Libra 2 Display date uploaded as part of book details?

[Phssthpok]

Is there any way to persuade my Kobo to display the date a book was uploaded as part of the book details it displays?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Phssthpok

Is there any way to persuade my Kobo to display the date a book was uploaded as part of the book details it displays?

Manually yes. Add the date as part of the description before side loading.

[Sirtel]

Or to the subtitle field.

[Phssthpok]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Manually yes. Add the date as part of the description before side loading.

Thanks!

Now, I'm using Calibre (of course!) so where do I set the description field? Or subtitle? Can I use a metadata plugboard to do this?

Also, how do I change which details are displayed on the Kobo?

And finally, is it possible to sort the book list using any of these values?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Phssthpok

Thanks!

Now, I'm using Calibre (of course!) so where do I set the description field? Or subtitle? Can I use a metadata plugboard to do this?

Also, how do I change which details are displayed on the Kobo?

And finally, is it possible to sort the book list using any of these values?

The description is put in the comments. You can't sort by the comments. However, you can sort by Date added.

[Sirtel]

The subtitle can be customized in the Kobo driver settings in Calibre. No, you can't sort by it.

[Phssthpok]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The subtitle can be customized in the Kobo driver settings in Calibre. No, you can't sort by it.

Excellent! I've decided to use the last_modified date, and have set the subtitle like so, which works:

(Updated: {last_modified:format_date(d MMM yyyy)})

Interestingly enough, it affects all books on the device -- I thought I would need to re-upload all of them!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Phssthpok

Interestingly enough, it affects all books on the device -- I thought I would need to re-upload all of them!

If you have Automatic Metadata management enabled, those changes will affect the metadata for all uploaded books and update as needed.

I learned that when I first started using the page count and estimated read time columns and all books on my Kobo showed up with those values.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Phssthpok

Interestingly enough, it affects all books on the device -- I thought I would need to re-upload all of them!

No. You can change any metadata for the books on your Kobo without needing to re-upload them. That's very handy, IMO.

You'll only need to re-upload if you change something in the files themselves.

[Phssthpok]

Originally Posted by DNSB

If you have Automatic Metadata management enabled, those changes will affect the metadata for all uploaded books and update as needed.

I learned that when I first started using the page count and estimated read time columns and all books on my Kobo showed up with those values.

Strangely, I have just uploaded another book, and it had no subtitle... then I uploaded two more, and they don't have subtitles either, but the earlier one now has a subtitle. I disconnected the Kobo and reconnected it, waited for Calibre to get the book list & send metadata to the device, ejected it, and voila, the two books now have their subtitles.

Seems that the the subtitle is ignored when the Kobo does its "importing content" thing..? Calibre sends metadata after getting the book list when the device is connected, and again after uploading new books, so I don't think it's a Calibre issue.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Phssthpok

Strangely, I have just uploaded another book, and it had no subtitle... then I uploaded two more, and they don't have subtitles either, but the earlier one now has a subtitle. I disconnected the Kobo and reconnected it, waited for Calibre to get the book list & send metadata to the device, ejected it, and voila, the two books now have their subtitles.

Seems that the the subtitle is ignored when the Kobo does its "importing content" thing..? Calibre sends metadata after getting the book list when the device is connected, and again after uploading new books, so I don't think it's a Calibre issue.

When you add books, you have to eject, wait for the books to be imported and then reconnect to calibre so calibre can update the metadata. calibre needs to see the books in the database before it can update the metadata.

[Phssthpok]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When you add books, you have to eject, wait for the books to be imported and then reconnect to calibre so calibre can update the metadata. calibre needs to see the books in the database before it can update the metadata.

Not sure I understand what it is doing when it says "Upload N books to the device" followed by "Send metadata to device". What is it sending after it uploads books if not the metadata for the books?

[PeterT]

Not all metadata can be stored on the initial transfer. Some data gets stored in records associated with the books in the database on the Kobo. These records are created during the Importing step on the Kobo.

So the flow goes
- connect Kobo to pc
- transfer books to Kobo
- calibre updates it's data file on the Kobo that stores data for calibres usage
- Kobo disconnected
- Kobo scans for new contents and imports it
- reconnect Kobo to PC
- calibre updates the Kobo database with metadata
- Kobo disconnected

Tada. Books now have collections / series info

[Phssthpok]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Not all metadata can be stored on the initial transfer. Some data gets stored in records associated with the books in the database on the Kobo. These records are created during the Importing step on the Kobo.

So the flow goes
- connect Kobo to pc
- transfer books to Kobo
- calibre updates it's data file on the Kobo that stores data for calibres usage
- Kobo disconnected
- Kobo scans for new contents and imports it
- reconnect Kobo to PC
- calibre updates the Kobo database with metadata
- Kobo disconnected

Tada. Books now have collections / series info

Thanks! But I see series (collection) info without the need for a 2nd pass; only the subtitle is not updated. Is it because this is specified in the Kobo driver settings, and is not part of the Calibre metadata?