@help What is the micro book/bookshelf? What is it used for? Where does it show up? I see a reference to it in the API docs website. I see something in the iOS app, but what good is it? I can’t find a use for it.
@Archimage @help I use the Bookshelf to track what books I'm reading. Like Goodreads, but just for me, except that you all can see my book posts here on micro.blog.
@agilelisa I give up. Where do they show up? How do I add them? I can only find/see them in the iOS app. I can’t find them on the website and I dont’ see them on the stream.
@help @agilelisa And why isn’t it integrated with Goodreads / Bookly. I hate doing the same thing multiple times.
@Archimage When I click on Bookshelves in the left nav in MB on the web, I am taken to my Bookshelves page. It shows me the books I've set as "Currently Reading" and "Finished Reading" and a search bar to search for new books to add to either shelf. I use Bookshelves instead of GoodReads because I'm the only person who needs this information.
@agilelisa @help Thank you. I understand that. But what is the purpose? Apart from seeing what you’ve read? I already use Bookly / Goodreads, and if I didn’t, I’d just use Notes or a text file. I don’t understand, what the purpose/benefit of integrating it into m.b and the API is. M.B could also include a spreadsheet function, but why? Unless it’s exposed to the stream.
@Archimage A bookshelf entry is exposed to the stream when I choose to expose it. So when I add a book to "Currently Reading" I can then click on that new entry and I'm presented with the option to make a new post. I can understand Bookshelves not working for you -- you probably need to be on GoodReads as an author. It is perfect for me and provides just enough public sharing for my purposes.
@Archimage It's integrated with blog hosting, so it's easier to post about your books and you can include them in pages. There's also a separate official app just for them: Epilogue.
I agree that the benefits of this should be made clearer, since it's not immediately obvious as to why it sits alongside the core Micro.blog set of features. There's also a Help article about Bookshelves on the forums, which is missing from the Table of Contents.
@agilelisa @help Hm. Thank you. I didn’t know that you could expose/click what you read. The UI isn’t intuitive and the docs (such as they are) don’t mention it. I’m usually good with UI/tech stuff, but this part of m.b is obtuse, and needs better docs/explanation.