The Menu and Toolbar Options

These are the different menus available in Bookpedia:
Please note that this page primarily addresses Bookpedia-specific menu commands which is why the Windows menu is not included because it mainly contains general Apple commands. (For the Edit menu only the Bookpedia specific command is addressed.) For information about general Apple menu commands, please refer to a Mac OS X manual or the Apple website.

Some menu commands are also included as a button on the toolbar and/or have a keyboard shortcut.

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The Bookpedia menu

About Bookpedia - Displays the credits for the program as well as your serial number and version number of the current copy.

Check for Updates - Checks whether there is a newer version available for download. You can automate this process in the Preferences > General. (If you bought the program through the Mac App Store then this menu command will not appear.)

Register Bookpedia - Select this command to register the program with your serial number. If the command is greyed out, it means your copy of the program is registered already. (If you bought the program through the Mac App Store then this menu command will not appear.)

Preferences... - The Preferences let you customize the program to your needs. Please refer to the Preferences page for more detailed information.

Services - The Pedia programs are all included in the Services menu with a 'Search selection with *pedia' command. If you are on Snow Leopard 10.6 or higher, turn these on in the System Preferences/Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts.

The File menu

New Collection - Creates a new collection. New collections are by default included in the Library and marked with a blue collection icon.

New Collection from Selection - Creates a collection from the selected entries.

New Folder - Creates a folder for further organization.

New Special Collection - If you delete your Borrowed collection or Wish List, this is where you can choose to create a new one. You can only have one Borrowed collection and Wish List in the program at any time.

New Smart Collection - Creates a new smart collection. Smart collections build and update themselves based on the criteria assigned.

Edit Smart Collection - Change or update the criteria assigned to a smart collection.

Include Collection in Library / Exclude Collection from Library - Collections can either be included in the Library (marked with a blue collection icon) or excluded (marked with a grey collection icon). This menu command lets you toggle between the two options.

Show Count / Hide Count - This refers to the numbers next to a collection, displaying how many entries it holds.

Import Collection... - To import data into Bookpedia from a file or another program. For more information about importing options, please take a look at the Importing Collections page.

Export Collection... - You can export your data in various different formats. Please take a look at the Exporting Collections page for more details.

The Edit menu

Copy as Bibliography - Copies the selected entries and creates an MLA style bibliography in the clipboard. Open a text editing program and choose 'Paste' from the Edit menu.

Note: The receiving application has to be able to handle rich text as the bibliography includes an underline. Try TextEdit in rich text format (when the ruler appears at the top of the window).

The View menu

List - The list view allows you to view your entries in a column format, much like iTunes.

Grid - The grid view displays only the cover images of the entries, in the same location as the list view.

Cover Flow - The Cover Flow displays your cover images and lets you browse through them in a fluid motion.

Details - The details view displays single entries, websites and your database statistics.

Details Style - Select the template style you'd like to use in the details view.

Full Screen Mode - The Full Screen Mode lets you cycle through your entries by cover and is a great addition to a home theater set-up.

Columns - Lets you select which columns to display in list view. A checkmark next to a field indicates that it is displayed.

View Options... - Another way to select the columns displayed in list view. Check the box next to all the fields you'd like displayed.

Set as Default Columns - Saves the current set of columns as the default set for all future collections.

Apply Default Columns - Applies the default set of columns to the selected collection.

Statistics - Displays the statistics for the selected collection. For more information about the statistics, please take a look at the Statistics section.

Duplicates - Creates a new collection with all the duplicates from the selected collection. Duplicates are matched on title.

Books Borrowed By... - Will let you create a list of entries borrowed by a particular person.

Outgoing Emails... - If you have the option to 'Automatically send emails for overdue borrowed entries' checked in the Preferences > General, the "Outgoing Emails" command is where you can see the list of emails left to sent and when they will go out. For more information, take a look at the Email section.

z39.50 Servers... - z39.50 is an international standard defining a protocol for computer-to-computer information retrieval mainly used by universities and national libraries. You can find out more about how to add z39.50 servers as search options to Bookpedia on the Adding page. Reset View Sizes - Sets the Bookpedia main window back to the default layout and size.

The Book menu

Add... - Brings up a web search window where you can enter keyword(s) such as title, author, publisher, etc. to start a search for a book. For more details on how to add entries, take a look at the Adding Books page.

Add manually... - Brings up a blank add window for you to manually enter information.

Add Multiple... - Brings up a multiple add window where you can enter more than one search request. For more details on adding multiple entries, take a look at the adding multiple entries section.

Edit... - Brings up the edit window for the entry. If you have more than one entry selected, a multiple edit window will come up so you can change information for many entries at once.

Mark as > - Various options to mark entries (read, bought, borrowed, etc.).

Update from > - Lets you select a site to download additional information for an entry or entries. Please note that this command will automatically add the first result returned for the search. If you'd prefer to review the result(s) returned, use the little gear button in the Add/Edit window instead.

Capture Cover - Use your iSight or webcam to capture a cover image for the entry. Press the little camera button to capture the image and the sliders to adjust the image if necessary. The 'Set' button will make it the cover image of the selected entry.

Remove Cover - Deletes the cover image of the selected entry or entries.

Open URL - Opens the URL found in the URL field, usually a link back to the site where the entry was downloaded from.

View Links for Selection - Displays the files linked to the selected entry.

Email Selection - Lets you send an email with selected titles. To set the subject and body of this email, go into the Preferences > Email. Place holders such as [key:title] will be filled in automatically with the appropriate information from the entry/entries selected.

Send Selection to iWeb - Because the iWeb export uses a different format, this option is not part of the general export command. Please take a look at the Exporting Collections page for more details on exporting your data to iWeb.

Email Borrower - Will create an email to send to the person who borrowed the entry. To set the subject and body of the email, go into the Preferences > Email. Place holders such as [key:title] will be filled in automatically with the appropriate information from the selected entry.

Incremental Collection ID... - This menu command brings up a window where you can have the program automatically assign numbers, letters or some other personal ID system to your entries. If you already have entries in your database to which you'd like to assign an ID,

• select all the entries to which you want to apply a collection ID


• open the 'Incremental Collection ID...' menu command


• enter a format for the IDs such as "AB1" or just "1"


• press 'Apply to Selection' to have the program enter the IDs for the selection

To have the program add collection IDs in this format to new entries, check the box next to 'Increment automatically for new additions'. If you change the collection ID or blank the field out while you're adding an entry, the ID will not increment.

Last Read History - Displays the last read history for the selected entry, based on the information from the 'Last Read' field. You can edit the information in this window using the plus and minus buttons at the bottom.

Borrowed History - Will give you the borrowed history for the selected entry. This is built based on information from the Borrowed By field. It can also be manually edited to add or delete borrowers.

Select Random - Selects an entry at random from the current collection.

The Doghouse menu

Doghouse is the user-built database exclusively for the Pedia programs. Users can choose to upload all their collections or only contribute a selection of books (personal fields such as custom fields or comments are never uploaded).

Contribute Collection - Will upload the selected collection to Doghouse.

Contribute Selection - Will upload only the selected entries from the collection to Doghouse.

Settings... - Choose a username and password if you'd like to upload your My Rating info along with the other data. This will be aggregated into a general user rating. In the future we also want to include credits for contributers, e.g. who uploaded the most books, most active moderator, etc.

The Help menu

Bookpedia Help - Brings up the Help files for the program.

Reset Warnings - Resets all warning messages to appear again. (After you have checked the box 'Don't warn me again'.)

Bluetooth - Use this menu command to pair your bluetooth scanner to Bookpedia. Alternatively use the Bluetooth button in the 'Add Multiple' window. (You only have to do this once. The program will remember the scanner in the future.)

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The Toolbar

This first part covers the default set of toolbar buttons for Bookpedia. The second part covers additional toolbar buttons. To customize the toolbar, go into the View menu > Customize Toolbar or ctrl-click (right-click) anywhere inside the toolbar to bring up a contextual menu with the option "Customize Toolbar...".

• The plus button opens the search window that lets you add new entries to the program, either via an internet search or manually.


• The minus button removes the selected item(s) from the collection.



• The edit button opens the Edit window for the selected entry. If more than one entry is selected, a multiple edit window will open.


• The borrow button opens the borrow dialogue where you can enter the name of the person borrowing the entry as well as the date and due date.


• The links button displays the files linked to the entry. Depending on your Preferences > Style settings as well as your Finder preferences, the file(s) will open inside Bookpedia's details view or in an external browser.


• These three buttons fused into one let you toggle between the different view options: list on the left, grid in the middle and Cover Flow on the right.


• The i button toggles the details view at the bottom of the main program window. To change its size, drag the middle divider up or down.


• The full screen mode button displays your cover images over the full screen of your computer.



• Export your entries in various different formats. There is also an option to backup your database and upload exports directly via FTP.


• Export a text file of your collection to the 'Notes' section of the older, classic iPod. If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, take a look at this blog post for alternative ways to view your collections.


• The statistics button displays the statistics for the selected collection in the details view. To close the statistics, press the 'OK' button at the top of the window or the Statistics button in the toolbar once more.


• The search field lets you search the selected collection. If you'd like to restrict your search to only a certain column or those fields displayed, click on the little magnifying glass field and choose the appropriate filter.



• The double-plus button opens the Add Multiple window which lets you add more than one entry in one step.



• The borrowed history button will bring up the borrowed history for the selected entry. This history is based on the information from the Borrowed By field. It can also be manually edited to add or delete borrowers.


• The print button brings up the print dialogue to print out the selected collection.



• The URL button opens the website listed in the URL field of the entry. Usually this is the site where the original information for the entry came from. If the entry doesn't have a URL, use the 'Update from >' menu command under the Book menu or the little gear button in the Edit window to do an advanced search for the book and create a link to the entry on the selected site.



• If an entry has a movie file linked to it, the play button will start playing that movie. To link a movie, drag the item to be linked over the details view of the entry.

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Keyboard shortcuts

This is a list of some of the keyboard shortcuts found in Bookpedia. For more, check the Bookpedia menus.