While fixing some styling issues that were bugging me, I noticed that my story arcs and series pages were showing up in the libraries (which was something that I thought I had fixed when I removed the "removeFolders" variable from the settings in the themeScript.js file). It was a simple fix.  But, needless to say, hiding those folders and the json file in them is important part of completing a story arcs/series page.  

So, if you downloaded and installed the new version of the theme prior to 10-14-2025, you'll probably want to re-download and re-install it.  I apologize for that in advance.

However, the good news is that this release includes fixes for styling issues that have been bugging me for a long time.

Renegade Reader v2.0 (Old Man Edition) stable release to fix the "stable release". 

Fixed - Story arc and series folders were not being removed because they were still checking label names rather than URL IDS. (SMH! It figures I would find this AFTER the "stable release")

Fixed - The folder.svg and its styling needed slight adjustments for proper display.

Fixed - The bookmark.svg now has a completely transparent background and behaves like the rest of the svg images when color schemes are changed.

Fixed - The page loaders displayed while the latest content is being loaded in the sliders on the home page are now styled correctly and say "Loading..." underneath the circular progress bar(s).

Fixed - Home page sliders are now pre-adjusted when the page loads based on the width of the screen rather than waiting for content to load and then adjusting them based on the width of the content. Looks much better and the layout shift is nearly 0.

Brand new stable release.  Bread new thread: Introducing Renegade Reader v2.0 (The Old Man Edition)

Quick wish list for future releases:

1. I could really use some mustache tags implemented in the RAW files module.  Specifically, I would like something that returns the number of files in subfolders (like the {{#items}} {{itemChildrenCount}}) {{/items}} non-empty list does on library pages.  Reason: It's currently impossible to get total number of audio files in each folder using client-side only.

2. This probably isn't going to happen, but I'll ask anyway.  I would like to see a mustache tag implemented in the RAW files module that will return audio file durations (file size in bits / bitrate).  Reason: The only option I have to add audio file durations "client-side" requires that the browser download each file to do the math. (VERY SLOW and eventually dies in folders with 100+ audio files - like the Bible when split into chapters).

These two additions, especially the first one, would help tremendously with completing the audio books module of my theme. The second request would be a nice addition but it's not "necessary".

Thanks for the consideration,
G

The latest beta rewrite is now available here: Renegade Reader v2.0 Beta
Note: This is NOT a finished release.  Rather, it's a pre-release of what I'm currently working on.

Some other notes for people who want to try this:

1. Root library folders no longer require URL ids to be predefined in themescript.js.  They are now scraped from page-library-category-root-dirs.html (which is something I should have done in the first place to avoid having to predefine them in themescript).

2. You still have to predefine numeric URL Ids for your comic/book/magazine/document series' as well as the folder name you're using for your audiobooks (if applicable) as Ubooquity does not internally support audiobooks or series'.

3. Multiple shared folders under a single category are now supported along with a way to switch folders in the corresponding library instead of displaying them when passing through the page-library-category-root-dirs.html.  To switch folders, go to your comics/books/magazine/document library and look for the folder image next to the settings image.

4. Used brand new objects for local and session storage to avoid overwriting old objects stored in session and local storage (which would bread the current theme).

5. The theme checks Ubooquity's "bypass single root folder" setting and will not allow you to use it unless you've turned it off.

6. Added the ability toggle the CSS adjustments on/off on the root folders.  If rootFolderAdjustment = true, then the root folders are adjusted to support squared images.  If rootFolderAdjustment = false, then the root folders are displayed exactly like the library folders (rectangular images).  

7. There is no top bar navigation on the home page and there are no sliders with the latest materials. Rather, it pretty much looks like the default theme's home page (which is necessary for navigation).  The navigation bar and sliders with the latest materials will be added once I get verification that the other areas seem stable. 

Peace,
G

FWIW:  I'm probably about 1 week away from needing someone(s) to test this theme re-write for me. I have everything re-incorporated and re-written except the "Series/Story Arcs" sections, the home page navigation bar, the home page sliders, as well as the handling of dynamically created content (such as breadcrumbs and headers) in browser history so they display correctly when a browser forward/backward button is used.

Shared folders under a single category (your biggest issue) are now available in the corresponding library that you're currently in (but only if you have multiple shared folders in that category).

ie: if you have strips and strips2 as shared folders for the "comics" category, a folder icon appears in the library navigation bar to the right of the settings button that allows you to switch folders without breaking the entire breadcrumb and header routines. The folder icon only appears in categories that have multiple shared folders.  So, if "comics" has 2 shared folders, but "books" has only 1, the folder icon will appear in "comics", but not books.

The home page navigation to each category (comics/books/magazines/documents) will still appear under the "Browse" tab and will re-direct to the first shared folder in the category you choose.  As stated above, from there you'll be able to switch folders if you have multiple shared folders in that library category. I've been testing this for a solid week now and it's pretty slick and solid (even if I do say so myself). ;)

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Having said all that, there is another small issue with this rewrite that will affect people who've installed the old theme.

You see, in order to make certain variable available on pages that Ubooquity does not natively make them available on (ie.. the {{userName}} mustache tag is only available in the page-home.html file), I have to store them in your browser's session storage or local storage so I can access them across all pages. In the old version, I just gave them names related to what they were used for and stored each variable separately in browser storage.  In this version I'm currently working on, I'm storing them AND the settings in Ubooquity's API all in 1 object ("Ubooquity_Settings").  The point being: the new version will store everything differently than the last version.  So, upgrading to this new version will lose all existing library and audio bookmarks and the color schemes will be set to default because they're stored under different names and in objects rather than individually in browser storage.

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Anyway, once I'm ready, I'll post a beta link in this thread for people to try it out. ;)

Peace,
G

Dennis,

What you're asking for is virtually impossible because Ubooquity does not expose the root folders on the home page.  The only way it would be possible is to have the sysadmin pre-define what their comic bases IDS are in themeScript.js.  And the problem with that is that there is no telling how many shared folders a person has under a single category.  This also prevents use of the main navigation on the home page in the libraries - as there are no root links available for a category until you actually go to that page.

ie.. when you go to the comics library your root folders are exposed in page-library-category-root-dirs,html  for "comics" but not for "books" or "magazines" or "documents" until you specifically choose one of those categories and go to those libraries.  

So, unless Tom decides to expose the root folders on the home page, this is a non-starter because there is no way to get the information I need without scraping it from the page-library-cateogry-root-dirs.html or trying to figure out a way to get an unknown amount of pre-defined variables telling the theme where your root folders are.

See my conundrum?

Having said that, I am completely rewriting the theme from scratch.  What I'm planning is to add a way to switch folders when you're in the libraries (which completely breaks the navigation, breadcrumbs, and header system in the current version).

So far, I'm very satisfied with the progress, as I've been wanting to take all the variables I was using in session storage and combine them under 1 "Ubooquity_Settings" object - which I've successfully done in the rewritten version.

Now, when you pass through the page-library-category-root-dirs.html, you're re-directed to the first shared folder in that category where you'll be able to switch shared folders (within that category) with a popup menu (similar to settings or search).  Of course, this requires a complete rewrite of the navigation, breadcrumb, and header systems.  So, it will be a while before the next update.

However, like I told Tom, when I started this theme, I was experimenting a lot because I wasn't real familiar with how Ubooquity worked.  So, there are a lot of "hacks" in the current version rather than "clean" easily followable coding.
So, the rewrite was coming at some point anyway...

Peace,
G

For everyone's information:

Since I plan on improving/changing this theme as Ubooquity evolves, I just wanted to make everyone aware that the most current version of the theme can always be found at the beginning of the thread (so you don't have to search the entire thread for the latest version).

When there is a new release, I will announce it here and list the revisions I made to it...

Speaking of which, I did update the theme early this morning.  Below are the revisions:

Renegade Reader v1.05 
Changed:  IMPORTANT! MAKE SURE "BYPASS SINGLE ROOT FOLDER IS OFF IN UBOOQUITY (not checked).  Previously, it needed to be on (checked) and you needed to pre-define your root category IDs in themeScript.js.  Now, the theme scrapes your root folder information from the page-library-category-root-dirs.html file (which is only available when you are NOT bypassing single root folder in Ubooquity).  If you do NOT have multiple shared folders under a single category then page-library-category-root-dirs.html automatically re-directs the user to the correct root folder for comics, books, and magazines.

Added: Some support for multiple shared folders under a single category.  The theme now uses the page-library-category-root-dir.html file to display your shared folder options.  Additionally, as you can see in the navigation above, I'm currently working on adding a way to switch libraries when you have multiple shared folders under a single category - but I've been balked for the time being because the {{#rootFolders}} non-empty mustache list is not working in the inc-library-popups.html.

Changed: The themeeditor to reflect the changes above.  comicBaseId, bookBaseId, and magBaseId in themeScript.js are now defined as empty numeric arrays that are filled as the user passes through the page-library-category-root-dirs.html.  So, they are no longer a part of the pre-defined settings portion of this theme.  

That's all for now folks!
G

Another example:

This is my root book section:

Note: The header is just a header.jpg located in my root book folder library and the pictures of the authors are folder.jpg files located in each of the author's sub-folders.

This is one of the authors in my books section:

Again, the "Book by 'Anne Rice'" is a centered text header generated by the theme. The background picture of the books on both sides is a PNG with no background in the center and the book images are from 1 the books in the collection (Ubooquity's default when no folder.jpg exists).

All,

Just some screen shots to show you what's possible with this theme using header pngs in your library folders when "useHeaders" and "useTextHeaders" = true on your themeScript.js.

This is my root comics folder:

Note: "The Comic & Graphic Novel" is a centered text header generated by the theme.  The outer image part is a header.png located in my comics library root folder with no background in the center (the beauty of png vs jpg).  The images showing the comics groups or publishers are folder.jpg files located in the sub-folders off the root.

ListerD,

That's the beauty of writing themes in Java script.  People can tweak things to make them aesthetically pleasing.

When I aligned the thumb images at the top of the cells, they looked very disorganized and jumbled to me.  So, I tried your method (making them all the same size).  But that distorts non-standard images and makes it difficult to know what the folder/file contains at a glance.  So, I opted for aligning them to the bottom of the cells so that the folder/file names lined up. 

I think it looks more organized without distorting the images. <shrugs>

But, again, the beauty of using Java script is that people can make these kinds of small tweaks without too much effort. You also might want to tweak the space between the cells and the labels so that they don't overlap the cells below them when your comic descriptions are longer. ;)

And thank you for your compliment.