Beta testers for calibre 9 needed

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by retyured

Just curious... I understand that calibre now scans each book in your library and calculates the page count automatically the first time you open calibre 9.x. Is there an option to disable the scan? Since I'm not interested in a book's page count and I won't be using the bookshelf view, it seems pointless to count the number of pages for each book in my library.

It's not a huge problem, just a nice to have.

See ==>> https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...09&postcount=5

BR

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

What's a multi-level series? And calibre usage numbers have been 2.8-2.9 M for many many years. They spiked briefly above 3M during the amazon download and transfer via USB removal incident.

Usually it means there is an overarching series ("universe") with several sub-series. The latter may or may not be connected by characters, events, timeline et al, but often there's some overlap and a recommended reading order.

A good example is Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Cycle.

[kovidgoyal]

Ah those. calibre has had support for those since forever. You basically create a second series column and then you can group them for searching so they act like a single composite column. Preferences->Searching->Grouped search terms. And they can show up in the Tag Browser as a user category as well. these were all contributed by chaley many many years ago.

I thought there was something more than that being discussed.

[bdub]

Originally Posted by DNSB

There is no way to disable that page count scan as far as I know. OTOH, on my main library, it counted close to 1700 books per minute when I first installed the calibre 8.99 beta and that was a background task for the 11 minutes it lasted. Since that first time, the delay when adding a new book is negligible.

I am already using word count from the Count Pages plugin. Will my already calculated word count be impacted when I switch to version 9? I have created a custom column called Words. I am not using that plugin to calculate pages.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Ah those. calibre has had support for those since forever. You basically create a second series column and then you can group them for searching so they act like a single composite column. Preferences->Searching->Grouped search terms. And they can show up in the Tag Browser as a user category as well. these were all contributed by chaley many many years ago.

I thought there was something more than that being discussed.

Well, yes, but all this is not obvious to someone who is not an experienced user. Most folks just try the edit metadata window, see there's only one field for series and complain about the lack of multi-level series support.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by bdub

I am already using word count from the Count Pages plugin. Will my already calculated word count be impacted when I switch to version 9? I have created a custom column called Words. I am not using that plugin to calculate pages.

Your custom page/word count will not be affected in any way. In fact, you can use that in the bookshelf view if you prefer.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Well, yes, but all this is not obvious to someone who is not an experienced user.

Isn't that typical of many calibre features? How many times have you read someone asking for a feature to be added to calibre and the reply is that the feature already exists either in calibre or a plugin.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Isn't that typical of many calibre features? How many times have you read someone asking for a feature to be added to calibre and the reply is that the feature already exists either in calibre or a plugin.

Yeah sadly, there is a finite number of features that can have obvious front and center exposure. And the set of features that should have such exposure varies from person to person. I for instance never bother with multiple series, as I dont read many such books.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Isn't that typical of many calibre features? How many times have you read someone asking for a feature to be added to calibre and the reply is that the feature already exists either in calibre or a plugin.

Depends. If it's a feature only requested by very few people, it's more reasonable to have it as a plugin. OTOH, if it's a popular feature requested by many, it would make sense for it to be more obvious (if possible). IMO, of course.

[un_pogaz]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Usually it means there is an overarching series ("universe") with several sub-series. The latter may or may not be connected by characters, events, timeline et al, but often there's some overlap and a recommended reading order.

A good example is Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Cycle.

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Ah those. calibre has had support for those since forever. You basically create a second series column and then you can group them for searching so they act like a single composite column. Preferences->Searching->Grouped search terms. And they can show up in the Tag Browser as a user category as well. these were all contributed by chaley many many years ago.

I thought there was something more than that being discussed.

Yeah, that prety easy to solve, but in the meantime is rather limitated since we can affect only 1 value by colunm.

In addintion of Series, I have Univers, Extended series, and Sub-series et ça marche très bien pour 99% des cas.
But I've had cases where it didn't no longuer work and it was unsolvable, even when adding a new column. A crossover, for example, that dead.
On the other hand also, 90% books do not require such additional field, is kind of a bazzoka on a fly solution, so something more dynamic could be appreciated.

I don't know Octary before, but maybe their handle serie like a tags/itendifiants? In this case, it is more intuitive, but at the same time, it would be difficult to attach the "type" of the series (main, sub or extended). Not to mention the technical aspects.

Else, on the fact that it is "difficult" to new user to not found how to create custom... this is very unfortunate, especially given how powerfull custom fields are, but I'm affraid we can't made it more obvious.
Maybe a improvement is possible, but that would require the expertise of a real UIX designer because IMO, Calibre has managed to avoid most of the pitfalls of FOSS software in this domain (even if is not perfect).

[un_pogaz]

Originally Posted by retyured

Just curious... I understand that calibre now scans each book in your library and calculates the page count automatically the first time you open calibre 9.x. Is there an option to disable the scan? Since I'm not interested in a book's page count and I won't be using the bookshelf view, it seems pointless to count the number of pages for each book in my library.

It's not a huge problem, just a nice to have.

Yeah, their is no way to stop the scan when lauched. That infortunate, but is a complex mixte of compromise to ensure that the build-in Calibre Pages count contain valid value in the case the user want to use it later.
A choice that was made easier by the fact that Calibre Pages count is pretty fast, especialy compared to Pages Count Plugin, so once your library is completely done, your completely fine.

However, if you encounter freezing and stuttering of main interface when the library scan is perform, thanks to report it if so.

[Comfy.n]

I see in the above area an opportunity to implement a more informative panel for each Preferences section.

The screenshot is ~1024 pixels wide. I wonder who uses calibre on a screen narrower than 1280px these days?

[kovidgoyal]

There is already explanatory text and a tooltip for each section at the top of the dialog when you mouse over it. Not sure what further information you think could go in there.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by un_pogaz

Else, on the fact that it is "difficult" to new user to not found how to create custom... this is very unfortunate, especially given how powerfull custom fields are, but I'm affraid we can't made it more obvious.

No, but we could have a "universe" and/or a subseries column as an official feature, not just a custom column.

Personally I have very few multi-level series too, so I haven't bothered with this. But if it's a feature making lots of people abandon calibre in favor of some other program, then IMO this should at least be considered. It's not like the UI or file management overhaul, which would be very difficult or downright impossible to implement.

Another feature lots of folks have asked for is omnibus edition support in series numbering. Like, an option to number your omnibus as Series Name 1-3 or something like that. Maybe that's not possible to do, though.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

There is already explanatory text and a tooltip for each section at the top of the dialog when you mouse over it. Not sure what further information you think could go in there.

Something like a multi-level series how-to info, like "Use this section for multi-level series setup", do this then do that. A sort of ELI5 panel for calibre beginners.