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How do I add a book to my shelf?
Just find a book and click the Add to My Shelf button.
When you click “Add to My Shelf”, the button text will change to “I’ve Read This”, the icon box will turn green to indicate that the book is on your shelf and the icon will change to a checkmark to indicate that you have read the book. When you go to Your Shelf you’ll see the book in your “I've Read” list on the left side of the shelf.
You can also import your books from other sites. (learn more)
The Add to My Shelf button is simple, yet powerful. Not only can you add a book to your shelf with a single click, but you can also add books to lists and move books from one list to another. Continue reading to learn more.
Note: The Add to My Shelf button appears wherever you see books on Shelfari. If the button is not visible beside the book, just put your mouse over the book cover to show the book popup and click the button to add the book to your shelf.
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How do I add a book to a list or move it between lists?
Shelfari allows you to add your book to lists that appear on your shelf (I Plan to Read, I’m Reading, I’ve Read, Favorites, I Own and Wish List).
To add a book to a list or to move a book from one list to another, click the arrow on the right side of the button. A menu will display your lists and show what lists the book is currently on. For example, to add a book to your I’ve Read list, click “I’ve read” in the menu. The button’s icon box will turn green to indicate that the book is on your shelf and a checkmark will be displayed to let you know that the book is on your I’ve Read list. The list name in the menu will also display a green checkbox. Click “I’ve read” again to remove the book from the list — the checkmark is no longer displayed. To remove a book from your shelf completely, unselect all of the lists in the menu.
Note: The Add to My Shelf button appears wherever you see books on Shelfari. If the button is not visible beside the book, just put your mouse over the book cover to show the book popup and click the button to add the book to your shelf.
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How do I remove a book from my shelf?
To remove a book from a list or from your shelf, click the arrow on the right side of the button. A menu will display your lists and show what lists the book is currently on. If the book is on your I’ve Read list, you’ll see a green checkmark beside “I’ve read” in the menu. Click the list name to remove the book from the list — the green checkmark will disappear to indicate that the book is no longer on your I’ve Read list. To remove a book from your shelf completely, unselect all of the lists in the menu.
Note: The Add to My Shelf button appears wherever you see books on Shelfari. If the button is not visible beside the book, just put your mouse over the book cover to show the book popup and click the button to add the book to your shelf.
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What else does the Add to My Shelf Button do?
The “Add to My Shelf” button is great for helping you move your books through a typical reading “workflow”. When you find a book that you would like to read, use the button’s menu to add it to your I Plan to Read list. The next logical step is to start reading the book, so to move it to your read list, you could click the arrow and then unselect “I plan to read”” and then click “I’ve read”, or you could let the button do all of that for you. Just put your mouse over the button — you’ll notice that the button text reads “Move to I’m Reading”. If that’s what you want to do, just click the button. If you click the button and look at the menu, you’ll notice that the book is no longer on I Plan to Read, and is now on I’ve Read. This also works when you’ve just finished a book and want to move it from I’m reading to I’ve Read. Just put your mouse over the button. The text will read “Move to I’ve Read” - click the button and the book will be moved to your I’ve Read list.
The three remaining lists are interesting ways to show off your books — “Favorite” (for your all-time favorite books), “I own” (for books you currently own) and “Wish list” (for books that you want to receive as gifts). To add books to these lists, just click the list names in the menu to add or remove your book from the lists.
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Can I edit multiple books at once?
Just above your shelf is a link that reads “Switch to List View”. From there you can edit up to 150 books at the same time. You can add/change your tags, ratings, lists and the order of your books.
When you’re on the list view page, you can also click “bulk edit” to enter the Bulk Edit Mode. There you can apply the same settings to multiple books at once. This is useful for tagging similar books, or for rating all of your books in no more than five steps.
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How do I sort my shelf?
At the top of Your Shelf (in the center) is a drop-down menu that lets you view the books on your shelf by date added, date read, rating, review, author name, title or custom. To create a custom order for your shelf, click the Organize button at the bottom of your shelf and then drag your books to the order you want. You can also drag books into the lists on the left side of your shelf to copy them to those lists. Click the done button when you’re finished sorting. If you have a custom sort, your friends will see that order when they visit your shelf.
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How do I change my photo?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. In the Profile tab, click the “edit” link to the right of your photo and upload a new photo.
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Where are my public notes?
Click the profile tab in My Shelfari. Your newest notes are below the shelf on your profile. To see all of your notes, put your mouse over the Profile tab in My Shelfari and select My Notes. When you have new notes, they will appear in the right column of your What's New page.
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How do I delete public notes that someone left for me?
Click the “delete” link below any note to remove it from your profile.
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What happens to my private messages?
When someone sends you a private message it goes directly to the email address that you specified in your settings.
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How do I control who can send me public notes and private messages?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Privacy tab. From there you can change your settings for receiving notes and messages.
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How do I make my friend list private?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Privacy tab. From there you can make your friend list visible only to friends or completely private.
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How do I change my email address?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Account tab. From there you can click “edit” to enter a new email address. Click “Save”. To make the new email address your primary address for your account (the one where you’ll receive messages from your friends), clicking the radio button (the circular button) next to the new email address.
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I forgot my password. What should I do?
From the home page sign in form or the sign in page, click the “can’t remember?” link beside the password field and enter the primary email address for your account on the following page. An email with a new password will be sent to that address.
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How do I change my public web address (the link to my Shelfari profile)?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Profile tab. From there you can choose a new web address. You may only change your web address one time and you cannot select a web address that another member is using.
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I changed my password, but I’m still unable to sign in. What should I do?
First, delete the cookies in your browser and then make sure to enable cookies for shelfari.com. Learn more about cookies.
- If you’re using Firefox on a Mac, click “Firefox” in your computer’s menu bar and then select “Preferences”. From the Privacy tab click the “Show Cookies” button. Type “shelfari” in the search field and click the first cookie in the list. Hold down the shift key and click the last cookie in the list. All of the cookies for Shelfari should now be selected. Click the “Remove Cookies” button at the bottom and try to sign in again.
- If you’re using Firefox on Windows, click “Tools”, then “Options”, then “Privacy” and then click the “clear now” button. To enable cookies click on “Tools” then “Options” then “Privacy” and then check “accept cookies from sites” or click “Exceptions” and you can enter “www.shelfari.com” and click “allow”.
- If you’re using Internet Explorer 6, click on “Tools” and select “Internet Options”. Under the General tab, click “Delete cookies” in the center of the window. Click “OK” to remove your cookies. To accept/enable cookies, click “Tools” and then “Internet Options”. Select the Privacy tab and click “Sites”. Enter “www.shelfari.com” and click the Allow button. Click “OK” and try to sign in again.
- If you’re using Internet Explorer 7, click on “Tools” and select “Internet Options”. Under the General tab, you’ll see “Browsing History”. Click “Delete cookies”. To accept/enable cookies, click “Tools” and then “Internet Options”. Select the Privacy tab and click “Sites”. Enter “www.shelfari.com” and then click “allow”. Finally, save your new settings and try to sign in again.
- If you’re using Safari on a Mac, click “Safari” from your computer’s menu bar and then select “Preferences”. From the Security tab click the “Show Cookies” button. Now type “shelfari” in the search field in the upper right corner. Select all of the cookies that were found and click the “Remove All” button in the bottom left corner. Now try to sign in to Shelfari again and accept/enable cookies if you see a message prompting you to do so.
- If you’re using Safari on Windows, click “Edit”,then “Preferences”. From the Security tab click the “Show Cookies” button. Now type “shelfari” in the search field in the upper right corner. Select all of the cookies that were found and click the “Remove” button. Now try to sign in to Shelfari again and accept/enable cookies if you see a message prompting you to do so.
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How do I change my email notifications for group discussions, friend requests, group invitations, weekly emails and other email from Shelfari?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Notifications tab. From there you can select what type of email notifications you would like to receive from Shelfari.
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I can't create an account with my email address, what’s the problem?
If you have created a Shelfari account in the past with this email we can reactivate the old account, but you cannot use the email again for a new account.
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How do I delete an item from my recent activity feed?
At the bottom of each item in the recent activity module is a “hide” link that will remove the item from your profile.
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How do I delete my account?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Account tab. Click “delete account”.
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Can I reactivate my account if I deleted it?
If you deleted your account and change your mind, we can reactivate your account manually. Just send us a message using the feedback link at the bottom of the site. Please include the email address you used with your account.
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How do I import my books from sites like LibraryThing, Delicious Library or Goodreads?
- Start by exporting your books from the website or application to a tab-delimited file.
- Once you have your file, go to My Shelfari and click the “Add A Book” link on the right side of the page.
- Next click the “Import” link and upload the file using the “Import Library File” module at the bottom of the page.
You can also import your Amazon wish list or books from other websites by using the “Import From Web Page” module.
If you would like to import your books from an application or web site that we do not support, please let us know and we’ll be happy to work with you to support your application.
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The cover on my book is wrong, how do I change it?
Go to Your Shelf and click on the book. On the book page, click the “Change Your Cover” link below the image of the cover. When you see the correct cover/edition of your book, click the “Switch to this Edition” button. If you don’t see the the correct cover, it’s not yet in our database. The ability to upload covers and add books is coming soon!
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The title of my book is incorrect, how do I fix it?
Go to Your Shelf and click on the book. In the left column click the “edit” link beside “Edition Details”. On the next page click the “edit” link beside Title. Type in the correct title and click the “save” button. You will see your changes once your request has been approved.
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The name of the author on my book is incorrect, how do I fix it?
Go to Your Shelf and click on the book. In the left column click the “edit” link beside “Edition Details”. On the next page click the “edit” link beside Author. You may have multiple authors for a single book. If an author is incorrect, click “delete” next to the author’s name. To add an author, click the “add another author” link and type the author(s) name. If there are multiple authors, please enter them one at a time. When you’re done, click the “save” button. You will see your changes once your request has been approved.
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I can’t find one of my books in your database. What do I do?
First try searching our extended catalog by going to My Shelfari and clicking “Add A Book” on the right side of the page. Enter the title, author or ISBN and select the “Extended Catalog” option. Click “Search”.
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How do I rate my books?
From your shelf, put your mouse over the stars that appear under each book. Click the star that is associated with the rating you want to add (see below). You can also place your mouse over the book cover to show the popup. From there you can add your rating, review or tags. You can also add a rating from the book page. If you would like to rate multiple books at once, you can use the list view or bulk edit modes from your shelf.
If you’re not sure what rating to give a book, the following scale may help.
- One Star = “I hated it”
- Two Stars = “I didn’t like it”
- Three Stars = “I liked it” (or neutral)
- Four Stars = “I really liked it”
- Five Stars = “I loved it”
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How do I write or edit my review for a book?
Go to Your Shelf and put your mouse over a book cover to show the popup. If you have a review, you will see it in the popup. Click the “edit” link beside “My Review”. If you haven’t yet reviewed a book click the “Write a review” link, type your review and click the Save button.
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How do I see my reviews?
From My Shelfari put your mouse over the Profile tab and click “My Reviews”. All of the book reviews you’ve written will be listed with your ratings, links to member replies and the total community votes. Using the menu at the top to sort your reviews by date, title, author, rating, votes or replies.
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Where are the reviews for a book?
Click on any book cover or title to go to the book page. In the right column, click the “All Member Reviews” link. If you have posted a review it will appear at the top. Next you will see the top voted reviews, your friend’s reviews and then all other member reviews.
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Can I make other lists or categorize my books by genre or subject?
Tags are the way to categorize your books on Shelfari. To learn more about tags, see below.
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What are tags?
Tags are keywords that you can add to your books. They allow you to group books that have something in common. Each book can have as many tags as you want.
Tags that you add to your books appear in a “tag cloud” below Your Shelf. The tag cloud shows all of your tags, listed alphabetically. The ones you use most often are bolder and larger than your less frequently used tags.
Click a tag from your shelf page to see all of your books with that tag. In the Books section you can see the most popular community tags and the book with those tags. To learn more about adding tags to your books, see below.
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How do I add tags to my books?
Go to Your Shelf and put your mouse over a book cover to show the popup. The popup will show you all of the tags that you added to that book. To add new tags or edit existing tags, click the “add/edit” link beside the My Tags header. Add as many tags as you want, with commas separating the individual tags. If you would like to add tags to multiple books at once, you can use the list view or bulk edit modes from Your Shelf.
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How do I keep track of when I read a book?
Go to Your Shelf and put your mouse over a book cover to show the popup. If you’ve marked the book as “I’ve Read This” with the Add to My Shelf button you’ll see “When did I read this?” below the button. Use the menus to add the month, day and year you read the book (only the year is required) and then click “Save”. If you can’t remember exactly when you read the book, that’s OK. Click the “not sure” link and enter the approximate number of years since you read it. Save the date.
You can add as many dates as you want - one for each time you’ve read a book. You can also see/edit/add the date you read a book from the Book page under the “Reading Timeline” module in the left column.
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How do I recommend a book to my friends?
Click on the book that you want to recommend to your friend. In the left column, click the “Recommend Book” link and select which friends you want to recommend the book to.
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How do I ask other members if I should read a book?
When you find a book that looks interesting, you can ask your friends and other Shelfari members who have read the book if they think you should read it as well. Just put your mouse over the book that you’re interested in to display the popup. Click the “Should I Read This” button and follow the steps to ask your friends, the owner of the shelf you’re viewing and the community.
When members answer your question, you’ll see a link to the responses in the right column of your What's New page in My Shelfari. You can also see all of your questions by going to My Shelfari and putting your mouse over the Profile tab and clicking “My Questions”. When you’ve decided whether or not to read the book, you can archive the question which removes it from the community questions.
When your friends ask you a question, you’ll see a link in the right column of your What's New page in My Shelfari. You can answer “yes” or “no” and then you’ll be able to write your reasons or recommend a different book.
If you want to help other members choose their books, you can answer questions for books you’ve read in the Community Questions module on the “Books” page.
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How do I read the books on my shelf?
Shelfari does not offer the feature to read books through our website. Shelfari is best used to track books you have read, write book reviews and find your next read. You can also connect with other members by joining groups and recommending books.
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How do I discuss a book with other members?
Click on a book that you want to discuss to view the book page. In the center of the page are the most recent comments about that book. Jump in to the discussion by clicking reply on an existing comment or type your own comment. You can also click the “All Member Reviews” link in the right column and reply to reviews.
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How do I make notes about a book or mark it as borrowed, loaned or private?
Click on a book to view the book page. In the left column click the “edit" beside the “My Book” module. Customize your book and click the “submit” button to save.
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What is the book page and how do I get there?
Each book on Shelfari has its own book page that shows members reviews and discussions, which members and groups have the book on their shelves and other information about the book. To see this page click any book cover or title from anywhere on Shelfari.
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Can I export a list of the books on my shelf?
Click the settings link in the upper right corner of Shelfari. Then click the Profile tab. In the Shelf section you will see a link to “download a list of your books”.
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How do I become a member of a group?
Go to the group’s profile page and click the “Join this Group” link in the upper right corner. If you want to join a private group, send a message to the group administrator using the “Questions about this group?” form in the right column.
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How do I accept a group invitation?
Go to your What's New page in My Shelfari. New group invitations will appear in a yellow box near the top of the page. The number of pending invitations is also listed in the right column. Click the “accept” button to join the group, or the “decline” button to ignore the invitation. On the Pending Group Invitations page, you can click the “accept all” or “decline all” links to answer all of your group invitations at once.
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How do I start a discussion in a group?
Go to the group profile page and click the “Start a New Discussion” link in the upper right corner. To reply to a discussion that has already been started, just click the “Reply” button.
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How do I edit my discussion in a group?
When you are viewing a discussion, you will see a link to “edit” or “delete” at the top of your post. To edit your post, click the “Edit” link, edit your post and click the ’Submit” button to save your changes. You cannot edit the first post in a discussion.
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How do I search discussions?
If you would like to search a specific group, go to that group and click the “Search Discussions” link in the upper right corner. Type in your search criteria and click the “Search” button.
If you would like to search all groups on Shelfari, type your search criteria into the search field in the upper right corner of the site, select “Discussions” from the search menu and click the Search button.
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How do I add a book to my group shelf?
Go to the book page for your book by clicking the book cover or title from anywhere on Shelfari. On the book page, look for the “Group Shelves” link under the book cover and select the group lists where you want the book to appear.
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How do I remove a book from my group shelf?
Go to the book page for your book by clicking the book cover or title from anywhere on Shelfari. On the book page, look for the “Group Shelves” link under the book cover and deselect the group lists where you do not want the book to appear.
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How do I change the picture for my group?
Go to your group profile page and click the “Edit Group Settings” link in the upper right corner. Under the “Change the Group Picture” module, upload a new image and click the Save button. You must be an administrator of a group to change the group photo.
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How do I make my group private?
Go to your group profile page and click the “Edit Group Settings” link in the upper right corner. In the right column you can change the group settings for who can join your group, who can see your group content and who can invite new members. You must be an administrator of a group to change a group’s privacy settings.
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How do I add a new administrator to my group?
Go to your group profile page and click the “Members” link under your group’s name. Under each member, there is a “promote” link. Click this link to make the member an administrator. You must be an administrator of a group to add new administrators.
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How do I remove a member from my group?
Go to your group profile page and click the “Members” link under your group’s name. Under each member, there is a “remove” link. Click this link to remove the member from your group. You must be an administrator of a group to remove members.