Firmware 4.21.15015

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I asked Kobo. The "All books" is intended to mean "All books in this featured list". Or maybe "All books in the list named on the page". And showing "Featured" in the filter is the error. It should just show "All books". Or maybe not shown at all. But, adding a filter to only show the available books ("Borrowable" sounds terrible) could be useful.

Yes, it really would. Thank you very much for checking, and confirming that I was not wrong in thinking something had changed, although my recollection was not entirely accurate.

[4691mls]

I'm glad they made holds accessible on the reader. I wish that in some future update they would also make the wishlist accessible.

[MGlitch]

I don’t use overdrive and I don’t read epubs so I’ll probably skip this update. Sure there might be small improvements elsewhere but my Forma is running just fine.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by davidfor

As has been noticed, firmware version 4.21.15015 has been released. This will be going to all devices except the Mini.

The changes that I know of in this release are:

• Overdrive
  • "Your Holds" tile added to Overdrive section of the store. This can be used to manage your holds.
  • Notification icon in in menu.
• Highlighting
  • Highlight automatically created when more than one word selected. Tap "Undo highlight" if you don't want to keep it.
• Widows & Orphans in epubs
  • Hidden options "readingAdobeWidows" and "readingAdobeOrphans" added to "Reading" section of the config file.
  • This overrides the default widows and orphans used in the RMSDK.
  • It does not override widows and orphans in the book.
  • Basically, add them and set them to 1.
  • This is epub only.
• Image scaling with font size.

For calibre, there are no changes except to bump the supported firmware version. This has already been done and is in calibre version 4.16 that was released last week. For those who do not want to update the calibre version, it is safe to use the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option in the drivers.

On Nathan's the-ebook-reader web site he says that prior to this update we could solve the wasted space problem by editing the CSS; "Previously the only fix required editing the CSS file of each ebook using Calibre to specify or override a book’s widows and orphans setting."

Since I'm always tweaking the CSS of books before I sideload them I would rather go that route instead of mucking around with the eReader.conf file.

What is the proper CSS for that?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by hobnail

On Nathan's the-ebook-reader web site he says that prior to this update we could solve the wasted space problem by editing the CSS; "Previously the only fix required editing the CSS file of each ebook using Calibre to specify or override a book’s widows and orphans setting."

I hadn't read Nate's post about this. He has the details right. I am a little amused by his statement, "I don’t know why the option is hidden and undocumented by Kobo", as I do know why. And any long-term developer can probably guess why.

Since I'm always tweaking the CSS of books before I sideload them I would rather go that route instead of mucking around with the eReader.conf file.

What is the proper CSS for that?

My standard stylesheet has the following in it:

body {
  widows: 1;
  orphans: 1;
}

But, it could be on the style used for paragraphs. Or set to something else on paragraphs that would be better kept together.

[JSWolf]

This is the CSS I use in all the eBooks I edit.

body {
  widows: 1;
  orphans: 1;
  margin-top: 0;
  margin-right: 0;
  margin-bottom: 0;
  margin-left: 0;
  text-align: justify;
}
p {
  margin-top: 0;
  margin-bottom: 0;
  text-indent: 1.2em;
}

[hobnail]

Got it; thanks.

[Cactus Chef]

I'm surprised Overdrive integration is still getting enhancements. I thought they were sold off by Rakuten to an investment firm.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

I'm surprised Overdrive integration is still getting enhancements. I thought they were sold off by Rakuten to an investment firm.

We don’t know the details of the deal. And I believe it’s still awaiting finalization despite the forms being signed. These changes could also have been in the works for awhile.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

We don’t know the details of the deal. And I believe it’s still awaiting finalization despite the forms being signed. These changes could also have been in the works for awhile.

Maybe the Deals off because of all the libraries buying lots and lots of eBooks due to the lockdown and closure of the libraries.

[PeterT]

Even if the deal proceeds why wouldn't they continue to enhance the integration; it's a very nice distinguishing feature for their products.

[Knightreader]

My Forma always had problems with screen rotation. After I put the reader to sleep via the cover and reopened the cover the screen content was often upside down (with right hand position of the buttons). Now it seems for me that the "rotation bug" is gone and the behaviour has stabilised. Tested many times and the screen is ok now.

[patrik]

The new "automatic" highlight function is really brilliant! Love it.

[Cootey]

I've noticed in Kobo Store and Overdrive ebooks (kepub), there is now a graph icon at the top right next to the settings gear icon. It gives you reader stats for the book without having to leave the book and dive into the menu to Activity. It includes percentage read for the chapter, time left to the current chapter, time to read the next chapter, a graph representing chapter lengths, and total time left to read the book. Very handy! I've been lazy and downloaded a few epubs directly from Gutenberg. Time to convert them to kepub.

I also love the changes to the notation system. Subtle but powerful. Making a highlight is so much easier now. No maddening fight with the control handles to get the correct words highlighted.

Contrary to the Eeyore's in here, I'm quite excited about this update. Haha

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I don't know if this is a bug or a "feature", but when I select Overdrive in the new firmware, I cannot browse the entire catalog, only the displayed selections "Harry Potter", "what's new for kids" "Thrill Ride" etc. Also, within those categories is a "Filter" button with a dropdown mun offering "Featured" and "All books", but I am unable to activate the "more books" option. By that I mean that I can select "all books", and a message comes up saying "Please wait... we're currently loading this list", but when the page refreshes, the filter is still set to "Featured". What has happened to the ability to search the catalogue of the library the device is logged into?

That's strange. I see "Your Holds", #HarryPotterAtHome, "Most Popular eBooks", "New eBook Arrivals" (on page two), "New Teen Arrivals", and "New Kid Arrivals" (on page three). These probably differ per user depending on the algorithm. I see no "Filter" button. I'm on a Kobo Clara HD. I do see filter options when I do a search in the Kobo Store, but my dropdown menu lists "All Books" and "Eligible for promo code" only. "Sort" is to the right, and is as usual. BUT! There is a new feature, or one I never noticed before. Tap on "Kobo Store" and you can now select "Overdrive", which is a handy new feature! I've been wanting that ability for ages. (Please don't tell me they added it ages ago and I never noticed.

Have you tried power cycling your Kobo to see if the behavior changes?