[GUI Plugin] Kindle Collections (old)

[kiwidude]

Originally Posted by meme

I'll test it out, although in the next version of the plugin I change the way the report is done so it may not have this minimize/restore issue - I'll compare.

Will there be an option to suppress the report? It is great for debugging but after you have your collection patterns setup i dont really want to see and close it each time?

Set it up on my parents pc too btw and a brilliant addition for them as makes uing the kindle so much easier.

[meme]

The report will move into the details section of the messagebox that confirms the preview/create is complete.

[SingleEyePhotos]

Originally Posted by meme

Hopefully the plugin's error message was clear that you need to send books to the device - if not, it will be in the next version.

+++

Again, hopefully there was a warning about the books that didn't go into collections - it should tell you to reconvert them, etc. I think I'll move those warnings to the top of the report

Actually, no. The error messages were about as clear as mud. I had to fiddle and try various things, and cross my fingers, etc. before I was able to figure it out. If you could re-write the error messages so that they were clear and specific, that would probably help people going forward. I don't really remember what the messages said, but it was something along the lines of some column not found or being empty - which was startling because the column was right there in Calibre and it was obviously not empty!

Sounds like you need a new custom column that uses a template that checks if the '+' is set, and if it is puts Already Read, and if not puts the value of the Collection field (or just adds Already Read to the collection, or creates it as collection-Already Read).

WAY too complicated for me... That template stuff sounds interesting, but I simply can't seem to wrap my brain around it. I understand what you're saying, and it does sound like exactly what I was looking for, but putting it into effect is a whole 'nother story!

Oh, another thing I've noticed happening a couple times is that when I add some new books, or make changes, I have to close & restart Calibre before the plugin will 'see' the new items or changes. For example, I had 3 books in one of my collections, and I just added a new book to go in that collection. When I did the Collection preview, it said only 3 books for that collection, when there should be 4. I restarted Calibre and re-ran the preview (no changes) and now it's picking up all 4. I don't know if that's me, Calibre, or the plugin.

[meme]

It sounds like you ran across an error message that shouldn't have occurred (the real issue should have been caught before you saw that message), so I'll look at doing some additional checks.

Templates can be confusing, but there are step by step instructions I'll add to the first post once I can test them in the next version of Calibre.

For your new books, first make sure they have been sent to the device. If they aren't on the Kindle they'll be ignored by the plugin. As for making updates in Calibre that aren't seen without a restart (its the reconnection of the Kindle that does it), that's a limitation in the current plugin version. But I'm glad to say that will no longer be an issue in the next version since I'll use Calibre's library info directly instead of reading it from a copy on the Kindle.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Shadow Panther]

hi guys,

I only want to add certain books, and I dont want the plugin to sync books or anything else then add what I want it to add. Will this plugin do that for me.

p.s. I'm no programmer so please try and keep the answer simple

[meme]

The plugin does not add BOOKs to the Kindle. Calibre is responsible for that.

The plugin only creates Collections on the Kindle (see the Kindle user guide for an explanation of collections.

You can tell the plugin to only include specific collections. For example, if you only want to create a collection for the author 'Bob Smith' then uncheck all the columns in the plugin (not the Keep Kindle checkboxes) and check authors. Then type in 'Bob Smith', without the quotes, into the Include column for author. Then run preview.

It might help if you give some examples of what you want to see on your Kindle for collections, and if you are already using collections on your Kindle.

[eddyj]

Originally Posted by meme

I've added ; to my author names and it works fine. Odd. Newest 1.3.2 version now does some addition checks on patterns so it might pick up this error and give a warning. Can you test it with one original ; author name to see if it helps?

Sorry, I missed this before. Yes, it seems to work fine now. I was using 1.3.1, so whatever you did in 1.3.2 seems to have fixed it (I tried it with 1.3.3).

Thanks again!

[Jyfwired]

Is there a package of these scripts that I can use on the MAC> The .zip download does not work for me, i that the ADD Plugin utility does not seem to recognize the zip file contents on the MAC.

[meme]

I don't have a MAC so I can't test it for the MAC. What does "calibre-customize -a create_kindle_collections_plugin.zip" respond with?

[gwe]

This is a great plug-in. I read the thread but do not seem to see what I need.

I am running Calibre 0.7.47 plug-in version 1.33 with a Kindle 3

I want to place my books into collections that are sorted by series order.

ie:

Percy Jackson
01 - The Lightning Thief
02 - The Sea Of Monster
03 - The Titan's Curse

and so on

Thanks for the help

[SusiQ]

First, let me say you are all amazing!!
Second, let me say, I am not!!
I currently have a K1, very soon to be a K3. My collection is about 1000 books. I am getting the K3 simply because I need the "collections" to manage the volume. I use Calibre 7.47 and would LOVE to get my collections started on Calibre while I wait for the K3 to arrive. But you all lost me with tweaks and plugins and custom columns and, and....

In the simplest language possible, please tell me what I need to do to use this amazing lil gizmo you have created!?! Any and all efforts will be VERY appreciated!

[meme]

Too much info, or not enough

I've never tested on a K1 so don't know if it will work. But since collections aren't supported on K1 I guess it can't hurt to try.

You don't need to worry about tweaks any more, or custom columns, etc. This thread has a lot of detail that is no longer relevant or for advanced use.

By default if you start the plugin the first time it will automatically create collections based on author names, series names, and all your tags. Just run it with Preview to see what would get created.

If you want to just do tags, then use Customize and uncheck authors and series.

If you want to ignore certain tags, then just add their names to the Ignore column for tags.

So if you only have 'tags' checked in the plugin, and in Calibre you have tags 'History', 'Science', 'Fiction', 'toBuy', and you check the tags column, set the Ignore column equal to 'toBuy', then you will get 3 collections on your Kindle called 'History', 'Science', 'Fiction' filled with any books that had that tag in Calibre and are actually on the Kindle.

Using Preview to see what will happen makes it easy to see what will change.

[SusiQ]

Oh it was wayyyyy to much info for my simple little brain. And I'm not really worried about Kindle 1 supporting the collections, just want to get a headstart for the K3.

And that post really helps. I will try it later on the K1 to see what happens. Thanks soooo much!

Marry me?

[Qylie]

Thanks for all the hard work on this plug-in!

[meme]

You're both welcome