Lost table of contents when converting from EPUB to MOBI

mhenders · 07-17-2012, 05:11 PM

Hi everybody,

I'm a first-time e-book self-publisher. My source content is in a Pages document, on the Macintosh.

When I export my document from Pages to ePub, and open that in iBooks on the iPad, it properly exposes the document's Table of Contents.

When I use Kindle Previewer app to convert the ePub to MOBI, the Previewer (when displaying the resulting document) claims that the document is missing a Table of Contents. (Same thing if I load the document in Kindle on the iPad.)

What is strange, though, is that clicking "NCX View" in the Kindle Previewer results in a screen that *does* contain the table of contents listing, and linked to the correct chapters.

I've Googled, and can't figure out why my TOC is being lost in the translation from ePub to MOBI. If you have any ideas, I would very appreciate your help.

Thanks so much in advance.

-- Matt

Doitsu · 07-17-2012, 05:40 PM

You'll need to manually create an inline TOC (i.e. an .html page with links to each chapter) and add a toc guide item to the opf file.
If you convert your epub with Calibre it'll automatically add both. However, Amazon might reject your mobi file.

mhenders · 07-17-2012, 05:51 PM

Doitsu,

Thanks for the reply. Couple of follow up questions:

1. The source for the MOBI conversion is an EPUB document. I know how to get to the contents of the EPUB file. Would I add the TOC HTML documents there, alongside all the other HTML files?

2. Does the TOC document need to have a particular name?

3. Would you happen to be able to point me to an HTML template document for the table of contents?

4. Would you happen to be able to point me to a reference for the syntax and content of the guide entry in the OPF file?

Thanks so much in advance.

Toxaris · 07-18-2012, 02:50 AM

Please search on the forum. This question has been asked at least 5 times in the last month already. Please note, the search option is at the top on the right.

DaleDe · 07-18-2012, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Please search on the forum. This question has been asked at least 5 times in the last month already. Please note, the search option is at the top on the right.

And also check the MOBI forum for more.

Dale

07-17-2012, 05:11 PM	#1
mhenders Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle	Lost table of contents when converting from EPUB to MOBI Hi everybody, I'm a first-time e-book self-publisher. My source content is in a Pages document, on the Macintosh. When I export my document from Pages to ePub, and open that in iBooks on the iPad, it properly exposes the document's Table of Contents. When I use Kindle Previewer app to convert the ePub to MOBI, the Previewer (when displaying the resulting document) claims that the document is missing a Table of Contents. (Same thing if I load the document in Kindle on the iPad.) What is strange, though, is that clicking "NCX View" in the Kindle Previewer results in a screen that does contain the table of contents listing, and linked to the correct chapters. I've Googled, and can't figure out why my TOC is being lost in the translation from ePub to MOBI. If you have any ideas, I would very appreciate your help. Thanks so much in advance. -- Matt

07-17-2012, 05:40 PM	#2
Doitsu Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,584 Karma: 22735033 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW2	You'll need to manually create an inline TOC (i.e. an .html page with links to each chapter) and add a toc guide item to the opf file. If you convert your epub with Calibre it'll automatically add both. However, Amazon might reject your mobi file. Last edited by Doitsu; 07-18-2012 at 03:12 AM.

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07-17-2012, 05:51 PM	#3
mhenders Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle	Doitsu, Thanks for the reply. Couple of follow up questions: 1. The source for the MOBI conversion is an EPUB document. I know how to get to the contents of the EPUB file. Would I add the TOC HTML documents there, alongside all the other HTML files? 2. Does the TOC document need to have a particular name? 3. Would you happen to be able to point me to an HTML template document for the table of contents? 4. Would you happen to be able to point me to a reference for the syntax and content of the guide entry in the OPF file? Thanks so much in advance.

07-18-2012, 02:50 AM	#4
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Please search on the forum. This question has been asked at least 5 times in the last month already. Please note, the search option is at the top on the right.

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