Rating view number instead of stars?

[peekpoke]

I seems most ratings from sites like Amazon or Goodreads have a very narrow range between terrible and wonderful. Often less than 1 star difference since it's an average of so many reviews, and so few reviewers use the full range of ratings.

This means a disappointing book may have 3.1 and a very good book 3.9

The problem is, the rating field in Calibre will show those both as 3 stars.

Is there a way to view the ratings numerically? Preferably with 2 digits of floating point accuracy, so 3.89 instead of 3 or 3.8

[BetterRed]

@peekpoke - The custom column type of Rating shown as stars allows for half stars (i.e. 1-10), or you could define a custom column type of Floating point number with an appropriate format to show 2 decimal places.

But in either case you'll have to supply the values.

IMO downloaded star ratings aren't worth the bits on the wire.

BR

[peekpoke]

It looks like internally it's stored as an simple integer, 0 to 10
<meta content="8" name="calibre:rating"/>

The problem again is in average ratings. On GoodReads any book with more than 100 ratings rarely has below 3 or above 4.4. So most of that numeric range is lost, and you are left with basically 6, 7, or 8 as the only ratings that ever get used.

With the current display you basically get 6 or 8 since half stars don't show.

[Haldane]

I guess this option is not there or ? set the rating as a number for better sorting?

I do believe in user ratings and reviews, they have brought a big edge to many websites, ie. amazon, airbnb, tripadvisor, google play and others..
of course they're not everything, but its also the power of a community like here in online forums.

One could think to get the Rating as a number with digits; or even add a few other criteria : total Number of ratings/reviews (shows popularity of book), Number of 1-star ratings.

This feature is also missing in Alfa; for me it could be good as I have quite some unread books with similar content, and it helps me to choose which one to read.

Anyway Calibre is a very good software, and I thank all that took part in its dev

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Haldane

I guess this option is not there or ? set the rating as a number for better sorting?

I do believe in user ratings and reviews, they have brought a big edge to many websites, ie. amazon, airbnb, tripadvisor, google play and others..
of course they're not everything, but its also the power of a community like here in online forums.

One could think to get the Rating as a number with digits; or even add a few other criteria : total Number of ratings/reviews (shows popularity of book), Number of 1-star ratings.

This feature is also missing in Alfa;
Anyway Calibre is a very good software, and I thank all that took part in its dev

All the criteria you're defining are available through the definition of custom columns. You can add as many as you desire, and store the criteria you like there. And you can even calculate your own ratings/criteria according to the raw data. In the end, calibre gives the means for doing all the things you're asking for.

[Haldane]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

All the criteria you're defining are available through the definition of custom columns. You can add as many as you desire, and store the criteria you like there. And you can even calculate your own ratings/criteria according to the raw data. In the end, calibre gives the means for doing all the things you're asking for.

Thanks Terisa for the hint! Be able to use all the criteria sounds great.
I was able to add a simple custom column, based on other columns, and added the template {rating}.

This shows the rating as text and not anymore as stars, but the number is still rounded, no decimals. Means almost all my books are with 5, and 4.

Do you know how I can call the 'raw' rating with templates, or other criteria ie. number of ratings etc ? I have found on the website a reference with the built in functions (count divide etc.) but not for the 'raw fields' / raw data.

[Terisa de morgan]

You cannot call the rating with additional templates, unless you define them in other columns. What I intended to say is that, if you want to calculate a rating based on different criteria, calibre gives us the platform for defining columns for each data and, later, a column with functions/templates using them.

I didn't mean that there are already templates but you can create them (everything you have included in your post are basic arithmetic operations.... if you have the data, the key problem as always).

Sorry if I've mislead you, but I tend to write all my messages assuming a common background

[Haldane]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

You cannot call the rating with additional templates, unless you define them in other columns. What I intended to say is that, if you want to calculate a rating based on different criteria, calibre gives us the platform for defining columns for each data and, later, a column with functions/templates using them.

I didn't mean that there are already templates but you can create them (everything you have included in your post are basic arithmetic operations.... if you have the data, the key problem as always).

Sorry if I've mislead you, but I tend to write all my messages assuming a common background

Hi. No probably we dont have too much common background, I dont have Karma of 4850002 and 5000 posts

Still Im still interested, if it is possible one way or another to get rating, with decimal (at least one) number for sorting etc., and eventually other 'raw data' fields that can be added to custom made columns. I did define a additional column, and used a template in it, but couldnt define exactly.

What little background I have is in programming, so I know what a function or a variable is. I couldnt find how to define the variables.

But this is the proper question - if Calibre only gets rounded integer for rating ? ie. due to amazon policy ? or if it does get more things and more data and if yes, how to add them in custom column. Maybe with even a little 'column editor' where you combine functions and variable. That would be a absolutely great feature, in my opinion.

Thanks for your replies.

[Terisa de morgan]

Rating, as a basic type, is an integer which is shown as stars (even half stars, added some time ago although not to the core column). And this is intended as the user's rating, not an average rating, that it is your request.

For an average rating or the result of a calculation, you can create a custom column "Number with decimals".

BTW, don't think in terms of "calibre gets", calibre gets nothing about rates, doesn't make any calculation, nada. It offers an special type and a column of that type if you want to fill it, that's all.

And all the data in calibre come from 3 ways:

• Metadata read when a book is imported in the library
• Metadata included through a metadata plugin
• Manual work from the user

There's a 4th kind of data, that it's an special kind of manual work: calculated column. The user has had to design them before.

So, in calibre you can define as many column for data as you like but... they have to be completed, don't forget it.

[Haldane]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Rating, as a basic type, is an integer which is shown as stars (even half stars, added some time ago although not to the core column). And this is intended as the user's rating, not an average rating, that it is your request.

For an average rating or the result of a calculation, you can create a custom column "Number with decimals".

BTW, don't think in terms of "calibre gets", calibre gets nothing about rates, doesn't make any calculation, nada. It offers an special type and a column of that type if you want to fill it, that's all.

And all the data in calibre come from 3 ways:

• Metadata read when a book is imported in the library
• Metadata included through a metadata plugin
• Manual work from the user

There's a 4th kind of data, that it's an special kind of manual work: calculated column. The user has had to design them before.

So, in calibre you can define as many column for data as you like but... they have to be completed, don't forget it.

Thanks for the detailled explanations and your time.

Since I didnt input the ratings in my library, but got them via web-amazon download; I guess its metadata plug-in that gets the data in Calibre.

I then wonder what kind of data the plug in gets, and if its possible to use and call that in a custom column like you described.
With the goal to have the rating with a decimal point, for better sorting. like original poster also asked.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Haldane

I then wonder what kind of data the plug in gets, and if its possible to use and call that in a custom column like you described.
With the goal to have the rating with a decimal point, for better sorting. like original poster also asked.

As I remember, the metadata plugin cannot update custom column. It would be necessary to write something similar to the Goodreads Sync plugin, a GUI plugin which queries the web and parses the results, if it's possible to get that information.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Haldane

I then wonder what kind of data the plug in gets, and if its possible to use and call that in a custom column like you described.
With the goal to have the rating with a decimal point, for better sorting. like original poster also asked.

The metadata source plugins can only update the main calibre columns. As the ratings column is an integer, the metadata plugins have to round or truncate the ratings if they are not integers.There is a version of the Goodreads pluin that puts the decimal rating in one of the main columns and then you use another to move it to a decimal ratings column. It isn't in the plugins index, but it is here.

[Haldane]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The metadata source plugins can only update the main calibre columns. As the ratings column is an integer, the metadata plugins have to round or truncate the ratings if they are not integers.There is a version of the Goodreads pluin that puts the decimal rating in one of the main columns and then you use another to move it to a decimal ratings column. It isn't in the plugins index, but it is here.

Awesome! seems to work

Great plug in, thanks for the tip