Announcing Bookshelves - Free Web App at Online Book Club!

[Scott]

I have been working very hard the past week programming a great new piece of software. I have to thank @Gali for suggesting it. I am very excited, and I think we will all enjoy it very much!

It's called Bookshelves. The basic idea is letting members store lists of books they have read and books they want to read. It will be a great way not only for members to be able to keep track of all the books they have read in a virtual bookshelf, but it will also bring even more interaction to the site. For instance, you can see who else is also reading the same book.

But enough describing it, please check it out:

http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelves/

Please note, I have also imported the relevant information from the review database. So those members who have submitted an official review through the review team will find that the book is already included on their respective 'read' list and that they are given credit for adding the book. Similarly, anytime a review is submitted in the future, the book will be added to your list of read books.

However, you do not need to be a review team member to use Bookshelves.

If you notice any glitches or errors, please let me know.

Please give me any suggestions or feedback you can. Thank you!

[gali]

It looks great!!!!!! I love it!

A great job, Scott!

[PashaRu]

Wow, I'm excited to check this out!

[TLGabelman]

Awesome! Cant wait to add some books!

-- 06 Jan 2015, 08:48 --

Cana tab for 'our bookshelf' be add to the top of the page in the forum home? Make sense. Also is there a way to search for covers of a book we have added instead of uploading a cover....maybe I'm using incorrectly

[Himmelslicht]

Woaaah, sounds awesome. *runs to her bookshelf*

[TammyO]

Love, love, love, this idea! Now, everything is all on one site!

[Fran]

Looks very impressive, well done

-- Tue Jan 06, 2015 7:41 pm --

You will give us a like from the Home Page won't you?

[Shena35bush]

Great job for sure!!!!

[Scott]

Cana tab for 'our bookshelf' be add to the top of the page in the forum home? Make sense.

@TLGabelman yes, done.

Also is there a way to search for covers of a book we have added instead of uploading a cover....maybe I'm using incorrectly

I am not sure if I know what you mean. Do you mean searching for them from some external database?

If you add a book to your list that someone else has in their list, and that other person uploads a cover, then the cover will show across all lists. Even if you type in 'add book manually', if it already exists on someone else's list your new addition will automatically be connected to theirs. Of course, this latter feature only works if the title and author are written the same way.

Uploading a cover is optional, but I put a lot of emphasis on covers because it's a lot more pleasant than looking at walls of text. Plus it gives that feel of having an actual virtual bookshelf. One thing I think people miss about the days before ereaders is having that real life bookshelf full of the books you have read, and the stacks of actual books you plan on reading. And it was social because when people come over your home or office they look over your bookshelves. So I hope we can bring all that to the digital age.

I am also sure that I can at some point pull the book cover from some external source using the ISBN, but that would require a member to add the ISBN which could be just as tedious.

But for each book only one person has to take the time to upload a cover, not every person who wants to add that book to their shelf. Because it is almost no books you add have already been added and thus almost no books have covers. But in some time I imagine that the opposite will be true. When you go to 'add' a book, it will already have been added by someone else and the cover will already be there. If 100 people have a certain book on any one of their lists, then only 1 of those 100 people has to upload a cover for it to show for all 100 people.

-- 06 Jan 2015 06:54 pm --

You will give us a like from the Home Page won't you?

I'm not sure what you mean?

[TLGabelman]

Perfect! the link is exactly what I wanted.
And you answered my question about the books cover too, thank you. Its a great resource and I see that it will encourage a lot of discussion



We need some thank you smileys...[thank you smiley happy happy joy joy}

[gali]

It is indeed a great resource and I love it!

[TLGabelman]

Scott, I hope this request will not cause too much work for you , and I hope that others will find it useful.

As I was checking out another readers 'bookshelf' I saw several books I had already read. (duh) Can a button be added saying "add to my bookshelf" when we are looking at books others have already added, or is there another way to do this without retyping all the info in?
Many thanks

[gali]

Scott, I hope this request will not cause too much work for you , and I hope that others will find it useful.

As I was checking out another readers 'bookshelf' I saw several books I had already read. (duh) Can a button be added saying "add to my bookshelf" when we are looking at books others have already added, or is there another way to do this without retyping all the info in?
Many thanks

There is already such an option. Just press on the cover of the book and then a new page will pop up. It will give you the option to add the book. Also under each book, there is the option "add to a shelf".

[TLGabelman]

I looked but I didnt see one.... Ill look again.

-- 07 Jan 2015, 08:45 --

Ok I can add if I click on the book directly when looking in someone elses shelf. I can see the link to add at the first section of recently added books. This is what I wanted, Thanks gali! I was just not looking in the right place.

[gali]

To clarify, the option to add a book from Recently Added Books is here:

Add a book


To add books from another readers 'bookshelf', you have to press on the cover.

-- January 7th, 2015, 3:54 pm --

I looked but I didnt see one.... Ill look again.

-- 07 Jan 2015, 08:45 --

Ok I can add if I click on the book directly when looking in someone elses shelf. I can see the link to add at the first section of recently added books. This is what I wanted, Thanks gali! I was just not looking in the right place.

You are welcome!