how to add a widget to my blog
You can post a widget which shows off a list of books in your shelves on your website or blog. To do so, login to Goodreads, click on my account at the top right corner of Goodreads, then select the 'widgets' tab. Follow the instructions to copy the widget code into your blog. You can choose to show off any shelf you like: read, currently reading, or any shelf of your choice. We have both flash widgets and javascript widgets - please make sure your blog software accepts flash or javascript.

does Goodreads have a MySpace app?
Goodreads does have a MySpace app. It can be found here or by searching for "Goodreads" on MySpace. The Goodreads MySpace app offers most features available on Goodreads, and is a great way to keep updated on what your MySpace friends are reading.

how to shelve your books
To add books you've read to a shelf, use the 'bookshelves' dropdown while editing a review. All the books you add are in the 'read' shelf by default, unless you add them to the 'currently-reading' or 'to-read' shelf using the bookshelves dropdown. You can create additional shelves that are mutually exclusive with the 'read', 'to-read', and 'currently-read' shelves by clicking on 'edit shelves' from the homepage. You can also create your own bookshelves (also known as tags or lists), and add the book to as many of them as you like.

how to delete or rename a shelf
To delete or rename a shelf, click "edit shelves" on the homepage (under "my bookshelves" on the right side of the page). You can also click "my books," then "edit" beside "bookshelves."

can I edit the shelf for multiple books at once?
To add or remove books from a shelf in batches, use the 'edit view' on your 'my books' page. The edit view lets you select as many books as you like to move them from one shelf or another, or even to remove them from your profile. You can also find duplicate books in edit view.

can I add videos or book trailers to an author profile?
Videos may be added to any author profile as long as they are hosted on YouTube or BookVideos.tv first. To add a video, first make sure you have librarian status, then click on "edit" on any author profile (lower right corner of the info box). The "add videos" link is on the right side of that page.

how to add a book to your books
To add a book to your shelves, find the book by searching for its title or author. On the book profile page click on 'add to my books'. All the fields on the next page are optional, so enter a rating or review if you like, then click 'save' and the book will be added to your books.

does Goodreads have mobile or iphone app?
Goodreads has a great mobile site, which you can bookmark on your iPhone or mobile device. The mobile site works with most phones capable of browsing the internet, and is especially optimized for the iphone and the blackberry.

To add the Goodreads site to your iPhone, open an internet browser, navigate to http://www.goodreads.com/m then push the bookmark (+ button) and select "add to home screen".

We have plans to build a true iPhone app one day, but currently Amazon will not let us because we use some of their data.

how can I customize the books on my MySpace profile?
You can customize the books shown in your MySpace profile by going the Goodreads Books app (http://www.myspace.com/goodreads), and choosing 'settings' in the header. Then choose 'customize my profile box'. On the next page you can choose which shelves to show off and in which order.

how to synch your MySpace account to Goodreads
If you've installed the Goodreads Books app on MySpace, your books may not appear on your MySpace profile if your MySpace account isn't linked to your correct Goodreads account. You may also have a duplicate account. To change which Goodreads account is linked to your MySpace profile, sign in to MySpace and go to the Goodreads Books app. Then click on settings (to the right of the Goodreads logo), and follow the instructions to login to your Goodreads account.

how can I buy books from Goodreads?
Goodreads does not sell books or any book products. It is exclusively a book review site, where users can find and share book recommendations.

how can I customize the books on my Facebook profile?
You can customize the books shown in your Facebook profile by going the Goodreads Books app (http://apps.facebook.com/good_reads/), and choosing 'settings' in the header. Then choose 'customize my profile box'. On the next page you can choose which shelves to show off and in which order.

how to install the Goodreads widget on Blogger
On Blogger when you're viewing your blog: Select customize => Layout tab => add a gadget => basics => scroll down to HTML/Javascript => copy and paste the widget code from Goodreads, and you should be set!

my widget isn't working on LiveJournal
LiveJournal does not support flash, and therefore doesn't support Goodreads' flash widget: http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=14&q=flash. You will need to use one of Goodreads' image widgets on LiveJournal.

how to remove a book from your books
To remove a book from your shelf, click on the 'my books' link at the top of Goodreads, make sure you are on the 'main' or 'list' view, then click 'remove' next to the book you'd like to remove. You can also click on the book, click 'edit my review', then click 'remove from my books' at the bottom of the page.

how to add your reading updates to twitter
If you would like to make sure your status updates and reviews on Goodreads automatically appear on Twitter, click on "hi yourname" in the header and edit your account, then click on the apps tab and follow the instructions. Goodreads will post no more than 5 tweets per day, even if you add more status updates than that.

how to import your books from Visual Bookshelf
If you would like to import your collection from Visual Bookshelf (aka LivingSocial), go Visual Bookshelf, click on the "my collection" tab, and look for the export link at the bottom of the page.

If you are logged in right now, this link may work. Note that Visual Bookshelf's faq says that the export feature "is only available to LivingSocial.com site users and those who have linked their social network account to LivingSocial.com".

After you have the csv export, you can import it to Goodreads.

can I vote "no" on someone's review?
Currently you can only vote positively for user reviews, but you can "unvote" at any time by simply clicking "vote" a second time (it toggles on and off). Also, you can write a comment instead of voting, which allows you to state your more specific opinion of the review.

reviewing more than one edition
While most of the time you will only wish to shelve a single edition, you can rate and/or review as many editions of a book as you want. Rate and review the first edition as you would any book. Then click on the "other editions" box on the right.

On the "other editions" list, find the second edition that you wish to rate or review. Go to the second edition's page, and select "review this edition". You will then be able to enter a separate review for the second edition. If you wish to review a third (or more) edition, simply repeat the process.

How to enable Goodreads updates on your mini-feed on Facebook
To enable Goodreads reviews to appear in your newsfeed on Facebook, first make sure you have the Goodreads Books app installed. Then go to your settings page on the Goodreads App to grant permission to update your feed.

Once this is done your Profile box on Facebook should stay up to date, and any books you add on Goodreads will appear in your profile feed on Facebook. Note that due to Facebook rules automatic Goodreads application updates will not make it onto your friends Facebook pages. You can get around this by clicking the "add to my Facebook Wall" link after adding your review on Goodreads. You can also click on "my books" in the Goodreads Books app and then "publish" at any time. You can disable updates on Facebook by going to applications (footer menu) => edit applications => edit settings for Goodreads => Additional Permissions tab => uncheck the "publish to streams" checkbox.

how to import my books from other cataloging services
You can easily import your books from LibraryThing, Delicious Monster, Shelfari, and many other book cataloging sites. First you will need to export your books to a CSV or spreadsheet. On LibraryThing go to 'tools' => 'export tab delimited file' and save the file to your hard drive. On Shelfari go to 'account settings' then click on 'Download a list of your books'. Then go to Goodreads and go to 'my books' => import and import the file. Your books, along with any reviews, ratings, and tags (we call them shelves) will be imported.

how do I remove a book from my books?
To delete or remove a book from your shelves, click on my books, make sure you are in the "main" view, then click on "remove" next to any book you'd like to remove.

how to import or export your books
To import your books from a csv, txt, or xls file, click on my books then on import. Then follow the instructions on the right side of the page. The batch upload may take several minutes to process, depending on how large your file is. You can also export your books to excel from the same page.

how to sort your books
You can sort your or your friends reading lists by any criteria you like, using the links at the top of the column while viewing a shelf. For example, to sort by title, click on 'title', which appears at the top of the page. Clicking again will reverse the sort. Other columns that can be sorted on are: author name, rating, my rating, shelves, date added, publication date, date added, date read, average rating, review, number of comments, and number of reviews. Make sure to check out the various views (main, list, reviews, covers, print, edit, rss) to see all the sorting options.

How to use a CueCat to scan and import your books
Goodreads supports importing ISBN13 numbers, which is what the CueCat outputs. There are two simple ways to use Cuecat:

1. Place the cursor in the search box on Goodreads, and scan away. After scanning click to add the book to your shelves, then put the cursor in the search box and scan again!
2. Open a simple text editing program like TextEdit, plug in your CueCat, and scan away. You should see 13 digit numbers appear as you scan, one per line. Make sure the first line is "isbn". Then save the file as a .csv file, and import it. Easy!

how to format text into html
Goodreads supports a set list of html tags that you can use to format your comments, reviews, and stories & writing. They are posted on the right side of most pages, and are also below:

How to import your books from Weread
If you would like to import your collection from Weread (aka Books iRead), you are out of luck - please contact them and request they add an export feature. You may also try to grab your profile url from weread.com and try importing it using our url import option (make sure to do each page separately).

does Goodreads allow items other than books?
Goodreads is primarily for Books, however the 'add a book form' allow members to add any items they have read. Goodreads encourages people to restrict items added to books and journals, and to avoid adding non-book items such as short stories, magazines, games, posters, calendars, etc. Goodreads receives much of its data from sources like Amazon, and while we try our best to restrict this information to books, we cannot monitor everything. If you notice items on Goodreads that do not belong, please remove it, If you are not a librarian, you may contact a librarian in the Goodreads Librarians group.

can Goodreads be used as a teaching tool for students?
Goodreads can be used by educators to help a class of students monitor each others reading habits and discuss books together. We recommend creating a private group for the group interested (classroom, school, etc). Goodreads requires an email address to register, so it may not be suited for younger students, although students can make up a fake email address if need be. Goodreads is a very open site, so there is also no way to prevent students from exploring other sections of the site. There is a danger for young kids with any Social Network (even a good one like Goodreads), so we recommend using it at your own risk.