Tips and things about BookLikes

[AnnaLund]

do they sync both ways?
hmm.
not so far.

[AH]

Cornelia (Merry Meerkat Marginalia) wrote: "Question, does GR sync with Booklikes? Or will I have to occasionally re import everything? I can't do everything at two places. I don't want to leave goodreads but if this continues, I'll have too"

The synch works one way only from BL to GR. Keep in mind if you write a review in BL and have chosen to synch, the review will pop over in GR almost instantaneously. You may need to reformat some things in GR. If you had any notes in the review space on GR, that gets overridden by BL.

If you add books later on in GR, they will not synch into BL unless you do another import and I am not sure what happens with that (will you get double the books, etc.)

[AH]

Here is the email I sent Bl and their response:
Message: I know that Booklikes is swamped right now but I started an account in July and set it to sync with Goodreads. Aside from my csv file import, nothing else has synched up from GR. I have the synch from goodreads set up and I'm wondering if it is just a bug as others have reported that their sync works. Thanks for your help.

Hi,
the sync works only one way from BookLikes to Goodreads, meaning that if your publish something on BookLikes it will be also visible on your Goodreads profile. To make it happen you need to connect in Settings/Import with your GR account, then your reviews and books updates done on BL will be also updated on GR.
Please let me know if you still encounter this problem.
Kate

Me: So any books I have added since my last import in July will need to be manually imported? (as well as reviews, etc?)

Have you added them on Goodreads or BookLikes?
Our sync works from BookLikes -> Goodreads so if you've added them on Goodreads you should import your books and reviews to make them visible on your BookLikes profile.
If anything, just write. I'll help.
Kate

[Shanna]

It works both ways and is syncing now. I just updated the books I'm currently reading on BL and it's now showing on GR. :)

[Heidi]

I'm trying to import my Goodreads books to BL but whenever I set to import my csv file, it's coming up with an error that says "Please send valid file". Help?

[AH]

Shanna wrote: "It works both ways and is syncing now. I just updated the books I'm currently reading on BL and it's now showing on GR. :)"

You updated them in BL, so they show up in GR. Try the other way - it doesn't work.

[Shanna]

I just realized that BL alphabetizes by author first name on my shelves, is that fixable? I'll have to check to see if GR sends stuff over. :)

[Sharon]

Heidi wrote: "I'm trying to import my Goodreads books to BL but whenever I set to import my csv file, it's coming up with an error that says "Please send valid file". Help?"

It happened to me to, I asked for help. we'll see what happens.

[Dan]

It took a little while for me to figure this out so I thought I'd share it.

To see multiple reviews for the same book, either click on it from someone's shelf or search for it using the search bar at the top. Click on Book page of this edition.

So far, it appears to only show one page of reviews, even when more than a page are present.

[Charming]

I've been told not to turn on synching until the import is complete - not sure if that's true, but it kind of makes sense.

[Anne]

Would you guys recommend waiting a bit to import, and seeing if some of these bugs get fixed? It seems like BL is upgrading their system quite a lot to accommodate all of the refugees from GR.

[Krazykiwi]

Yeah. I made that mistake, turning syncing on too early, and since I was reformatting reviews over there it made htem repost all over the place here. No really big deal.

Also, even after the import was complete, it looked like I was missing 20 or so reviews - but they did all turn up the next day. So definitely be patient :)

[Dan]

Anne wrote: "Would you guys recommend waiting a bit to import, and seeing if some of these bugs get fixed? It seems like BL is upgrading their system quite a lot to accommodate all of the refugees from GR."

My import has another day and a half to go. I'd wait a week or so, until after they upgrade the servers and the tide of refugees dies down a little.

[NiaKantorka]

Could someone tell me why I couldn't like posts on my friends blogs? I tried it with one of Nenia's but it didn't work and I couldn't left a comment neither.
Have I wait until the importing is finished?
It's not so intuitive like I thought but my first revs are showing and that's just so great:D.

[Anne]

Thanks, Dan. I think I'll do that.

[Chrissie]

It does not sync in both directions. what you write at BookLikes goes to your profile page at GR, but what you add at GR does not go over to BookLikes. I asked them and that is what they said. So you have to be kind of careful while importing. The changes you make at GR after you have created your CSV file do not automatically go over to Booklikes.

They are wonderful at Booklikes, so quick to answer all questions.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

For those wanting to make a Profile Page but not wanting to play with the CSS codes, I put up a post with some screenshots:

http://batgrl.booklikes.com/post/2218...

It's almost exactly what Tami said at the beginning of this thread, just with some visuals. :)

Also note that you can use that Add Page setup to make a list of books you're reading, a challenge read/list, essay, etc. And it will create a link in the sidebar.

Oh and my page has me stuck at 260 books so yes, be patient everyone, things are slow to import, especially reviews.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

Chrissie wrote: "It does not sync in both directions. what you write at BookLikes goes to your profile page at GR, but what you add at GR does not go over to BookLikes. I asked them and that is what they said. So y..."

Ok here was what happened to me - I wrote Booklikes to ask about it to see if it was a bug or intentional.

I turned sync on, then I went into my review at Booklikes and was working on the formatting, adding spaces, etc. When I next went into that same review at GR all my html was gone. I know that it had mirrored over from Booklikes - which had no html due to that being stripped in the csv file Booklikes loaded - because the GR review now had codes in it that occur from such mirroring (for instance you'll see them in all page breaks). So anytime I now go in to do anything with formatting I turn off sync. Safer that way.

Short version: sync can work both ways. What you change on Booklikes can reflect back on your GR review. (I lost a LOT of html codes.)

[AnnaLund]

Batgrl wrote: "Short version: sync can work both ways. What you change on Booklikes can reflect back on your GR review. (I lost a LOT of html codes.) "

nope. it only works that ONE way, the one you just described.
FROM Booklikes TO Goodreads.
period.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

See I was reading it as if you do it on GR it will be mirrored at Booklikes, but yeah, now that I reread, it's just the other way. Could be written clearer I suppose.

http://booklikes.com/settings/

You must sign in with Goodreads to synchronize actions with your books, shelves, reviews. See more info on FAQ page.
BookLikes → Goodreads synchronization includes: adding books to shelf, adding shelves, posting a review, rating books. Once you do one of those things on BookLikes, it will be published on your BookLikes webpage and on your Goodreads profile.

On the FAQ
What’s BookLikes -> Goodread synchronization?

You can synchronize your Goodreads profile with your BookLikes webpage.
BookLikes -> Goodreads synchronization includes:

adding books to shelf,
adding shelves,
posting a review,
rating books.

Once you do one of those things on BookLikes, they will be published here on your BookLikes webpage and on your Goodreads profile.

[Steph]

Hi, ya'll. I need some help with editing on BL. I synced my GR shelves (books, reviews, etc) to BL a month or so ago and noticed a TON of whacky formatting, wrong covers/books tied to my reviews, etc. Now that I'm spending a bit more time on BL, it's really bugging me. But, I can't figure out how to edit reviews that were imported from GR.

Example
* Wrong cover/book tied to my review: The review is for .

Same review has jumbled text from using GR's "add book" feature used within review. I'd like to edit it to state the book name minus the link info.

Maybe I should email BL? Because the book info page has the wrong cover.
> http://booklikes.com/book/2321172/hov... <

Any suggestions/help is much appreciated :)

[Ian]

I had that exact same thing happen. I ended up deleting the book with the wrong cover from my shelves and just manually putting it back on the shelf with the correct cover. I haven't looked through all the imports yet so I'm not sure if it's happened more than once.

[Steph]

Okay, that's an option. How do you delete it?

[Ian]

Just go to your shelves, click on the book in question and a new screen will open up. There is a button that says "Remove from shelf".

[Steph]

I'm lookin', but I'm not seeing an option to remove. Could ya point me in the right direction?

[Ian]

I'm having some trouble...PCs make life so hard. If nobody has answered by the time I get home tonight, I'll do a step by step with images.

Viva la Mac!!

[Steph]

LOL! That'd be fantastic, Ian. I typically consider myself a self-taught pro with things like this. If I don't know it already, I can figure it out on my own. But man, BL is teaching me otherwise at the moment. :)

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

If you click the book cover you should see, at the bottom: create a post/read (or currently reading etc.)/ seller link/ review rating / remove from shelf. Is it there for you?

[Moira]

AH wrote: "Oh, the only thing I don't like about the reblog feature is that you reblog someone else's reblog - the original poster doesn't get credit."

Augh. What a terrible idea. Even Tumblr isn't that bad.

[AH]

Moira wrote: "AH wrote: "Oh, the only thing I don't like about the reblog feature is that you reblog someone else's reblog - the original poster doesn't get credit."

Augh. What a terrible idea. Even Tumblr isn'..."

It's not terrible - it is terrible that it can not be attributed to original poster.

[Moira]

I'm actually not that bad at HTML (used to hand-code my Geocities page back in the day! oh God SO OLD) but that booklikes customization page gave me nasty flashbacks to Blogger circa 2002. Is there some quick and easy way to change the page style other than messing with that?

....I have sweet-fuck-all idea what's going on with synching back and forth between GR and BL. I don't want all my GR stuff wiped out, since I don't really plan to update BL, but use it as a backup.

[AH]

Moira wrote: "I'm actually not that bad at HTML (used to hand-code my Geocities page back in the day! oh God SO OLD) but that booklikes customization page gave me nasty flashbacks to Blogger circa 2002. Is there..."

Then you are probably better off not synching.

[❤Ninja Bunneh❤]

I noticed that most of my reviews aren't getting on there. The books went on the shelves but for two days no reviews other than a few. I decided it's ok. I'm just going to cross post any new ones.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

The reviews might show up at the end?

[Nicci]

Andrea wrote: "I noticed that most of my reviews aren't getting on there. The books went on the shelves but for two days no reviews other than a few. I decided it's ok. I'm just going to cross post any new ones."

Check out the import page in setting. It will give you update status of the import. On my import page some books are marked with "waiting for import."

[Sunny]

Andrea wrote: "I noticed that most of my reviews aren't getting on there. The books went on the shelves but for two days no reviews other than a few. I decided it's ok. I'm just going to cross post any new ones."
Hi Andrea,
I'm sure they'll get there, eventually!

From the BookLikes Blog:
First we import your books and the ratings, then the shelves will appear (so you don't need to create them if you have those in your csv file) and then reviews will come with books attached. Gradually all your books will pop up on your Shelf and reviews on your Blog, so don't worry if you can see book piles but not reviews. This means we're working on imports and they are in progress.

My books started uploading on Saturday (the 21st) and they still aren't done. There are plenty of things to do while you wait, though. Finding people to follow, figuring out the dashboard/blog set up, customizing the blog, and cleaning up the reviews as they come in.

[❤Ninja Bunneh❤]

Thank guys! Yeh, I hope so. It's been stuck at 14 reviews for two days already. I even tried importing a new file. No luck.
Maybe one day they'll magically appear. :D

[Petra X]

I haven't had one review upload yet, it's days now. But I have faith.

[Tracey]

After reading others' comments, I deleted the "review" column from my spreadsheet before I imported it - I don't know if that helped. I've still got 20 hours to go, less than a tenth of my books have been imported, and most of what I see on my shelves have no covers. I'll deluge the site with my reviews later, I guess, pop them up a handful at a time.

Have I mentioned how much this sucks...

[Ian]

Steph wrote: "I'm lookin', but I'm not seeing an option to remove. Could ya point me in the right direction?"



1. Click on "Shelf". Should look something like the first jpeg. Find the book that you're having the issue with and then click on it.

2. A new screen will open that will look like the second jpeg. Down the bottom you'll see four buttons...the button on the far right is "Remove from Shelf", click on that and the book should disappear.

Sock Puppet Confessional wrote: "I haven't had one review upload yet, it's days now. But I have faith."

lol...it really took ages. Well over a week for mine to all get shelved...and it was kind of sporadic. I remember having 133 for about 24 hours and then in the space of about half an hour it went to 238.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

Is this supposed to be where you find the buttons to edit a review? They are not showing for me. I tried to see if I could highlight that section in Stylebot and change the text color to black and it's not letting me.

*edit* oops wrong link


Also, is there something wrong with the star rating button? I'm clicking it and getting nothing.

[Ian]

Stacia ~ Admittedly Apathetic wrote: "Is this supposed to be where you find the buttons to edit a review? They are not showing for me. I tried to see if I could highlight that section in Stylebot and change the text color to black and ..."

I think the star thing you're clicking in the wrong place. I was having the same problem and only accidentally stumbled into the right screen. If you click on the book, there is a button that says "read". Click on that and you'll get more options, one of them should be the 5 stars.

[Ian]

[Ian]

Stacia ~ Admittedly Apathetic wrote: "Is this supposed to be where you find the buttons to edit a review? "

Yep that would be the buttons the one on the left is edit if you want to click it and see what happens.

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

I think we'll be finding a lot of bugs and slowness in the system in the next few days because their site is really being tested in a huge way by the influx of users and data. I'm going to give it a few more days before I start really adding much to it.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

I clicked on the stars below (after clicking on read), and nothing. The first time I wrote the review the stars recorded. After I accidentally deleted it because I couldn't see the buttons, it wouldn't let me rate again on the new review.

How do I get my buttons back, lmao.

[Ian]

Stacia ~ Admittedly Apathetic wrote: "How do I get my buttons back, lmao. "

Makes me think of a very old virus from the mid-1990s...a little man would run onto your screen, grab the mouse pointer and run off. The virus also deleted your mouse driver. Kind of funny because people just don't know how to use a computer without a mouse.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

I reset the style on my page and it fixed the problem.

Still not able to click on the stars, but I'll message BL about that.

[Chels M.]

Hi!

I see some profiles with widgets (photos, challenges and so on) in the columns... anyone knows how to do that? If example is needed I'll take a screenshoot. Thanks, guys! :]

[❂ Murder by Death]

I don't know about the rest of it, but the reading challenge is under "Goodies" in the secondary link bar up at the top (After Explore, Giveaways, etc.)