Bruji

Hi I recently converted from Delicious Library 3 to Bookpedia .... I have a vast library of real, PDF, iBooks and book references (16,000+)
Before fully committing to using Bookpedia as my main database, I was wondering if Bookpedia might include the following capabilities in its upcoming release

1) Is there anyway to search and replace in the various fields? This seems like a critical and basic feature for any kind of database.
If not that would be an excellent feature to add (without having to learn SQL)... also a way to move date from one field to anothe for a select group or all records?

2) Would it be possible to include a rename links feature (and include the links field as a searchable field)?

3) Improve the scrolling in Grid view... as of now its slow and choppy (I have a iMac Pro 2016 and am running the latest Beta).. DL3 was quite smooth.

4) Some way to distinguish Edited Books from regular books.... so that the Author field is simply Editors when the Book type is Edited Book.

Thanks

Thank you for giving Bookpedia a chance.

As you already figured out from the reading in the forum and the other post, you caught me in the middle of an update. I have a long list of waiting features that are partially implemented, but are not included in Bookpedia as they are not supported or work erratically on MacOSs older than 10.12. Bookpedia currently supports all the way to 10.5. But the upcoming version 6.0 will only support 10.13+ (used to be 10.12 but I am future proofing with 10.15 around the corner). This will then allow me to work without so much compatibility checking to the older MacOS and take advantage of the new features.

1. You are a serious cataloger, you hit on our weakest feature. A better find and replace is on the top of the list. From the other post I see you figured out you can achieve some of it via internal searching and the multiple edit window. But of course this is not generic and takes a number of steps to achieve. Trying to come up with an interface that is unobtrusive and takes advantage of the internal search already for adding full replace. (Tinkering with extending the filter footer to add a replace field/button. Currently the filter footer comes up when you click on an author's name in the details view or a statistic. This footer would come up no matter what the internal search is and offer you to replace the value.)

2. Would be similar to the above, the links are searchable but you have to click on the magnifying glass and select "links". The default is to search shown columns only.

3. Mojave brought a bunch of regressions. One being the grid view over draws, to many times, slowing the scrolling. It's already fixed, and I need to beta test some further changes and a few missing migrations (I had to update the entire view), the fix is likely to debut in 6.0.2 (I need to get users running the new 6.0 version for a while before including this as it makes edge bug tracking faster and easier, as well as keeping the program stable).

4. There is an exclusive editor field. Books with value in this field would then be an Edited Book. As Fine Wine suggested there is a lot of flexibility in the details view that can be coded in HTML by users, you could add a text/badge/image/color change for edited books with: Should you want to jump on the beta it can be (highly recommended for any Mojave user) found here.

Fabulous, thank you Conor for your detailed response, advise and feedback. I really appreciate it.

I've been playing around with Bookpedia for the past week or so, and it is by far the best Book cataloger/manager on the market for Mac.
DL3 was nice when it worked but even then it was severely limited and not a serious prog for book lovers (more fluff less substance) and its reliance on Amazon as its data source was its death knell
As an academic I did/do my serious work with Endnote.I also use (have used) Papers (dying), Sente (dead), Zotero, and also tried Bookends to see if I could combine both elements (biblio manager and book library manager).
While Bookpedia is, obviously, not a biblio manager for in text citations in Word (like Zotero or Endnote), it is the best thus far for people who want to be able to see their collections and like to access/categorize their books and make reading plans via cover images as well as other text data (I also tried CollectorZ, Numento, and Library Pro among others).

Bookends is quite good as a ref manager but does not really do well with book covers and has limited customization. (ideally Bookpedia and Bookends could hook up for the ultimate book/reference manager tool).

So far no one app can do both aspects well ... so I decided to keep the tasks separate after trying to make Bookends my single book related prog.... it nearly worked, but.... long story.

So given that Im now keeping the two tasks separate (sigh), Ive decided to make Bookpedia my main book reading, data base, tracking and organizing hub ... and will do simple periodic tab exports to Endnote for bibliography concerns.

Anyway because of the excellent feedback and the responsiveness of your team, I am certain that Bookpedia will keep on improving and I am now committed to porting over my database strewn across DL3, Endnote, and Bookends, and delving into all the other customizations.

So in short I am really liking your software, and look forward to the incremental improvements.

I am using the latest beta and will be happy to provide feedback. So far stability has improved on my test database (1000 records) .... now to take the jump too 16K.

Is there a limit to the number of records Bookpedia can handle without slowing down too much?
Will 16K book covers and half of them with some kind of PDF or doc link slow things down?

My only other concern after the death of Sente and Delicious Library, is that a small or single developer doesn't have institutional longevity (like Endnote) and if the sole developer decides to move on or stop working, the software itself dies .... can you speak at all to those concerns? Many of us invest a lot of time and effort into customizing and tweaking our library/book apps... and at minimum Im glad that I can easily export all my data, groups etc into a tabbed format with minimal loss.... just incase. But id much rather see Bookpedia grow and improve, as it seems like it will.

From a users point of view I whole heartedly agree with all your kind and technical comments. I only have one point to make concerning your HUGE collection:

BACK UP, Back Up & back up I personally run TimeMachine 24/7 and it has saved my arse loads of times. I also run a 2Tb 'Off Site' backup using Carbon Copy Cloner and have only had to use this once. I got bitten 25 years ago with pre Windows XP so; 'once bitten twice shy'

Thanks FineWine...stellar advice. I have three backup strategies....

1) The database (including PDFs covers etc) are located in my Documents folder which is backed up to iCloud (with the requisite caution for using Bookpedia on another synched device).
2) I run Time Machine daily.
3) I have two sets of Hard Drive backups... one for home and one for offsite (I use Chronosync which is great) which I try to keep switching out every month.

As an avid photographer I also have 8TB of RAW images backed up using a similar strategy.

You are not alone as an academic user. Many mix Bookpedia with a combination of Endnote, Bookends and/or Calibre.

Bookpedia's origins are for an app I wanted and couldn't find and hence it's creation in 2003. I have resisted the pull towards a more academic approach as it's not something I myself would use and hence would not be done with the proper passion. Already the dewey decimal sorting and the MLA bibliography are power user features, that few appreciate but are time consuming to get right. The approach from the beginning has always to be flexible and open so that user can work with their data and extend Bookpedia as well a migrate with ease. Bookpedia sticks tried and tested so as to stand the test of time, even the old version still works and would continue to work for users without updates for several years. Although once I go 10.12, it will be time to update the interface a bit to a modern look.

Taking full advantage of Bookpedia requires programing skills, as there much that can be built above. But what some users have done with the openers is quite staggering. Everything from reading the SQL directly from Dropbox for online publications to writing plugins and details pages for all kind of particular needs. (Building this community is one of the things to improve, such as more code sharing online, to allow for an easy start for others).

Limits. Nothing is set in stone. All big data is chunked up into it's own file, images, pdfs and links. As opposed to other software, where one change means an update to a monolithic 1 gigabyte file. Since nothing is loaded except when needed, Bookpedia stays quite responsive. The bottleneck comes with searches and smart collections. As all the records need analyzing for a search. There some optimizations that I do have planed but they are low priority. As they are actually very specific and only apply for tens of thousands of items, and I like to be robust and verify over speed. For example smart collections in theory need never be checked against the database, for when records are modified or added they are placed in each smart collection that matches. Nevertheless when you click on a smart collection, the program runs the entire collection through to make sure it's updated. That said, if you are on a SSD drive and a computer after 2012, then it's no big deal. Bookpedia can munch through that text data in no time.

If you read carefully through the forum. It's obvious the last year has been a slow one. I am several months behind schedule, all due to family events. I've got kids now and when presented with the choice to finish updating the new cover view (to fix Mojave) or play Lego Duplo, I choose the later. But the youngest of my kids starts school in September, and more time will be available. The road map is to get lean going forward. I am spending to much time working on 10.5 compatibility and not integrating all the features I want that require modern MacOS. There are good things in the pipeline, at a slow pace. I do have a very fortunate job that puts food on the table for the last 16 years and hopefully the next 16. But the future, like the weather, is uncertain and unpredictable. On that note, if you will excuse me, I have a Lego tower to build.

Seems like Lego has been around forever. I played with those blocks as a kid and with my daughter when she was growing up. . That choice is a no brainer because those moments remain forever. As the saying goes; life is something that happens when we're busy making plans. Enjoy every moment because they grow so fast.

Cheers.

Thank you, I am making the most of it.

Thanks Conor for sharing your thoughts on the history, limits and the future of Bookpedia, this was very insightful and I look forward to its improvements over the next 16 years?

A point of clarification if I may... when you write:
"I do have a very fortunate job that puts food on the table for the last 16 years and hopefully the next 16. But the future, like the weather, is uncertain and unpredictable. On that note, if you will excuse me, I have a Lego tower to build. "
Did you mean that Bookpedia is that fortunate job, or were you referring to another job which in turn allows you to work on Bookpedia as a side project?

And of course as a father of now two grown kids... time flies... enjoy every moment with your young children.

The fortunate job is the Pedias. I started Bruji in 2003 and within a year it was my full time job, then my futures wife's job as well, a few others helpers along the way. Now back down to myself, due to moving and kids. I think Nora might come back in a few years as the kids get older and we can get to improving the look and writing, she was in charge of all graphics and editing. Hence why the documentation is so far behind.