#how to update metadata for existing fics/anthologies

[kitkatt0430]

Managing Calibre and FanFicFare - Additional Plugins, Tips, and Tricks

Here's a few more scenarios you may run into while managing your local fanfic archive and how to navigate them. As well as additional plugins that might make your life easier when managing your fanfic library - or any library of eBooks you may choose to use Calibre to control.

Anthology Options aren't working:

In this scenario, you've installed Calibre and the FanFicFare plugin, but the anthology options aren't being made available in the FanFicFare options menu. Don't worry, this isn't a problem with either Calibre or FanFicFare. Sometimes plugins will depend on other plugins for additional functionality and that's what's happening here.

FanFicFare will utilize the Epub Merge and Epub Split plugins as part of it's anthology creation process. If you go to the plugins management modal, choose the option to get more plugins, and search for these two plugins then you should be able to install them. They are two separate plugins and Calibre will need to restart after each install. Once they're both added to your Calibre instance and everything has been restarted, check out the FanFicFare menu again and you should see the anthology options available now.

I missed this while creating my initial walkthrough for Calibre + FanFicFare since I already had these plugins installed.

But what do the Epub Merge/Split plugins do? It is pretty much what it says on the tin. Epub Merge allows for merging multiple eBooks of the same format into a single new eBook. Useful for taking separate chapters and merging into a single book or taking books in a series and merging into a single anthology. If you have a bunch of stray recipe files, you could turn them into a custom recipe eBook. In turn, if you have an anthology eBook then you can use Epub Split to split out the separate books into unique files to make tracking which parts you've already read easier.

FanFicFare takes advantage of this functionality for it's fanfiction anthology management options. But you can utilize them separately for your own uses as well, either by assigning them to the toolbar or adding to them to a control menu.

Updating missing metadata:

There are two different ways to go about this, depending on whether you're wanting to update the file for a single fanfic or for an anthology series.

For single books, this process can work regardless of whether the fic was downloaded using Calibre + FanFicFare or if it was downloaded/created via other means. If you've directly downloaded a file off ao3, used a browser tool to create a fanfic off of FFnet, or simply added new columns for meta data tracking that weren't there when you original created the eBook file - it's actually pretty easy to update the metadata for a single eBook.

First you're going to want to check the book's metadata in the metadata editor. On the default tab in the metadata editor, there should be a field labeled "id". This field needs to be populated with the URL for the fanfiction. If it's already populated, you should be good. But if you need to switch to a different URL or add one, then the field should be formatted like this: "url:https://www.dummyfanfic.url.com/"

Once you've verified the URL is correct or added the URL if necessary, save and exit the metadata editor. Make sure the entry for the book (or books) you want to update is selected in the main eBook list and then head over to the FanFicFare control menu. Choose the option to Update Existing FanFiction Books from the menu.

The update modal should pop up with a list of all selected eBooks pre-populated and indicating if FanFicFare can update them. Any non-anthology eBook with a valid url in the id field should be indicated with a green icon as a valid update option. Any anthology eBook or single fanfic with an invalid url or empty id field will be indicated with a red x. If you choose to update the file, then only the valid options will be updated.

Before clicking the OK button, you'll want to update the following settings in the modal. Beneath the list in the modal should be a select box where you can choose to Update Calibre Metadata from Web Site - this will cause the updater to only check for metadata and not overwrite the existing eBook. And a checkbox for Update Calibre Metadata - sometimes the select option alone is not enough if the eBook is otherwise up to date; this will force the metadata to update once gathered. Choose the select option and check the checkbox, then click the OK button.

The job should run and update any eBook with a valid URL that is not an anthology.

For Anthologies, this is only going to work for eBooks created through FanFicFare. You might be able to manually add a series url to a regular eBook, but I haven't tested it and can't be certain it won't simply recreate and overwrite your existing eBook file. That said, if a series used to be tracked on one website and you want to track it on a different one now - say a series moved from Twisting the Hellmouth to Ao3 or from Ao3 to SquidgeWorld - you should be able to update the main series page url in the metadata editor's id field the same as you would for a single fic. But I haven't tested this yet either. So be warned, this isn't going to work exactly like the single book metadata update. Though the process is very similar.

You'll probably be doing this if you added new metadata tracking columns or if a new fic has been added to the series and you want to ensure the new metadata for this fic is added to the data being tracked for the entire series once updated.

Anthologies can only be updated one at a time. Select the book you want to update and then open the FanFicFare control menu. Select the Anthology Options, which will open a flyout menu. From there, choose Update Anthology Epub.

A modal should open with the list of URLs for the fanfics included in the anthology. Check the option at the bottom of the modal that is labeled "Update Calibre Metadata?" and then click the OK button. NOTE: if updating the anthology will mean losing an existing fic included in the series, it will warn you before allowing you to proceed. Be aware that if parts of a series have been deleted, you may want to simply manually update the anthology's metadata.

The job should run and update the anthology's metadata on completion, as well as updating the eBook itself with any new chapters or fics associated with the series.

Picking additional plugins:

There are a lot of plugins available for Calibre - officially supported or otherwise. While I'm mainly going to touch on officially supported plugins here - AKA, plugins that can be added using Calibre's internal add plugin flow - I am going to mention one plugin that would need to be side loaded. I'm not going to explain how to use that one since it is not useful for fanfic management, but it's good to know it exists for managing other, non-fanfic eBooks.

Find Duplicates

This plugin does essentially what it says on the tin. You can use it to find duplicates, so if you have multiple versions of the same fic from different sites (and possibly different author names, since they may not have kept the same user name from one site to another), this plugin can quickly evaluate your library and display the resulting selection. From there you can determine whether they're actually duplicate files and remove any unneeded entries.

For non fanfic library maintenance, this is also useful for identifying entries for different eBook file formats - epub, azw, mobi, et cetera - and combining them into a single entry that tracks all formats. Or merging metadata for two entries of the same eBook that also have the same format. You'll want to be very careful if merging two entries with the same format type so that an earlier version of an eBook doesn't replace a more recent version.

Mass Search/Replace

This is very useful for cleaning up and consolidating tags in your custom metadata. Fandom names will vary from site to site: Ao3 will use The Flash (2014) while SquidgeWorld uses the similar The Flash [2014] while FFnet will just call it The Flash. Character names may also differ from archive to archive: B. Sisko on FFnet would be Benjamin Sisko on Ao3 and you probably want all the fics with everyone's favorite Emissary to the Prophets tagged with the same name.

Once you've installed the plugin, it's fairly simple to use. Make sure to add it to a toolbar and then click the icon on the toolbar to bring up it's control menu. Choose Quick Search/Replace and from the flyout menu choose the Library option to search through and change tags across the entire open Library.

A modal should open with a list and a single entry already present on the list. Double click the entry to edit it. Another modal will open where you can assign the search field from among the columns, the tag you're searching for, and the tag you want to replace it with. You can also test the replacement at the bottom of the modal before going forth on a full replacement.

Additionally you can change whether it'd replacing based on exact character matches or using a regular expression - I'd recommend sticking to exact character matches if you're unfamiliar with how to use regular expressions. You can also replace an entire field, but I definitely do not recommend that one.

There are various other settings in there too and you can even save searches for re-use later. When trying out a new setting, always test it first before rewriting the tags on your entire library. If you can back up your library before trying something risky, the plugin itself recommends doing so.

Once you've got your search set up and working as expected in the tests, choose the OK button to close the second modal. This will return you to the first modal. Click OK on the first modal to run the search/replace function.

WARNING: In case you missed it before, this is a very powerful tool and, consequently, can really screw up your library if you're not careful. Backing up your library before making changes is highly advised.

TTS to MP3

This one isn't necessarily obvious based on the name at first. TTS here refers to "Text to Speech". This plugin is useful for creating an mp3 file using Text to Speech to 'read' an eBook for you. If you like listening to your fanfics and no one has podficced a fanfic yet, you can use this option to convert a fanfic to an audiofile.

I'm not super familiar with this one's usage yet, so I'm not going to include instructions for using it. It won't hurt anything to play around with it until you figure it out, though. And it's definitely no replacement for having a real person doing a pod fic since the computer isn't going have the natural pauses and rests of a human voice between paragraphs and the like. But when you're hankering for an audio version of a fic and there is none, it's better than nothing at all.

CalibreSpy

If you want to be able have read access to your fanfic library while managing a different library in Calibre - or vice versa - this is the plugin for you. It essentially allows you to search for, open, and read eBooks from any library Calibre manages while having a different library open for direct management. Since you can only directly manage one library at a time, this is useful for if a book has gotten lost and you want to find which library it was accidentally moved to or simply want to have a book open to read from a different library while still managing the currently open one.

Library Splitter

This sticks a frontend on the existing Calibre functionality for moving eBooks between libraries. You can use this to copy books between libraries or move them entirely (copy to a new location and delete the original), which is useful when splitting a new library out from an old one or if you dumped a bunch of eBooks into a default library to sort through later.

If you've chosen to manage multiple fanfic libraries, then you can use this for moving fanfics between the different local archives. But it's also useful for if you've accidentally added a non-fanfic file to the archive and want it moved to the library it actually belongs to without having to delete and re-add the file.

You can add this plugin to a toolbar, but it's functionality will also be available in the menu that appears when right clicking an entry on the main eBook list.

DeDRM/NoDRM

This one isn't really for fanfic management nor is it an officially supported Calibre plugin. Originally called DeDRM, it's been forked and renamed NoDRM since the original maintainer gave up control of the project. (Lack of time, I think?)

This is for stripping DRM off your eBooks. And it is very good at what it does. A lot of people have contributed - and continue to contribute - to allow people to rip the DRM off their eBooks and read their files - or loan their files - however they may choose to. This works with most major DRM types, though you may need to do additional work beyond just side loading the plugin to allow it to do it's thing. Kindle books in particular need a lot of prep to work - downloading two additional (and officially supported) KFX plugins as well as directly configuring the plugin (the easiest method involves using the serial number for a kindle device you physically own and have linked to your account, so you'll have to work a lot harder if you don't own a kindle device).

You'll want to do a lot of research with this one, but Calibre + DeDRM/NoDRM is one of the big appeals to using Calibre for regular eBook management. It was certainly what originally drew me to Calibre since I wanted to be able to read my eBooks in whatever eReader app I wanted to, as well as consolidate my collection from multiple sources.

The GitHub repository for NoDRM is found here and will have more information on how to use and install the plugin.

Since you own the file, technically you can strip off the DRM for your own use. But it's definitely a gray area which is why Calibre doesn't officially support the plugin.

#kitkatt0430 explains #ficArchiving #calibre #fanficfare #additional plugins #how to update metadata for existing fics/anthologies #tag management