Linking book entries to a Wiki

jimmo · 11-18-2012, 08:03 AM

Hi All!

I am a Calibre newbie. I currently have version 0.9.6. installed.

Most of the books I want to manage with Calibre are non-fiction and I typically take notes on their and store them in a private wiki. (Twiki) I am trying to figure out a good way to link the book record in Calibre to the Wiki.

It is fairly straight forward to add a link in the comment field, but I would like to make the process easier. I was looking into the possibility of using custom metadata, so I could mark several books and add link to them all. For example, I would call the field WikiLink. This would contain an entry from my Wiki, that would be automatically parsed and displayed "somehow" in the book details window and on the Calibre webserver.

Is there already a plugin for something like this? Would I need to change the code that renders either the comment or the custom metadata?

Any help is appreciated.

kovidgoyal · 11-18-2012, 11:09 AM

You can create a custom comments type field. That will work just like the builtin comments field, but allow you to separate the link out.

jimmo · 11-19-2012, 03:11 PM

Thanks for the reply and thank you very much for a wonderful tool. I am having to rethink the way I structure by library, but things are still alot easier to manage and access.

While I love the idea of having a seperate comments sections that isn't overwritten when I update the metadata, there doesn't seem to be a way to update multiple books at once. So, what I was thinking about doing is creating a new column of type "column built from other columns", then write a template function which parses the entries in the Tags fields and generates the text of the HTML-anchor for each of tags. Looking through existing template functions it seems that I should be able to pass the tags and then split them up, then add my static text. Would that work?

Thanks again for the help.

kovidgoyal · 11-19-2012, 09:31 PM

You can use search and replace to populate multiple records at once. The problem with a composite column is it wont become a clickable link in the book details panel.

jimmo · 11-20-2012, 03:39 PM

I have a field that is defined as "Column built from other columns", which I assume is a "composite column". The template looks like this:

<A href="http://www.myserver.com/twiki/bin/view/BookData/{#wikilink}" target="_new">Wiki: {#wikilink}</A>

Currently the #wikilink column is defined as "comma seperated text, that looks like tags". I only havea single value there as a test, so it is replaced 1:1. It works as I expect. In the details panel it is clickable, and on the web page that is created by the Calibre server.

11-18-2012, 08:03 AM	#1
jimmo Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Kindle	Linking book entries to a Wiki Hi All! I am a Calibre newbie. I currently have version 0.9.6. installed. Most of the books I want to manage with Calibre are non-fiction and I typically take notes on their and store them in a private wiki. (Twiki) I am trying to figure out a good way to link the book record in Calibre to the Wiki. It is fairly straight forward to add a link in the comment field, but I would like to make the process easier. I was looking into the possibility of using custom metadata, so I could mark several books and add link to them all. For example, I would call the field WikiLink. This would contain an entry from my Wiki, that would be automatically parsed and displayed "somehow" in the book details window and on the Calibre webserver. Is there already a plugin for something like this? Would I need to change the code that renders either the comment or the custom metadata? Any help is appreciated.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Duplicate Entries on Book List	JerryC	Devices	0	10-07-2012 10:29 PM
Multiple book entries in library	rainio	Kobo Reader	6	10-04-2012 03:13 AM
Multiple book entries in Nook	hbeavers	Barnes & Noble NOOK	2	02-21-2012 07:13 AM
Book Designer / LRF - How many entries in TOC	Bilbo1967	Workshop	2	04-12-2009 10:20 AM
MobileRead E-Book Uploads Reaches 1,000 Entries	RWood	Announcements	17	09-09-2007 06:27 PM

11-18-2012, 11:09 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You can create a custom comments type field. That will work just like the builtin comments field, but allow you to separate the link out.

11-19-2012, 03:11 PM	#3
jimmo Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Kindle	Thanks for the reply and thank you very much for a wonderful tool. I am having to rethink the way I structure by library, but things are still alot easier to manage and access. While I love the idea of having a seperate comments sections that isn't overwritten when I update the metadata, there doesn't seem to be a way to update multiple books at once. So, what I was thinking about doing is creating a new column of type "column built from other columns", then write a template function which parses the entries in the Tags fields and generates the text of the HTML-anchor for each of tags. Looking through existing template functions it seems that I should be able to pass the tags and then split them up, then add my static text. Would that work? Thanks again for the help.

11-19-2012, 09:31 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You can use search and replace to populate multiple records at once. The problem with a composite column is it wont become a clickable link in the book details panel.

11-20-2012, 03:39 PM	#5
jimmo Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Kindle	I have a field that is defined as "Column built from other columns", which I assume is a "composite column". The template looks like this: <A href="http://www.myserver.com/twiki/bin/view/BookData/{#wikilink}" target="_new">Wiki: {#wikilink}</A> Currently the #wikilink column is defined as "comma seperated text, that looks like tags". I only havea single value there as a test, so it is replaced 1:1. It works as I expect. In the details panel it is clickable, and on the web page that is created by the Calibre server.

Advert

Advert