FT would like a formal list of specific problems, bugs and features to pass on to B&N management. [ Edited ]

[bobstro]

In another thread, B&N's own, the esteemed Flyingtoaster has asked for a specific list of bugs, issues or desired features so that he may raise the issues with B&N. Although I've had no problem locating posts detailing a number of issues, it does make sense to put them all in one place so we can point to it.

Here are the issues that drove me away from the B&N reader & library software:

1. No cover images on pdfs and many epubs that other readers have no problems with (NC/NT).
2. No display of metadata for sideloaded content (NC/NT/NST).
3. Shelving information lost of firmware upgrade, no means of backup (NC/NST).
4. Erratic reading position synchronization with other B&N devices (NC/NT/NST).
5. Limited font options (NC/NT/NST).
6. Inconsistent saved reading position between library and currently reading button (NST).
7. Books showing as only having one page (NST).
8. Problems highlighting word breaks. (NC/NT).

Please add any issues you've noted. Linking to existing threads might help his cause.

Thanks!

[A_Wilson]

How about the "stuck page" issue? (Where the NC either remains on the same page no matter how many times you try to advance or the same few pages repeat themseleves).

[flyingtoastr Scribe]

Couple of minor notes:

1. I can't promise anything. While I am currently employed by Barnes & Noble, I'm just a regular minimum-wage bookseller. I have no control over when or even if any of the issues or suggestions raised in this thread will be addressed, and probably won't be informed of any responses to the feedback either.

2. I'm not here in any official capacity. This goes along with number one, but it bears repeating. I visit these forums on my own free time and am not here on the behest of nor receive compensation from Barnes & Noble for visiting here. As always, my opinions are my own and do not reflect those of Barnes & Noble, Inc., its affiliates, or subsidiaries, etc. etc.

3. Try to be as specific as possible. Stating "BN needs to fix bugs!" doesn't help me at all. Posting "There is a bug where my NOOK's web browser will sometimes lock up and refuse to navigate to a new page" is helpful. Posting "There is a bug where my NOOK's web browser will sometimes lock up and refuse to navigate to a new page, and I've been able to reproduce it by doing this" is the best. Try to post the later and not the former whenever possible.

Excepting that, I will try to submit any feedback through our store feedback forms as often as possible.

[bobstro]

Frustrations with the implementation of shelving on the NC/NT compared to the N1E. Books added to shelves remain in main pool. (suggestion/improvement)

[bobstro]

Erratic page turning on NC/NT until font size changed.

Another thread reporting the same issue.

An older thread but with reports of similar issues on newer firmware.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

A couple of web-site issues. I don't know if you're looking for these or not.

1: The Advanced Search for NOOK Books has been totally broken for over a year. A year ago I pointed out to the B&N Community Manager that it's a very simple bug and easy to fix: the web page is putting "fmt=ep" in the query string when it needs to be "fmt=EP" (capitalized). This is an incredibly simple fix, and without it there's no way for people to do Advanced Search on NOOK Books.

2. Recent versions of Firefox (versions 12 and 13, at least) are sometimes having difficulty buying NOOK Books. The window pops up for the login credentials, but after you enter the password the window goes away and nothing more happens. I've had to resort to using Internet Explorer to buy. I don't know how widespread this problem is — probably not very, or we'd have heard a lot more about it. It seems to be related to specific Firefox settings. It's been reported on both Mac and Windows, but danged if I can find the other reports I've seen. (Added: here's one.) This is probably a much more difficult problem to locate and fix, but I'd think that allowing customers to buy product should be a pretty high priority.

[keriflur]

Hightlights and notes:

1) Ability to export highlights and notes in the .xlsx, .doc, .docx, .txt., .pdf. and evernote formats, with corresponding ebook page numbers

2) A single place to view all highlights and notes without having to click through to each one in the book

3) Consistent syncing of notes across devices/applications (when notes are logged in a B&N book)

4) Ability to delete highlights and notes inidvidually

5) Ability to delete highlights and notes by book (i.e. delete all the highlights/notes in a book)

6) Continue to support the resolution of issues/bugs with the highlights and notes functionality

I would also like the option to block an update from installing on a nook device.

In the Android App, I'd like to see a smaller font size offered, and the ability to store books on an external SD card.

[bobstro]

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Doug_Pardee wrote:

A couple of web-site issues. I don't know if you're looking for these or not.

[...] 

2. Recent versions of Firefox (versions 12 and 13, at least) are sometimes having difficulty buying NOOK Books. 

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These aren't B&N reader or library software issues, but might as well collect them here in case TF does get someone's attention!

I just had an annoying experience tracking down a missing electronic gift card:

ISSUE 1: I opened a chat session with tech support from the B&N web site. I carefully typed in my name, email address, order number and a nice detailed summary of my problem. When the agent came on, I was unable to type anything in response. I was using Google's Chrome browser. I fired up MSIE and everything worked (after re-typing all the info). Someone should test with Firefox.

ISSUE 2: The agent re-sent the gift card email, but I never received it. Since I run my own mail server, I was able to track inbound messages via the logs. I noticed this:

Aug 16 14:30:46 mail postfix/smtpd[32757]: NOQUEUE: reject: RCPT from smtpnj.barnesandnoble.com[65.204.48.228]: 550 5.7.1 <service@barnesandnoble.com>: Sender address rejected: QUEUE_ID="" SPF Reports: 'SPF Permanent Error: Two or more type TXT spf records found.'; from=<service@barnesandnoble.com> to=<XXXX@ttlexceeded.com> proto=ESMTP helo=<smtpnj.barnesandnoble.com>

It appears that B&N has some bogus DNS entries, and any mail server using Sender Policy Framework (SPF) to validate sending domains will trip this error. If B&N is getting complaints about missing electronic gift cards, this could be why. I got around it by temporarily whitelisting barnesandnoble.com, but that's not something most users will be able to do since SPF filtering occurs on receiving servers. It appears to only be an issue with smtpnj.barnesandnoble.com. Other emails from other B&N servers are fine.

[JL_Garner]

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bobstro wrote:
Problems highlighting word breaks. (NC/NT).

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This problem is also on the NST, where if you try to highlight a hyphenated word, it won't do it, but as soon as the word is de-hyphenated (by changing the text size) it works.

[bobstro]

Word lookup does not work in magazines:

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/NOOK-Color-General-Discussion/Looking-Up-words-is-not-support...