Chrome Extension to download Douban 豆瓣 e-books that you've bought

[markhavemann]

Since my last post about downloading documents from Baidu and Docin got such an overwhelmingly positive response, I thought I would share this too. 

 

I was kind of forced to buy a book on Douban but their platform doesn't really make the material very accessible for studying, and a PDF would be much better. I found this Chrome plugin that will download the book and (for some mystifying reason) email it to you.

 

It has a good rating so I downloaded and ran it. It emailed me a .mobi which I bravely imported into Calibre and converted to PDF without any problems. It even kept the pictures which was nice.

 

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gk7-豆瓣阅读推送/lmiobbkpdjmkfhgagdkpgbgonkogbllb/related?hl=zh-CN

 

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do the people who make this. If you are afraid of downloading files that have been emailed to you by a random Chrome plugin, and you don't trust your anti virus software to say it's virus free, then this might not be for you. 

 

[roddy]

That's interesting, as once it's .mobi it can go onto a Kindle. What's the overseas registration / payment like for Douban, does anyone know?

[Luxi]

23 hours ago, roddy said:

What's the overseas registration / payment like

 

You can register using the Douban website. It allows registration using mobile (tip: the country codes are arranged by country language! UK is between Australia and Germany) or email address, or the usual Weibo/QQ/ etc. Eventually, you'll have to verify your registration by linking to a mobile number. The good thing about registration via the web is that you may be able to use Paypal (you just buy a chunk of credit to pay for books as you go along), it was working a couple of months ago, I hope it still is. This gets rid of any of Apple's restrictions and may allow you to download the files to convert. 

 

You can also download the app from the Apple/Android store, paying is very easy (Apple gets a small cut, but it's not too bad), and you can read your books on the move. The books you buy through the store appear on your website bookshelf. Another good thing is, if you subscribe as a VIP via the App, you can use your 'privileges' also on the website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[roddy]

Ok, so registered with UK number fine, bought book on iPad app, shows up on desktop website, have extension installed, have restarted PC to make sure Chrome's caught up with itself.. but no share button. Checking the help forums on Douban now...

[roddy]

Got it, had to 'pin' the extension icon to the window so it would be there to click. Then enter email address, click again, and good to go, turned up in my inbox as a .mobi within a minute, and looks properly formatted in the Kindle desktop app, so no reason to think there'll be any issues sending to my actual Kindle. 

 

This is really useful, thanks for the help. 

[Jan Finster]

Has anyone from continental Europe managed to successfully register to Douban and buy books? 

 

If so, can you please walk me through it? 

 

I entered my German phone number, asked for the verifcation code and no code ever came... ? (https://accounts.douban.com/)

 

[Luxi]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:18 PM, Jan Finster said:

Has anyone from continental Europe managed to successfully register to Douban and buy books? 

 

I'm not in continental Europe, but try registering via WeChat or Weibo (use the icons at the bottom of the screen) while you wait for a reply. It used to be possible to sign up in Douban using an email address, not sure it's still possible, but a phone link is now mandatory even after you sign up with email. Using 3rd party credentials is a good work around for several Chinese apps.

 

 

[Jan Finster]

On 2/16/2022 at 12:35 PM, Luxi said:

try registering via WeChat or Weibo (use the icons at the bottom of the screen) while you wait for a reply. It used to be possible to sign up in Douban using an email address, not sure it's still possible, but a phone link is now mandatory even after you sign up with email. Using 3rd party credentials is a good work around for several Chinese apps.

 

Thanks.

I tried with WeChat: so I was able to scan the QR code and Wechat asked me to confirm. I did. But, then nothing happens on WeChat and on the PC it asks for a phone number again. When I ask for the pass code, I just get: "当前网络超时，请稍后再试 (0)"...I tried many times...

[Luxi]

On 2/16/2022 at 7:15 PM, Jan Finster said:

Wechat asked me to confirm. I did. But, then nothing happens on WeChat

 

Strange, it usually gives a 成功 notice after you confirm. Then you move to the Douban App and you'll see it's logged you in with your WeChat credentials. 

If nothing happens, it could be a temporary problem, try again in their office hours. 

 

Also, is your internet connection OK? It's so stormy here,  you may be getting some of this mad jet stream also in Germany creating havoc with communications. You may have to wait a few hours - or days, by the looks of the weather map.

 

You can also try using the 密码 (Password) option to sign in Douban. I used that when I first registered with Douban and was able to register and buy ebooks using my email address, but this was years ago and things have changed for the worse lately. Just in case, as the option is still there, click on the right hand side of the login/registration line and see what happens. 

 

Another possibility, do you have a Weibo account? If you do, you can try that instead of WeChat. I normally a reply straight away from Weibo.

 

Good luck!

[Jan Finster]

On 2/16/2022 at 11:53 PM, Luxi said:

Strange, it usually gives a 成功 notice after you confirm. Then you move to the Douban App and you'll see it's logged you in with your WeChat credentials. 

If nothing happens, it could be a temporary problem, try again in their office hours. 

 

I succeeded with registration and putting money on my account via Paypal. Thanks a lot!

 

I tried the app Mark suggested, but I got stuck here: 

 

Extraktion is at 100% and I have entered my email address, but so far I have not received any book?

[Luxi]

On 2/17/2022 at 8:23 PM, Jan Finster said:

I succeeded with registration and putting money on my account via Paypal

 

Great! I'm so glad to  hear. Also happy to know that the PayPal connection is still working, I haven't used it for a while but it's always nice to find it there when I need it.

 

On 2/17/2022 at 8:23 PM, Jan Finster said:

but so far I have not received any book?

 

That's the next hurdle ?.  The app works and is still free, but is temperamental, I think it's server problems. Eventually it will respond and you'll find your books in you In Tray when you least expect them, you may have to try the transfer at different times. It may take some time, but not as long as a shipment of paper-books.

[Jan Finster]

It worked. I am on cloud 9 ?

 

Thanks Luxi and Mark