Rethinking the user interface

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

@fesja: All those negative reviews you posted are complaining about how "ugly" the user interface is, not about its usability. And about 90% of those will be on OS X, where the interface is admittedly ugly, as it doesn't use native toolkits to render itself.

Here's the typical calibre start use case:

Run calibre, answer two or three simple questions in the Welcome Wizard (@kiwidude: you're desire to add more questions to the Welcome Wizard complicates precisely this use case). Then calibre starts, the very first, very promininent button you see is Add Books. Click it and you can add any ebook file you like. If you're used to using drag and drop instead, calibre allows you to do that, too. Plugin your device, calibre tells you it is plugged in. There's a very prominent button labeled Send to Device. If the book is in a format the device doesn't understand, calibre auto-converts it for you. It simply isn't going to get any easier than that.

Now there are things that are complex, and that could be stand to be simplified, metadata plugboards, changing the default author sort algorithm, and finding preferences in general, connecting to MTP devices, setting up the content server.

But, you need to realize that those are complex things by their very nature. The "simple" apps you are talking about from Amazon and Apple will not even let you customize these kinds of things, let alone provide a simple interface for them. Those apps are simple because they are dumb. They force everyone into a one size fits all, highly streamlined, but completely un-customizable workflow.

Now, I choose to respect my users. I believe that most people will, when given the chance, appreciate having the ability to do more complex things, as long as the basic use case is as simple and painless as possible.

Hi - I'm not a tec person, but i do have a few more skills than a new computer user. My experience with Calibre mirrors almost exactly as Kovid describes above. I started using it when i switched from an ePub Sony to a kindle. I read the little manual, and then imported the books, converted them to mobi, and sent them to my device, all by the icons.

Two years later I've gradually learned to use other functions as the need arises.

I am an OS X user, and I don't find the interface 'ugly'. It's a bit clunky but it's easy to figure out: the icons are logical and self-explanatory. I don't feel lost and overwhelmed by too much 'stuff' on the screen, which is hoe everyone feels at work about Word on Win XP - way too many options and the ribbons take up most of the screen - that is an 'ugly' interface!

I need a chunk of time when trying to use a new plug-in, because the written instructions usually assume more knowledge than I'm starting with. But it's fun, and that's how you learn.

I've recently given 2 relatives ereaders, and set them up with Calibre. They only need the 'add books', and 'send to device', and 'eject device' to get started with the program. It's still early, but so far so good.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Thasaidon notes that some folks "just want to store, load and remove books from their ereader" - calibre isn't actually needed for any of these things, so why would these individuals be using calibre to begin with?

(Hi - sorry for double post - I don't know how to quote more than once yet in a single post.)

We use it because we also need to do a few more things that kobo or kindle software won't let us do: sort, and convert. Also they only work with their books - Calibre let's us work with all our books.

I'm sure lot's of us regular (non- tec, non-power users) readers find Calibre a god-send because we are investing lot's of our hard earned money in buying ebooks, and we need a way to keep track and manage them.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Victoria

(Hi - sorry for double post - I don't know how to quote more than once yet in a single post.)

We use it because we also need to do a few more things that kobo or kindle software won't let us do: sort, and convert. Also they only work with their books - Calibre let's us work with all our books.

I'm sure lot's of us regular (non- tec, non-power users) readers find Calibre a god-send because we are investing lot's of our hard earned money in buying ebooks, and we need a way to keep track and manage them.

(The multi-quote button is the one next to the quote button - click it for all but the last one you want to quote. Click the regular quote button for the last one and all of them will be quoted in the reply box. But no worries - I don't use it as much as I should even after I learned how. )

But when you say "we", you aren't talking about the user group I was describing, because you do use additional functions. I was specifically referring to those who really just do the same things they could do with the software that came with their reader, or with Adobe Digital Editions.

[BeccaPrice]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I was specifically referring to those who really just do the same things they could do with the software that came with their reader, or with Adobe Digital Editions.

Adobe Digital Editions is terrible. There are basic things one can (allegedly) do with it that I still haven't figured out. Give me Calibre any day. I only use ADE when I absolutely have to, like downloading library books.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

(The multi-quote button is the one next to the quote button - click it for all but the last one you want to quote. Click the regular quote button for the last one and all of them will be quoted in the reply box. But no worries - I don't use it as much as I should even after I learned how. )

But when you say "we", you aren't talking about the user group I was describing, because you do use additional functions. I was specifically referring to those who really just do the same things they could do with the software that came with their reader, or with Adobe Digital Editions.

Thanks muchly for the tip!

Good point. I gave one of my family a 3G kindle, so she doesn't have to deal with a computer at all. Amazon's cloud and archive abilities are a perfect match for her.

But overall, I think Calibre addresses a big unmet need - most of us are swimming in electronic documents - from camera user guides to sheet music. It's simple, right out of the box, and you can delve deeper over time, if you have the need or inclination.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Victoria

But overall, I think Calibre addresses a big unmet need - most of us are swimming in electronic documents - from camera user guides to sheet music.

Even though it was staring me in the face, it never occurred to me to put my user manuals, etc... in calibre. Thanks for stating the obvious so even the blind can see.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Even though it was staring me in the face, it never occurred to me to put my user manuals, etc... in calibre. Thanks for stating the obvious so even the blind can see.

I store mine on Google. :-)

I just did a Google search for my camera model and the word "manual" and the very first result was a link to a page with the manual.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I store mine on Google. :-)

I just did a Google search for my camera model and the word "manual" and the very first result was a link to a page with the manual.

The problem with this method is the site can take the manual down (ie Astak EZReader)

Or worse, update it with the manual for an updated version of your model (Model x Rev2)

The first manual (and maybe the first book) I added to Calibre was the manual for my PEz

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I store mine on Google. :-)

I do store some on Google Docs, but calibre is should be my primary local access to these manuals with Google docs as a secondary.

Originally Posted by twowheels

I just did a Google search for my camera model and the word "manual" and the very first result was a link to a page with the manual.

Five years from now when you need the manual it might not be so readily available. I've run into some manufacturers that remove the manual when they no longer sell the product version.

[Maggie-Me]

You can get pdf manuals for just about everything you buy... camera, Tv,Audio... I load them all to Calibre and Tag them manual. I also store any business presentations and training material in Calibre since you can usually save them or they come in PDF, I tag them appropreatly.

[BeeTee-Ess]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

...
Now I agree with you that setting up plugboards and chaging the author sort system is too complex. A solution to that, that I would be willing to merge is a wizard that runs on demand, rather than at startup and presents a few simple options for the common cases. Rather like the wizard I created for the column coloring rules.

Yes please, Kovid.

[BeeTee-Ess]

Originally Posted by nickredding

Don't bother copying books from one Kindle to another if they came from Amazon. They are locked to the device Amazon sent them to by DRM (encryption) and they can't be opened on a different Kindle.

I have 2 Kindles, an HP Touchpad, 2 iPhones and K4PC on 2 PCs.

All are registered with Amazon and Amazon lets me deliver my Amazon books to any of them. I am not just talking about out-of-copyright books either.

EDIT: Definitely, no need to fiddle with DRM.

[tomkat]

Originally Posted by fesja

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. I've been using Calibre for more than a year to convert ebooks to my iPad. Now that my parents have a Kindle, I am teaching them how to use Calibre to add ebooks from other stores. However, thinking as them, the user interface is really really complicated. And it shouldn't be.

I have seen other attempts to improve the UX & UI of Calibre that have gone nowhere. So I'm not going to make a wireframe of what I think it should do. Or at least not yet.

First, I want to know what you use from Calibre, how you use it. It has many options, many buttons, many filters. But, what do you use? What's your primary use? How do you send your books to your ebook device? Do you edit the info of the book? How many books do you have on your library? Do you have one or several libraries?

With all your answers, we may work on a new interface than can go somewhere. Right now I see 40 buttons/filters/elements in the default view Calibre. I'm sure 90% of the people only use 3 (add book, convert book, send book to device).

So how do you use it? what do you use?

Hi Iam a compleate dummmie at this, but we have 4 kingles in our family and I would like to make several liberies and put all books into it so that everyone can see and read them. It seems fair as I paid for all of them. Is this possiable?

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by tomkat

Hi Iam a compleate dummmie at this, but we have 4 kingles in our family and I would like to make several liberies and put all books into it so that everyone can see and read them. It seems fair as I paid for all of them. Is this possiable?

Yes, this is possible, IF you use the Apprentice Alf plug-ins to remove the DRM from your books as you add them to Calibre. (NOTE: The plug-ins are NOT officially supported by Calibre, but are completely third-party plug-ins that are user-supported at the site they are obtained from.) This is actually quite easy to do and is part of my normal eBook purchase workflow.

The reason you need to strip the DRM is that Amazon uses a device-specific DRM scheme, so you can't share books between devices without removing it. Since all your Kindles are on the same Amazon account, you could share them by having Amazon send the books to your Kindles as and when desired, but this would not allow you to manage them in Calibre. Only by removing the DRM can you manage them transparently in Calibre across multiple devices.

[robcohen]

@Dwanthny,
One more question about your setup, if I may. Why is your right-click/context menu so much longer than mine? Are the extra items all generated by plug-ins or is that another tweak?

TIA,
Rob