[Enhancement]: Combine eBooks and Audiobooks from different folders in the same library

[mew1033]

Type of Enhancement

Web Interface/Frontend

Describe the Feature/Enhancement

I would love it if I could point to two separate folders for my library, one with audiobooks and one with ebooks, then have those folders combine into the same item in the frontend. I don't want to store my eBooks and Audiobooks in the same folder, but I do want them to appear together in audiobookshelf. For now, I solve this by adding symlinks on my NAS so the eBooks appear in the Audiobook's folder. But it'd be awesome if this could be supported natively.

The major issue here is matching books together. What if some of my books only have eBooks? What if they get matched incorrectly? Perhaps there could be a metadata field that links them together? Or a matching interface where you help audiobookshelf know that two separate items are actually the same item.

Why would this be helpful?

I want to store my eBooks and Audiobooks in different folders, but have them appear as a combined item in audiobookshelf.

Future Implementation (Screenshot)

Audiobookshelf Server Version

v2.10.1

[nichwall]

Duplicate of https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/2588 but uses new issue template.

[mew1033]

Man, I looked forever and couldn't find a duplicate. Sorry about that! Happy to close this in favor of that. Or if you want the new issue template used, this can stay open.

[advplyr]

We'll keep this one open.

Related to this is putting multiple books with different narrators (or qualities) on the same book page. https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/2396

Abs data model has a page for each library item (book or podcast) and each library item has a file path so the challenge with this is similar to #2396.

[sthompson-celerity]

I know this is not super helpful to everyone, but for those using linux this is a very viable solution, I am currently testing mergefs to achieve this functionality. Hopefully everything goes well...

[dankozlowski]

@sthompson-celerity I'd love to help out with this. Let me know if there's any way I can assist.

This would be an amazing improvement to ABS.

[fivestones]

What would be nice is being able to:

1. Identify distinct editions/adaptations/abridgments/translations/narrations of the same original 'work' and link them together
2. Collapse them or expand them in the list view just like Series
3. See the linked entries while on the detailed view
4. Star/Favorite or otherwise mark preferred versions of a work (or optimally give them a numeric order of preference)

(quoting @manalive from https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/2396)

I think this would be ideal. If you open the detailed view for any one book version (audiobook edition/ebook edition/adaptation/etc) of a given original 'work', you see the one you opened as it is now, but below this you see a list of all the other editions/versions of the same work. Preferably you would not have to click again to open those book editions before reading/listening, but could read/listen to a linked edition directly from that same page. Maybe something like the image below.

[mikemathewson]

This is even more necessary when using Readarr. With Readarr if you want to download both audiobooks and ebooks you must install separate instances and each instance must have a different root folder.

[enieuwy]

Yes, this my conundrum. I’m not ready to ditch my two readarr instances to combine the libraries, but I really really want the assets combined in ABS!

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From: mikemathewson @.> Sent: Saturday, February 8, 2025 12:22:18 PM To: advplyr/audiobookshelf @.> Cc: enieuwy @.>; Manual @.> Subject: Re: [advplyr/audiobookshelf] [Enhancement]: Combine eBooks and Audiobooks from different folders in the same library (Issue #3062)

This is even more necessary when using Readarr. With Readarr if you want to download both audiobooks and ebooks you must install separate instances and each instance must have a different root folder.

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