Sigil Template: A learning journey

[mhikl]

Template 001: Sigil Pure

I am starting this thread to get help for newbies (that’s me) with learning how to use Sigil. I had contacted Professor Sigil (Sigil Creator Sir Valloric) regarding the idea of Sigil Templates being helpful to newbies and he suggested I might start such a thread – members could decide if it was a good idea or not. (Talk about being thrown to the wolves. But, having a fair knowledge of the Canine language, complements of Sadie, where’s the fear?)

I have made a template (a simple epub with images and a little bit of text) that has taught me how to do all my work to make an ebook (epub) in Sigil – disclaimer – no xhtml or TextEdit app was endangered in the making of Template 001: Sigil Pure.

This is baby steps for me, I have been reminded by observing Puck that this is the easiest way (for me and he) to learn.

The Content of my Template (ebook)

Title: Sadie Saves the World
Plan & Procedure
Problems Observed
Content
1 Sadie Shines
2 Sadie Outs Riposaurus
3 Treachery Must Go
Originally, I included some nifty starters to my “3 Chapters” but elected to eject them as flamboyant and irrelevant to my central purpose. Each chapter contains only:
i) its title in Heading 1,
ii) an image (3 different sizes of same image) and
iii) a simple text line giving image’s specs.

It has taken me a long time to get this over-cooked baby out of the frying pan and to where I feel I can start this thread. I will post my history and notes on Template 001: Sigil Pure in my next post (post 2).

In a third post I will post the final epub (assuming one can post such a thing in a post.)

In a forth post I would include:

i) my 4 images,
ii) TextEdit with images (links would be the 4 images),
iii) TextEdit without images (“Image” substituted for the image icons) so it can be opened in xhmtl. (This would exclude the preambling Plans & Procedures and Problems Observed posted already. Just the simple ebook and its three simple chapters.)

But before I do what I just outlined, could knowledgeable members please advise me if this is not practical and that I’m thinking outside some crazed box from Pluto (my home planet, but that’s another story.) And if some kind Administrator finds this in time and sees “nutso” on the lose, please delete this episode and help me save face. (Something I have only learned about on this planet. It is regular, honourable and shameless to go about Pluto with one’s foot firmly planted in one’s mouth. That is why our current Prime Minister shows not the slightest touch of embarrassment for the things that venture from his lips. However, he was ejected from Pluto, I elected to emigrate.) There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s . . . )

Namaste,
mhikl

[mhikl]

Plan & Purpose
Template 001: Pure Sigil (centred)
Purpose: To create in Sigil an epub book under the following guidelines:
1. Begin & complete the document in Sigil. (no xhtml or word processing app used)
2. A Title Page, a Purpose Page, Contents and 3 Chapters
3. The Title, Plan & Purpose pages and 3 Chapters to include
i) Titles using Heading 1
ii) an Image, centred
iii) a simple text descriptor of the image
iv) end Chapter 3 with "The End" centred and italicized
4. The Content Page to follow Plan & Purpose Page using Heading 2
5. Formatting using the alignment and text highlights
i) all text left-aligned except for "Template 001: Pure Sigil", "The End"; each to be centred
ii) All centred text to be italicized and have "centred" written at end
iii) all Headings in plain text and left aligned (will be bold via Headings)
iv) all images to be centred
v) all image descriptors bracketed
vi) examples of bold, italics, and bold-italics used in the Purpose Page and centred italics in"The End"
6. The same Image will be used
i) the images will each be of a different size, modified by width size
ii) information will be as follows: (W)idth, (H)eight, in pixels; size will be in kb; increments will be by 25 pixels (150~225) applied to width
iii) all images will have a Resolution 28.35 pixels/cm (72 pixels/inch)
8. Each change to the template to be saved separately.
9. the epub must be viewable in Stanza on an iPod touch, second generation: I use Verdana font; about 40 characters per line and 29 lines per screen (bold text and Headings will affect number of lines) (about 1160 characters per screen page)
10. Titles will vary in length spanning 1 to 2 lines on the iPt as indicated in point 9.
11. All spell checking will be done by copying Sigil text to Pages (Macintosh) and then corrections will be made manually in Sigil.
Problems Observed
1. The alignment formats when composing in Sigil do not work. Left and centre alignments do not work in text when all scripting is done in Sigil. (This may be different when imported from xhmtl or TextEdit, neither of which was the point of this template exercise.)
2. Centring is mandatory in all headings and cannot be overridden using formats when composing in Sigil.
3. Pictures alignment cannot be changed via the Format.
4. Composing in Sigil without pasting text from another application was made difficult for spell checking as text from Sigil had to be copied and pasted into another document to be spell checked and then any errors found had to be changed manually in Sigil.
5. On one occasion a new page (Problems Observed) with page breaks could be made but the title could not be made a header. Returning to a previous save was necessary. From that version a new page with appropriate header was possible.

Further note
It took me 36 different versions to get this straight; three times I elected to start from scratch.
First attempt: 11 versions
Second attempt: 17 versions
Third attempt: 8 versions
(many versions had very simple improvements such as spelling checks or formatting)
This is not to be taken as a fault with Sigil, only that I am persistent in my desire to have the results accurate with no corruptions. As well, this is a learning exercise for me and I wanted to make sure I was able to duplicate the pages that appeared in good order more quickly and accurately. I will, after a break, attempt to do this exact template again, in one version. (Which would mean I can do this without making errors.)

In time I should also like to try two new templates using xhtml and TextEdit+Pages.

What I have learn (please correct me if I am wrong on this or any other point) is that I must start my original draft in Sigil. When I made my work in TextEdit and saved it in xhmtl and then opened it in Sigil, I had to add a starting blank page or my title page would not show up. Then in iPt Stanza, my ebook would open up with a blank page. Ugh.

Anyway, a lot to learn here. I know my limitations and understanding “code” is one of them. But I need a rest before I attempt another Template.

However, in this thread, I hope others will take the time to comment and make suggestions and corrections to my effort.
I would also like to see others willing to add their own Templates that show how Sigil can be used. I, for one, will never be able to find the time to learn “code” but from a template I should be able to copy and paste. Learning from the experience of others sure would save a lot of time.

Namaste,
mhikl

[mhikl]

I am not sure if the ebook can be posted here. I will need someone to let me know if an .epub ebook can be posted. If it can't be done, then maybe the BV and or code should be posted. I await suggestions.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by mhikl

I am not sure if the ebook can be posted here. I will need someone to let me know if an .epub ebook can be posted. If it can't be done, then maybe the BV and or code should be posted. I await suggestions.

@mihkl: You can upload and attach an epub here. But honestly, you are beating your head against the wall for no reason. Go to w3schools.com. Learn some damn html and css. No offense, dude, but watching this is frakking painful. You've made this grossly overcomplicated when it doesn't need to be. That is the ENTIRE POINT of CSS--not having to do something over and over and over.

If you want to be persistent, fine--persist in learning some very basic code, and a lightbulb will go off over your head. Or better yet, download a few of the nine bajillion FREE epubs here on MR and look at how they are done. Doing your coding for styling line by line is just...insane.

Hitch

[rdatmo]

Hey
My 1st post might be offtopic. I was wondering how to get my ebook made in Sigil on to my iphone. I'm a bit late to the game but I'm new to both, would aprecciate some help

[theducks]

Originally Posted by rdatmo

Hey
My 1st post might be offtopic. I was wondering how to get my ebook made in Sigil on to my iphone. I'm a bit late to the game but I'm new to both, would aprecciate some help

Calibre (the forum above) (Search and read the parts about using with i-Tunes in the FAQ)