Hopefully, this is an OK post, since it is a new feature! Well, updated.

I updated and hopefully simplified my Add From LT tool. Instead of a bookmarklet, I made a search plugin - works in Firefox and IE7:

LibraryThing Add Book

Anyway. It works like the green plus from a work page inside LT - runs a search on your terms on the Add Books page, using your last selected source. If there's only one result (i.e., you searched an ISBN), it just adds without confirmation.

On Firefox, at least, you can highlight a title, author, or ISBN from any page you're on, right-click, and run the search. Or of course type it into the search box.

Hope this helps everyone who's been frustrated with the Add from Amazon bookmarklet!

Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2008, 2:56pm.

Cool - thanks!

Hopefully, this is an OK post, since it is a new feature!

The group description says that they new topics other than from LibraryThing are discouraged, except "unless you've actually developed a new feature (with or without our help)".

I'd say you fall under the exception!

Beautiful!

I am feeling very "left in the dust" around here these days. You all are developing stuff much, much faster than I have any hope of understanding, trying, or even learning about.

This is not a criticism! I recognize I may be in a minority here and my uses of LT are somewhat limited and narrow. I just want to say this "outloud" so to speak because I know you'd want to know.

Please, don't make LT so complicated that a average retired schoolteacher will feel "terminally overwhelmed" and feel like leaving the party.

> 5

This is completely unrelated to all the new features Tim & co are working on. I'm not a developer at LT, I'm just a user, like you. A user who wants to easily add books to her wishlist from an NYT review, blog entry, or Amazon page. If it's too complicated, just don't install it - it's not actually part of the site.

>1 & 5

Perhaps you could give some addt'l info as to what to do once you've clicked on the link you noted above. I see there are two options and never having added a plug-in before I was stumped. (I do, as of yesterday, have FF 3.) I realize it probably is self-evident to you, but not to me and perhaps not to the previous poster. One of the things I have enjoyed so much about LT is learning more about computer-ese, and programming; ideas and systems that I would never have come in contact with.

And thank you for developing such a useful tool. It must be very satisfying to add to the shared capital of the site.

cobb

LibraryThing Add Book (the 2nd one, with the green N, is the updated one, until they delete the old one)

Well I followed the instructions in the original post and had no problems.

If you have Firefox and you clicked the link on the page I linked to, it should have installed a new search engine in your browser. There should be a search box on your address bar, to the right of the actual address box (probably showing a Google logo). Click there, and you can choose a different search engine, and run your search right from the box.

A-ha - some searching yielded this page, which even includes screenshots so you know what they're talking about. IE7 is similar, I think - picture here.

Message edited by its author, Jul 6, 2008, 10:50pm.

>9OK, now I am really confused!

Why would the thing you created be a search engine? I thought what you created was an "add from anywhere to my LT library" thingie". Perhaps I misunderstood?

(I understand now from >8 that I should choose to click on the 2nd link shown on the page because it is the new one you just created.)

I emptied/disabled the options in the search engine box on the right hand of my screen after I installed FF as I never use them and I need to drastically lighten the size and dynamic features of my pages because I have such a sloooow dial-up connection.

TIA, for your help on this!

cobb

What timepiece has created is an add-on to your browser (I use Firefox 3.0, but I understand it also works with Internet Explorer) that allows you to substitute LibraryThing for Google (or whatever it is that you currently have showing up in the upper right-hand search field that is a part of your browser.)
What it does is 'search' LibraryThing for whatever text you input, and take you to the Add Books page.

There are two ways to use it, at least in my experience:
(1) if you come across the name of a book you'd like to add to LT on a webpage, you can select that text and right-click to get a menu that should include "Search LibraryThing Add Book for ..." This will open the Add Books page in a new window or new tab, with the title pre-entered and ready to add to your library.
(2) If you know what you're looking for already, you can simply type your title or author into the search box just like you would formerly have done for Google or what-have-you. This will bring up the Add Books page in the current tab or window, again with the information pre-entered and ready to add to your catalog.

The only trouble I've had with this is timepiece's extension essentially replaces Google for search box or right-click searching. I work around that problem by typing any google searches I have to do directly into the URL box instead, which works just fine.

11 - More or less. It doesn't search LibraryThing, but it searches the source you last selected on Add Books, and then either adds what it finds directly (if there's only one result, which is common for ISBN sources) and takes you to Add Books, or, if there's more than one result, it takes you to Add Books to let you select which of the results you want to add.

As for it replacing Google in the right-click and search box, that's true, but you can always go back and select Google using the drop-down next to the search box. I actually use multiple search engine plug-ins in that box, so I'm always switching between them anyway.

12It doesn't search LibraryThing, but it searches the source you last selected on Add Books
Right. What I meant to say...thanks.

As far as replacing Google, I know it doesn't have to, but I find that when I switch back and forth, I always have LT-Add Books up when I need to search Google, and Google up when I want to add books. Just my personal preference. Since bcobb mentioned having emptied out the search options to 'lighten' his browser, I assumed he would want to replace what he has, not add to it.

OK, now I get it! Another interesting tidbit picked up from the LT stream.

I am using FF3, so those instructions will work just fine if I decide to go ahead.

I am just now on a huge wave of delight since I just realized I can get FF to zap all images from any/all sites (and easily reverse same if I need to). You have no idea how thrilling it is to suddenly be able to flit about in such a fast-loading world. I discovered it quite by accident when I happened to mouse over the boring, blank picture on my home page and up pops an option to deny images from LT. Bingo: ugly pic is gone and all the down-load time consuming book covers and art work and general stuff, gone, too. Now LT loads like a slippery fish in wet hands.

'Course, for some reason really long LT threads aren't downloading, but the New Home Pages (Two) was getting to be too much, anyway. I'll wait for HP(3) to start up.

Thanks to all for your help - and many anonymous LTers who kept mentioning FF and piqued my curiosity. It's the nuts!

cobb

Yeah, if you're not using anything else in the search box, then you could have the little add books search always up there and ready to go.

bcobb, I have another thing you might like if you're on dial-up:

Amazon Anywhere - it's meant for mobile phone users, but it's virtually text-only and very fast. Most people on LT also spend a fair amount of time on Amazon, so I figured I'd mention it.

Oh my goodness, thank you for that great suggestion! I would love to be using Amazon but at my speeds it's just not feasible - or at least I haven't the patience for it unless I know exactly what I want to order. I can't wait to try the link.

cobb

Brilliant! Bravo! I've been hanging for someone (smarter than me) to do this since SelectThing ceased to be supported when FF2 was released.

You must tell Tim and Co so that they can replace SelectThing on the tools page.

Thank you timepiece.

Jim

I tried emailing Tim, but that was just before the new home page came out, and he may not have noticed in the crunch.

I figured posting here was probably sufficient notice. I know they're checking other threads in this group, so hopefully they'll notice this one.

I didn't even realize SelectThing no longer worked. I *did* notice (along with many others) that the Add from Amazon bookmarklet didn't work, and never liked that idea much anyway, as I wanted to be able to add from people's blogs and so forth.

I think doing it as a search is a pretty good alternative from a bookmarklet, especially now that IE is supporting search plugins. I'd prefer a bookmarklet that also let you put in the tags, but I don't know enough Javascript to do that.

Sooooo, Tim, you think it might get added to the Tools page? I admit, I would be really tickled if that happened.

And if SelectThing no longer works (mentioned in > 18), it probably should be removed.

I think Tim or Chris would be very interested. They are probably tied up with home page stuff and JSON stuff too.

I'm not sure that SelectThing does not work, I just know it's not supported past FF1. Any one still using FF1 out there?

Jim

My extension -- extremely similar to SelectThing -- has been updated through FF3, due to user feedback. It's here if you want to install it.

>22
Thanks, I love this extension!

I love it.

Nice job, LP - thanks!