Quick Setup

Installing ShelfServer is very simple, and setting it up for basic use takes only a few moments. Once configured, your books will be available from BookShelf whenever ShelfServer is running. ShelfServer uses Apple's Bonjour network location technology to announce itself over your network. Any copy of BookShelf running on your WiFi network should automatically detect and list ShelfServer in the Downloads screen of the application.

Once ShelfServer is running and detected by BookShelf, the next important step is to add some content to ShelfServer. ShelfServer shares folders full of e-books which are added as shared folders in the main ShelfServer screen. Books in supported formats are automatically made available from all shared folders as well as from any sub-folders within the shared ones.

To add a shared folder, simply click the Add Folder button on the main screen. A standard file chooser dialog appears which lets you choose a single folder from your computer's disk to share. By default, folders appear in BookShelf as they are named on your disk. If you would prefer to specify a different name for display in BookShelf, enter the desired name in the "Display name for this folder" text box on the file choose. Once your folder is selected and the desired display name entered, click the Add Folder button to add the selection to the list. Note that only a single folder of books may be added at a time. Individual e-book files may not be added, but only folders containing them.

Once one or more folders are shared, they will appear in the "Currently Shared Folders" list of the main screen. You may unshare any folder by selecting it with your mouse and clicking the Remove Folder button.

You're done!

That's it for the basics! With your iPhone or iTouch connected via WiFi to the same network as your computer, you should be able to see ShelfServer appear in BookShelf's Download screen.

To learn about some additional useful ShelfServer features, take a look at Settings or at InstantBooks.

If you have trouble finding ShelfServer from within BookShelf, see the More Help section. Most ShelfServer problems are caused by software firewalls on the host computer. For instructions to reconfigure the Windows firewall for ShelfServer, see the Demonstration Videos.