Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
- What is aNobii?
- How much does it cost to use aNobii?
- What do I need to use aNobii?
- I want to help improve the translation. Where do I start?
Glossary: What is ...
Common tasks: How do I ...
Creating your shelf
- Where can I find ISBN?
- This darn price sticker is covering the ISBN. What shall I do?
- I have shelves of books. What is the fastest way to add them all?
- Can I add a book without ISBN?
- How can I categorize my books or create sub-lists?
- How do I keep some books on my shelf away from others' view?
- How do I make a book public?
- How do I see what my shelf looks like to others?
- How can I tell since when someone has been tracking my shelf?
- Why do I sometimes see less people than from last time?
- Can I see who have recently visited my shelf?
Exploring others' shelves
- I see a shelf I like. How can I keep track of its updates?
- I see a shelf I don't want to ever see again. What can I do?
- Would I would leave a trace when I visit other people's shelf?
- Why are some names larger than others?
- What's the difference between friends and neighbors?
Updates from tracked shelves
- What is RSS?
- Sounds good. How do I start?
- Do I have to update the RSS link everytime I track a new shelf?
Recommending a book to a friend
- How do I recommend a book to a friend?
- In "Tell a friend", why are some contacts displayed in Italics?
Blog Badge
Troubleshooting
- I can't find an automated email I am expecting from aNobii.
- I don't see my city on the list. How can I add?
Don't see your question here? Ask us at contact@anobii.com or with this form.
General Questions
What is aNobii?
- Discover and subscribe to others' shelves
- Create and share your own shelf effortlessly
- Make your own wish list
- Compare prices across different Amazon sites
- ... and more
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How much does it cost to use aNobii?
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What do I need to use aNobii?
- Browser: Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer 5+
- Javascript: On
- Cookies Enabled
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I want to help improve the translation. Where do I start?
You can make the changes directly through our translation page- ^ Top
aNobii helps you discover books you may like and catalog the ones you own. Here you can:
To learn more about the team behind aNobii, read About aNobii
It is free.
Key terms: What is ...
ISBN
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Tags
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Private
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Tracking
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Similar shelves
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Browsed Items
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Wish List
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Blog Badge
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ISBN is a 10-digit unique ID assigned to every book. Using ISBN is the quickest way to add a book to your shelf.
A title can have multiple versions, e.g. one in paperback format and another in hardcover. These different versions share the same book name but each has its own ISBN.
You can use tags to categorize your books or create sub-lists within you shelf.
You can assign more than one tags to each book so it's more flexible than folders. Have used Gmail before? Tags are the equivalent of Labels in Gmail.
There may be books on your shelf that you don't want others to know about. Keep their sharing status as "private" and rest assured no one will see it on your shelf but yourself.
See a shelf you like? Track to it so you'll be notified of its future updates.
To help you identify those you are already tracking, their owners' names will be displayed in orange.
Sometimes the owners' names will be displayed in different sizes. The more similar that shelf is to yours, the larger the names.
This is the list that shows you which book's page you have recently visited.
You can keep a list of books you want to get. You can add to wish list directly on the book's page, or from the list of browsed items.
It is a mini shelf that you can stick to your blog. You can, for example, display the last 5 recently added books. Every time you update your aNobii shelf, the blog badge will update itself.
To create a blog badge, go to Settings > Create a Blog Badge
Common tasks: How do I ...
Where can I find ISBN?
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This darn price sticker is covering the ISBN. What shall I do?
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I have shelves of books. What is the fastest way to add them all?
Use the "add multiple" feature. You can add up to 8 books at once. Or use the "import" function. - ^ Top
Can I add a book without ISBN?
Sure. First, do a title search to make sure the book has not already been added. Then, on the last page of search results, click "Don't see it here" link. You can then create a record for this book.- ^ Top
How can I categorize my books or create sub-lists?
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How do I keep some books on my shelf away from others' view?
- ^ Top
How do I make a book public?
There are two ways:
- Use the yellow box on the upper-left of your shelf. It allows to change the setting of multiple books at once
- On your shelf, click "Edit" next to the book. Then choose "Let others see it on my shelf"
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How do I see what my shelf looks like to others?
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How can I tell since when someone has been tracking my shelf?
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Why do I sometimes see less people than from last time?
Under the aNobii logo is the location filter. The higher up you go, the more people you see.- ^ Top
Can I see who have recently visited my shelf?
Sure! Go to My Shelf > Shelf Stats. Click on the "latest visitors" link- ^ Top
I see a shelf I like. How can I keep track of its updates?
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I see a shelf I don't want to ever see again. What can I do?
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Would I would leave a trace when I visit other people's shelf?
You get to choose. If you can choose to visit anonymously, you will not get to see who has visited your shelf. Fair deal.- ^ Top
Why are some names larger than others?
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What's the difference between friends and neighbors?
Friends are people you know. Neighbors are people you don't know but you'd like to keep track of their updates anyway.- ^ Top
What is RSS?
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Sounds good. How do I start?
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Do I have to update the RSS link everytime I track a new shelf?
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How do I recommend a book to a friend?
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In "Tell a friend", why are some contacts displayed in Italics?
- This person already has this book on shelf
- You have already told this person about this book
- This person is your subscriber and thus likely to have learnt about this book through your shelf
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Where can I learn the basics of CSS?
There are plenty of good sources on the web. Try
this and
this, or
visit here
for a complete reference of CSS properties.- ^ Top
On the back of the book. Usually at the lower-right corner. Be careful not to confuse it with the barcode number. Look for a line of number that follows the word "ISBN".

You can also find the ISBN on the first page of the book.
Trust us, we understand your pain. Unless you have the skill and patience, you'll be better off entering the title instead.
Some bookstores may have the ISBNs printed on their stickers. Check for that before giving up.
You can use tags. Learn more about tags
When you add a book, the default status is "private", which means no one other than you can see that book on your shelf.
You can change this setting under My Shelf > Edit.
Go to My Shelf > View as: visitor
Place the cursor over that subscriber's name and you will see the subscription start date.
If you know the person, add as a friend. Otherwise, add as a neighbor. Either way, you will get to stay on top of future updates via RSS feeds.
Choose "block", and this shelf will be filtered out for all purposes.
The more similar the shelve is to yours, the larger the name.
RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is an easy and automatic way to keep up-to-date on information from websites you like. Rather than you monitoring the websites for new information, all updates will be pushed to you.
You need to have a RSS Reader which will display RSS "feeds" from your chosen websites on your computer. There are a number of free readers available.
No. This RSS link is customized for you specifically and will update itself according to your changes.
You can see a "Tell a friend" link on every book's page or "Edit book entry."
Those are the people you may not need to tell for one or more of the following reasons:
Troubleshooting
I can't find an automated email I am expecting from aNobii.
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I don't see my city on the list. How can I add?
Let us know your city and country. We'd be glad to add it back!- ^ Top
Check your "spam" folder. Sometimes an email may get mis-classified as spam.
Most of the automated emails are sent within minutes of the request. In some rare occasions it make take longer.If you have waited more than a day, contact us at contact@anobii.com or with this form.
