Enhancement: Stack Into Series on Home Screen with Unread and/or Total Books Counters #19

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opened 2026-04-24 22:56:33 +02:00 by adam · 7 comments
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Originally created by @Budlyte on GitHub (Sep 16, 2021).

Currently the Home Screen can be a bit cluttered, and make it difficult to determine if a book is missing or find it if the search isn't doing it due to some tagging error.

If the books were allowed to be stacked into their Series, with strays still cluttering the surrounding area, clean up of tagging would be improved and overall usability of the home screen could improve.

With that, if Series were marked with the number of Unread books at home screen then it becomes that much easier to identify where to go for a newly imported title for listening or download.

Originally created by @Budlyte on GitHub (Sep 16, 2021). Currently the Home Screen can be a bit cluttered, and make it difficult to determine if a book is missing or find it if the search isn't doing it due to some tagging error. If the books were allowed to be stacked into their Series, with strays still cluttering the surrounding area, clean up of tagging would be improved and overall usability of the home screen could improve. With that, if Series were marked with the number of Unread books at home screen then it becomes that much easier to identify where to go for a newly imported title for listening or download.
adam closed this issue 2026-04-24 22:56:33 +02:00
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@advplyr commented on GitHub (Sep 16, 2021):

I agree, can you provide an example of how you think this would look?

If a series is grouped, how would you differentiate between a series and a regular book?
What would the cover art look like for a series?

On a similar note, there is a "New" book flag that I want to further integrate, discussed here

@advplyr commented on GitHub (Sep 16, 2021): I agree, can you provide an example of how you think this would look? If a series is grouped, how would you differentiate between a series and a regular book? What would the cover art look like for a series? On a similar note, there is a "New" book flag that I want to further integrate, [discussed here](https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/discussions/13#discussioncomment-1248719)
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@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 16, 2021):

Behold, my Paint-fu!

Right off the bat, I'd say just use the first cover available as the Series cover. The human brain identifies pictures quicker than text.

But that might still look cluttered and an option to toggle between using covers and just loading the default cover with info? Or maybe add the Title to the bottom of the cover image?

These are just options that I threw together. There's probably other ways to do it.
image

The question now becomes, once a Series is clicked what does navigation look like? Should the bookshelf basically just set a filter and load down to books in that series?

@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 16, 2021): Behold, my Paint-fu! Right off the bat, I'd say just use the first cover available as the Series cover. The human brain identifies pictures quicker than text. But that might still look cluttered and an option to toggle between using covers and just loading the default cover with info? Or maybe add the Title to the bottom of the cover image? These are just options that I threw together. There's probably other ways to do it. ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/4451365/133628991-167940b6-2a83-465b-a2ca-8817c24ef98f.png) The question now becomes, once a Series is clicked what does navigation look like? Should the bookshelf basically just set a filter and load down to books in that series?
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@advplyr commented on GitHub (Sep 17, 2021):

But that might still look cluttered and an option to toggle between using covers and just loading the default cover with info? Or maybe add the Title to the bottom of the cover image?
I think the number over the cover will suffice in distinguishing it as consisting of multiple audiobooks.

With the current set-up you are only shown your progress and whether or not you've read the book. If we include the notification for unread books then I think it would need to be optional.

How are you envisioning the option will look like for the user enabling this group by series? Do you see this as something in the toolbar next to the filter & sort, or is it a different view that you go to, or an option in user settings?

@advplyr commented on GitHub (Sep 17, 2021): `But that might still look cluttered and an option to toggle between using covers and just loading the default cover with info? Or maybe add the Title to the bottom of the cover image?` I think the number over the cover will suffice in distinguishing it as consisting of multiple audiobooks. With the current set-up you are only shown your progress and whether or not you've read the book. If we include the notification for unread books then I think it would need to be optional. How are you envisioning the option will look like for the user enabling this group by series? Do you see this as something in the toolbar next to the filter & sort, or is it a different view that you go to, or an option in user settings?
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@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 17, 2021):

At first I thought it could easily just be tossed next to filter & sort, but I believe Plex has a similar option in library settings for Movies, "Automatically group movies by collections" or something similar. Probably best to use what they've figured out already and have it as a toggle somewhere in Settings.

Eventually the options will start to pile up, if you don't mind adding them, better to plan for them being where they'll need to be later rather than endng up with 30 buttons on the home screen even if that means a silly looking lonesome toggle under some Settings category for a while.

@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 17, 2021): At first I thought it could easily just be tossed next to filter & sort, but I believe Plex has a similar option in library settings for Movies, "Automatically group movies by collections" or something similar. Probably best to use what they've figured out already and have it as a toggle somewhere in Settings. Eventually the options will start to pile up, if you don't mind adding them, better to plan for them being where they'll need to be later rather than endng up with 30 buttons on the home screen even if that means a silly looking lonesome toggle under some Settings category for a while.
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@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2021):

The more I think about this one, the more I'm unsure if what I've suggested is the right move....

The main place I really see this being useful is when browsing a specific Author, because when viewing a single author it's a bit impossible to tell which book is actually next in the series, without using the Series filter.

I almost think that just moving the Series filter out on its own, or making a different one, next to the listed number of Audiobooks and limiting its scope to those same visible Audiobooks could be a more visibly pleasing solution.

Here's an Author sorted by Volume #
image

And clicking the button would just dropdown like usual. (Obviously I wanted to include "Murderhobo" in my example)
image

@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 20, 2021): The more I think about this one, the more I'm unsure if what I've suggested is the right move.... The main place I really see this being useful is when browsing a specific Author, because when viewing a single author it's a bit impossible to tell which book is actually next in the series, without using the Series filter. I almost think that just moving the Series filter out on its own, or making a different one, next to the listed number of Audiobooks and limiting its scope to those same visible Audiobooks could be a more visibly pleasing solution. Here's an Author sorted by Volume # ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/4451365/133953968-7eddc467-b1ab-475d-9ab3-cb4c31f39fc5.png) And clicking the button would just dropdown like usual. (Obviously I wanted to include "Murderhobo" in my example) ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/4451365/133954063-7252add5-92cf-41f9-b576-29773d77de8c.png)
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@advplyr commented on GitHub (Sep 21, 2021):

I'm still conflicted on this. There needs to be some level of grouping, but I'm not sure how sorting will function for groups.
The other issue mentioned talks about collections, but I think series should be enough. If a book belongs to a series and you want it part of another collection, then maybe that is what tags should be for.

I'm leaning towards an option like you mentioned that is called "Collapse Series" or "Group Series". That option will show one book with the number of books in the series. When sorting it will just use the first book in the series or for title it will just use the series name.

@advplyr commented on GitHub (Sep 21, 2021): I'm still conflicted on this. There needs to be some level of grouping, but I'm not sure how sorting will function for groups. The other issue mentioned talks about collections, but I think series should be enough. If a book belongs to a series and you want it part of another collection, then maybe that is what `tags` should be for. I'm leaning towards an option like you mentioned that is called "Collapse Series" or "Group Series". That option will show one book with the number of books in the series. When sorting it will just use the first book in the series or for title it will just use the series name.
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@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 21, 2021):

#47 and this request are the same thing, actually. He called it "Collections" because that's what it is called in Plex, but for books Series is the same thing. You're right concerning custom "Collections", that is a thing for tags to handle and is already supported.

@Budlyte commented on GitHub (Sep 21, 2021): #47 and this request are the same thing, actually. He called it "Collections" because that's what it is called in Plex, but for books Series is the same thing. You're right concerning custom "Collections", that is a thing for `tags` to handle and is already supported.
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Reference: starred/audiobookshelf#19