Where do we stand on Bookshelf working again?

[Lighthammer 91]

I've taken some time to start sorting out my massive comic collection and would love to get to the point of simply being able to read them on my server.

What would it take to get Bookshelf back to the point we can actually read PDFs, CBRs and CBZs on it?

 

No other frills, just minimum viable product.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Lighthammer

[Lighthammer 91]

 /poke

[Luke 42078]

We recognize them as part of your library but for right now Emby apps will not do a whole lot with them. It is something we plan to expand on in the future. thanks !

[Lighthammer 91]

Yep, I got nearly 10k comics and 500 books on there, but I'd actually like to be able to see read them. All posters defined (manually-ish).

Any eta to be able to at least see PDFs if not CBZs?

[Jack Burton 98]

Yep, I got nearly 10k comics and 500 books on there, but I'd actually like to be able to see read them. All posters defined (manually-ish).

 

Any eta to be able to at least see PDFs if not CBZs?

Are you able to view your comics collection in emby like ebooks? I'm trying to add some in a new library as book format and can't seem to get the comic vine volume id's working

[Jack Burton 98]

@@Lighthammer just wondering if I could pick your brain about organizing your comics in emby. I've got a bunch I'd love to add to the server (even if they currently can't be read) and I'm wondering what your system is? I'd like to avoid having to redo a tonne of metadata after finding problems 10, 20, or 100's of issues in since I'm doing everything manually. Currently I have "Comics" set as a book library. In that folder I have folders for publishers (marvel, image, etc). In those folders I have a series folder, and in those are individual issues, which I'm raiding comicvine for covers, synopsis, etc. Do you find any problems or making things easier by naming issues as #1 vs 001? If you have any crossover events (like the Phoenix Saga) do you setup individual issues in their respective series, or create an event folder with all issues, or both? Any tips that you've found things don't work, work really well, or wish you'd done before going through the effort of adding each issue?

[Lighthammer 91]

@@Lighthammer just wondering if I could pick your brain about organizing your comics in emby. I've got a bunch I'd love to add to the server (even if they currently can't be read) and I'm wondering what your system is? I'd like to avoid having to redo a tonne of metadata after finding problems 10, 20, or 100's of issues in since I'm doing everything manually. Currently I have "Comics" set as a book library. In that folder I have folders for publishers (marvel, image, etc). In those folders I have a series folder, and in those are individual issues, which I'm raiding comicvine for covers, synopsis, etc. Do you find any problems or making things easier by naming issues as #1 vs 001? If you have any crossover events (like the Phoenix Saga) do you setup individual issues in their respective series, or create an event folder with all issues, or both? Any tips that you've found things don't work, work really well, or wish you'd done before going through the effort of adding each issue?

@@Jack Burton

 

Sorry, I never saw a notification for this thread, though I've been quiet busy recently.

 

You're welcomed to pick my brain about it. I actually just got my comic section largely done (though done just means its organized, populated and organized for more).

 

Let me try to rattle off a few major things I've done:

 

• I'm using the following as my organization strucutre

 

[Publisher / Main Identified Name ] -> [Era] -> [Major Grouping] -> [Comic Series] -> [issues]

 

Example:

 

[DC Comics] -> [New52] -> [Justice League] -> [Justice League Vol. 3]

 

• I'm finding it important to track Volumes a particular series falls into, but only if you can rationally believe there will be follow-ups to that brand. For instance, Marvel has given X-Men all sorts of names in their titles: X-Men, X-Men Origins, X-Men Classic, Uncanny X-Men, Unstoppable X-Men --- just to name a few. The only two (as far as I know) that have need the Volume Suffix is X-Men and X-Men Adventures. 

 

• From all the research I've done, I've found no reason to name comic issues anything other then "##" or "###" depending on the known length of the comics. For instance, NO SERIES that started during New52 has more then 52 issues. You don't need a 3 digit naming convention. Action Comics and Detective Comics, however, *NEED* a three digit naming convention. 

 

• I've gone a little crazy and purposely decompressed, renamed, and recompressed most (can't claim all) comics I have to rename all the pages with a simple "##" and "###" just because I wanted to ensure I had a consistent naming convention to make adapting to a future system easier. I probably wouldn't recommended doing this yourself unless you really feel confident with tools that do these things and you're comfortable being able to do "set it and forget it" sort setups. That being said, I also created a "hacky" system that allowed me to actively remove all adds from the comics. 

 

• Eras for my organization process is kind of messy for Marvel and DC. There is the well established Golden Era, Silver Era, Bronze Era and Modern Era. There's also a "newer" area known as Copper that comes between Bronze and Modern. After Modern, both Marvel and DC become easier to track by their own ear marks (DC, for instance, by New52 -> Rebirth). I'm slowly doing research to determine the best points to actually slam down an end point for these eras. The comic communities have only been minimally helpful because there's a lot of contest over what people think which era ends, when and why. In most cases, they want to be more academic about it then have a fixed system to organize things. There aren't enough persons out there, seemingly, really concerned with having a real way to organize things in a digital format; which I've found frustrating. 

 

• Crossover events have really been a case by case scenario for me. So events are so big that I feel like they warrant top billing right under the Era Level. Other events that crossover between multiple groups are big enough they need a section to group those events. Finally, other sections are mostly contained.

   

  Here's what might help you the way I think about this using Flash / Arrow on the CW as an example.

   

• Flash guest stars on Arrow: therefor its an Arrow episode.
• Arrow and Flash have a big muti-cross over event where they appear on each other's shows with multiple members of their cast: therefor its a mini-series event.
• A special time slot is made for all persons of all the DC TV shows to appear on with its own branding that causes big effects in universe (IE In Brightest Light): therefor its a DC Era Event.

 

I'd gladly let you take a look at my server if you want ideas how to sort. This was a REAL PAIN to figure out. I think if we have some great dialog going on the forums it will encourage more development of these features.

[Jack Burton 98]

Thanx so much for taking the time. I gave things a break after setting up a handful of series with their own synopsis per issue, link to comicvine, etc, then realized I'd rather have a parent folder for publisher, moved everything, and poof, all metadata was gone. I've been thinking about organization, publisher being the parent folders like you have set up. Didn't even think of eras, that's a nice touch.

 

What are your thoughts on major events/individual titles? Say Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet for example. It's got 6 main issues so that's simple, but 8 tie-in issues between Silver Surfer, Quasar and Doctor Strange. I'm thinking I'd put all 14 issues in an Inifinity Gauntlet folder, and do a copy of each in respective series. Honestly, things are so convoluted in comics this is gonna be a real challenge I think. Thanx again, I'll definitely be reporting back when I get some things figured out.

 

Also, I'm big on artwork. Do you have pics for eras?

[Lighthammer 91]

I'd recommend not trying to grab all the meta data till the proper tools are in place.

For instance, on all my movies, I give them the a suffix of the IMDB link. I do the same for TV Series, though only with the parent folder.

I'll be intending to do the same with my comics when there is a good scrapper in place.

 

I'm considering trying to get a project together to get bookshelf functional. Will have to see how the next month or so plans out.

[Dibbes 514]

Hi All,

 

I was wondering if there is any progress on this. I have most of my comics organized, but I can't do anything with these. The only workaround I really have is download and then open from there, which I can't do on an iPad (yet).

Also I'd like to suggest to process the CBR files displaying the first page in the container as Item Image, as the first image is usually the comic cover anyway.

 

Cheers,

 

Rob

[Luke 42078]

Not yet. I imagine books will eventually become a focus point but right now we are still working hard on our core cover features.