[XB] Book Database: Complete Book Platform 1.0.0

Turn your XenForo forum into a searchable book catalogue and community platform powered by Google Books.

Build a local collection where members can discover books, share ratings and reviews, discuss titles, and organise reading lists without leaving your community.

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Features:​

Book Database​

• Book Entries: Store books as standalone database records in configurable categories.
• Google Books Import & Refresh: Search, import, and refresh books from the Google Books Volumes API, including titles, descriptions, covers, authors, publishers, publication data, ISBNs, languages, subjects, ratings, preview links, access data, and sale data.
• Manual Editing: Create books manually and customise descriptions, covers, attachments, tags, custom fields, and imported metadata.
• Local Covers: Store imported covers locally or upload a replacement cover.
• Author & Publisher Pages: Maintain normalised author and publisher records, with dedicated pages, images, and author bibliography rating charts.
• Open Library Author Enrichment: Update author profiles from Open Library by author URL, stored Open Library key, or exact name match, including biographies, alternate names, birth and death dates, homepages, locations, and locally stored author photos.
• External Reading Links: Display Google Books preview, reading, and detail links when available.
• Google Related Books: Synchronize Google Books associations, browse related titles, import them into the local catalogue, and manage entries manually with inline moderation.
• Rich Book Pages: Present publication details, contributors, categories, ratings, reviews, comments, attachments, and related information.

Personal Tracking & Lists​

• Google Bookshelves Import: Import public shelves as Book Lists with a connected Google account and Google Books user ID.
• Reading Statuses: Mark books as Reading, Read, Want to Read, or Favorites.
• Custom Book Lists: Create categorised book lists with descriptions, tags, ratings, comments, and privacy controls.
• Sortable List Items: Reorder books within custom lists with configurable numbering.
• Member Book Pages: Show a member's reading statuses, submitted books, ratings, and book lists.

Ratings & Reviews​

• Book Ratings: Rate books with a star rating system.
• Written Reviews: Attach reviews to ratings.
• Comments: Let members discuss books and lists with XenForo reactions, mentions, and moderation tools.
• Review Browsing: Browse ratings, reviews, and recent comments from dedicated pages and widgets.
• List Ratings: Allow members to rate custom book lists.

Discovery & Browsing​

• Advanced Search & Filtering: Search books, categories, lists, authors, publishers, and members using title, contributor, category, language, date, rating, and other metadata filters.
• Category Customisation: Assign prefixes and category-specific custom fields to books and lists.
• Public Pages: Provide overview, category, author, publisher, list, member, search, and statistics pages.
• Release Timeline: Browse books by publication period in timeline or calendar views.
• Widgets: Display book statistics, latest books, and latest lists in XenForo widget positions.

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XF Core Integration:​

• Custom fields support for books and lists
• Prefix support for books and lists
• Attachments
• Reactions
• Bookmarks
• Tags
• Search
• Sitemap
• News feed
• What's New page support
• Spam cleaner
• Inline moderation tools
• Approval queue
• Moderator log
• Reports
• Warnings
• Edit history
• Featured content
• Statistics widget
• Latest books and lists widgets
• Widget positions
• Advertising positions
• Embed resolver
• BB codes for books, lists, authors, and publishers
• Member profile tabs
• Email stop controls

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Requirements:​

• XenForo 2.2.0+
• An optional Google Books API key for monitored quota usage; public search and volume lookups work without a key

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Useful for:​

• Book Communities: Build a shared, searchable catalogue of books and editions.
• Reviews & Ratings: Give members a focused place to review and discuss what they read.
• Book Discovery: Help visitors find books through metadata, browsing, and community activity.
• Reading Groups: Track reading progress, favourites, reading plans, and curated book lists.

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FAQ​

• Do I need a Google Books API key?
  No. Public Google Books searches and volume lookups work without an API key. Add a key in the Book Database options when you need monitored quota usage
• What is Open Library used for? Open Library provides optional author and publisher profile enrichment. Authorized users can update an author by entering an Open Library author URL, while stored keys and exact-name matching provide automatic fallbacks
• Can imported information be edited manually?
  Yes. Authorized users can edit book details, descriptions, covers, attachments, tags, custom fields, and imported metadata after import
• Can members create and manage their own book lists?
  Yes. Members with the required permissions can create categorised lists, control their privacy, reorder books, add descriptions and tags, and receive ratings and comments
• Can I use the add-on without Google Books after importing books?
  Yes. Existing local books remain available without Google Books access. The API is required only for automatic search, import, and refresh operations

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Screenshots:​