Can you customise the order of books in list view on the Kindle Paperwhite?

binkyd · 02-11-2014, 07:51 AM

I have set up collections on my Kindle Paperwhite such that a series of books are all together in a collection (the Harry Potter books are a good example of this). When I view the collection (I prefer list view but the question applies to both list or cover view), I would like the list to be ordered either chronologically based on the year of publication or by number of the book in the series. However, the only ordering options I seem to be able to find are: Recent, Title, Author.

Does anyone know if it is possible to customise the ordering of the list view on the Kindle Paperwhite so that I can order the list by other criteria? I've searched the web but haven't found any answers. I know that all the information that I need is in the metadata for the books, I just don't know how to use it.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Binkyd

HarryT · 02-11-2014, 08:22 AM

Use a "plugboard" is Calibre to prefix the desired information to the title, then sort by title. Eg I have my series books prefixed with series name and number:

Miss Marple 01 - The Murder at the Vicarage

etc.

binkyd · 02-11-2014, 09:10 AM

Great suggestion, thanks HarryT. Have Calibre installed but wasn't aware of plugboards - much easier than renaming by hand. So I'm assuming then that the Kindle's OS is very limited which is why chaley created plugboards to work around the fact that the OS itself can't accommodate sorting based on metadata?

Binkyd

HarryT · 02-11-2014, 09:14 AM

Yes, that's correct.

binkyd · 02-11-2014, 01:19 PM

That's great - thank you. Shame the Kindle doesn't have the ability to allow you to sort on a chosen item of metadata - seems like a simple enough addition to the functionality. No point having all that data associated with the file if you can't use it for anything.

Binkyd

eschwartz · 02-11-2014, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by binkyd

That's great - thank you. Shame the Kindle doesn't have the ability to allow you to sort on a chosen item of metadata - seems like a simple enough addition to the functionality. No point having all that data associated with the file if you can't use it for anything.

Binkyd

It isn't actually associated with the file outside of calibre's system (database plus OPF backups). Kindle Format doesn't have any metadata field for series, and EPUB can store arbitrary custom metadata fields but since they aren't standardized, as far as I know only three pieces of software in the world respect calibre's series tags: calibre (obviously), Marvin (iOS app) and Calibre Companion (Android app).

Dankas · 02-12-2014, 03:29 AM

But i would wish to have the abillity to sort by date added or progress made. And in sure kibdle does store such meadata. But no, you can onl sort by book name or author, and then you still have to flip bunch of pages to get to it

HarryT · 02-12-2014, 04:15 AM

If you sort by title or author, and you know the name of the title or author you want to go to, you can go directly to it - you don't have to flip through all the pages preceding it to get there.

Dankas · 02-12-2014, 12:55 PM

Cmon, if you have 100 books on kindle and he is under P, you still have to scroll few pages, even if you are in the list view. If you are in cover view, you cant even tell who the author is, not to mention how stupid it is to call all my non amazon books personal documents. Sort that out!

HarryT · 02-12-2014, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dankas

Cmon, if you have 100 books on kindle and he is under P, you still have to scroll few pages, even if you are in the list view.

Er, no you don't. You can simply tap the page number indicator, type "P", and you're at the first book whose author or title (depending on the sort mode) begins with "P". Eg, to find my Agatha Christie books, I simply tap "Page", "CHR", "Go".

BookCat · 02-16-2014, 08:53 AM

I was under the impression that Kindles had a search function? Can't you just search for the title?

HarryT · 02-16-2014, 10:44 AM

You can search, yes. What I was describing was a way to jump to a given point in your library to let you browse your titles from that point.

Dankas · 02-24-2014, 09:08 AM

but typing and searching on kindle is not the fastest way around, as I'm sure you know already.

HarryT · 02-24-2014, 01:08 PM

What do you mean when you say "not the fastest way"? What way would you consider to be faster if you have, say, 1000 books on your Kindle?

Dankas · 02-28-2014, 07:52 AM

well, if you do have 1000 books on your kindle and want a random one, sure, search and type...but typing is only a slight better then their web browser, clumsy and not precise enough, it's easy to miss and search engine is poor. Unless you type exactly as it is, you'll get 0 results back. By that time, you could have flipped 10 pages easily.

So if you are looking for a book that you've recently read and have not finished yet, searching might not be the fastest way around. Besides, and maybe I'm not a god representative, but I don't remember book names to the detail when I read them, unless they are very short. So, I might have something called A collection of C.S.Lewis letters Vol 3, or C.S.Lewis letter collection and unless you get a word order right, your search results will be very poor.

02-11-2014, 07:51 AM	#1
binkyd Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Can you customise the order of books in list view on the Kindle Paperwhite? I have set up collections on my Kindle Paperwhite such that a series of books are all together in a collection (the Harry Potter books are a good example of this). When I view the collection (I prefer list view but the question applies to both list or cover view), I would like the list to be ordered either chronologically based on the year of publication or by number of the book in the series. However, the only ordering options I seem to be able to find are: Recent, Title, Author. Does anyone know if it is possible to customise the ordering of the list view on the Kindle Paperwhite so that I can order the list by other criteria? I've searched the web but haven't found any answers. I know that all the information that I need is in the metadata for the books, I just don't know how to use it. Thanks for any help you can offer! Binkyd

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02-11-2014, 08:22 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Use a "plugboard" is Calibre to prefix the desired information to the title, then sort by title. Eg I have my series books prefixed with series name and number: Miss Marple 01 - The Murder at the Vicarage etc.

02-11-2014, 09:10 AM	#3
binkyd Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Great suggestion, thanks HarryT. Have Calibre installed but wasn't aware of plugboards - much easier than renaming by hand. So I'm assuming then that the Kindle's OS is very limited which is why chaley created plugboards to work around the fact that the OS itself can't accommodate sorting based on metadata? Binkyd

02-11-2014, 09:14 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes, that's correct.

02-11-2014, 01:19 PM	#5
binkyd Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	That's great - thank you. Shame the Kindle doesn't have the ability to allow you to sort on a chosen item of metadata - seems like a simple enough addition to the functionality. No point having all that data associated with the file if you can't use it for anything. Binkyd

02-12-2014, 03:29 AM	#7
Dankas Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Croatia Device: Kindle Voyag/Paperwhite	But i would wish to have the abillity to sort by date added or progress made. And in sure kibdle does store such meadata. But no, you can onl sort by book name or author, and then you still have to flip bunch of pages to get to it

02-12-2014, 04:15 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If you sort by title or author, and you know the name of the title or author you want to go to, you can go directly to it - you don't have to flip through all the pages preceding it to get there.

02-12-2014, 12:55 PM	#9
Dankas Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Croatia Device: Kindle Voyag/Paperwhite	Cmon, if you have 100 books on kindle and he is under P, you still have to scroll few pages, even if you are in the list view. If you are in cover view, you cant even tell who the author is, not to mention how stupid it is to call all my non amazon books personal documents. Sort that out!

02-16-2014, 08:53 AM	#11
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	I was under the impression that Kindles had a search function? Can't you just search for the title?

02-16-2014, 10:44 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You can search, yes. What I was describing was a way to jump to a given point in your library to let you browse your titles from that point.

02-24-2014, 09:08 AM	#13
Dankas Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Croatia Device: Kindle Voyag/Paperwhite	but typing and searching on kindle is not the fastest way around, as I'm sure you know already.

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02-24-2014, 01:08 PM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	What do you mean when you say "not the fastest way"? What way would you consider to be faster if you have, say, 1000 books on your Kindle?

02-28-2014, 07:52 AM	#15
Dankas Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Croatia Device: Kindle Voyag/Paperwhite	well, if you do have 1000 books on your kindle and want a random one, sure, search and type...but typing is only a slight better then their web browser, clumsy and not precise enough, it's easy to miss and search engine is poor. Unless you type exactly as it is, you'll get 0 results back. By that time, you could have flipped 10 pages easily. So if you are looking for a book that you've recently read and have not finished yet, searching might not be the fastest way around. Besides, and maybe I'm not a god representative, but I don't remember book names to the detail when I read them, unless they are very short. So, I might have something called A collection of C.S.Lewis letters Vol 3, or C.S.Lewis letter collection and unless you get a word order right, your search results will be very poor.