Series grouping rework

[deviclpm]

Idea Description

This is the change I propose and the reasoning behind it:

Smart Filters‎ --> Dynamic Collections
Collections --> Collections
Libraries --> Libraries (only for Admins)

Smart Filters: They group series dynamically and are the backbone of series grouping.

Only thing you could change is granting it a more intuitive name. For this suggestion I went with Dynamic Collections, which explains its purpose better than the original name imo.

Collections: They group series manually and are a life saver for those times dynamic collections don't cover your particular edge case.

Since the only difference with dynamic collections is that they are static, I suggest to make them available to showcase in the same places dynamic collections are (side nav and dashboard) and in the same way they are displayed (list of series instead of list of lists).

Talking about list of lists, the Collections tab would lose its purpose, since collections would be displayed individually like dynamic collections are. If you want to differentiate collections from dynamic ones, an icon differentiating them is much less cumbersome.

I'd keep collection tags to be sure every edge case is covered (can be removed in the future if they become unnecessary anyway).

Libraries: They group series by source and allow scanning and defining reading profiles by library.

In terms of display they can be substituted by dynamic collections with filtering by library. This means their only purpose is for Admins to manage, and since they can manage them through settings, normal users should never even know that they exist.

Reading profiles can be set globally and in a per series level. The only thing uncovered by this change would be bulk adding reading profiles, which could be done by collections instead.

And that's it for my suggestion. I think it will improve user experience and since collections and smart filters would become really similar, development should be easier as well (at least that's what I want to think). Let me know your thoughts on this.

Idea Category

User Experience

Duration of Using Kavita

Less than a week

Before submitting

• I've already searched for existing ideas before posting.

[majora2007]

I'm not understanding what you are proposing. I'm reading it as you explaining what the terms mean. Can you break it out for me to be more clear?

[majora2007]

Libraries usually have thousands of items. If you wanted to bi d them to the dashboard, you could through a smart filter (I've yet to see feedback asking for this tho).

Please help me understand. I think there is definitely misunderstanding happening between us.

[deviclpm]

Let me see if this helps.

Libraries are for managing and displaying series.

Managing series is something only admins do. They can do it through the admin panel.
Displaying series is for the end user.

Since displaying them can be done with a smart filter (and smart filters have much richer functionality), users should only see libraries through a filter.

For example, I have a library called Manga. I can manage that library through the admin panel. And I can set a smart filter (filter by library -> Manga) for the users to see it. Users can do what they usually do with libraries, and much more, since smart filters are more powerful.

So, there is no reason for the user to know about libraries. Only admins need to know what they are and how to manage them.

This explanation helps?

[deviclpm]

So a user can never just browse a library to find what they want?

They can, just that it's a smart filter now.

[DieselTech]

With my change it would look like this:

What we don't get is you can already do this. Go make a smart filter that just contains a single library. Now it can be added to the dashboard and the sidenav.

Your asking for something that already exists.

[deviclpm]

Your asking for something that already exists.

That's because I'm not asking for a new feature. I'm asking to change the user experience.

The thing is: smart filters are more powerful in functionality than libraries. Everyone can agree on this. For users, libraries are not different than a smart filter by library, as your image shows. Then, for the end user, what's the sense of accessing the library as a library, and not as a smart filter?

[majora2007]

I don't have plans to change how these entities work nor the hiding of some aspects.