Creating TOC for books based on Text Files

crich70 · 09-10-2010, 01:25 PM

I've never been able to figure out something with the present version of Mobipocket Creator. How to create a TOC for a book that started out as a text file. Whenever I try to create such an ebook I always end up with a blank TOC page. Not sure if it's a matter of something wrong with HTML coding or what. Basically my knowledge of HTML is slight but it was enough to create ebooks with their Ebook builder 3.0 which is no longer offered on site.

<HTML>
<BODY>
<H1> Chapter #</H1>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I have V 4.2 Publisher's edition.
Sorry if I'm in the wrong sub forum.

ATDrake · 09-10-2010, 01:48 PM

You're missing anchor tags/an id attribute to show where the links go to.

Something along the lines of:

<h1><a name="ch1">Chapter One</a></h1>

or

<h1 id="ch1">Chapter One</h1>

should probably do it, if the TOC is auto-generated.

Mind you, I'm on a Mac and Mobipocket Creator doesn't work under Wine, so you'd probably get better and more useful responses by asking the mods to move this to E-book Formats/Mobi.

JeremyR · 09-12-2010, 05:30 AM

You might try using Sigil to make an epub and then Calibre to convert the resulting epub to mobi.

It's worked pretty well in my limited use. You get a TOC and even those little chapter dots.

Of course, you basically have to do the same thing as above, but you simply highlight the chapter name in the text and use the little drop down box to the left to add the header tags. But easier than doing HTML on your own.

crich70 · 09-12-2010, 02:54 PM

Thanks for the tip. I'll see about giving it a try soon.

crich70 · 09-13-2010, 12:47 AM

I can't quite figure out what I'm doing wrong but I can't quite figure out the sequence of steps to create a TOC with Sigil. I load a text file in and I'm not sure what I'm leaving out. Most of the coding seems to be put in for me but I'm not sure what (if anything) I'm supposed to type in. Is there a button I'm supposed to click on to generate the TOC? There isn't much detail in the help file to state what I'm supposed to do.

Edit: Never mind I stumbled across what I was doing wrong in one of the other forums. Turned out to be as simple as highlighting the chapter heading and then choosing a heading from the left side of the menu. Neat how easy it is.

09-10-2010, 01:25 PM	#1
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Creating TOC for books based on Text Files I've never been able to figure out something with the present version of Mobipocket Creator. How to create a TOC for a book that started out as a text file. Whenever I try to create such an ebook I always end up with a blank TOC page. Not sure if it's a matter of something wrong with HTML coding or what. Basically my knowledge of HTML is slight but it was enough to create ebooks with their Ebook builder 3.0 which is no longer offered on site. <HTML> <BODY> <H1> Chapter #</H1> </BODY> </HTML> Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I have V 4.2 Publisher's edition. Sorry if I'm in the wrong sub forum. Last edited by crich70; 09-10-2010 at 01:26 PM. Reason: noticed I might be in the wrong sub forum

09-13-2010, 12:47 AM	#5
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I can't quite figure out what I'm doing wrong but I can't quite figure out the sequence of steps to create a TOC with Sigil. I load a text file in and I'm not sure what I'm leaving out. Most of the coding seems to be put in for me but I'm not sure what (if anything) I'm supposed to type in. Is there a button I'm supposed to click on to generate the TOC? There isn't much detail in the help file to state what I'm supposed to do. Edit: Never mind I stumbled across what I was doing wrong in one of the other forums. Turned out to be as simple as highlighting the chapter heading and then choosing a heading from the left side of the menu. Neat how easy it is. Last edited by crich70; 09-13-2010 at 10:53 AM.

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09-10-2010, 01:48 PM	#2
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	You're missing anchor tags/an id attribute to show where the links go to. Something along the lines of: <h1><a name="ch1">Chapter One</a></h1> or <h1 id="ch1">Chapter One</h1> should probably do it, if the TOC is auto-generated. Mind you, I'm on a Mac and Mobipocket Creator doesn't work under Wine, so you'd probably get better and more useful responses by asking the mods to move this to E-book Formats/Mobi.

09-12-2010, 05:30 AM	#3
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	You might try using Sigil to make an epub and then Calibre to convert the resulting epub to mobi. It's worked pretty well in my limited use. You get a TOC and even those little chapter dots. Of course, you basically have to do the same thing as above, but you simply highlight the chapter name in the text and use the little drop down box to the left to add the header tags. But easier than doing HTML on your own.

09-12-2010, 02:54 PM	#4
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Thanks for the tip. I'll see about giving it a try soon.