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eleybourn / Book-Catalogue

A book cataloging tool for Android phones.
https://github.com/eleybourn/Book-Catalogue/wiki
GNU General Public License v3.0
384 stars 186 forks source link

Opening page layout - request #280

Closed ademarfj closed 12 years ago

ademarfj commented 12 years ago

Hello, I have enjoyed Book-Catalogue a lot. Nevertheless, when I was looking for a book organizer in the Market, I felt attracted at first by other two apps: BooksApp and MyBookDroid. And the reason was how the opening page of them were organized. It seemed to me easier to deal with the mentioned apps menus, easier to access the shelves, booklists and so on. They were very visual and intuitive. But they both missed some features that turned Book-Catalogue better, like the better databases where book information are found. So, I suggest, in a positive way, to consider reviewing the Book Catalogue opening/main page. It would be great if the first page showed the options available: book list, shelves, scan ISBN, etc. Althout Book-Catalogue seemed technically better to me, it is said that the first impression remains, so that is the reason which made feel attracted to some other apps at first. A more friendly opening page would be more captivating. Congratulations on your great work.

Grunthos commented 12 years ago

I quite like this idea; it is also friendly to new users-- so they don't just get faced with an empty list of books.

95% of the time I start BC to add a book, or seach for a book...nether of which is best accomplished by opening the last opened bookshelf.

I'd be interested in Evean's thoughts, perhaps even a 'Preferences' setting.

eleybourn commented 12 years ago

I would agree, the aesthetics of BC are rather limited.

I would make it optional, so people could pick which starting screen they wanted. However we would need to find a contributor who can improve the graphics first; not something I am good at, just look at the logo :-)

ademarfj commented 12 years ago

I do agree with you that it could be optional. Unfortunatelly I can´t help you with the graphics. Maybe just a list of choices would be enough to make the app more captivating: "scan barcode", "(list of) books", "(list of) authors", "(list of) publishers", "loans", "bookshelves", "subjects" and "search". I guess those options would be enough for an opening page. Much more intuitive than looking for actions inside menus. That is my guess!

ademarfj commented 12 years ago

Sorry, I mistyped and closed the issue. That was not the intention.

Grunthos commented 12 years ago

lol...happens to me all the time.

As to the list:

Comments:

  1. Having two specific 'list of books' entries seems excessive. It might be worth having: 'My Books' -> preference based view of books (I prefer 'sort by author', other may prefer other views). From withing this view one should be able to sort books by another key (as we can now) and set the current view as the preferred view.
  2. I would probably replace "scan barcode" by "Add Book" with a small dialog. I have enough old (or damaged) books, that I probably split 50/50 between scanning and typing ISBNs.
  3. "loans". Nice idea. This should probably go to a screen showing current books loaned. Clicking a book will offer a dialog allowing it to be returned. 'Loans' activity should also have some buttons:
    • "scan new loan"
    • "scan return" This would be a good start on an improved loan system
  4. Bookshelves. Not sure about this one. What would it do?
  5. Subjects. Yes! but not right now...we need to handle multiple subjects per book and subject aliases before this.
  6. "Search" sounds sensible. Probably results displayed using the 'preferred' book view for "My Books"?
ademarfj commented 12 years ago

Hello, Sorry for the late reply. It is the time zone. I am in Brazil... Actually, my suggestion was based on BooksApp layout, with minor changes. After trying several book organizers, one of the most appealing, in my opinion, was BooksApp (considering the organization/navigation inside the app), although I prefer BC for its features.

1 - The 2 lists idea came from that app: "Books" (by title) and "Authors". They are close at hand. But your suggestion of just one list (which could be customized by user) is very welcome.

Publishers: for me, not necessary at all

2 - Add book instead of "scan barcode" is ok, once you provide a quick way to access barcode scan without having to access the phone menu key. Maybe "Add book" > leading to 2 options: (a) barcode, (b) manually

3 - Perfect

4 - Bookshelves: agree with you.

5 - I didnt know about the load of work involved on this although I think it is helpful

6 - As you said below!

I am not a good programmer and I cant help you with art/design. Should you need someone to translate the app into Portuguese I will be there for you, ok?

Regards, Ademar

Em 4 de janeiro de 2012 01:26, Grunthos < reply@reply.github.com

escreveu:

lol...happens to me all the time.

As to the list:

  • "scan barcode"
  • "(list of) books" == show books, sort by title?
  • "(list of) authors" == show books, sort by author
  • "(list of) publishers" <- don't think we do this at the moment; and...would it really be so sommon a request to warrant being on front page?
  • "loans"
  • "bookshelves"
  • "subjects"
  • "search".

Comments:

  1. Having two specific 'list of books' entries seems excessive. It might be worth having:

'My Books' -> preference based view of books (I prefer 'sort by author', other may prefer other views). From withing this view one should be able to sort books by another key (as we can now) and set the current view as the preferred view.

  1. I would probably replace "scan barcode" by "Add Book" with a small dialog. I have enough old (or damaged) books, that I probably split 50/50 between scanning and typing ISBNs.
  2. "loans". Nice idea. This should probably go to a screen showing current books loaned. Clicking a book will offer a dialog allowing it to be returned. 'Loans' activity should also have some buttons:
    • "scan new loan"
    • "scan return"

This would be a good start on an improved loan system

  1. Bookshelves. Not sure about this one. What would it do?
  2. Subjects. Yes! but not right now...we need to handle multiple subjects per book and subject aliases before this.
  3. "Search" sounds sensible. Probably results displayed using the 'preferred' book view for "My Books"?

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/eleybourn/Book-Catalogue/issues/280#issuecomment-3350224

eleybourn commented 12 years ago

Hi Ademar,

Would you be interested in being a beta tester for version 4 of the Book Catalogue app?

ademarfj commented 12 years ago

Yes, for sure. I would be glad to. Ademar

Em 13 de maro de 2012 23:25, Evan Leybourn < reply@reply.github.com

escreveu:

Hi Ademar,

Would you be interested in being a beta tester for version 4 of the Book Catalogue app?

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/eleybourn/Book-Catalogue/issues/280#issuecomment-4490997

eleybourn commented 12 years ago

Could you email me so I can send you the beta APK eleybourn AT gmail DOT com