoke the cover browser, those are the books you'll see covers for. When I did a version of my library for my mother, she was overwhelmed with the forest too. Then I clicked on her favourite author and only those books came up ... all 200+ of them. Still ...

Despite a fairly substantial library, ALL with covers from some source, or default covers I created by modifying Kovid's default cover, I actually don't use the cover browser much. I target the description, my desired rating and then use that to form my reading list. The list goes onto the Kindle each week during the charging/updating and Bob's your uncle.

Regards, GM

[David Derrico]

Originally Posted by GRiker

Try "{formats}" (no quotes)

G

Thanks very much, this helped a lot! You just helped make a great program even better and more useful!

I might be in the minority, but I find a "Formats" column very helpful, partially because I use Calibre to convert my own e-books and this helps me differentiate between the various versions (which come from slightly different source files but all look the same without a Formats column). It also helps to see when I get a PRC file, since it reminds me to convert to Mobi (which is necessary for metadata changes to show up on the Kindle).