bkkeepr

Hey there! Owing to current issues affecting Twitter, only direct messages are currently being read. We'll let you know when you can use @replies again, but for the moment, stick to DMs. Sorry about that.

How to use bkkeepr

First of all you need to have a Twitter account. If you don't have one, sign up here. Twitter lets you send us text messages, among other things.

On Twitter, follow bkkeepr. We'll follow you back soon after.

You can update bkkeepr with your books either with a public @reply message or with a private direct message (but remember these will still be visible on this site), you just need to know the ISBN of the book (explained below) and the correct message to send (ditto).

You can also show off your reading on your own site. Get a bkkeepr badge!

ISBNs

Because bkkeepr notes page numbers and bookmarks, we need to know the specific edition of the book you're reading, which means knowing the ISBN, which is unique to each edition.

The ISBN is a 10- or 13-digit number, and should be pretty easy to find, as on most modern books it's printed above the barcode on the back cover, and in older books it appears on the copyright page at the front of the book:

Yes, this means that if you can't find an ISBN, you can't track that book on bkkeepr. This is very rubbish, we are aware, but it's the way things are - for now. One thing you can do is go to Amazon and find a modern edition of the book, if it exists, and use that ISBN instead. Your page numbers and bookmarks won't match properly, but at least you'll be able to record it.

Also, make sure you remove any dashes, and include the zero at the start, if there is one.

Messages

In your messages you can use the following commands (and of course, you can send them via text message too, when you're not at your computer):

1. When you start a book: send [ISBN] start or [ISBN] begin:
   
   (If you forget to send a message when you start a book, marking a page or bookmark will also start your record of this book.)
2. When you finish a book: send [ISBN] finish or [ISBN] end:
3. To mark a page as read send [ISBN] [page number]:
4. To bookmark a page send [ISBN] [page number] [note]:

Top Tip: No ISBN required!

Once you've mastered those commands, you can dispense with the ISBN and bkkeepr will automatically update the last book you read. That means you can just send @bkkeepr [page number] or d bkkeepr finish and so on, and your last recorded ISBN will be updated.

Be careful if you're reading more than one book at once. Always send an ISBN with a start message, and do send it anyway if you're in any doubt!