Goodreads 101 - How do I do [blank]

[Chrissie]

Helen that is simple. When you join the group you can set the emails to all, but then when you get an email that does not correspond to your interests, do not open it. You must make sure that the discussions you are interested in are checked for emails. You can do that by clicking on the text you see to the right above this comment box. It should say: "You are following this discussion (instant) edit ". If it is wrong click on the edit. I am hoping I explained that clearly enough......

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, I get what you mean and I've got it sussed (I think...)

[Janice, Moderator]

I have my notifications set to receive no email notifications. If there is a thread that I am interested in, I will click on it (as Chrissie explained).

I then click on "edit" and select "notifications only". That way, I don't get any emails, just a notation when I log into Goodreads. I prefer this option because I use my email primarily for work.

It's great that you can fine tune the options to your needs.

[[deleted user]]

Another one from me. The challenge reads - do i end up having to make a shelf for each challenge, or is there a smarter way of joining in those without having sleves with one book in them?

[Janice, Moderator]

Helen wrote: "Another one from me. The challenge reads - do i end up having to make a shelf for each challenge, or is there a smarter way of joining in those without having sleves with one book in them?"

I have titled my shelf ylto-monthly-challenge, and all my monthly challenge reads go into it. The Goodreads challenge feature looks at the start/end dates of the challenge and the shelf you specify, and will report only the books within those parameters.

[[deleted user]]

Janice wrote: "Helen wrote: "Another one from me. The challenge reads - do i end up having to make a shelf for each challenge, or is there a smarter way of joining in those without having sleves with one book in ..."
thanks Janice, that's good to know.

[Rachel]

Is there a place in this group where I can ask other members to help me remember the title of a book I read? I read a specific romance novel over the summer and didn't add it to any of my shelves and I want to read it again, but I can't remember the title or author. Sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

[Janice, Moderator]

You could start a thread under the section "Chit Chat About Books" - give what details you remember about the book and see if anyone recognizes it. There is a group dedicated to this, but I don't remember the name of the group.

[Almeta]

Rachel wrote: "Is there a place in this group where I can ask other members to help me remember the title of a book I read? ..."

Janice wrote: "There is a group dedicated to this, but I don't remember the name of the group.

..."

What's The Name of That Book???

[Rusalka, Moderator]

If you have an old Live Journal account lying around and the Goodreads group doesn't help, I've used http://whatwasthatbook.livejournal.com/ with great success before.

[Lisa]

I was wondering if someone could tell me how to link a review of a book into a post on these message boards? I can't work out how to do it and the last time I tried, I ended up copying and pasting the entire review into my post.

[Janice, Moderator]

Copy the URL of the review, then paste it into your message.

For example - here is your review of The Great Gatsby:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Almeta]

Lisa wrote: "I was wondering if someone could tell me how to link a review of a book into a post on these message boards? ..."

Link to Instructions for Inserting a Review in Comments.

[Lisa]

Thanks for your help Janice and Almeta! :)

[Almeta]

Lisa wrote: "Thanks for your help Janice and Almeta! :)"

You are very welcome.

[Betsy]

Two questions, nope three
1. How do I get my reviews
posted in the Updates?
2. How do I get books off of the to be read list yo
to the read list?
3. How do I set up a shelf? Can I have it be part of
the books read list without it counting the same
book twice?
Thanks ahead of time. Betsy :D

[Esther]

Betsy wrote: "Two questions, nope three
1. How do I get my reviews
posted in the Updates?
There is a "add to my update feet at the bottom of the review pane"
2. How do I get books off of the to be read list yo
to the read list?
You change its shelf. There are a few way of doing this depending on where you are. If you can't find it let us know.
3. How do I set up a shelf? Can I have i..."
You can add a shelve when you select the shelves for a book or if you go to the "my book" section, there is an "edit" just by the bookshelves on the top left of the screen

Hope this helps.

[Janice, Moderator]

1) Further to Esther's comment, you can edit your profile as to what goes on your update feed. I have mine set to nothing because I don't want it adding all the books I add. So I do as Esther suggested and that way only the reviews I want on my update feed go there.

3) The only way to have a book show up once is to make your shelf exclusive. But then it won't be a part of the shelf "read". If you are using the 2013 challenge feature, and you specify a shelf other than "read", your books won't count towards your goal.

[Almeta]

Your book can be on more than one non-exclusive shelf at a time.

For instance mine are often on
Serial, Mysterious, and Good-Reads-Author simultaneously.
Another may be on Serial, Si-Fi, and Award Winner.

Note the two are on the Serial shelf but then on completely different shelves as well.

[Mili]

How do you post a GIF? I see people putting gifs in their reviews and I wanna do it too! Help please?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Hi Mili. You post it as an image. So above the text box you would type your reply to me in, there is a link on the right hand side above the box that says: (some html is ok). Click on that and it gives you html code hints.

Halfway down will be a dot point that says:
image: (Width must be 0-400, Height must be 0-1000, alt is a description of the image. All three are optional, but recommended.)

I tend to copy the code, paste the image link into the part where it says http://www.goodreads.com/image... (keep the quotation marks, part of the code and COMPLETELY IMPORTANT). Then I personally preview the messgae and play with the dimensions of the picture (width and height) until it looks right.

Complete lay man's point of view, but it works.

Also. Welcome to YLTO.

[Mili]

Rusalka wrote: "Hi Mili. You post it as an image. So above the text box you would type your reply to me in, there is a link on the right hand side above the box that says: (some html is ok). Click on that and it g..."

Thanksss! I figured it out!

[Janice, Moderator]

Another way is to use a website that hosts your picture uploads, like Photobucket. I upload my pictures there, then copy the html from the section that says "Share", and then paste it into the comment box here.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Mili wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Hi Mili. You post it as an image. So above the text box you would type your reply to me in, there is a link on the right hand side above the box that says: (some html is ok). Click ..."

Yeah no worries.

[Peggy]

I just received a private message:


Dear Peggy

Hope you are doing well.

I saw your reviews on goodreads on travelogues and I was wondering if you would like to consider to kindly review my book "Journeys with the caterpillar: Travelling through the mystical islands of Flores and Sumba, Indonesia".

The book is rich in anthropological details and is currently available free at Goodreads and also at http://www.amazon.com/kindle-store/dp...

I understand that you are extremely busy and therefore I would like to humbly request for an honest review whenever it is convenient for you.

Thank You

Regards
Shivaji Das


This was followed by more information about the book.

I'm pretty sure it's spam, as I never ever reviewed travelogues on goodreads (or anywhere else), am I right? If so, why do people send it? What are they trying to gain?

Just curious :)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Spam.

They are trying to get positive reviews to bump up their ratings so people BUY their book.

HOWEVER, *IF* they are books/topics you are interested in then by all means review it. And I suggest while it is spam to me, be a little bit flattered. But I suggest being completely, utterly and brutally honest in any review.

*disclaimer: I am a complete cynic*

[Peggy]

Got it! So it's spam, but 'real' spam, not similar to the emails telling you you won 3.2 million dollars in some kind of African lottery or someone's grandmom passed away and she left an inheritance of 12.8 million dollars and the grandson would like nothing more than to share it with you.

Another question: he writes his book is available for free at Goodreads, how does that work? I have never seen a page on Goodreads with free books.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh, dear, I'm back work (generic email address that get FLOODED with those). Indeed. He may have taken 10 secs to copy paste.

No idea via free books. But like anything, e-books are data files.

ALL Data files could have any form of virus in them. Be careful who you download stuff from, on your phone, your computer, your e-reader, DS, ANY DEVICE. Especially if they are synced!!!

[Janice, Moderator]

If you go to the book's page on goodreads, there should be an option to "read now". It's a simple rebook reader.

[Janice, Moderator]

I just checked the book out on amazon.ca and it is $2.05 CDN. Here on Goodreads, underneath the description of the book, there is "Get a copy" with options on the lovely green tabs beside it. One of those tabs says "download book". You can download an PDF or ePub.

[Cherie]

"the lovely green tabs". Too funny, Janice.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Well that's good. I didn't know goodreads did that, which means they probably scan/screen the files. I was worried you would be directed to a dodgy site somewhere.

I am intrigued what it ends up being like.

[Janice, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: ""the lovely green tabs". Too funny, Janice."

You caught the sarcasm, did you? LOL!

[Peggy]

I found the lovely green tab too! ;-)

I didn't download it though, I was just curious where to find it.

[Peggy]

Ha! I just discovered you can sort to 'new post first' in the app! Scrolling down to the end of very long topics was starting to get quite annoying..

[Sarah]

Peggy wrote: "Ha! I just discovered you can sort to 'new post first' in the app! Scrolling down to the end of very long topics was starting to get quite annoying.."

Thanks for sharing that Peggy - I didn't realise you could do that. Have just sorted it on my phone!

[Peggy]

I'm glad I could help :D

[[deleted user]]

Janice wrote: "Go to edit bookshelves. There is a column for "Sortable". Check that box for each shelf you want to be able to sort. Then go to the shelf. You'll see that each item in the heading can be clicke..."

This is GREAT!!! THANK YOU!!!

[[deleted user]]

Forgive me if this was already mentioned. I didn't find it. Anyway, could I save a particular comment that I want to easily reference to later? There are so many comments & helpful suggestions that I would like to easily reference in later days.

[Janice, Moderator]

Annetta wrote: "Forgive me if this was already mentioned. I didn't find it. Anyway, could I save a particular comment that I want to easily reference to later? There are so many comments & helpful suggestions ..."

I could use a feature like that! I copy and paste things I want to possibly reference in the future into an app I use called "Evernote". Maybe someone else has another work around suggestion.

[Nancy from NJ]

You can also copy and paste the material and send it to yourself in an e mail. I have created folders for different e mails I save including interesting reference materials.

[[deleted user]]

Hiya. Is it possible to see spoilers if you're using an iPhone app? I'm desperately tapping and swiping the comments/square brackets but nothing... Feel like I'm missing something
:-( Thanks in advance!

[Janice, Moderator]

Rachel wrote: "Hiya. Is it possible to see spoilers if you're using an iPhone app? I'm desperately tapping and swiping the comments/square brackets but nothing... Feel like I'm missing something
:-( Thanks in ad..."

There have been comments regarding this in the Goodread's feedback group. Apparently, the app doesn't open the spoilers tag, nor does it let you add links.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Peggy]

It doesn't work for me either (samsung/android). It just says 'spoilers removed' and that's it.

[[deleted user]]

Bother! On the bright side, I guess that means I'm not being totally dozy...

Thanks for the GR feedback group link Janice - I didn't know about that.

[Lynn G.]

I would like to include a photo from my iPad in a comment for the December 2013 cozy mystery challenge but have absolutely no idea how. Is there some way to do that? I have zero technology smarts. Thanks for any help. :)

[Esther]

Lynn G. wrote: "I would like to include a photo from my iPad in a comment for the December 2013 cozy mystery challenge but have absolutely no idea how. Is there some way to do that? I have zero technology smarts..."

You can use photobucket. There is an app for ipad.
Ypu can upload there.
There is a info button (an i in a circle on the bottom right) that gives your the link for your pic. You can paste the html code in here, as i did in my post here.

(Shameless plug for QC, from last year)

[Lynn G.]

Thanks, Esther, both for the information and your lovely shameless plug. I will attempt the process tomorrow when I am less sleep-deprived!

[Esther]

Lynn G. wrote: "Thanks, Esther, both for the information and your lovely shameless plug. I will attempt the process tomorrow when I am less sleep-deprived!"

As i was sleep deprived myself when i wrote it, there may be grey area. Let me know if there is I will walk you through it.

[Lynn G.]

Here's another question: How do I choose a valid shelf name for a challenge? Is the shelf name one I already have within the "My Books" category? How do I get the challenge to recognize the shelf name? I entered a shelf name but it doesn't seem to "see" the book that I have read for the Dec. 2013 cozy mystery challenge. (I am sorry to be so ignorant about all this)