# New way to manage kindle collections on your pc (web based collection maker)



## accwebworks (Jan 1, 2011)

I have created web utility that allows you to convert your folder structure into collection.json file for your kindle.
It makes managing your kindle collections straight forward and can save you a lot of time.
This utility is free and I am open to suggestions.

http://www.accwebworks.com/kindle.aspx


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Has anyone tried this? With all due respect to accwebworks I'm not too keen on clicking on a link posted by someone who's only just joined KB.


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## accwebworks (Jan 1, 2011)

Linjeakel said:


> Has anyone tried this? With all due respect to accwebworks I'm not too keen on clicking on a link posted by someone who's only just joined KB.


Linjeakel, I assure you this is not a trick. I simply wrote utility to manage my kindle collections and I though I'd share since I know it can be painful to manage multiple collections on kindle.
If you do not wish to simplify your kindle collection management, do not click this link. This is not for you.
Besides, this is web only utility there is nothing to install on your pc.


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

I've just had a play with this for the greater good of Kindleboards.  

The good news is there doesn't appear to be anything malicious about it. As the OP says, it's all web based and the only thing it generates is a text file which you can examine if you have any suspicions.

The bad news is, and I'm sorry OP but I have to say this, it needs some work before I would use it on my Kindle.

First of all, if you blindly follow the instructions you will not get very far. The System folder on the Kindle is hidden/system (for very good reasons I suspect) and so an average user would stall at the "Save generated collections.json file to kindle\system folder" instruction since the folder is not visible unless you deselect "Hide Protected Operating System Files".

Second, if the user makes a mistake in setting up the folder structure on the PC, it does not warn you but generates an invalid collection file (which I suspect would screw up the Kindle!). As a test I mis-spelt "document", and got a .json file with only a "}" in it.

Next, the whole method of operation more or less forces you to put all your ebooks into a folder structure on your PC, then generate the collection file, then copy all the ebooks and the file to the Kindle. This is fine to somebody who works that way, but there is no consideration of how you would handle bought books (not sure I would want to copy those to my PC and back) or books which are in Calibre.

And there, I think, is the biggest problem. I'm sure a lot of us use Calibre to handle our ebooks, and this functionality within Calibre would be nice. As a separate utility, requiring our ebooks to be stored in a different way, no thanks. 

Finally, I'm afraid I never went as far as copying the collection file to my Kindle, for the simple reason (as mentioned above) that this is the Kindle System folder we are playing around with, and I'd be very worried that I would brick my Kindle, or at least cause me to have to rebuild from the backup.

OP, I hope I'm not sounding too negative, that wasn't my intention, but at the same time you have to remember that many Kindle users are not very PC literate and I'm worried that if these people try this tool out it may all end in tears  

My recommendation is that if you want this to be of use to the community, you should talk to Kovid Goyal (the Calibre developer) and see if you can work together on taking the hard work you have put into decoding the collection file format and merging this into Calibre.

Hope this helps!


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Well it's nice to know that this is a genuine thing, but as Morf says, many of us use calibre and it would need to be compatible with that.


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## accwebworks (Jan 1, 2011)

Morf, thank for taking time to review this utility.

I do agree that this collection maker requires that have basic knowledge on windows folders and that you are comfortable with moving files across folders including moving files to attached kindle via USB. I also recommend that anyone looking to try this back up their entire kindle file system. It is easy enough once you attach your kindle via USB. Just copy everything from kindle device to some folder on your pc, including hidden folders.

On the the other hand, if you are comfortable with copying files to kindle device and you want to create a multiple collections this can save a lot of time. It will generate collections.json file that drives the kindle collection list. As far as having this integrated with Calibre. I think there is a way right now to customize Calibre to save ebooks in predefined folders on your pc or kindle device. (I still need to confirm this)

P.S 
I incorporated validation check that checks for invalid file list and invalid collection.json file. At least now you will get a warning right away that something is not right with file list that you are converting.
I also added ability to run file list directly on attached kindle "documents" folder. This would mean that as long your ebooks are inside meaningful folders names these folders would become collections. There is no need to create separate copies of these folders on your pc.


thanks


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