BookShelfWelcome to the BookShelf Support Site
If you're here because you're having a problem using BookShelf or the ShelfServer, first, my apologies. I've worked very hard to make BookShelf work as well as possible, but as with any piece of software, bugs do slip in from time to time. I can however offer you a few options to help.
BookShelf Website - Start Here!
If you've come here directly from the iTunes store, you may have missed the BookShelf Website. There you can find a QuickStart Guide for setting up ShelfServer on your computer and also an Overview of BookShelf's interface on your iPhone or iPod Touch. There's also a Frequently Asked Questions page which may address your issue.
Bug list
First, you might have a peek at the Known Issues page which lists all of the bugs and missing features that I'm aware of along with a rough idea of the order in which I hope to address them. If the issue you're having is in that list, you could create an account and vote for the issue using the vote links at the top of the page (just under the nav bar). While I strive to fix all bugs as quickly as I can, certainly issues causing the most users problems will get first priority.
Email support
Second, if you need help using BookShelf -- if things aren't working the way you expect, you're not sure how to do something, or (horror of horrors) the app is crashing, please do feel free to send an email explaining the problem as best you can. I do my best to respond to all support requests same-day, though please do understand if it takes a little longer in some cases. You can reach support at support -at- iphonebookshelf -dot- com. Please also make sure that if you have any SPAM filter configured that you allow responses from that address to get through. I've had a few cases (and this is only the first day BookShelf has been available!) where responses were rejected by various filters along the way.
Pre-sale questions too
If you've reached this page from the iTunes Store and have pre-sale questions about features or anything else about the application, please also feel free to email the 'support' email address.
File a bug
Lastly, if you're a software developer or are confident that you have the nature of the bug well isolated, you might like to leave a bug report ticket on this site. In order to do that, you'll first need to create an account in the Trac system that I use for tracking bugs. I'm sorry to have to make that a requirement, but Trac is unfortunately notoriously popular with SPAM bots and other assorted nuisances. You have my assurance that your information will be used for no purpose other than contacting you about your report, and that the information will never be shared with anyone else for any reason.
That said, I would respectfully ask that you not file bugs directly unless you're confident you can provide an Effective Bug Report. I try very hard to keep the signal to noise ratio in my bug tracker as high as possible. That list is my direct ToDo? list of things that need my programming time to fix.
Please, oh Please don't file tickets that start out with "I'm having this problem and I don't know what to do!" or anything similar. I need to know (at the bare minimum) what you did, what you expected to happen, and what actually happened that was different from your expectations. Any additional detail about the type of book file you were reading, operating system and versions of your desktop (if applicable), etc. would be of great help. And if you can include an example of a failing file without violating copyright law either in your own country or the U.S., having a sample would be a great help.
Also important: Please search for an existing bug that's close to your before filing. If there's something similar, please leave any additional information as a comment on that issue rather than filing a new one. Too many open tickets just make my head spin round, so there's no sense having two of the same thing to make it look worse than it really is.
And lastly, please don't file two (or more) issues in a single ticket. One single issue with a concise title describing it make the job of bug triage and eventual repair and notification far easier.
I do appreciate your understanding about the bug list, and with that, I'll step down from my soap box... =)
In order to file a bug, you'll need a login for Trac. As of 04-Oct-2008, all BookShelf logins have been unified. If you already have forum or beta tester account, that account will work for Trac as well. If you need to sign up, please go to the forum and create an account there, then come back to Trac to login.
A Thousand Thank You's
And if indeed you've purchased BookShelf, you have my thanks, my thanks, and my thanks again. In just the first day, BookShelf has sold better than any piece of software I've ever tried to market. I've put countless hours of work into BookShelf, including spending my vacation from my day job pulling all-nighters in order to make the Apple deadline with something approaching a useful application. I thank you all for your support, and I especially thank my girlfriend for not strangling me for coming to bed at 10:00 in the morning for the better part of a week.
I'd also like to take this space to again thank those who worked on the original Books.app for jailbroken iPhones. While BookShelf is a complete rewrite, what I learned working along side them on Books was invaluable in making BookShelf what it is. Also thanks to all the Books users who reported bugs on Books. I've tried my best not to repeat any (many?) of the mistakes that I made the first time around.
Enjoy BookShelf, be sure to let me know what I can do to make it better, and happy reading!
-Zac Bedell