iPad Rearranging books on the iBooks bookshelf - Page 2

HarryT · 09-13-2010, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckynp

HOWEVER, this order will be lost if any of the following 3 things happens:

1 You inadvertently untick your books in iTunes and do an automatic sync. This will wipe all your books. If you then resync them, Apple will do its own thing.

2 Apple update the iBooks application.

3 Apple update the iPad OS.

2 and 3 are no longer the case with recent versions of iBooks. My bookshelf ordering has now survived both an o/s upgrade and an iBooks upgrade unscathed.

HarryT · 09-13-2010, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by just_kev

Thanks, I was wondering about this too. I really would like to sort the Bookshelf the way that I want.

It would be really great if you could create other bookshelves. So that You can have a Fiction bookshelf, Currently reading bookshelf, Technical Bookshelf, User Manual bookshelf (yes - I have a few of these for ipad, camera, etc mostly in pdf at the moment).

What I'd like more than anything is the ability to select different types of wood (or indeed other substances) for my bookshelf.

susan_cassidy · 09-13-2010, 04:45 PM

Ha, ha, Harry! It drove me crazy when I first got my iPad, trying to figure out how to order the bookshelf by title, instead of showing covers. I had to google it, and I still had trouble getting the iPad to "find" the option at the top of the iBooks screen.

I'm not sure why they didn't make the options for sorting more obvious.

Gtrcoop · 10-08-2010, 07:55 PM

Thanks for this fix; however, I just did everything suggested by Luckynp and was successful in getting all books together by author but they are displayed on the iPad starting with "Z."

I went through the "Author Sort" field in the metadata and did a reverse order before the author's last like like Luckynp suggested (glo Tolstoy, Leo). Even reconverted the books as Epub eventhough they were all Epub files to begin with.

Did I miss a step? Do I need to actually do a reverse code in the "Author" field in the metadata? The current "Author" field is set with last name first, then first name.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm happy that all author's books are together on the bookshelf but would love to actually have them starting with "A."

Thanks in advance for your help!

Luckynp · 10-24-2010, 06:16 AM

Hi Gtrcoop

The only thing I can think of why this did not work - after reconverting the books, you need to remove all your books from the itunes library and then add them again from the newly converted calibre library. That way itunes has links to the corercted metadata and the reverse alpha codes. Then remove them from the ipad and resync as described above.

It seems like a real nusiance to do all this, but believe me, the satisfaction of seeing all your books transfer in the correct alphabetical order (together with the joy of having defeated Apple's insane programming) is well worth the effort.

The real annoyance in all this is that Apple have not issued any real form of ibooks documentation. If there were a reasonable, technical manual available, explaining how sorting is done, then we would not have to resort to guesswork.

monkeyluis · 10-24-2010, 10:15 PM

I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but holding down until the icon enlarges and then dragging and dropping works.

Seanette · 10-29-2010, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

What is even more interesting is you can view the books in list view..in whatever order you have your bookshelf arranged-its like an ordered list view of my totally randomized bookshelf!

I couldn't figure out getting into list view.

ETA: I did somehow get there, but I have no idea if I could reproduce what I did.

Gtrcoop · 11-03-2010, 10:38 PM

Thanks for the assistance Luckynp. I'm fairly certain I deleted all books from iTunes and then imported all ebooks from Caliber. I'll try it again just to make sure.

Monkeyluis - you are correct about dragging and dropping; however, I have over 650 ebooks and that would take some time to complete. I actually started doing that and then searched for an easier way.

Seanette · 11-03-2010, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fotoman

Not everyone. Just those of us who were already familiar with the iPhone or iPod touch since this is fairly standard iThing behavior. Although, I have to admit, the first time I instinctively pressed and held the icon, which is the way you move apps around and of course, in iBooks that just opens the book. Then I saw the edit button...

Stupid question from iOS newbie: I've never been able to move apps around on the device (3gen iTouch, iOS 4.1), but only from iTunes. How did you get that to work?

pikelet · 11-04-2010, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seanette

Stupid question from iOS newbie: I've never been able to move apps around on the device (3gen iTouch, iOS 4.1), but only from iTunes. How did you get that to work?

Hold your finger on the icon for the app for a few seconds until the X appears in the corner. Then you can drag it to a new position. Hit the home button when you are done.

Seanette · 11-04-2010, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikelet

Hold your finger on the icon for the app for a few seconds until the X appears in the corner. Then you can drag it to a new position. Hit the home button when you are done.

Cool, it works! Thanks!

Now if I can adjust the font size in Music so I can see more than a few list items at once, I'll be really thrilled.

Gtrcoop · 11-04-2010, 03:10 PM

Well Luckynp, it didn't work. I deleted all ebooks from iTunes (which were all in the right alpha order in Caliber), re-synced. Uploaded all ebooks (in the right alpha order) from Caliber again. All books are grouped by Author together but STILL in descending alpha order beginning with "Z." Don't know what I'm doing wrong?

Guess I'll have to spend half a day moving everything to ascending alpha order in iTunes. Arrrrgggggg!

Luckynp · 12-17-2010, 11:10 AM

At last, the latest upgrade to iBooks has more or less solved this problem.

You can now create collections (effectively folders) each with its own bookshelf. I have created a separate folder for each author in my collection with more than 2 or 3 books and alphabetical folders for the others.

You can select multiple books in list view and move them to the collection of your choice.

You can edit these collections and drag them into alphabetical order.

You can then end up with an alphabetical list of your authors. Touching an author's name will take you to the bookshelf containing all that author's books. Magical! I just hope that future resets of iBooks doesn't lose all this information.

JimKal · 12-17-2010, 05:41 PM

They've just added collections so you can have multiple Bookshelves. After setting up the other "shelves", you click edit, mark the books you want to move, and then click on the collection you want them in. It must be easy to figure out because I figured it out

Gtrcoop · 12-24-2010, 07:11 AM

It's been so long that I forgot this issue and just decided to live with it. Now, I'll quickly revisit it and get things in order FINALLY!

Thanks for the heads up on the update!

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09-13-2010, 04:45 PM	#18
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	Ha, ha, Harry! It drove me crazy when I first got my iPad, trying to figure out how to order the bookshelf by title, instead of showing covers. I had to google it, and I still had trouble getting the iPad to "find" the option at the top of the iBooks screen. I'm not sure why they didn't make the options for sorting more obvious.

10-08-2010, 07:55 PM	#19
Gtrcoop Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: iPad	Thanks for this fix; however, I just did everything suggested by Luckynp and was successful in getting all books together by author but they are displayed on the iPad starting with "Z." I went through the "Author Sort" field in the metadata and did a reverse order before the author's last like like Luckynp suggested (glo Tolstoy, Leo). Even reconverted the books as Epub eventhough they were all Epub files to begin with. Did I miss a step? Do I need to actually do a reverse code in the "Author" field in the metadata? The current "Author" field is set with last name first, then first name. Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm happy that all author's books are together on the bookshelf but would love to actually have them starting with "A." Thanks in advance for your help!

10-24-2010, 06:16 AM	#20
Luckynp Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Iliad; Sony: iPad	Hi Gtrcoop The only thing I can think of why this did not work - after reconverting the books, you need to remove all your books from the itunes library and then add them again from the newly converted calibre library. That way itunes has links to the corercted metadata and the reverse alpha codes. Then remove them from the ipad and resync as described above. It seems like a real nusiance to do all this, but believe me, the satisfaction of seeing all your books transfer in the correct alphabetical order (together with the joy of having defeated Apple's insane programming) is well worth the effort. The real annoyance in all this is that Apple have not issued any real form of ibooks documentation. If there were a reasonable, technical manual available, explaining how sorting is done, then we would not have to resort to guesswork.

10-24-2010, 10:15 PM	#21
monkeyluis Banned Posts: 725 Karma: 656644 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Central Florida Device: iPad "3", Kindle Touch, Kindle Fire, iPhone 4S	I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but holding down until the icon enlarges and then dragging and dropping works.

11-03-2010, 10:38 PM	#23
Gtrcoop Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: iPad	Thanks for the assistance Luckynp. I'm fairly certain I deleted all books from iTunes and then imported all ebooks from Caliber. I'll try it again just to make sure. Monkeyluis - you are correct about dragging and dropping; however, I have over 650 ebooks and that would take some time to complete. I actually started doing that and then searched for an easier way.

11-04-2010, 03:10 PM	#27
Gtrcoop Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: iPad	Well Luckynp, it didn't work. I deleted all ebooks from iTunes (which were all in the right alpha order in Caliber), re-synced. Uploaded all ebooks (in the right alpha order) from Caliber again. All books are grouped by Author together but STILL in descending alpha order beginning with "Z." Don't know what I'm doing wrong? Guess I'll have to spend half a day moving everything to ascending alpha order in iTunes. Arrrrgggggg!

12-17-2010, 11:10 AM	#28
Luckynp Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Iliad; Sony: iPad	At last, the latest upgrade to iBooks has more or less solved this problem. You can now create collections (effectively folders) each with its own bookshelf. I have created a separate folder for each author in my collection with more than 2 or 3 books and alphabetical folders for the others. You can select multiple books in list view and move them to the collection of your choice. You can edit these collections and drag them into alphabetical order. You can then end up with an alphabetical list of your authors. Touching an author's name will take you to the bookshelf containing all that author's books. Magical! I just hope that future resets of iBooks doesn't lose all this information.

12-17-2010, 05:41 PM	#29
JimKal Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 1000 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Jamestown, NC Device: iPad, iMac,iPhone, Kindle Touch	They've just added collections so you can have multiple Bookshelves. After setting up the other "shelves", you click edit, mark the books you want to move, and then click on the collection you want them in. It must be easy to figure out because I figured it out

12-24-2010, 07:11 AM	#30
Gtrcoop Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: iPad	It's been so long that I forgot this issue and just decided to live with it. Now, I'll quickly revisit it and get things in order FINALLY! Thanks for the heads up on the update!

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