We have been asked so many times for a way that members can "give back" to the club - so we made this feature available for members who want to donate to PBS.  

It really helps us to donate credits back to the club!   You can donate money too - who doesn't like money?  :)   Every bit helps!  And if you donate 3 credits or more, you get a nifty badge to wear on your profile and forum posts!

The "donation tiers" for the different Friends of PBS badges are:

• Up to 2  credits (or equivalent in Money)  =  Bronze friend - mentioned on the Friends of PBS page
• 3 - 20 credits (or equivalent in Money) = Silver friend - silver badge on forum posts/profile, your name on a book on the Friends of PBS bookshelf of friends.
• 21- 50 credits (or equivalent in Money) = Gold Friend - gold badge on forum posts/profile, your name on a book on the Friends of PBS bookshelf of friends.
• 51- 100 credits (or equivalent in Money) = Double Gold Friend - double-gold badge on forum posts/profile, your name on a book on the Friends of PBS bookshelf of friends.
• 101- 200 credits  (or equivalent in Money) = Triple Gold Friend - triple-gold badge on forum posts/profile, your name on a book on the Friends of PBS bookshelf of friends.
• 201 + (or equvalent in Money) = Diamond friend =  Diamond badge on forum posts/profile, your name on a book on the Friends of PBS bookshelf of friends.

Donations are cumulative, so if you donate now and then again later, your separate donations will collect together to determine the type of badge you display on your forum posts and profile.

There is an option to remain anonymous, so that your name is not shown on any roster of donors.  You can choose this option when you go to donate.

How to donate:

Go to this page (opens in a new window, close it to return here)  (also accessible from the link at the bottom of any page on the site)

• Click to donate credits  and the number of credits you choose will be removed from your account.
• Click to donate Money and the amount of Money you choose will be removed from your PBS Money account.

 Note: If you try to donate more Money than the current balance of your PBS Money account, your donation will be canceled and you will be taken to the Kiosk to purchase more PBS Money. No credits or money will be removed from your account until you repeat the donation.

Introduced 10/27/2008.

This feature allows you to ignore a member (or members) whose topics bother you, bore you, etc.  When you have ignored a member, you will be able to go anywhere in forums and never "hear" from the member again, while seeing all the rest of the posts in topics.

How to use it:

• Go to the Post of a member you want to ignore and Click the link "ignore this member" (the link on the bottom right of each post, after the text of the post)
  • This will work from ANY post made by the member.
• Abracadabra!  All of his or her posts (past and future) will not show when you look at the forums. 
• You can "un-ignore" a member from an ignored post as follows:
  • Click Show Post Anyway on an ignored post
  • Click "stop ignoring this member" (the link on the bottom right of the revealed post)

Other info:

• The ignored person will not "know" or be told that she or he is being ignored
• You will not be able to "know" if you are being ignored by anybody
• You cannot "ignore" for anyone else - just for yourself
• The only place to ignore is on a post by that person -- the link is below the text she or he Posted
• You can ignore as many people as you like
• If you ignore a member and she or he then starts a forum topic, you WILL see the topic title in the forum list.

We think this is a great way to shut out any forum voices that may get on your nerves and spoil your day, while letting the other voices come through loud and clear.  We do have plans to expand this "self-moderation" aspect of the forums soon, but we think this is a good place to start!

Please note that the thinking "they can just ignore me if they don't like it" is not a license to post anything you like, and it will not serve as an excuse for bad behavior in forums - we will still see everything of course and we will act appropriately on any Policy violations that are reported to us.  

Introduced 9/3/2008.

The Bookshelf Header allows you to add a custom, publicly-viewable message at the top of your PBS Bookshelf.  You can introduce yourself - give an overview of the types of books you have -  comment about a specific book you have Posted - invite members to join your Game in the Games Forum - or just say Hello! 

How to add a Header to your Bookshelf:

• Go to My Bookshelf in My Account
• Click at the top left of your Bookshelf.
• Type in the text you want everyone to see when they look at your bookshelf. There is a limit of 500 characters.
• Click Save.

To see your own header on your Bookshelf:

• Click at the top of your Bookshelf.
• This will show you your bookshelf with the header on it.

How other members will see your header:

• When they view your Bookshelf from your profile or a forum Post of yours
• When they click Order More from Member after requesting a book from you

How to edit your Bookshelf Header:

• Go to My Bookshelf in My Account
• Click at the top left of your Bookshelf.
• Edit the text. There is a limit of 500 characters.
• Click Save.

How to delete/remove your Bookshelf Header:

• Go to My Bookshelf in My Account
• Click at the top left of your Bookshelf.
• Edit the text to be empty.
• Click Save.

What can you use the Header for?  Some examples:

• Introduce yourself!
• Introduce your books!  ("I have a lot of cozy mysteries" or  "I have lots of audio books!  Filter my bookshelf by audio to see them all!")
• You can also advertise a "deal" you may be offering - such as a list of "unpostable" books you are offering free with an order --but if you do this, you MUST keep the message up-to-date, and you CANNOT decline or ignore requests from other members.  It is safest if you want to offer a deal in your Header to include the message "Be sure to send me a Personal Message after submitting your request, so we are both sure the deal goes through properly."  Members who offer deals and then ignore or decline requests will pass those requests on to bookshelves that are NOT offering deals, and this disappoints requestors.

What should you NOT use the Header for?

• You should not use the Header to describe unpostable books on your bookshelf.  Unpostable books should NOT be posted to your bookshelf.  See Book Condition Guidelines and What can be swapped here? for the minimum book posting criteria.
• You should not use the Header to describe books you have posted incorrectly (ie, with the wrong booktype).   Books MUST be posted correctly so that ISBN, title, author and booktype on the listing all match your book.
• Nasty or unpleasant messages, obscenity or anything we judge to be vulgar or inappropriate, advertising, or anything that violates the Terms of Use.  Duh. :)

Introduced 9/3/2008.

Book Notes allow you to write a private (only you can see it) note on any book in the database.  No matter where you are on the site when you apply the note, you will see the note everywhere you see the book.

To apply a note to a book:

• Click the button.  This appears
  • on the right of any book on any of your Lists in your account
  • on the right of any book on the Book Browser
  • on the right of the Book Details page for that book

• Type the text of your note (limited to 500 characters). 
• Click Save.

To read your note:

• Place your cursor over the yellow "sticky note" icon on the book cover.
• The text will pop up in a little box.

To edit your note:

• Click the yellow "sticky note" icon to bring up the edit box
• Edit your text
• Click Save.
• You must refresh the page after saving a note in order to open and edit it again.

To remove/delete a note:

• Click the yellow "sticky note" icon to bring up the edit box
• Edit your text
• Click Save.

What can the notes be used for?  Whatever you like.  No one else can see them.

• Mark a book on your Wish List "Aunt Sally wants this"
• Mark a book on your bookshelf "This is in the living room bookshelf"
• Mark a book on your Reminder List "Move to Wish List next when I have room"
• Mark a book en route to you "Here it comes!"
• Mark a book you have mailed "There it goes!"

You get the idea.

We've increased the width of all PaperBackSwap.com pages by 20% on 8/14/2008 in order to bring you more cool features now and in the future! The new wider layout also means you'll be doing less scrolling to get to more information.

To take advantage of the new layout, you'll want to be sure that your screen resolution is set to at least 1024x768. Unless your computer is more than five years old, you probably won't have to change anything.

If you do need to increase your resolution, here's how:

For PC users:

1. Right-click on an open area of your Desktop (open area = not on an icon).
2. Left-click on the Properties option at the bottom of the pop-up menu.
3. The Display Properties box will appear. Click the Settings tab (far right).
4. Click and drag the Screen Resolution slider towards the right until you see 1024x768 under the slider.
5. Click the OK button. Your screen will go black for a second or two and then return in the new, higher resolution.

For Mac users:

1. Go to System Preferences (under the Apple menu at the top left of your screen or in your Dock)
2. Choose Displays.
3. Choose 1024 x 768 from the list
4. Close the box.  Your screen will go black for a second or two and then return in the new, higher resolution.

On some systems, you'll be asked to confirm the new resolution setting. If this prompt appears, you'll need to confirm by clicking the "Yes" button within a certain number of seconds. If you do not confirm when asked, the resolution will automatically revert to your previous setting and you'll need to repeat these steps.

Now that you know how, feel free to set your resolution higher than 1024x768 if your computer has the capability. The trade-off is: higher resolutions give you more screen space but also make items on your screen appear smaller.

introduced August, 2008.

The Member Homepage is the page you will see if you click Home in the top toolbar of any page on the site when you are logged into your account.  It is different from the Homepage that shows when you are not logged in.

What to do on the Member Homepage?

• Choose your favorite book genres.
  • These can be edited at any time from the Edit Book Genres button on the Homepage, or from within your Account Settings.
  • After you have done this, the display at the top of your Member Homepage will show you recently-Posted, available books in your selected genres.  Click the buttons on left or right to "slide" the books in and out of view.  This will automatically refresh as books are posted. 
  • Choosing favorite genres will also make your Buddy Similarity Index more accurate (read more about this in Similarity Index). 
• Browse (and order) newly-posted available books in all genres.
  • Click the buttons on left or right to "slide" the books in and out of view.  This will automatically refresh as books are posted.
• Read recent book reviews on the lower left--these also update automatically.
• Check the New Member Spotlight on the lower right, to "meet" a new member who has posted books.

Your transactions and all your account activities are still on your My Account page, accessible from the top of any page on the site: Click My Account in the grey bar at the top of the site to be taken directly to your My Account main page.

Introduced August 2008.

The Suggest feature allows you to send a PM to a Buddy suggesting a book he or she might want to read, right from the book listing.

• The PM will contain the book cover image, and also an Order This Book button!
• If your Buddy clicks Order This Book right from the PM, this will order the book right from you (if the book is on your bookshelf).  Clicking "Order This Book" anywhere BUT this PM (or your bookshelf or the Suggested Books list in My Account> My Lists) will not necessarily direct the request to you.
• There is no need to respond to a Suggest PM right away!  Books that have been suggested to you will be listed under My Lists in My Account, and they can be requested from there.  They can also be removed from there by clicking "Not Interested".

To suggest a book:

• Go to the Book Details page for the book by clicking the book title on the listing for the book wherever it appears on the site.
• Choose Suggest This Book from the menu that drops down under More Options on the top right of the listing
• Choose the Buddy to Suggest to.
• The book does NOT have to be one on your own bookshelf.
  • If the book IS on your own bookshelf, and the Buddy requests it from the Suggest PM you send, the request will go directly to you.
• You can suggest a book to each person only once for each book.
• You cannot "Blast" suggestions to your whole Buddy List--you can suggest to one Buddy at a time.
  • This is so that members don't abuse this feature.  Suggestions are supposed to be used for real suggestions, not to advertise your bookshelf.
  • For the same reason, once you have suggested a book to a Buddy, you cannot suggest the same book to that Buddy again.

When you get a suggestion:

• This will appear in your Personal Message Center, accessible from your My Account page
• Click the title of the PM to read it. 
• The PM will show you the book image and ISBN, and also who Suggested it.  There will be an Order This Book button on the right of the PM--clicking this will request the book.  If the book is currently on the Suggester's bookshelf when you click Order This Book on the PM, the request will go directly to him or her!
• There is no need to respond right away; you can delete the PM and Review the Books Suggested to Me from My Account > My Lists
• The Books Suggested to Me page will show all book suggestions you have gotten, who suggested each book, and will also have an Order button and a Not interested button.
  • Clicking the Not Interested button will remove the book from the list permanently.
• You can click the book title to go to the Book Details page, but if you want to direct your request to the Buddy who suggested it, you must go BACK to the suggestion to click "Order this Book" there.
  • If you click the Order This Book button on the Book Details page, this will not necessarily direct the request to the Suggesting Buddy.
  • If someone else has already requested the book from your Buddy, your request will be submitted according to FIFO order, to the member who has the earliest-Posted copy of this book on his or her bookshelf.

Introduced 9/27/2007. Improved August 2008.

What are they?

Book tags are words and short phrases that describe a book.  When used cooperatively (in a club-useful fashion) by  members, tags provide a wonderful method of discovery for books.   Tags can also be used personally, in a way that is useful to only one (or a few) members.  Sometimes members use tags inappropriately, and inappropriate tags should be removed.  Read on to learn what makes a tag inappropriate and how you can help eliminate inappropriate tags.

PBS plans to make club-useful tags searchable when most of the existing inappropriate tags have been removed.

What kind of words should I use as tags?

You can make Personal Tags or Club-Useful tags.

• A Club-Useful tag uses words and phrases that describe the content of the book. See examples of Club-Useful tags below.
  • When coming up with a Useful tag, ask yourself "What words will other members search for to find books like this?"

• A Personal tag has meaning only for the tagger.  See examples of Personal tags.
  • Members can use these, but there is almost always a better way to do what you're trying to accomplish.

• An Inappropriate tag is one that describes a particular copy of a book, or that is scatalogical (these are never appropriate!), or that actually impedes other members' use of the club.  See examples of Inappropriate tags.

    Examples of Useful Tags:

Historical Fiction, Newbery Medal Winner, Nobel prize-winning author, Set in Spain, Catholicism, Baseball History

    Examples of Personal Tags:

pjfb, 11/13 on 0708,  15 36, hmmm, 11/13, etc.

These have meaning only for the tagger.  They will not be useful to the other members of the club.

Done, Wish List, TBR, RL, BIR, JohnRL, MarysTBR, Traded, My TBR, John-bookshelf, Sent, etc.

        Note that many of these tags are redundant.  The On My:  section of search listings and My Lists serve the purpose of most of them. 

    Examples of Inappropriate Tags:

cover has small tear, No Dust Jacket, some yellowed pages, autographed, etc.

       These tags apply do not apply to EVERY copy of the book, only one.  

Do not order

     Put yourself in the shoes of a new member who finds a book she'd like to order bearing this tag!      

Posted for John S. only - all other requests will be canceled!

       Egregious inappropriate use of tags (and of the site)! This tag appears to apply to every copy of the book, so no one will request it. A tag like this will also likely get your account suspended for Terms of Use violations.

If you have created any inappropriate tags, you should delete them. Otherwise, they will start to disappear without warning as other members report them as inappropriate! See below for more information about reporting tags as inappropriate.

How do tags work?

• You can apply any number of tags to the same book. To enter them at the same time, separate them with commas.
• You can view all the items in the database bearing a particular tag by clicking on the tag wherever it appears on a search listing.
• You can view all the books that you have applied the tag to from your My Tags page.
• Others can see your tags--if they are among the 15 most-commonly applied tags to that book listing.
• When you view a book you will see ALL of the tags you have applied to it, as well as the 15 tags that have been most commonly applied to that book by all members.  Less-commonly applied tags will not necessarily show, especially if a book has had many different tags applied to it.

How do I use the tags feature?

To add a tag to a book:

• Look for the button on the book listing (in a search result, on your Bookshelf, Wish List, TBR PIle, BIR list, Reminder List, etc.)
• Click the button and type your tag in the box that pops up.
  • As you type the tag name, the most commonly used matching tags will be suggested to you in a dropdown from the space in which you are typing. It's important to select an existing tag, if possible.  This will give the tag "power" in the Tag Cloud and the coming Tag Search.  If no existing tag matches what you've typed, a new one will be created.
  • To apply multiple tags at once, type them all separated by commas. Example: humor, good for teens. However, you will only see tag suggestions for the first tag that you type.
  • Press Enter or click
• On Book Details pages, tags are applied in a slightly different manner. The box to type in your tag is always there and you'll click the button AFTER typing your tag.

To remove a tag you have placed on a book:

• Just click the icon next to that tag name (on the Book Details page, your Bookshelf, etc.)
• This will remove YOUR TAG from the book.  If others have tagged the book with that tag, it will NOT remove the tag entirely.
• A tag will disappear from a book only if there are no members using that tag on the book, OR if there are many tags applied to the book and that tag is not among the 15 most-commonly applied tags. A tag can also be "voted" off by other members, as described below.

To see the tags that have been applied to a book:

• Search for the book using any search method.  Your own tags and the 15 most popular tags that have been applied to the book will appear below the general information about the book.
  • The tags with the beside them are YOUR tags.

• Look at the Details page for a book.  Your own tags for the book and popular tags will be shown separately.
• Look at your Bookshelf, Wish List, TBR PIle, BIR list, Reminder List, etc. pages to see only your tags.
• Look at your My Tags page, found under My Lists. You'll find every tag you've created along with usage information.
  • Place your cursor over a tag name to see how many books you've used it on.
  • Clicking the tag names FROM THIS PAGE will show you only the books to which YOU'VE applied the tag. Normally, clicking on a tag name shows you the list of books that any members have tagged.

You can also view the 'Tag Cloud' for the club or 'My Tag Cloud'.

The Tag Cloud is a page of the 250 most commonly-used tags in the club.  The number of members using a tag appears as a superscript to the right of the tag name.

• The font size on the Tag Cloud corresponds to the number of times that tag has been used by all members.
• Clicking any tag will take you to the list of all books bearing that tag.

You can get to the Tag Cloud page under Community in the top menu of any page on the site.  Click here to go directly to the Tag Cloud.

My Tag Cloud is a page of YOUR 100 most often-used tags.  The number of times you have used a tag appears as a superscript to the right of the tag name.

• The font size on My Tag Cloud corresponds to the number of times that YOU have used the tag.
• Clicking any tag will take you to the list of  books to which YOU have applied that tag.

You can get to My Tag Cloud from the My Tags page.  Click here to go directly to the My Tag Cloud page.

Other information found on the My Tags page

 Besides the previously mentioned list of your own tags, you will find the following usage information on your My Tags page:

• Under the Uses column you'll see two numbers. The top number tells you how many times the tag has been used across the site and the bottom number tells you how many members have used that tag.
• Under the Uses column, clicking the top number shows all books bearing that tag and clicking the bottom number shows you all members that have applied that tag. The font size corresponds to the number of times a member has used the tag.
• The Most Recently Tagged column shows the last book to receive that tag from any member.
• You can use the button to order your tags by their name or by the number of times YOU'VE used the tag.
• You can use the button to quickly locate one or more of your tags. Typing just the first few letters then clicking Search will locate all tags that begin with those letters.
• After searching for tags, you can click "Clear your search" to bring back all of your tags.

Click here to go directly to the My Tags page.

How do I report other members' tags as inappropriate ?

• Every tag that wasn't created by you will have an  symbol at the end of the tag. Clicking this symbol will report the tag as inappropriate.
• After a certain number of members have reported the tag for that particular book, it will be automatically deleted from that book only. This allows members to get rid of tags that are inappropriate for a certain book without removing it from other books where it may be appropriate.

• You will only be able to report a particular tag as inappropriate once per book.

• Please use good judgment when reporting tags. Abuse of this feature may result in losing your ability to use or even see tags. Repeated abuse can result in your account being suspended.

Is there anything else I should know about tags?  Gimme the short version.

• Remember that when you view a book in the search results, you will see many tags that have been applied to that book, by any member. 
  • Those tags you see may be completely irrelevant to the particular copy of the book YOU will be requesting if you click "Order This Book". Tags about book condition are the classic example of an inappropriate tag.  In such cases, you should use the "Report as Inappropriate" feature to report the tag.
• You can remove only your OWN tags. You can't directly remove other members' tags from a book.  You can, however, report a tag as inappropriate. When enough members have reported a particular use of a tag as inappropriate, it will automatically disappear.
• You have a new "My Tags" page under My Lists, and a new "My Tag Cloud".
• When the inappropriate tags have largely been eliminated from the database, we will be able to implement the Tag Search, which we know many of our members are eager to have available. 

 Related items:

Tag Cloud

Introduced August, 2008.

The Similarity Index shows how "alike" you and your Buddy are.  it is determined based on the information you provide to the club through your participation.  So when you apply star ratings to a book, add an item to your Wish List, or tell us what your favorite genres are, we're more able to come up with a profile of you as a reader.  And as others do the same, we can start matching up people who have similar tastes and habits.

Right now, the Similarity Index is visible only on your Buddy List and on another member's Profile, but we do anticipate expanding this in many fun ways in the future. 

To check your Similarity to a Buddy, go to your Buddy List (in the menu under My Account at the top of any page on the site, or from the Buddy List tab on the My Account main page).  You will see a notation --  Similarity: xx% -- to the right of each Buddy's name.    The range of similarity is from 0% to 100%. 

Right now, most scores will be seem low.  This is because the Similarity Index is based on some club features that are still pretty young or under-used.  You can make your Similarity Index more powerful and accurate by applying Star ratings to every book you have read, and also choosing your favorite genres on the Member Homepage.   

When you find a highly similar Buddy, you can

• check her bookshelf for books she has that you might be interested in
• check her Wish list for books she is interested in that you may want to Wish List too
• revel in the glorious feeling of not being alone...you are not the only one with your weirdo taste in books! :)

This is a fun feature whose results may surprise you! 

Related items:

BIR list conversion page
How to Use the Buddy List

Introduced August, 2008.

The Book Browser is a new way to find books to request!  It is accessible from the dropdown menu under Search at the top of the site.

How to use it:

• You can check off what you are interested in on the left of the Book Browser page
  • you have Types, Terms, Filters and Sorts to specify--use any combination of these, or leave any of these blank--see below
• The results will come up on the right of the page after you click Update Results

What's new about it:

• The layout is more user-friendly than the Advanced Search: the search and the books are right on the same page so you can refine your browsing with minimal clicking and no going "back"
• There is now a way to select only highly-rated (4 and 5 star rated) books that match your other search criteria and show those first in the search results.
• You can change your choices on the left, click Update Results, and have the search results "refresh" on the right side of the page.

The "types", "terms", "filters" and "sorts" on the Browser

• Types: This means the database you want to browse, Posted or UnPosted or Wished-for or All books.  Choosing (for example) All Books here says "Show me All books (whether currently available or unavailable) that match the search terms below".  The default will be Posted (available) books when you first go to the Browser.  You can change this choice and leave the rest of your search terms below intact, and the search results will change accordingly on the right of the page.

• Terms are search terms.  Meaning, text you type in to tell the browser to "show me books that have this term associated with them".
  • The terms are: Keyword (this word can appear in any part of the book information, including the description; ISBN if you have it should be put into the Keyword field), Title, author, genre (and subgenre if you want)

• Filters are limiting aspects.  Meaning, "Show me only Large Print books" or "Show me only Large Print and audio books" or "Show me only books whose titles begin with the letter P." " or "Show me only books published after 2004". If you choose all of these filters when you browse, you would be asking "Show me only Large Print or Audio books with titles beginning with the letter P that were published after 2004."
  
  • The filters are: Binding type/format (paperback, hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD, Large Print), Publication date (you can choose an exact date or a "before this year" or "after this year" or "NOT this year"),  Recently Posted (use this to show recently-added books that match these search terms), and Title (you can confine all search results to one letter of the alphabet so that only books whose titles begin with that letter will be shown).
• Sorts determine how the search results are displayed on the right side of the page.  The sort defaults to  "descending"  but you can select ascending also.  Example: "sort by relevance -descending" means "Show me the items that most closely match my choices for this search at the top of the page so I see them first".
  • Sorts are: relevance, title (alphabetically), author (alphabetically), Rating (star-rating average), date posted (into the club), publication date.

You can choose any combination of the above to browse books quickly and find books that you want to request!  Your choices will "stick" unless/until you change them, or you can click Clear at the top left of the page to clear all fields and make all-new choices.

You can save any search by naming it at the bottom left of the Book Browser. That means you can run a particular browsing session again at any time, without having to make all the choices again. You can get to your Saved Searches from the dropdown menu under Search at the top of the site.

Implemented August, 2008

The BIR (Books I've Read) List conversion page is a one-time conversion of all the books you have read from "unstarred" to "starred".  This is the easiest way to rate all the books you have read by applying star ratings to them, from 1 star (hated it) to 5 stars (loved it!!).

Why do you have to do this?

• Well, you don't have to, but...you won't be able to see your BIR list until all of the unrated books on the Conversion page have been rated (or marked Not Read, if you never did read them).
• Once you have applied Star Ratings to the books you have read, this will not only help other members to have an at-a-glance notion of whether or not they might like a book, but will also
  • help your Similarity Index (read more about this in Bookshelf Upgrade) and
  • make the Book Browser ability to search for highly-rated books more useful and more accurate!

To use the BIR Conversion page to convert your BIR list to all rated books:

• go to your Books I've Read list, under My Lists in My Account
• The books currently on your BIR list that have not been rated by you will appear on the page.
• Choose the number of stars under each book shown, or click  on the right if you didn't read-- or don't remember how much you liked-- the book. Clicking the NR button will delete the book from your BIR list, and this cannot be undone.
  
  • To choose stars, just drag left to right, or click the rightmost star of your rating.  For example, if a book is 4 stars, click the 4th star from the left, and all of those 4 stars will fill in with gold to show you have rated the book 4 stars.
• Your rating will be shown in gold stars (replacing the blue "club rating" stars).
• To clear your star rating, click to the right of your rating.
• When you have rated the books on the list, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Done.
  • You can of course do this in several 'sessions' if you have a lot of books to rate
  • Remember to scroll down and click Done before leaving the page, to apply the ratings you have set.
• When you have rated or removed all books on your BIR list, from then on you will not see the BIR Conversion page.  Going to the Books I've Read page will show you the list of books you have read.

Note that whenever you have an opportunity to add a book to your BIR list, you will be asked to star-rate it.  In fact, this will be required in order to add a book to your BIR list. 

Star ratings that appear on book listings will also now show how many members contributed to the rating.  This will help browsers know how "solid" a rating is!

Introduced on 5/6/2008.

PBS Widgets--What are they?

PBS Widgets allow you to display a PBS Book List (Bookshelf, TBR Pile, Wish  List, Books I've Read List)  or a list of books Recently Posted at PBS and Recently Swapped at PBS, right on your own webpage, social-networking site, or blog!  They update automatically.  Your site does need to allow javascript (most do).

They will look like this:

And we will be upgrading them soon, to make them even niftier!

How do I use them?

Just go to the Developer Page linked from the bottom of any page on the site, and copy the code in the box for the list you want to display.  Paste the code where you would like the widget to appear on your site.   You can use only one widget on a webpage.

You do need to have a PBS Profile to use one of the personal book-list widgets.  You can make a profile in your Account Settings  if you haven't already done this.  You can use either of the community-list widgets (Recently Posted at PBS and Recently Swapped at PBS) even if you don't have a PBS profile.

But I am not a high-tech person!  I am not a Developer!

Why, yes you are, if you have a blog, personal website, or social-networking page.  You are the coolest of the cool.  If you have a site like this, it's easy to copy-paste the code into the code for your site.   Make your site cutting-edge with one of these, and show off your books! 

I AM a high-tech person! I am a Developer!

Well, all righty, then.  You can download the API and make your own applications.  We have two versions (XML and JSON).  Details are on the Developer page.  Go nuts!

added 3/13/2008

If you as the requestor marked a book received with a problem, you can now provide follow-up on the situation from your Transaction Archive.   

• This will allow us to screen more effectively for those accounts that are sending problem books and NOT resolving the problems, and also allow us to avoid excessively penalizing senders who might make a mistake, but who do resolve the problem.

• Senders who send problem books and do not resolve the problem will have their accounts double-marked "behind the scenes"; if a pattern of this emerges on a sender's account, it will jeopardize membership .

Before submitting follow-up on a problem swap:

• You must have sent a PM to the sender, clearly asking for a response (and a credit refund if that is desired)
  • You can send the PM during the process of marking the book received, OR using the PM button on the swap in your transaction archive as described in How do I contact another member?.
• You should allow the sender a week at least to respond to your PM and resolve the swap.
• You should check the member's bookshelf (by clicking his or her highlighted name on the swap, which will take you to his or her bookshelf or profile, where you can click the Books button) to see if his or her account is on vacation.  If the account continues to be on vacation for more than a week, you can contact us to find out when you might expect a response from the requestor.

To give follow-up on a Problem Swap:

• Find the problem transaction in your Transaction Archive (linked from the top of your My Account main page)

• Click
  • this button appears only on the requestor's account
• Choose one of the options given in the menu next to Update Status
  • Sender resolved the problem
  • Sender did NOT resolve the problem
  • Sender did not respond to PM asking to discuss the problem
  • Marked problem swap in error
• Click Submit to submit the follow-up information

What the options mean

• Sender resolved the problem means the swap does not need to be resolved further
  • the resolution could have been that the sender refunded the credit
  • the resolution could have been that the sender sent another book as replacement
  • the resolution could have been that the sender offered resolution, but you declined

• Sender did NOT resolve the problem means that the sender responded to your PM, but did not settle this swap to your satisfaction, and there is no further negotiation happening
  • this could be because you disagreed about a book's condition
  • this could be because you did not like the resolution that she or he offered
  • this could be because the sender refused to refund credit or replace the book (or promised to replace the book or refund the credit, but book/refund was not received)

• Sender did not respond to PM means that your PM asked for a response, but the sender did not respond
  • You should not choose this option if the sender responded (even if you don't agree with what the sender said)
  • You should not choose this option if your PM did not ask for a response
  • You should not choose this option if you never sent the sender a PM at all

• Marked as problem swap in error means that you made a mistake when you marked it as a problem swap
  • Choose this option if there was actually no problem with the transaction

What happens when you submit follow-up

• Sender resolved the problem
  • this removes the "Was Problem Resolved?" button from the transaction
  • this does NOT change the problem icon in the Transaction Archive
  • Adds the notation that the problem was resolved to the Transaction Archive
    • this text appears on both sender 's and requestor's transaction archives
      
  • Changes the swap status "behind-the-scenes" so that this problem swap does not count as heavily against the sender as an unresolved problem

• Sender did NOT resolve the problem
  • this removes the "Was Problem Resolved?" button from the transaction
  • does NOT change the problem icon in the Transaction Archive
  • Adds the notation that the problem was NOT resolved to the Transaction Archive
    • this text appears on both sender 's and requestor's transaction archives
  • Adds a "double mark" against the sender in his or her account record "behind the scenes"

• Sender did not respond to PM
  • this sends an email to the sender, notifying him or her that his or her account has been marked as nonresponsive in a problem swap
  • the email refers the member to the Help Center information about problem swaps, and tells the sender that he or she needs to resolve this problem
  • this does NOT change the problem icon in the Transaction Archive
  • this does NOT remove the "Was Problem Resolved?" button from the Transaction Archive (so that further follow-up can be given when/if the sender responds about this swap)

• Marked received with a problem in error
  • this removes the "Was Problem Resolved?" button from the transaction
  • this changes the status of the transaction to "Completed Successfully" on both sender and requestor's transaction archives

Note that once follow-up is submitted, it can't be changed.  The only follow-up option which allows further follow-up to be submitted is "Sender did not respond to PM".

Expanded Privacy Controls

upgraded on 2/1/2008

You can now adjust the privacy controls on your account from the link Privacy Controls at the top of the Settings page in My Account.

• You can decide who sees what in your account:
  • Profile
  • Last login
  • personal info (age, city/state, email address, telephone number, Mailing address)
  • Lists (Bookshelf, Wish List, Buddy List, Reviews, transactions)
  • Online status
• Each of the above will have a setting:
  • Public (any member can see)
  • All Buddies (Full and Lite Buddies can see)
  • Full Buddies (only Full Buddies can see)
  • Private (nobody can see)
• You can assign Full Buddy/Lite Buddy status from the bottom of the Privacy Controls page.

You can also click to reset to default settings.

You can also choose "accept all buddy list invitations" in your Privacy Controls

• Choosing Yes here means any member who clicks +Buddy will be Full Buddies with you  (the default choice is No). 
• You can adjust any Buddies to Lite Buddies (they will not be notified/aware of that change), or delete them from your Buddy List (this will remove you from their Buddy List also without notification) after they are on your Buddy List if you like.

Note: when you view your own profile, you will see ALL information. This will NOT be what is shown to other members.  What is shown to others will be what you have set in your privacy controls.

Upgrade went live on 2/1/2008.

The Buddy List now offers more options! 

What's new:

• Blast PMs: You can send the same PM to multiple Buddies at a time, by taglist or using the checkboxes and clicking PM at the top of the list
• Privacy: You can set levels of privacy for Buddies--Full Buddies or Lite Buddies--in your Account Settings. See below
• Approval process for Buddies:
  • Adding a member to your Buddy list will need approval from the other member now
    • click +Buddy to send an invitation to a member by email to become buddies
  • Accepting another member's offer to add you to their Buddy List (this invitation will come by email) will automatically add them to your Buddy List also
    • You can accept (or ignore and remove) other members' invitations to be Buddies from your Buddy List, by clicking the link Buddy List invitations at the top of the Buddy List.
    • You can see if you have any pending Buddy List invitations from your My Account page by clicking the checkmark on the upper right of the toolbar.
  • Removing a Buddy from your list will now also remove you from that member's Buddy List--in other words, mutual consent is required to become and remain Buddies.
    • There are NO notifications sent when a buddy is removed
  • Tags on the Buddy list will not be viewable to any other members.
  • When two members become Buddies, they are Full Buddies by default. 
    • You can adjust any Buddy to a Lite Buddy on the Privacy Controls page in your Account Settings.  See below for more information about the Lite Buddy option.
    • Your Buddies will not know if they are Full or Lite Buddies on your Buddy List.

• You can also set your account to auto-accept all Buddy List invitations in your Privacy Controls in the Account Settings. See below for more information about the Privacy Controls.

Converting your Buddy List begins on 2/1/2008.

For members who already have a Buddy List created before that date:

• You will see the page of 50 buddies at a time when you go to your Buddy List
• You have to invite or delete your Buddies
• Your tags will be removed by the invite/accept process--you will have to reapply them (sorry!)
• There is no limit to the number of Buddies you can have
• You can accept/ignore invites from the link at the top of your Buddy List
• There is NO email notification when Buddy Invitation is ignored, or when Buddy is deleted.
• Buddies you invite/accept will be Full Buddies by default--you can adjust them to Lite Buddies if you want (and also adjust the privacy options for Full Buddies) in your Account Settings. See Below.
• You can also choose "accept all buddy list invitations" in your Privacy Controls (linked from the top of your Account Settings)--any member who clicks +Buddy will be Full Buddies with you if you choose this option (the default is No).  You can adjust any of them to Lite Buddies (they will not be notified/aware of that change), or delete them from your Buddy List (this will remove you from their Buddy List also without notification) after they are on your Buddy List if you like.

New Privacy Settings:

These privacy options are available from the link Privacy Controls at the top of the Settings page in My Account.

• You can decide who sees what in your account, including information about your:
  • Profile
  • Last login
  • personal info (age, city/state, email address, telephone number, Mailing address)
  • Lists (Bookshelf, Wish List, Buddy List, Reviews, transactions)
  • Online status

• Each of the above will have a setting you can assign:
  • Public (any member can see)
  • All Buddies (Full and Lite Buddies can see)
  • Full Buddies (only Full Buddies can see)
  • Private (nobody can see)

You can assign Full Buddy/Lite Buddy status from the bottom of the Privacy Controls page.  Your Buddies will not know if they are Full or Lite Buddies on your Buddy List.  No Buddies will be able to see your Buddy List tags.  You can also set your account to auto-accept all Buddy invitations (all auto-accepted Buddies will be Full Buddies until/unless you change the setting after the buddy is added). 

This change to the Buddy List was made in direct response to member feedback.  In order to permit changes that many members have told us that they really want, some things about the Buddy List had to change.  Some of the member-requested features are now available, and some will be coming in the future.

released 1/25/2008.

The Bookshelf now shows the books that you have received from PBS (those marked received without a problem), so that they are easy to repost when you have finished reading them.

• The symbol appears to the left of items on hold.  Items on hold cannot be seen by other members looking at your bookshelf.
• The symbol appears to the left of items that are listed as available for swapping.  These items can be viewed by others looking at your bookshelf.

You can choose how you view the list, by choosing from the dropdown View menu at the top of your Bookshelf.

• Choosing "All Books" (default view) will show all items
• Choosing "Posted Books" will show only active items
• Choosing "Hold" will show only those items on hold

You can Post any item(s) on Hold easily by checking the box to the right of any item on Hold that you want to repost, and clicking Post.  You can do this for multiple items at a time.

You can delete any item (on Hold or active) easily by checking the box to the right of any items you want to delete, and clicking Delete.  You can do this for multiple items at a time.

At the time you mark each book received, you will have the option to choose whether or not it will go onto your Bookshelf on Hold.  Books marked received "with a problem" will not go onto your Bookshelf.

This change does not affect the TBR pile or any other of your lists.  Only the Bookshelf has been changed, to contain the Books to Repost list.  This has been done to minimize redundancy and make it easier to manage your books.

Tag Cloud added 1/23/2008. My Tag Cloud added August 2008.

The Tag Cloud is a page of the 250 most commonly-used tags in the club.  The number of members using  a tag appears as a superscript to the right of the tag name.

• The font size on the tag cloud corresponds to the number of times that tag has been used by all members.
• Clicking any tag will take you to the list of all books bearing that tag.

You can get to the Tag Cloud page under Community in the top menu of any page on the site.  Click here to go directly to the Tag Cloud.

My Tag Cloud is a page of YOUR 100 most often-used tags.  The number of times you have used a tag appears as a superscript to the right of the tag name.

• The font size on My Tag Cloud corresponds to the number of times that YOU have used the tag.
• Clicking any tag will take you to the list of  books to which YOU have applied that tag.

You can get to My Tag Cloud from the My Tags page.  Click here to go directly to the My Tag Cloud page.

Book Tags

The Author Cleanup link is at the bottom of any page on the site.  It allows the members to submit a "uniform" version of an author name to be applied to all items in the database that include that author in the author list. 

Our database is compiled elsewhere, and it has various spellings of an author name.  We would prefer that an author's name appear in its full version (without leading first initials, unless that is the only way that an author publishes).  The Search and Book Recommendations both rely on matching spelling of author names, and so these various spellings impede these features.

To use the Author Cleanup feature:

• Click Approve Book Authors at the bottom of the site
• A screen appears for a specific author, with all the books in the database that include that author in their author lists
• Enter the author's full name (first - middle [if there is one] - last) in the appropriate spaces
• Click Save Author

This will submit that spelling of the author's name to an archive, and when we have enough of these changes, we will implement them in the database.

If a mistake is made, don't worry!  Submissions must be approved by another member independently in order to go into the archive.

If you don't know what to enter (if the author is not familiar to you) you can click Refresh on your browser and a different author screen will come up.

The new WishList will be designed with the goal of streamlining the fulfillment of wishes while providing a more equal opportunity for new and seasoned members alike to receive the books they want.

The basics will still be the same:

• Books you have Wish Listed will be requested for you when the book becomes available and you have enough credits in your account.
  • Members must "wait in line" for currently unavailable books.

• You can view your own Wish List  from the My Lists tab on your My Account page.

• You can see other members' Wish Lists from their profile or bookshelf page, or by clicking the button on any forum Post they make. You can set your Wish List to private in your Forum Settings, accessible from your Account Settings on My Account.

What will change:

The rest of this Help doc will talk about how things will work in the new Wish List.  It does not apply to the Wish List that is currently in place.  Please see How the Wish List Works for information about how the current PaperBackSwap Wish List works.

• Ranking will be added: Your position in the Wish List line for a book will be determined primarily by
  • how long you have had the book on your Wish List and
  • what Rank(s) it held on your Wish List during that period of time.  See more about ranking and how it affects position in line below.
  The length of time you had a book on your Wish List before the new Wish List goes into effect will count!

• Other new features of the Wish List:

• Unlimited books can be added to your Wish List
• You can see your position in line
• You can sort the list by your current position in line
• You can put individual Wish List items on "hold" if you are not ready to request the book
• There will be no Reminder List--the items on "hold" on your Wish List will be the same as Reminder List items
• An estimated future position in line shows how fast the line is moving
• You can more quickly receive the books you want most by ranking them higher
• Books currently available can be placed on your Wish List and Auto Requested when you get a credit
• Default Wish List options can be used to customize your Wish List settings when you add books to your list
• Wishes default to Auto Request when you add them
  • This can be changed in the Wish List settings by clicking Options on the Wish List.
  • If you do not have credits when a books becomes available, an Auto Request will "pass you over" until you obtain the necessary credits. Your place in line is not affected by being passed over.

How the new Wish List works:

Adding a Book to your Wish List:

• You can add a book to your Wish List from almost any page that you see a book listing: just click "Add to Wish List" on the right.
  • You can add:
  • books that are not currently available
  • books that are available, but you are not ready to request them right now.
• When you add a book to your Wish List, you will have an opportunity to put the item "on hold" on your Wish List.
  • You would do this if you are not ready to have the book sent to you when it becomes available
• When you add a book to your Wish List and do NOT put it on hold, it will go onto your Wish List with auto-request set to Yes by default.
  • Auto-request will request the book for you automatically when it becomes available and you have enough credit(s).
  • You can change this default in your Wish List settings, by clicking Options on the upper right of your Wish List.
  • You can also manually set any book on your Wish List to remove/ apply the Auto-Request option if you like.
  • If you do not have enough credits when an auto-request book becomes available to you, you will be passed over and keep your place in line.

Auto Request vs. 48 Hour Offer:

Auto-Request means the item will be requested automatically by your account when it becomes available and you are first in line for the item.

• Unless you have changed the default in your Wish List options to "48-hour offer", all items will go onto your Wish List set to auto-request when you add them to your Wish List.
• When a book set to Auto-Request becomes available, it will be requested automatically from your account with the Mailing address = your account mailing address.
• If a book becomes available and you do not have credits to request it, you will be "passed over" for the book and keep your position in line. 
  • You will get an email notification telling you that this happened, and that your position in line was not affected.
  • You will continue to accumulate points per day depending on the book's rank on your Wish List.  See below for an explanation of ranking and points.

48-hour offer means that you will get an email notification when the book becomes available and you are first in line for the item.

• You can choose the Auto-Request vs. 48-hour offer option on your Wish List, to the right of each item.
• You can also set your Wish List Options to add items with the 48-hour offer as default, using the Option button on the upper right of your Wish List.
• Using the 48-hour option means that you will receive an email letting you know when a book is available and you will have 48 hours to respond.
  • To respond to the email offer, log into PBS and click on the offer to accept or decline it.
  • This feature is useful if you want to send the book to an alternate address because you will have the option of entering another address when you accept the offer.
  • If you are not able to respond within 48 hours the book will be placed on "Hold", and you will lose your position in line and will lose all accumulated points (you will go back to 0 points).  See below for an explanation of points.  The item will remain on your Wish List but be on hold so you can later join the line for that book.
  • If you decline the Wish List offer when it comes to you the book will be placed on "Hold", and you will lose your position in line and will lose all accumulated points (you will go back to 0 points).  See below for an explanation of points.  The item will remain on your Wish List but be on hold so you can later join the line for that book.

Position:

Each book on your Wish List will show two position numbers.

• The first is your position in the line of members wanting that particular book.  This is based on the number of points you have accumulated--see an explanation of points below.
• The second is the position PaperBackSwap estimates you will be in 2 weeks.
  • The number is only an estimate but takes into account how often the book is Posted and your current rank for the book. Often you can improve your estimated position by giving the book a higher rank. You may also find that ranking the book slightly lower will have no real effect on your 2 week estimated position.

Hold:

Placing a Wish on "Hold" by checking the hold check box on the Wish List means that you temporarily do not want the book.

• For example if you want to read a book that is part of a series before receiving any other books in that series, then you can put the other books in the series on Hold.
• Books on hold do not earn points for the days that they are on Hold.  See an explanation of points below.
  • If you place a book on hold, you will be slowly passed in line for the book by others but you will not completely lose your position.

Example Scenario: You have 10 books on your Wish List but the two items ranked 1 and 2 are on hold. The item that is ranked #3 is not on hold.  The item at rank #3 it will receive the points/day as if it were rank #1 (see below for an explanation of ranking and points).

Options:

There is an options button at the top of the Wish List page that will allow you to set default settings for adding books to your Wish List. There is also a check box that allows you to skip the prompts and quickly add books to your Wish List.

Ranking:

• How to rank your Wish List:
  • You "rank" your Wish List by which books you desire to receive the most.
  • The Rank of "1" is the book you want the most.
  • Ranks can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the bar on the left hand side of each Wish or by entering a new rank into the box and clicking the "Move" button.
  • The order you rank your book is not necessarily the order you will receive them, but your position in line for a book will improve faster if you rank the book higher.
  • If you rank a book too low then you may be passed by some members who rank the book higher.
• How rank affects position in line for a book
  • Each rank position earns you a specified number of points each day.
  • Points are awarded each day according to the rank of the item that day.
  • Points accumulate over time to determine your actual position in line on the Wish List for the item.
  • The formula used to determine the points awarded each day is:

points/day = 1000 / ( 1 + rank * 0.1 )

= 1000 divided by (1 + [rank multiplied by 0.1])

This works out to the following points per day for these ranks:

Here is a graphical display of the same information (x axis is rank from 1-1000, y axis is points given per day)

This means that your book at # 1 position will "earn" 909 points per day. 

The person with the most points for a book that is Wish Listed will be in first position on the Wish List, and will get the next copy of that book posted into the system.  This means that when a book that is Wish Listed is posted into the system, it will be requested by (or offered to) the member who has the most points for that item at that time.  When a Wish List book is requested in your account, it moves off your Wish List, and all of the other books ranked below it on your Wish List will move up 1 ranking place accordingly.

Example Scenario: Jack adds a book to his Wish List with a rank of 10.  1 month later,  Jill adds the same book to her Wish List but ranks it number 1.  It would then take approximately 1 more month for Jill to pass Jack in line for the book.  If Jack had ranked the book 8th instead of 1st then it would take approximately 10 more months for Jill to pass Jack in line.

the numbers: 

• Jack had the item at #10 on his Wish List for 30 days before Jill Wish Listed the item.  That means he accumulated (500 points/day * 30 days) = 15000 points for that item before Jill added it to her Wish List a month later.
• Jill added the item to her Wish List at #1 on day 30 when Jack was at 15000 points.  She will accumulate 909 points per day, starting from 0.  While she is accumulating her points, Jack is still getting 500 points per day.
• At day 60, Jill will have had the item on her Wish List for 30 days at #1, and will have 27270 points.
• At day 60, Jack will have had the item on his Wish List for 60 days at #10, and will have  = 30000 points.
• On day 67, Jack will have accumulated (500 points/day * 67 days) =33500 points, and Jill will have accumulated (909 points/day * 37 days) = 33633 points.
  
  This example shows that the most important factor is how long you have had a book on your Wish List before someone else Wish Lists it. Ranking them higher will help you get those you want the very most slightly faster.  Members with a long Wish List will see books ranked lower moving more slowly than those books they have ranked near the top.

Common Misconceptions/Questions about the new Wish List, Wish List Rank and how it affects position:

"I have a book on my Wish List for 9 months ranked in the 10th position. Another member then Wish Lists the same book and ranks it number 1. Will they get the book before me?"

If the book is posted into the system within the next 330 days you will get the book If the book is posted on the 331st or greater day they will get the book first.

"If I don't bother to rank my Wish List, that means I won't get any Wish List items!  I can't believe I have to fuss with this."

Not at all!  You can use the auto-rank feature (soon to be available) to let the PBS system determine the best ranks for your books so you get as many of your Wish Listed items as possible.   You can auto-rank and then tweak the rankings from there as you like.

"You mean I have been waiting for a book for 2 years and I am going to get bumped off the Wish List by someone who just joined the club? Don't those 2 years count for anything?"

They certainly do!  When the Wish List change goes into effect at PBS, your Wish List books will be given points for every day they have been on your Wish List.  So (taking the example of 500 points/day for each item on your Wish List),  you would start out on day 1 of the New Wish List with (500 points/day * 365 days/year * 2 years = ) 365,000 points for each item!  Someone who ranks that same ISBN at #1 on the first day of the New Wish List will accumulate 909 points per day from then on.  It will take more than a year for that  member to have 365, 000 points for that item.  And during that year, you will have continued to add 500 points per day.  It will actually take about 900 days for that member to "catch up" to you. 

the numbers:

you started at 365,000. Add 500 points per day for 893 days. = 811,500 points

other member started at 0.  Add 909 points per day for 893 days = 811,737

The other member won't pass you on the Wish List for this book for another two and a half years!

"So what's the point?  If it doesn't affect the position that much, then why bother with rank at all?"

Well, it CAN affect position.  If you had the book ranked at 100 instead of 10, then you would only have been accumulating 91 points per day for the first two years.  That means that you started with (91 * 365 * 2 =) 66,430 points.  A member who puts that book on her Wish List on the first day of the new Wish List and ranks it #1 will catch up to you in 82 days. 

And two members who start out on the same day ranking the book at #1 and #10 will have a difference of 2863 points after a week, and will be12,270 points apart after a month.  If they list it on the same day but one ranks it #1 and the other ranks it #100, the one who ranked it #1 will be 5726 points ahead after a week, and 24,540 points ahead after a month. 

So if you really want a book, this will work to get it for you faster.  And if you have wanted a book for a long time (but the it is not ranked very high on your Wish List) you are still going to have a better chance of getting the book for a good while before someone else will pass you in line.

"What if I change my ranking for a book? What will happen?"

You won't lose any of the points you have accumulated.  But after you make the change, the rate at which points accumulate will be based on the new rank. So you can "speed up" a book that has been low-ranked on your Wish List by moving it higher, and you can "slow down" a book by moving it lower on your Wish List.  Points are earned at the end of each day, based on the rank that the book holds at the end of the day.  So if a book spends 10 days at #1 on your Wish List, you will have accumulated 9090 points for that book; then if you move it to #10, you will start from 9090 and add 500 points per day.

One cool thing is that if you change your rank for a book, you will see immediately how your projected position in line would change for the two-week estimate (which is based on the dynamics of the book in the system--how often it has been posted, etc).  So you can see if changing your rank for a book will really make a difference; if not, you can just change the rank back.

"What if I delete a book from my Wish List?"

You will lose all of your accumulated points, and if you put the book back onto your Wish List, you will start at 0.

"What will happen to my Reminder List when this new Wish List goes into effect?"

Your Reminder List will be absorbed into your Wish List; all of your Reminder List items will automatically be set to "hold" on your Wish List.

"What if I put my account on Vacation/Hold?  What will this do to my points/Wish List position?"

This will not affect your progress on the Wish List.  The Vacation Hold will still allow books to be auto-requested from your Wish List; it is not the same as the Wish List individual item hold, which stops points from accumulating.  A book on your Wish List will continue to accumulate points according to its rank while your account is on Vacation Hold.  A book set to "hold" on the Wish List will not accumulate points during the time the book is on hold (it will not lose the points it had accumulated before you set it to "hold" though).

"Why are you doing this?  I think you are just torturing us!"

We are sorry that it seems that way.  But actually, this new Wish List will solve a lot of problems that have been bugging members over time.  For one thing, you won't have to buy credits or get kicked off the Wish List if you don't have any credits when a Wish List book becomes available.  You'll just be passed over for the book if the book is set to auto-request, and retain your position in line, and also continue accumulating points.  If you chose the 48-hour hold option (instead of auto-request) for that book, you will have to request the book when it is offered to you, or lose your place in line (and all of your accumulated points).  The use of auto-request means that there won't be as many Wish List offers being canceled, and there will be less disappointment for both sender and requestor.   

"Well, when is all of this going to happen?"

We can only say soon.   We planned to put this into place a while ago, but we thought it was a good idea to get the SwapaDVD site up and running first, and beta-test the Wish List there.  We were also doing some improvements to the rest of the PBS site that took some time--we want to be sure everything is working well before we make this change.   We are also still tweaking the Wish List design a little bit.  

We will let the members know when we have a good idea of when the new Wish List programming will be done and ready to implement. 

Introduced 9/27/2007. Improved August 2008.

What are they?

Book tags are words and short phrases that describe a book.  When used cooperatively (in a club-useful fashion) by  members, tags provide a wonderful method of discovery for books.   Tags can also be used personally, in a way that is useful to only one (or a few) members.  Sometimes members use tags inappropriately, and inappropriate tags should be removed.  Read on to learn what makes a tag inappropriate and how you can help eliminate inappropriate tags.

PBS plans to make club-useful tags searchable when most of the existing inappropriate tags have been removed.

What kind of words should I use as tags?

You can make Personal Tags or Club-Useful tags.

• A Club-Useful tag uses words and phrases that describe the content of the book. See examples of Club-Useful tags below.
  • When coming up with a Useful tag, ask yourself "What words will other members search for to find books like this?"

• A Personal tag has meaning only for the tagger.  See examples of Personal tags.
  • Members can use these, but there is almost always a better way to do what you're trying to accomplish.

• An Inappropriate tag is one that describes a particular copy of a book, or that is scatalogical (these are never appropriate!), or that actually impedes other members' use of the club.  See examples of Inappropriate tags.

    Examples of Useful Tags:

Historical Fiction, Newbery Medal Winner, Nobel prize-winning author, Set in Spain, Catholicism, Baseball History

    Examples of Personal Tags:

pjfb, 11/13 on 0708,  15 36, hmmm, 11/13, etc.

These have meaning only for the tagger.  They will not be useful to the other members of the club.

Done, Wish List, TBR, RL, BIR, JohnRL, MarysTBR, Traded, My TBR, John-bookshelf, Sent, etc.

        Note that many of these tags are redundant.  The On My:  section of search listings and My Lists serve the purpose of most of them. 

    Examples of Inappropriate Tags:

cover has small tear, No Dust Jacket, some yellowed pages, autographed, etc.

       These tags apply do not apply to EVERY copy of the book, only one.  

Do not order

     Put yourself in the shoes of a new member who finds a book she'd like to order bearing this tag!      

Posted for John S. only - all other requests will be canceled!

       Egregious inappropriate use of tags (and of the site)! This tag appears to apply to every copy of the book, so no one will request it. A tag like this will also likely get your account suspended for Terms of Use violations.

If you have created any inappropriate tags, you should delete them. Otherwise, they will start to disappear without warning as other members report them as inappropriate! See below for more information about reporting tags as inappropriate.

How do tags work?

• You can apply any number of tags to the same book. To enter them at the same time, separate them with commas.
• You can view all the items in the database bearing a particular tag by clicking on the tag wherever it appears on a search listing.
• You can view all the books that you have applied the tag to from your My Tags page.
• Others can see your tags--if they are among the 15 most-commonly applied tags to that book listing.
• When you view a book you will see ALL of the tags you have applied to it, as well as the 15 tags that have been most commonly applied to that book by all members.  Less-commonly applied tags will not necessarily show, especially if a book has had many different tags applied to it.

How do I use the tags feature?

To add a tag to a book:

• Look for the button on the book listing (in a search result, on your Bookshelf, Wish List, TBR PIle, BIR list, Reminder List, etc.)
• Click the button and type your tag in the box that pops up.
  • As you type the tag name, the most commonly used matching tags will be suggested to you in a dropdown from the space in which you are typing. It's important to select an existing tag, if possible.  This will give the tag "power" in the Tag Cloud and the coming Tag Search.  If no existing tag matches what you've typed, a new one will be created.
  • To apply multiple tags at once, type them all separated by commas. Example: humor, good for teens. However, you will only see tag suggestions for the first tag that you type.
  • Press Enter or click
• On Book Details pages, tags are applied in a slightly different manner. The box to type in your tag is always there and you'll click the button AFTER typing your tag.

To remove a tag you have placed on a book:

• Just click the icon next to that tag name (on the Book Details page, your Bookshelf, etc.)
• This will remove YOUR TAG from the book.  If others have tagged the book with that tag, it will NOT remove the tag entirely.
• A tag will disappear from a book only if there are no members using that tag on the book, OR if there are many tags applied to the book and that tag is not among the 15 most-commonly applied tags. A tag can also be "voted" off by other members, as described below.

To see the tags that have been applied to a book:

• Search for the book using any search method.  Your own tags and the 15 most popular tags that have been applied to the book will appear below the general information about the book.
  • The tags with the beside them are YOUR tags.

• Look at the Details page for a book.  Your own tags for the book and popular tags will be shown separately.
• Look at your Bookshelf, Wish List, TBR PIle, BIR list, Reminder List, etc. pages to see only your tags.
• Look at your My Tags page, found under My Lists. You'll find every tag you've created along with usage information.
  • Place your cursor over a tag name to see how many books you've used it on.
  • Clicking the tag names FROM THIS PAGE will show you only the books to which YOU'VE applied the tag. Normally, clicking on a tag name shows you the list of books that any members have tagged.

You can also view the 'Tag Cloud' for the club or 'My Tag Cloud'.

The Tag Cloud is a page of the 250 most commonly-used tags in the club.  The number of members using a tag appears as a superscript to the right of the tag name.

• The font size on the Tag Cloud corresponds to the number of times that tag has been used by all members.
• Clicking any tag will take you to the list of all books bearing that tag.

You can get to the Tag Cloud page under Community in the top menu of any page on the site.  Click here to go directly to the Tag Cloud.

My Tag Cloud is a page of YOUR 100 most often-used tags.  The number of times you have used a tag appears as a superscript to the right of the tag name.

• The font size on My Tag Cloud corresponds to the number of times that YOU have used the tag.
• Clicking any tag will take you to the list of  books to which YOU have applied that tag.

You can get to My Tag Cloud from the My Tags page.  Click here to go directly to the My Tag Cloud page.

Other information found on the My Tags page

 Besides the previously mentioned list of your own tags, you will find the following usage information on your My Tags page:

• Under the Uses column you'll see two numbers. The top number tells you how many times the tag has been used across the site and the bottom number tells you how many members have used that tag.
• Under the Uses column, clicking the top number shows all books bearing that tag and clicking the bottom number shows you all members that have applied that tag. The font size corresponds to the number of times a member has used the tag.
• The Most Recently Tagged column shows the last book to receive that tag from any member.
• You can use the button to order your tags by their name or by the number of times YOU'VE used the tag.
• You can use the button to quickly locate one or more of your tags. Typing just the first few letters then clicking Search will locate all tags that begin with those letters.
• After searching for tags, you can click "Clear your search" to bring back all of your tags.

Click here to go directly to the My Tags page.

How do I report other members' tags as inappropriate ?

• Every tag that wasn't created by you will have an  symbol at the end of the tag. Clicking this symbol will report the tag as inappropriate.
• After a certain number of members have reported the tag for that particular book, it will be automatically deleted from that book only. This allows members to get rid of tags that are inappropriate for a certain book without removing it from other books where it may be appropriate.

• You will only be able to report a particular tag as inappropriate once per book.

• Please use good judgment when reporting tags. Abuse of this feature may result in losing your ability to use or even see tags. Repeated abuse can result in your account being suspended.

Is there anything else I should know about tags?  Gimme the short version.

• Remember that when you view a book in the search results, you will see many tags that have been applied to that book, by any member. 
  • Those tags you see may be completely irrelevant to the particular copy of the book YOU will be requesting if you click "Order This Book". Tags about book condition are the classic example of an inappropriate tag.  In such cases, you should use the "Report as Inappropriate"