SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

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message 1: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments On Feb 3, 2020, Rick shared his web app, SeriesTBR.com :
I was getting tired of not having an easy way to keep track of series I have read / am reading, so I created a web app that works with Goodreads to figure out what series a user has books left to read in. I did some testing with a handful of family and friends, and I am ready to throw it out in the wild.

The Goodreads API only lets you make a call every second, so if you have a lot of books on your shelves it can take a good chunk of time to run (i.e. 20 to 30 minutes). But you can save after pulling the data, and choose to only refresh the data when you want to.

You can find it here https://www.seriestbr.com/
There is an About page that will tell you all the details on how to use the site. I hope some of you will find it useful. If you have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to send me a message on here.

Thanks,
Rick
Since then, there's been a lot of chatter back and forth as we discuss the app. I thought it would be helpful to pull this out into its own thread so we don't take away from other discussions on our 'How do you Track your Series?' thread.

Rick has asked for feedback. Please feel free to let him know how you do/not like the web app, any questions or suggestions you may have.


message 2: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments My last comment on the other thread:

That makes sense, Rick. I wasn't thinking about the fact that your site will only pull on what's already available here @ GR. I'll keep thinking on it, scrolling through the list and let ya know if I have any other suggestions or questions. Right now, one of my biggest is that my list is soooooo long. Is there a way to not ignore a series per se but a way to minimize the books in the series and only see the series name, when necessary, to limit the length of the list? Sort of like a drop down option, like 'click the arrow to show full list' or 'click the arrow to minimize the full list'?


message 3: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Steph wrote: "My last comment on the other thread:

That makes sense, Rick. I wasn't thinking about the fact that your site will only pull on what's already available here @ GR. I'll keep thinking on it, scroll..."


I had in the back of my head to do an expand / collapse option for the series. Looks like it would be a good addition. I will add it to my list of features to incorporate.

On a side note, I did add release dates next to books that are coming out I'm the future.


Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ | 9662 comments Lol. Took me an hour to load the list......and accidentally hit refresh.


message 5: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ wrote: "Lol. Took me an hour to load the list......and accidentally hit refresh."

I do know it takes a long time. Nothing I can do about that at the moment. I am waiting for a response from Goodreads about a possible way to speed things way up. Should I put a confirmation on the refresh and reset buttons so that it warns that it will take a long time again and allows you to cancel out?


message 6: by Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required (new)

Sandra | 25914 comments That sounds like a good idea Rick.


message 7: by Monica (new)

Monica (nutz4reading) | 382 comments I saw the post on the other thread while at work and started the process. Then one of the IT guys came to my desk to work on my computer and I had to log out of my computer. I tried to do it again before leaving work but it didn't finish. So I am starting the process again. Hopefully no one will need to do anything to my computer before leaving today.


message 8: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments Rick wrote: "Should I put a confirmation on the refresh and reset buttons so that it warns that it will take a long time again and allows you to cancel out?"

Yes, that's a great idea b/c I hit refresh right away (before saving) also.

And, I also appreciate you adding the expand/collapse option. As with many in this group, I'm sure, my series list is over 1k series long. For now, I'm using my browser's find feature to jump to a specific series.

Speaking of ... would it be possible to add #-z bar on the side to scroll?

When I check "Show Completed" or the other options (ignored & deleted) at the top, is it possible to only show those instead of simply having them added to the full list?

I'm not really sure what kind of options are available for something like this, so I'm just throwing out anything I can think of that'd make it easier to navigate and become something I'd use regularly.

I spotted the release date for one, thanks! I hadn't yet scrolled far enough down to spot one with a date.

Hopefully I don't become too annoying with all my requests/questions. Thanks so much for sharing your web app with us and helping us as we learn to use it.


message 9: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) I published an update a few minutes ago. I have added the expand / collapse option. There is a button at the top to expand/collapse all and a button next to each series for that particular series. Since I had to use the plus icon for expand, I changed the icon for want to read books to an exclamation point.

I have also added a confirmation check when clicking Refresh or Reset. The prompt clarifies what is going to happen and will ask the user to confirm continuing. Hopefully that helps so other people do not accidentally hit it without realizing what will happen.

Is it possible to add an #-z bar on the side? Yes. I will have to look into that. Probably won't be something I can do super quick, but I think it makes sense to have. I will add it to my feature request list.

Funny that you bring up the question about only showing the options if they are checked at the top. I was just thinking about that yesterday and whether it made sense to change it to work that way. Since it has been brought up outside of me, that is confirmation enough to put it in place. I will add it to the list. I suspect that will be quick and I can get it done in the next few days.

@Steph, on a side note, you mentioned in our message that you had two tabs up so you could have the About page open. Just so you know, you can click the About page to look at the data, then click Back or Series to get to the main page again, and all the loaded data will still be there. This is a single page application, which means it is smart enough to hold that kind of info behind the scenes no matter what "page" is seems like you are on.

Also, I am not annoyed at all by the requests. I am happy to hear them. I am excited about other people finding the tool useful and would love to make it the best possible tool I can. Just don't be too upset if there is something I am not able to do.


Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ | 9662 comments The thing is....I have so many series started (and not started yet)...and a few I kind of momentarily lost interest in. I don't really want to delete them but if I could hide them to make the list focus on the ones I really want to track?

I don't know....like a top 200? I feel ashamed to write that I have +1500 series and half of them I never read but I want to.


message 11: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments First and foremost, I'm so glad the requests and questions aren't annoying and we promise to not hold it against ya if there's something you cannot do. We appreciate you share it and accommodating when possible.

Yeah, I found it easier to switch between tabs to review the icons vs clicking back and forth. But, eventually I'll know what everything means.

The collapse feature is awesome and makes viewing/scrolling through such a long list much easier! And, having the warning before refreshing or reseting is great too; it'll avoid it happening accidentally. Thanks!


Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ | 9662 comments The thing is....I have so many series started (and not started yet)...and a few I kind of momentarily lost interest in. I don't really want to delete them but if I could hide them to make the list focus on the ones I really want to track?

I don't know....like a top 200? I feel ashamed to write that I have +1500 series and half of them I never read but I want to.


message 13: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments First and foremost, I'm so glad the requests and questions aren't annoying and we promise to not hold it against ya if there's something you cannot do. We appreciate you share it and accommodating when possible.

Yeah, I found it easier to switch between tabs to review the icons vs clicking back and forth. But, eventually I'll know what everything means.

The collapse feature is awesome and makes viewing/scrolling through such a long list much easier! And, having the warning before refreshing or reseting is great too; it'll avoid it happening accidentally. Thanks!

I also just realized, since it's the first time I've clicked on a book, that it'll open in Goodreads to the book page. Love it!


message 14: by Steph, Serious series addict (last edited Feb 07, 2020 02:06PM) (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ wrote: "The thing is....I have so many series started (and not started yet)...and a few I kind of momentarily lost interest in. I don't really want to delete them but if I could hide them to make the list ..."

I'm the same, Val. The collapse option is helping me, right now, as I scroll through my list. I'm collapsing those that I'm not currently focusing on and leaving only those I'm current with or interested in starting/finishing soon "open". Maybe that'll help you as well?


message 15: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ wrote: "The thing is....I have so many series started (and not started yet)...and a few I kind of momentarily lost interest in. I don't really want to delete them but if I could hide them to make the list ..."

You have two options.

You can click the crossed out eye symbol next to the series and it will ignore it for the time being. Ignoring really only means that it won't show on the main page by default. It will still update the series if new books come out, etc. when you hit refresh.

You can also click the delete icon. Delete does not really delete it forever. It also keeps it from showing on the page by default, and when a refresh is done, the web page will skip looking for changes to the books in the series.

Both ways, you can choose to check the Show Ignored or Show Deleted boxes at the top to have the series show up again. And then you can unignore or restore.

I have ignored a bunch of series on my list because I don't want to focus on them right now, but I might eventually get around to them later. I can choose to unignore them whenever I am ready. I have deleted a bunch because I know I don't care about it. For instance, when I read the Parasyte manga series, there are three different versions of the series published (an 8 volume, 10 volume, and 12 volume). I read the 8 volume, so I could delete the other two. Same thing with some comic trades I read. The single issue series show up in my list, and since I only care about trades, I deleted those.

I hope that makes sense.


message 16: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Steph wrote: "First and foremost, I'm so glad the requests and questions aren't annoying and we promise to not hold it against ya if there's something you cannot do. We appreciate you share it and accommodating ..."

Yes, you can click the series name, book name, or author name to go to the respective page on Goodreads.

I am happy that the new features are already working out well for you.


message 17: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments That makes sense. For now, I'll use the ignore/delete options to remove those I'm not interested in or currently and actively following.

Jumping on what Val suggested, though, would it be possible to have a way to mark a series as 'favorite' and add it above with the other "show" options so we could see only those marked 'favorite'?


message 18: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Steph wrote: "That makes sense. For now, I'll use the ignore/delete options to remove those I'm not interested in or currently and actively following.

Jumping on what Val suggested, though, would it be possibl..."


Yeah, I like the favorite option idea. I'll put it on the list.


message 19: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments OMG! I just realized -- after scrolling through and collapsing A-G series individually -- that there's a collapse all option. 🙄 Damn 😆 Least H-Z series will go quicker as I'll only be opening those I'm currently following.

Rick wrote: "Yeah, I like the favorite option idea. I'll put it on the list."

Cool! Thanks! That should prove helpful to a lot of us 😁


message 20: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments I went through my list and edited many, removing (ignoring) some books, leaving open (expanded) those I'm where current and actively following. I added some books on GR to my wishlist or to-read shelves, then I hit 'refresh' to add/update those books. Instead of "... grab[ing] the latest books from your read or currently reading shelves as well as any news series or books in series that may have been added since the last time the data was pulled" it is pulling all of my data again, as if for the first time. Am I understanding that incorrectly? Should it have gone through the whole process again?


message 21: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments Ya know what? Guess I should'a hit save before refreshing again, huh? 😬 Learnin' curvin' 🤓


message 22: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) In order to grab the latest, it has to go through the whole process. It will remember what you ignored, etc. The reason it has to go through the whole process is for a few reasons:

I need to check all the books again to see if any books have been removed from a shelf. If I just grab the last ones, I could miss that an older Want to Read was removed or a read entry was deleted.

It then needs to look up series for all the books again, because sometimes books that were not in series at first become in series. Some authors decide to expand their book into a series after the fact.

It then needs to check the series all again to see if any new books, collections, etc. were added. There may also be stuff that is removed.

While it does that, it is also getting the most recent release date info, titles, etc. Does that make sense? Maybe I could put a quick refresh that only grabs new books since the last ones saved and only runs through the series for those. Would you want that option knowing that some of the older data may not be totally up to date until you do a full refresh?

I am hoping Goodreads gets back to me on the change I requested because it would speed things up so much.

Also, I think I misunderstood what you were looking for with the expand / collapse. Do you want it to save what you have set each series as? I do not have it doing that. I can definitely do that. But if it is your expected behavior, wait until I post an update with a change before you go through them again. I am so sorry about the miscommunication with that.


message 23: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Steph wrote: "Ya know what? Guess I should'a hit save before refreshing again, huh? 😬 Learnin' curvin' 🤓"

Refreshing will not lose what you have set for ignores as long as you don't leave the page before it finishes. So you can hit save after that. It keeps a local copy of what has been done until you leave the page or do a browser refresh.


message 24: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments Rick wrote: "Does that make sense? Maybe I could put a quick refresh that only grabs new books since the last ones saved and only runs through the series for those. Would you want that option knowing that some of the older data may not be totally up to date until you do a full refresh?"

Makes sense. Personally, a quick refresh option would be nice for instances like this when I have added a couple of missed books to my wishlist or TBR list. But, it's not necessary really b/c they'll be caught next time the list is refreshed. And, I guess it'd be best to catch all updates, including those made by the author, etc. as you mentioned.

"Also, I think I misunderstood what you were looking for with the expand / collapse. Do you want it to save what you have set each series as? I do not have it doing that. I can definitely do that. But if it is your expected behavior, wait until I post an update with a change before you go through them again. I am so sorry about the miscommunication with that."

No worries. Yeah, I was hoping they'd remain collapsed or expanded whenever refreshed instead of resetting to all expanded; if that possible, that'd be great. I'll definitely wait for your update to go through them again.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 376 comments Hi Rick.

Thanks so much for putting this together and sharing it with us all, I can't even imagine the work that goes in to creating something like this.

I first saw it on the day you posted it on the other thread and opened up the site quickly and lo and behold it loaded some of the series' I have read so far (I didn't have much time to spare though so could not spend any time on it).

I've since logged in again (clicked on self/lookup user) and whilst it searches and finds my series books, it doesn't display them - it only show the results of the search on the green loading screen then goes to the main screen where no results are displayed as if I had no series books on my shelves.

What am I doing wrong?


message 26: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) kittykat wrote: "Hi Rick.

Thanks so much for putting this together and sharing it with us all, I can't even imagine the work that goes in to creating something like this.

I first saw it on the day you posted it o..."


You are not doing anything wrong. I seem to have a bug in my code around the expand / collapse that I added. I need to get some dinner, but I will try to take a look at it tonight and fix it.

I also noticed that you have a ton of books that are on many different shelves that you set up as exclusive. Because there is nothing defining what type of books are on exclusive shelves outside of the defaults, I ignore them. What is your expectation for books on exclusive shelves other than read, currently reading, and to read?


message 27: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) kittykat wrote: "Hi Rick.

Thanks so much for putting this together and sharing it with us all, I can't even imagine the work that goes in to creating something like this.

I first saw it on the day you posted it o..."


@kittykat, I fixed the issue that was happening for you. I was able to load the data for your user id and it showed up without issues now. I went ahead and saved it for you, so you don't have to wait for it to load again.

For everyone, I was able to put in place the saving of the expand and collapse settings now as well. When you save now, it will remember which series you have set to be collapsed.

If you open the site and do not see a v 1.2 at the upper right hand side below your logged in name, then hit refresh on your browser to get the latest version code.


message 28: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments Thanks for making it so that our series remain collapsed or expanded, as we choose.

Is it possible to show only those completed, ignored or deleted vs adding them into the whole list of series?

Some completed series are simply current, for now, but will have more books published eventually. Those will show up as not completed when new unread books are added to GR, yes?


message 29: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Steph wrote: "Thanks for making it so that our series remain collapsed or expanded, as we choose.

Is it possible to show only those completed, ignored or deleted vs adding them into the whole list of series?
..."


It is on my list of things to do to only show the completed and ignored when using those options. In hoping to work in a favorites feature at the same time. Work has been busy lately, but I'm looking to have it in place this week.

Yes, if you have a completed series and a book is added later, it will show as not completed then.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 376 comments Rick wrote: "@kittykat, I fixed the issue that was happening for you. I was able to load the data for your user id and it showed up without issues now. I went ahead and saved it for you, so you don't have to wait for it to load again..."

Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate it.

🤩🤩🤩

Rick wrote: "... I also noticed that you have a ton of books that are on many different shelves that you set up as exclusive. Because there is nothing defining what type of books are on exclusive shelves outside of the defaults, I ignore them. What is your expectation for books on exclusive shelves other than read, currently reading, and to read?"

My 'read' and TBR shelves are all exclusive as I prefer it that way as I don't have any mix ups and duplications.

My read/dnf shelves are all in year order starting at 2011 dnf, 2012 pre digis read, 2013 early digis read and then 2014-read to 2019-read and my default 'read' shelf is my current year. These 'read' shelves contain all the books including series' that I have already marked as read and there's loads of series' there. These are the ones I most interested in viewing on your site as although most are completed, many are not and it's all my incomplete series that I'm most eager to view.

My TBR shelves are separated by genres (ish!) and contain all the series and non-series books that I may be interested in at some point. I'm interested in seeing these on your site, but not as much as the above and I think that apart from the read, currently reading, and to read default shelves, this seems to be where most of the info has pulled from so far. I've marked most of these as 'ignore' for now.

My 'to read' default shelf is a placeholder for when I'm too lazy to place the book on the correct shelf... 🤣 and my 'currently reading' default self I have started using as a reminder of those I want to get to next...

The non-exclusive shelves are totally irrelevant here because they are just the tags I've created for all of the tropes etc that I want to track. And I'm nowhere near completing this mammoth task!

Again, thanks so much for creating your site.


message 31: by Deborah (new)

Deborah I have custom exclusive shelves too. Most of my tbr books are on a shelf called "another to read" because goodreads thinks you want to buy or win all of your to read books, so I moved all of the books I own or can get at the library to "another to read". Sometimes I put omnibus or other versions of a book on my other shelf so that I know I don't need to read them.


message 32: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) My thought right now about exclusive shelves is to pull a list for the logged in user. Them make a place where you can set what type the shelf is (read, TBR, dnf, currently reading, or ignore). Then I can use that designation to know how to categorize the books on the shelf when doing the data pull.

I think there are too many variations in how people would name shelves to try and figure out what they are on name alone.


message 33: by Deborah (new)

Deborah That sounds like a good idea. When they added exclusive custom shelves I suggested they let us copy the default shelves so that the settings and functions would copy to our custom shelves, but I was ignored.

Thank you so much for creating and sharing this with us.


message 34: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) I pushed out an update to the site tonight. If you do not see v 1.3 below your name at the top right, then refresh your browser.

This update adds the ability to favorite series. I also changed the checkboxes at the top to a drop down list of different views. Each view will only show the books related to that view instead of adding them on top of the current series like the checkboxes did.

I have also updated the About page to include the newer functionality.

Implementing the user exclusive shelves is going to take a little more time. I started working on it, so hopefully it will be done later this week.

Let me know if you have any issues or general comments.


message 35: by Sam (new)

Sam | 1052 comments Won't all the books be on the ALL shelf regardless of how many shelves someone creates? Then wouldn't it be easier to just pull data from the ALL shelf? *asks someone who is very technologically challenged*

I grabbed the tool tonight and collected my data. Then I went through each series and ignored everything that I didn't need. It took some time but now I have a nice list. So far, I am really liking it. It is almost like having Fictfact back. The only function I'm still really missing is the next in series list. Here, I have to scroll down my list (or ctrl-F) to find the series I'm interested in. I suppose it would be too much work to have a view where you can just see the next book in each series that you haven't ignored.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 376 comments Rick wrote: "I pushed out an update to the site tonight. If you do not see v 1.3 below your name at the top right, then refresh your browser.

This update adds the ability to favorite series. I also changed the checkboxes at the top to a drop down list of different views. Each view will only show the books related to that view instead of adding them on top of the current series like the checkboxes did.

I have also updated the About page to include the newer functionality.

Implementing the user exclusive shelves is going to take a little more time. I started working on it, so hopefully it will be done later this week.

Let me know if you have any issues or general comments."


Thank you again Rick. This is looking fantastic and I can't wait to see the results when all the exclusive shelves are included. Such a shame that GR can't be bothered to incorporate something similar as has been requested by numerous users for years...

As an aside, I work with the librarians group to request that all books in a series are linked properly (so very many are not which I find incredibly frustrating as they are pulled automatically from amazon or added manually by individual users) so if any books look like they should be pulling through as part of a series it's because they are not marked as such on GR... let me know and I can help to get that corrected OR head over to the librarians group and get acquainted...!


message 37: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Sam wrote: "Won't all the books be on the ALL shelf regardless of how many shelves someone creates? Then wouldn't it be easier to just pull data from the ALL shelf? *asks someone who is very technologically ch..."

@Sam, I am already using the ALL shelf to get the list of books. Getting the books is not the issue. Knowing how to categorize them is the problem. Since custom exclusive shelves can be named whatever a user wants and can be used for whatever a user wants, it would be nearly impossible to devise an algorithm that accurately figures out what the shelf is for without user input.

For instance, I could look for shelves that have the word "read" but not "to-read" or "toread" to figure out if the shelf is for read books. But then maybe a user has a shelf called "Had-To-Read-For-School". That would be a read shelf most likely, but would fit in the logic of a to-read shelf. You could also have a search for "dnf", "didnotfinish", "did-not-finish" for DNF books, but what if the user called their shelf "books-that-suck"? There are too many variables to make the decision from a programming standpoint.

I like the idea of the Next in Series list. I can definitely incorporate something like that. Did it always show the next in series from the last read book or the first unread book in a series? For instance, if you have read 3 of the 4 main books in a series, but there is also a novella prequel that you have not read, would it show the prequel or the 4th book?


message 38: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) kittykat wrote: "Rick wrote: "I pushed out an update to the site tonight. If you do not see v 1.3 below your name at the top right, then refresh your browser.

This update adds the ability to favorite series. I als..."


I did join the librarians group awhile back to get some stuff corrected. There is not really a way for me to know from the application standpoint if something is missing, etc. But hopefully, myself and the other users will be willing to post those correction requests in the group so that everyone can benefit from the right data.

How does one become a librarian with the ability to make edits? I would really love to be a part of that, as I am a big nerd when it comes to data and data integrity.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 376 comments Rick wrote: "... @Sam, I am already using the ALL shelf to get the list of books. Getting the books is not the issue. Knowing how to categorize them is the problem. Since custom exclusive shelves can be named whatever a user wants and can be used for whatever a user wants, it would be nearly impossible to devise an algorithm that accurately figures out what the shelf is for without user input.

For instance, I could look for shelves that have the word "read" but not "to-read" or "toread" to figure out if the shelf is for read books. But then maybe a user has a shelf called "Had-To-Read-For-School". That would be a read shelf most likely, but would fit in the logic of a to-read shelf. You could also have a search for "dnf", "didnotfinish", "did-not-finish" for DNF books, but what if the user called their shelf "books-that-suck"? There are too many variables to make the decision from a programming standpoint.

I like the idea of the Next in Series list. I can definitely incorporate something like that. Did it always show the next in series from the last read book or the first unread book in a series? For instance, if you have read 3 of the 4 main books in a series, but there is also a novella prequel that you have not read, would it show the prequel or the 4th book?"


Now, the first two paragraphs explain the issue in language I can understand! Thanks. Not sure if you are asking or advising on paragraph three though... am I being dense? I would like for all entries in a series to be included even those that are not 'counted' formally by the Goodreads system (which I find annoying to say the least).


Rick wrote: "... How does one become a librarian with the ability to make edits? I would really love to be a part of that, as I am a big nerd when it comes to data and data integrity."

Yep me too. Some of the stuff I see on here is irritating beyond belief as it could with a little effort could be resolved... no never mind that as it could become a rant lol!

TBH I don't know how to become a librarian other than they have a test for it now... but all the ins and outs are hidden DEEP in the new fangled and not so helpful 'help' section that I sometimes try to find it and then give up as it's not plainly obvious! I do need to get on that one day though for my own peace of mind.


message 40: by Sam (new)

Sam | 1052 comments Rick wrote: "Sam wrote: "I like the idea of the Next in Series list. I can definitely incorporate something like that. Did it always show the next in series from the last read book or the first unread book in a series? For instance, if you have read 3 of the 4 main books in a series, but there is also a novella prequel that you have not read, would it show the prequel or the 4th book?"

Fictfact showed the first unread book in a series as next in series, whether it was a prequel, a short story or #4. If you wanted, you could skip the book (ignore it on your tool) and then it would move down to the next unread book. I found it an extremely useful page and it was my most used page on fictfact. I do a lot of challenges and sometimes I have to read a certain number in a series and it was always helpful to tell at a glance where I was in each series. I really miss that page. *sigh*


message 41: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Sam wrote: "Rick wrote: "Sam wrote: "I like the idea of the Next in Series list. I can definitely incorporate something like that. Did it always show the next in series from the last read book or the first unr..."

I will put it on my list of features to implement.


message 42: by Sam (new)

Sam | 1052 comments Just wanted to let you know, Rick, that I am really enjoying your tool. It has already shown me lots of books that I've missed or didn't know had been published. The only problem I've having right now is there are a lot of in between books that I read on author's webpages and didn't buy, so I didn't put them on my goodreads page. Now I'm having to ignore them because I can't mark them read since they aren't on my shelves. But it's a little thing and doesn't bother me too much. I'm really glad I saw the thread about seriestbr, because it is becoming very handy.


message 43: by Rick (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Sam wrote: "Just wanted to let you know, Rick, that I am really enjoying your tool. It has already shown me lots of books that I've missed or didn't know had been published. The only problem I've having right ..."

Sam, thanks for the feedback. That means a lot, and I am glad it is working well for you. Is there a reason you don't just mark those books as read on Goodreads?

I have not forgotten about the requests from everyone. Work is just really busy right now. I have a big project due in a few weeks that is taking up most my time and energy (including weekends). I promise I will get to them as soon as I can.


message 44: by Sam (new)

Sam | 1052 comments No rush on anything for me.

I don't mark them read because most of them are less than 50 pages each. I feel that falsely increases my books read stats. Or else I read them in an anthology, which I have marked read. I won't then mark the individual stories read as that again, falsely elevates my stats. I know, I'm weird.


message 45: by Deborah (new)

Deborah Sam wrote: "No rush on anything for me.

I don't mark them read because most of them are less than 50 pages each. I feel that falsely increases my books read stats. Or else I read them in an anthology, which I..."


Goodreads uses the date read to determine if a book has been read not the shelf it is on. You can put a book on the read shelf but leave the date blank or you can create a custom exclusive shelf for those books.


message 46: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments That's good to know, Deborah. I think I knew that, but had forgotten. Thanks :)

Thanks, Rick! Please don't feel any pressure from us. We're happy you've shared the site and appreciate your feedback and working with us on it.


message 47: by Monica (new)

Monica (nutz4reading) | 382 comments I am enjoying the site but I am just confused as to why I have some foreign books showing up in my list. I have the English books on my list but for some reason I am also getting the foreign books listed. One of the series is the Little House books. Should I just trash them since they are listed both in English and other languages? I don't plan to read the other versions.


message 48: by Rick (last edited Mar 09, 2020 11:28AM) (new)

Rick (headrollsoff) Monica wrote: "I am enjoying the site but I am just confused as to why I have some foreign books showing up in my list. I have the English books on my list but for some reason I am also getting the foreign books ..."

Monica, when I get the books from a series from Goodreads, the data that comes back includes foreign content for some stuff. I think that it is Goodreads policy to combine different language editions into one book entry, but I am guessing there are just instances where the librarians have not been asked to do it. When those come up for me, I just click the ignore on all the foreign language entries, so that it is only taking into account the books I will actually read.

For everyone else, my huge project at work is wrapping up this week and going live on Saturday. Once that is behind me, I will have some time to tackle the requests that have come up. I have not forgot about everyone. I promise.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude | 376 comments Thanks for updating us Rick, although it's not necessary considering you are creating this amazing tool under your own steam.

I'm just looking forward to seeing all of my unfinished series' in one place so I'm happy to wait how ever long I need to 😊.


message 50: by Steph, Serious series addict (new)

Steph (angel4492) | 32785 comments I second that! I hope your work project goes well!

Thanks for the changes you've made. It's so much faster to load now - although I travel a lot and that could just be that I have faster internet at the moment. Also, I like how I have the option to "Show Ignored Books (in selected view)" b/c I sometimes want to go back and read those I've ignored, such as novellas, etc.

The web app is much appreciated and a much-used tool for me, and others around SOS, as you can tell. Thanks!


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