1DebiCates
My GR import went better the second time. And sooooo close to being perfect. But not quite.
If anyone has any pointers on how to avoid what happened to me this second time, I would be most glad to share them with my GR friends.
This is what happened...
At the end of August I imported my GR library to LT. I got 1800 of 2200 books to come over. I figured it was "new user error" issue, plus having some funny higher level bookshelves, beyond "Want to Read," "Currently Reading," and "Read" that I figured might have accounted for the missing stuff (although I didn't research that. I was too busy figuring out how to do basic stuff in LT then.)
This weekend, I deleted all my books in LT. I squished all my books in GR to those three higher level classifications ("exclusive libraries" on GR, and in LT, "Collections") and re-exported GR. Re-imported to LT.
The good news is I got all 2200 books this time! (Except a dozen or so that had ISBN problems.)
The sad news is every single book from GR went into *all* 3 Collections in LT, "To Read," "Currently Reading," and "Read". Womp womp.
Thankfully before the new redo, I had duplicated all the GR exclusive shelves with new secondary shelves with names that meant the same thing since LT import last time grabbed all the tags without any issue. Except one....my "read but don't own" designation on GR.
I spent the weekend power editing, putting books in one of those three collections. I'm still working on the "Read but unowned" designator. I'll figure it out.
I just wanted to mention this problem to warn new GRers coming over to LT that they should do as I did and have secondary level (non exclusive) bookshelves also for all their exclusive shelves.
If anyone has any pointers on how to avoid what happened to me this second time, I would be most glad to share them with my GR friends.
This is what happened...
At the end of August I imported my GR library to LT. I got 1800 of 2200 books to come over. I figured it was "new user error" issue, plus having some funny higher level bookshelves, beyond "Want to Read," "Currently Reading," and "Read" that I figured might have accounted for the missing stuff (although I didn't research that. I was too busy figuring out how to do basic stuff in LT then.)
This weekend, I deleted all my books in LT. I squished all my books in GR to those three higher level classifications ("exclusive libraries" on GR, and in LT, "Collections") and re-exported GR. Re-imported to LT.
The good news is I got all 2200 books this time! (Except a dozen or so that had ISBN problems.)
The sad news is every single book from GR went into *all* 3 Collections in LT, "To Read," "Currently Reading," and "Read". Womp womp.
Thankfully before the new redo, I had duplicated all the GR exclusive shelves with new secondary shelves with names that meant the same thing since LT import last time grabbed all the tags without any issue. Except one....my "read but don't own" designation on GR.
I spent the weekend power editing, putting books in one of those three collections. I'm still working on the "Read but unowned" designator. I'll figure it out.
I just wanted to mention this problem to warn new GRers coming over to LT that they should do as I did and have secondary level (non exclusive) bookshelves also for all their exclusive shelves.
2kristilabrie
We've been working on an improved Goodreads import, by the way... so stay tuned. :)
3DebiCates
>2 kristilabrie: Thanks Kristi! I'm glad it is still in the works. I won't be re-importing myself (I've done too much to clean it up and set tags more amenable to the better features in LT), but I would like to know when that happens so I can tell other GRers.
Hm, I might be willing to test it though....I suppose I could export my LT to save it, delete my LT library, then import from GR to see how it works. Then delete my library again and re-import from LT that I saved.
What do you think of that? Would I just be asking for trouble? ha
Hm, I might be willing to test it though....I suppose I could export my LT to save it, delete my LT library, then import from GR to see how it works. Then delete my library again and re-import from LT that I saved.
What do you think of that? Would I just be asking for trouble? ha
4kristilabrie
>3 DebiCates: You've touched upon a long-awaited wish from many members (including myself), that LT have a full import-export loop. It currently does not, so I would advise against exporting then deleting your library.
However, you could test the new import once it's up by adding a tag to the entire import (something like "test import Sep 16 2025"). You can always delete all of those books with that tag afterwards by using Power Edit. This assumes that you're not syncing your records but adding duplicates, of course. (And you could add more flexibility by adding a custom tag to everything in your catalog before running the test import... so you could handle all records before the import, should you decide to do so.) I hope this helps. :)
We'll be sure to announce any updates!
However, you could test the new import once it's up by adding a tag to the entire import (something like "test import Sep 16 2025"). You can always delete all of those books with that tag afterwards by using Power Edit. This assumes that you're not syncing your records but adding duplicates, of course. (And you could add more flexibility by adding a custom tag to everything in your catalog before running the test import... so you could handle all records before the import, should you decide to do so.) I hope this helps. :)
We'll be sure to announce any updates!
5DebiCates
>4 kristilabrie: Thank you. Yes, I might do that. As a matter of fact, in the latest import I did I added tag "GRIMPORT" just because it made me feel....safer some how. ha. But I can see what you mean about using a different one in a second import in order to be able to delete it after testing.
THANK HEAVEN I asked about the exporting LT then restoring LT. Less than perfect results would have been an unpleasant shock.
If you guys ever need a test GR csv file, I'd happily share mine with you.
THANK HEAVEN I asked about the exporting LT then restoring LT. Less than perfect results would have been an unpleasant shock.
If you guys ever need a test GR csv file, I'd happily share mine with you.
6kristilabrie
>5 DebiCates: Thanks very much! I appreciate it.
