Area
Downloads / Acquisition
Description
What's New is useful for seeing current and upcoming releases, but it is currently read-only. There does not appear to be a direct way to act on a release from that page.
If I see a book I am interested in, I have to leave What's New, manually search for the series, add it, find the relevant issue, and then manage acquisition from there.
I think the page should support three simple states/actions depending on what Pullbox already knows about the series:
- Add Series: for a published series that is not currently in my Pullbox library.
- Watch: for an announced/upcoming series that does not yet have published issues available to add normally.
- Tracked / Grab: for a series that is already in Pullbox, with an optional issue-level Grab action when the listed issue is missing.
The key distinction is between "this series already exists and I want to start following it" and "this series has been announced but does not really exist yet, and I want Pullbox to remember that I am interested."
For the second case, Watch would act as a lightweight expression of intent. Pullbox would remember the upcoming series and automatically turn it into a normal added/tracked series once the first actual issue becomes available.
This would make What's New a discovery and acquisition screen rather than only a release calendar.
Use Case
As a user, I want to browse What's New, see a book or upcoming series that interests me, and act on it immediately without having to manually recreate the same search elsewhere in Pullbox.
A common example would be:
- I open What's New to see this week's releases.
- I notice a new series that has already started publishing.
- I click Add Series directly from that row.
- Pullbox adds the series and normal tracking/acquisition behavior takes over.
For an upcoming series that has been announced but has not actually started publishing yet:
- I see the series under Coming Soon.
- I click Watch.
- Pullbox remembers that I want the series.
- When the first issue is released and Pullbox can identify it normally, the watched entry automatically becomes a regular tracked series.
- From that point forward it behaves like any other series in Pullbox.
For a series I already track:
- What's New recognizes that the series already exists in my library.
- Instead of showing Add or Watch, the row shows that it is already Tracked.
- If the specific issue is missing, Pullbox could optionally provide a Grab action directly from the row.
This would reduce a multi-step process into a single decision made at the moment I discover the book.
The current pattern is:
What's New -> notice a book -> remember the title -> go to Add Series -> search again -> select the series -> navigate to the issue -> acquire it
A more direct flow would be:
What's New -> Add / Watch / Grab
Proposed Solution
I don't have a super strong opinion about the exact implementation, but the UI could make the available action obvious on each release row or card.
For a published series that is not currently tracked:
[Add Series]
Clicking Add Series would add the normal Pullbox series immediately. If the release shown on What's New is issue #1 of a brand-new series, this would let the user discover and begin following that series in one step. If it is a later issue of an existing series that the user simply has not added yet, the result would be the same: add the series and let Pullbox's normal series and acquisition behavior take over.
For an announced series that has not yet begun publishing:
[Watch]
Watch would create a lightweight watched entry rather than forcing Pullbox to create a normal series before there is enough real publication data to support one.
The watched item could appear in the Pull List or in a small Watch section associated with the Pull List. The important part is that it represents user intent: "I want this series when it becomes real."
When Pullbox later sees the first published issue, it could automatically convert the watched entry into a normal tracked series.
The transition could be visible to the user with a simple status change such as:
Watching -> Tracked
For a series that is already in Pullbox:
[Tracked]
This should ideally be a status rather than an active Add button, so the user immediately knows they already follow the series.
If the specific issue shown in What's New is missing and Pullbox is able to acquire it, an additional action could be available:
[Grab]
That would make the row useful even for series the user already tracks.
The row/card could therefore adapt based on state:
Published, not tracked:
[Add Series]
Upcoming, not yet published:
[Watch]
Already tracked:
[Tracked]
Already tracked, issue missing:
[Tracked] [Grab]
It would also be useful if the action updated in place after being clicked. For example, clicking Add Series could immediately change the button to Tracked, and clicking Watch could change it to Watching.
For Coming Soon, a watched item could also show a small indicator such as:
Watching
or:
Watching, will add when released
The existing external League of Comic Geeks link should remain. The goal is to add a direct Pullbox action alongside the existing discovery information.
The overall interaction would be:
Existing/published series:
What's New -> Add Series -> normal Pullbox series
Upcoming/unreleased series:
What's New -> Watch -> waiting for first release -> automatically becomes normal Pullbox series
Already tracked series:
What's New -> Tracked -> optionally Grab missing issue
Alternatives Considered
- Keep What's New read-only and require users to add series manually.
This works, but it creates unnecessary repetition. The user has already discovered the exact book they are interested in, yet still has to leave the page and search for it again elsewhere in Pullbox.
- Only add an Add Series button.
That would improve the workflow for already-published series, but it does not handle announced series well. Creating a normal series before any real issues exist may not be desirable, while ignoring the user's interest until release means they still have to remember to come back later.
That is why Watch is useful as a separate state.
- Treat Watch as a normal added series immediately.
This would simplify the UI, but it mixes two different states - a real published series that Pullbox can manage normally, and an announced series that may not yet have stable issue/catalog data.
A lightweight Watch state seems cleaner and gives Pullbox a natural point to convert it into a full series once the first issue appears.
- Only provide issue-level Grab actions.
That would help users acquire individual releases, but it would not solve the larger discovery-to-tracking workflow. In many cases, seeing a book in What's New is the point where the user decides to follow the series, not just download one issue.
Add, Watch, and Tracked/Grab together would cover the main states without making the page complicated.
Area
Downloads / Acquisition
Description
What's New is useful for seeing current and upcoming releases, but it is currently read-only. There does not appear to be a direct way to act on a release from that page.
If I see a book I am interested in, I have to leave What's New, manually search for the series, add it, find the relevant issue, and then manage acquisition from there.
I think the page should support three simple states/actions depending on what Pullbox already knows about the series:
The key distinction is between "this series already exists and I want to start following it" and "this series has been announced but does not really exist yet, and I want Pullbox to remember that I am interested."
For the second case, Watch would act as a lightweight expression of intent. Pullbox would remember the upcoming series and automatically turn it into a normal added/tracked series once the first actual issue becomes available.
This would make What's New a discovery and acquisition screen rather than only a release calendar.
Use Case
As a user, I want to browse What's New, see a book or upcoming series that interests me, and act on it immediately without having to manually recreate the same search elsewhere in Pullbox.
A common example would be:
For an upcoming series that has been announced but has not actually started publishing yet:
For a series I already track:
This would reduce a multi-step process into a single decision made at the moment I discover the book.
The current pattern is:
What's New -> notice a book -> remember the title -> go to Add Series -> search again -> select the series -> navigate to the issue -> acquire it
A more direct flow would be:
What's New -> Add / Watch / Grab
Proposed Solution
I don't have a super strong opinion about the exact implementation, but the UI could make the available action obvious on each release row or card.
For a published series that is not currently tracked:
[Add Series]
Clicking Add Series would add the normal Pullbox series immediately. If the release shown on What's New is issue #1 of a brand-new series, this would let the user discover and begin following that series in one step. If it is a later issue of an existing series that the user simply has not added yet, the result would be the same: add the series and let Pullbox's normal series and acquisition behavior take over.
For an announced series that has not yet begun publishing:
[Watch]
Watch would create a lightweight watched entry rather than forcing Pullbox to create a normal series before there is enough real publication data to support one.
The watched item could appear in the Pull List or in a small Watch section associated with the Pull List. The important part is that it represents user intent: "I want this series when it becomes real."
When Pullbox later sees the first published issue, it could automatically convert the watched entry into a normal tracked series.
The transition could be visible to the user with a simple status change such as:
Watching -> Tracked
For a series that is already in Pullbox:
[Tracked]
This should ideally be a status rather than an active Add button, so the user immediately knows they already follow the series.
If the specific issue shown in What's New is missing and Pullbox is able to acquire it, an additional action could be available:
[Grab]
That would make the row useful even for series the user already tracks.
The row/card could therefore adapt based on state:
Published, not tracked:
[Add Series]
Upcoming, not yet published:
[Watch]
Already tracked:
[Tracked]
Already tracked, issue missing:
[Tracked] [Grab]
It would also be useful if the action updated in place after being clicked. For example, clicking Add Series could immediately change the button to Tracked, and clicking Watch could change it to Watching.
For Coming Soon, a watched item could also show a small indicator such as:
Watching
or:
Watching, will add when released
The existing external League of Comic Geeks link should remain. The goal is to add a direct Pullbox action alongside the existing discovery information.
The overall interaction would be:
Existing/published series:
What's New -> Add Series -> normal Pullbox series
Upcoming/unreleased series:
What's New -> Watch -> waiting for first release -> automatically becomes normal Pullbox series
Already tracked series:
What's New -> Tracked -> optionally Grab missing issue
Alternatives Considered
This works, but it creates unnecessary repetition. The user has already discovered the exact book they are interested in, yet still has to leave the page and search for it again elsewhere in Pullbox.
That would improve the workflow for already-published series, but it does not handle announced series well. Creating a normal series before any real issues exist may not be desirable, while ignoring the user's interest until release means they still have to remember to come back later.
That is why Watch is useful as a separate state.
This would simplify the UI, but it mixes two different states - a real published series that Pullbox can manage normally, and an announced series that may not yet have stable issue/catalog data.
A lightweight Watch state seems cleaner and gives Pullbox a natural point to convert it into a full series once the first issue appears.
That would help users acquire individual releases, but it would not solve the larger discovery-to-tracking workflow. In many cases, seeing a book in What's New is the point where the user decides to follow the series, not just download one issue.
Add, Watch, and Tracked/Grab together would cover the main states without making the page complicated.