Safe to delete Imported collections?

[fisherian]

I have imported e-books into Bookpedia periodically, so I now have multiple blue imported collections underneath my main Library. Now that they're in, can I delete those collections, or will the books within them vanish from the main library?

[FineWine]

Short answer is yes you can delete them as they are already in your main 'Book Library' as indicated by the blue book icon. The following is the "Help" instructions (edited) concerning this:

Adding eBooks or PDFs

• Drag the file(s) over the Bookpedia icon in your Dock.
• Bookpedia will create a new collection called 'Imported eBooks' and add the file(s). As much information as possible will be extracted from the file(s), such as a cover image, title, author, etc. and a link back to the original file will be included as well.

To give you the opportunity to check that the import went correct, imported entries are put into a library-independent collection first. (Marked with a grey collection icon instead of a blue one.) To make the import part of your library:

• Select the imported collection.
• From the File menu (or right click), choose 'Include Collection in Library'.
• Delete the imported collection.

NOTE:
Excluded or library-independent collections are marked with a grey collection icon and contain entries that are NOT part of your Library. If you delete an entry from an excluded collection it will be deleted from your database.

All imports are automatically placed into an excluded collection so you can make sure that everything went well before you include the entries in your Library.

When you choose to 'Include Collection in Library' the grey collection icon will turn blue indicating that they are now part of the main 'Book Library'. Entries that you drag into these collections are simply references to the entries found in the Library. This means if you delete an entry from a collection, it will still be found in the Library. To delete an entry from a collection and the Library at the same time, press Option-Delete on your keyboard. A warning will pop up to let you know you're about to delete the entry and all its references from your database.

Hope this eliminates any worries you might have.

[Conor]

Thank you Finewine, for explaining the use and most importantly the color meanings.

To further ease your mind, you can't delete anything permanently without a confirmation. Use the delete button on the collection and you will get a confirmation sheet. If the warning says "This collection is EXCLUDED from your main library. The entries in it will be lost forever.", then you know to press the cancel button. The regular collection warning is a little more friendly and just ask to confirm the removal of the collection.

Same applies for deleting individual books inside an excluded collection.