[GUI Plugin] Kindle Collections (old)

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by meme

@CWatkinsNash - now you've gone and given both Kiwidude and me something more to look at Well, without interesting suggestions there's no fun

Well, I can't let my favorite plugin developers get complacent!

Seriously, if you guys get together and create something along those lines, I pledge to donate US$25 to each of you the day a working file is posted. I know it's not much, but it's more tangible than gratitude.

I've also been plugging your plugins (pimping your warez?) over on a Goodreads group I belong to. At this very moment, several women across the globe are trying to get their geek on.

[meme]

Originally Posted by markdek

Honestly, I've been following this thread/plug-in, and I'd live to use it, but there seems to be too many people that have messed up their library, either on the Kindle, or their pc, to make me shy away......Am I too paranoid? Is it ok to wait till the bugs are worked out? I don't have a major sense of urgency concerning collections management, but I anticipate this need sooner or later.

I'll let others comment on your paranoia but just so there's no confusion, this plugin has never messed up anyone's library on the Kindle or on their PC - it doesn't have any code that makes any changes to the books. At worst its created the wrong collections on the Kindle or blanked a column dedicated to collections, although you can always restore the previous collections file.

I won't jinx myself by saying all the bugs are worked out since as soon as I do another is found but I'm not aware of any open problems (the recent post about it not running due to a rare case of file with a bad timestamp has been fixed but I just haven't had time to post that version).

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by markdek

Honestly, I've been following this thread/plug-in, and I'd live to use it, but there seems to be too many people that have messed up their library, either on the Kindle, or their pc, to make me shy away......Am I too paranoid? Is it ok to wait till the bugs are worked out? I don't have a major sense of urgency concerning collections management, but I anticipate this need sooner or later.

Bugs?!?!

Sorry, couldn't resist. How many books do you have in calibre and on your Kindle? Can you easily manage them now? If so, then wait. If not, know that it's incredibly easy to backup both your calibre library and your Kindle in case of problems.

I'm kind of wondering how someone could mess up their PC by using the plugins. I've been using the plugin since it's first release and I'm now using the current release. The worst that's happened to me is I once had to clear my collections.json file and start over, but I assure you that was caused by 100% user error, not the plugin.

I don't think you're paranoid, just cautious. There's no mandate to use collections management by a certain point, just do what you're comfortable with, and we're here to help if you decide to take the plunge.

(Okay, Meme is here to help. I mostly just provide commentary and pep talks.)

[tlrowley]

I don't know if kiwidude and meme collaborated or kiwidude did it himself, but Book Sync can now trigger a collection update!!

Great job - karma and Paypal headed to both of you - thanks.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

I don't know if kiwidude and meme collaborated or kiwidude did it himself, but Book Sync can now trigger a collection update!!

Well, crap. I mean, what I'm trying to say is...

When I pledged a donation in my previous post I didn't think it would get done TODAY. I should have known better.

Since the newest Book Sync plugin accomplishes what I was suggesting, the spirit of the idea was fulfilled and I will make the promised donations in a few days. I'd do it now, but my bank isn't nearly as efficient as Kiwidude & Meme are.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by meme

When you say edit the collection settings - do you mean the menu option Edit Kindle Collections or Customize? I think if the book isn't already on the Kindle and you send it, then there might be a gap. I'll put this on the list to test. Its a similar issue with the collections listed in the Device tab - once data is written out, its not read back into the cache in the same way as a new connect.

Actually, I just mean entering the specific collections for the book into the Collections field in Calibre. It's not a big deal, but I find I can't do it and have it work correctly until the book is actually on the device. Then it puts things where they should be.

[meme]

The thanks really goes to kiwidude - he did all the work. I just passed on CWatkinsNash's suggestion and as usual kiwidude was already ready to run with it

I'll update the intro pages to mention you can use Book Sync now to save time, and look for some time to play around with it myself

[meme]

Looks like I might have a few changes to make in order to support the Book Sync plugin a bit better. Right now it looks like the books sent to the device might not end up in the collections until you do another sync or create. It appears the create collections is running before the books actually get there and I'll need to tell it to wait. So close

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by meme

Looks like I might have a few changes to make in order to support the Book Sync plugin a bit better. Right now it looks like the books sent to the device might not end up in the collections until you do another sync or create. It appears the create collections is running before the books actually get there and I'll need to tell it to wait. So close

Interesting. I hadn't tried it yet, though I was about to go download free books I don't actually want just to try it out. I shall await further word. (Though it's not like book hunting is a hardship in any case.)

[markdek]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Bugs?!?!

Sorry, couldn't resist. How many books do you have in calibre and on your Kindle? Can you easily manage them now? If so, then wait. If not, know that it's incredibly easy to backup both your calibre library and your Kindle in case of problems.

I'm kind of wondering how someone could mess up their PC by using the plugins. I've been using the plugin since it's first release and I'm now using the current release. The worst that's happened to me is I once had to clear my collections.json file and start over, but I assure you that was caused by 100% user error, not the plugin.

I don't think you're paranoid, just cautious. There's no mandate to use collections management by a certain point, just do what you're comfortable with, and we're here to help if you decide to take the plunge.

(Okay, Meme is here to help. I mostly just provide commentary and pep talks.)

Thanks guys/gals; Perhaps it's time I dive in.....one question, the author of Calibre has said that he didn't include a collections item because the kindle has to be rebooted to register/update the new collections info???....Is this still the case?

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by markdek

Thanks guys/gals; Perhaps it's time I dive in.....one question, the author of Calibre has said that he didn't include a collections item because the kindle has to be rebooted to register/update the new collections info???....Is this still the case?

Yes, it's still the case. But I do my collections about once a week, the restart only takes a few minutes, so I don't find it a hardship.

[markdek]

Guys/gals: One more question: Can this plugin handle both sideloaded books and Amazon purchased books via Calibre. Do i have to download/sync my Amazon books onto/into Calibre before I implement this plug-in. To date, my Calibre only lists my side-loaded books, and not the Amazon books that were downloaded directly to my Kindle.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by markdek

Guys/gals: One more question: Can this plugin handle both sideloaded books and Amazon purchased books via Calibre. Do i have to download/sync my Amazon books onto/into Calibre before I implement this plug-in. To date, my Claibre only lists my side-loaded books, and not the Amazon books that were downloaded directly to my Kindle.

Two options:
The plugin lets you interact with the collections directly on the Kindle. You can, if you choose, do it that way.

or...

If you don't mix Amazon content in collections with sideloaded content, you can manage the Kindle-only collections manually, and tell the plugin to leave those alone when you run it to create collections for the sideloaded content. I sort of do this - I have some samples on my Kindle and some games that are not in calibre, and I have the plugin set to leave those collections alone.

I really hope that made sense. I don't think I'm explaining this well. Personally, I think it's easier to just have everything possible in calibre, but it's a matter of preference.

[markdek]

On my Kindle, I do mix everything, and put either type of books in one or more collections....either Amazon or sideloaded, it doesn't matter (on the Kindle). I'll think about moving my Amazon Kindle bought books into Calibre.....do I do this manually?...I assume there is no sync in Calibre.

Or, like you said I'll do it manually on the Kindle, but this kind of defeats the nice/full features of the plugin?...right?

AND, thanks for the continued help/responses.....

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by markdek

On my Kindle, I do mix everything, and put either type of books in one or more collections....either Amazon or sideloaded, it doesn't matter (on the Kindle). I'll think about moving my Amazon Kindle bought books into Calibre.....do I do this manually?...I assume there is no sync in Calibre.

Or, like you said I'll do it manually on the Kindle, but this kind of defeats the nice/full features of the plugin?...right?

AND, thanks for the continued help/responses.....

To get the Amazon books in calibre, hook it up, wait for it to load (when the checkmarks show up next to the books in calibre that are on it), then click the "Device" button in the toolbar to switch to device view. Click on the "in library" column header to sort, then select all the books not in the library (they'll have no checkmark in this view), right-click and select add to library (or similar, you'll see it).