08-07-2022, 01:27 PM | #1 |
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My Tags are a mess - what are best practices for organizing?
Made a catalog but it was a nightmare to peruse - I read on here that a recommended catalog tip (especially for kindle) is to make smaller catalogs that you can add to a collection, which acts as a psuedo table of contents. Great idea.
Except, according to calibre, I have over a thousand tags - sub tags seems like a good idea and I started to do that but then I realized it doesn't reflect an accurate count (so if I have Fantasy tag with 1000 items and I drag a SEPARATE tag "Dark Fantasy, with 50 items" ontop of that tag, it doesn't show a count of 1050 under Fantasy, which doesn't make sense (and yet does, might just be preference) So rather than try to discover what I'm sure is a best practice, I would ask here for the general workflow. Clearly I'm going to be doing some bulk metadata editing and trimming single tags, but any tips I would appreciate! |
08-07-2022, 02:08 PM | #2 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I delete all tags that come with books and set my own. I only use the broadest genre tags (fantasy, mystery and so on), plus a couple of others. So I have no more than 20 tags overall. I don't bother with subgenres, that way lies madness.
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08-07-2022, 02:10 PM | #3 |
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That is a good idea to start tagging my books by genre. But I too remove the mess the publishers leave in the OPF.
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08-07-2022, 02:52 PM | #4 |
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Don't forget to setup Preferences: Adding books: Adding Actions (a tab): Control how tags are processed (button)
This can be preset to filter and combine tags upon import (Do you really need tags for 42 ways of tagging Science Fiction?) |
08-07-2022, 09:13 PM | #5 |
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THANK you for posting this tip - it was unknown to me and one of the reasons why I posted was to find out stuff like this
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08-07-2022, 09:14 PM | #6 |
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What's the best way to handle deleting these tags without having to open up the books? just select every category that says "science fiction", science fiction dark, science fiction military, etc, and then just delete it and add it to a science fiction tag while the books are all selected?
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08-07-2022, 10:20 PM | #7 | |
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Quote:
From the pop up box, select the tags to delete and press the delete icon (green arrows) or use the context menu and select Delete |
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08-07-2022, 10:56 PM | #8 |
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You can do a Master delete of all occurrences using the Tag Browser. Right click the tag name.
Just remember, it is DUMB. If a book only has that single tag, it is still GONE. I recommend using this method to clear the BS/Garbage tags first. You can also use the Tag Browser to adjust the CASE of a tag. Right-click:change case... You can also fix spelling or tense. Series: Mystery vs Mysteries (I choose singular as it applies to the Book, as my standard. I also get rid of junk metadata as applied to a Title or Series: A Novel, Series when used in the title) |
08-08-2022, 09:36 AM | #9 |
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Would you mind sharing your tag list? Trying to even figure out how to narrow mine down IS the way to madness...
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08-08-2022, 11:09 AM | #10 | |
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Quote:
plus a few tags concerning reading status and the like. Last edited by Sirtel; 08-08-2022 at 11:11 AM. |
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08-08-2022, 01:24 PM | #11 |
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Consider using Hierarchical tags
Mystery Mystery.Historical Mystery.Cozy The dot level is a refinement. Search on Mystery and you get them all or you could specify a subset. I also find this really useful for series that have cycles or sub series Pern.Dragonriders Pern.Harper hall |
08-08-2022, 01:32 PM | #12 |
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I wouldn't mind this but, as it has been pointed out, subgenres can lead to madness - I'd love a logical framework or examples
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08-08-2022, 02:21 PM | #13 | |
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Quote:
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08-08-2022, 04:09 PM | #14 |
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I apply 3 tags per book
First set of tags - Library, Fixed, Stub Library - Book added to the library, yet to be read. Fixed - Book has been read and coding and formatting cleaned up also. Stub - A library entry that either represents a pbook or an ebook I want to read Once Fixed is applied, the other tags below are then applied Second tags - pbook and ebook Tells me if I own the paper version or the digital version. In many cases I own both. I have a lot of stub files in my library that are entries for the pbooks I own. Third set of tags are genres. Once I read the book, I add the genre that I feel is most appropriate. They are the usual type - Adventure, Humorous, Mystery, SciFi etc |
08-08-2022, 04:10 PM | #15 |
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I probably need to prune my tags, too. Originally, along with the overall genre, I set up tags for the protagonist (if it was a recurring one). For long series, I set up tags for any subseries (for instance, in Pratchett's Discworld, I'd tag books in the Rincewind, Witches, Wizards, Watch, etc. subseries). One of my most used tags is one for Standalone books (those not in a series).
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