white space

jimb949 · 06-17-2014, 01:34 PM

When I check my book on nook there is a blank space between each and every one of my paragraphs and it looks bad. I can delete them one by one but that would take me forever because I have 28 chapters. Is there a way to add a code in html to do this for me? It's a epub and I'm using sigil to do the editing.

JLius · 06-17-2014, 01:53 PM

Is it a CSS problem, or are there empty paragraphs or breaks between those paragraphs in the html file?

If its in CSS, you can change it to this:

p {
margin: 0;
padding:0;
}

If it's in the html, you can use regex to remove those empty paragraphs or breaks. But I'm no good with regex :-)

jimb949 · 06-17-2014, 02:00 PM

It's in the html file. There is a blank space between the paragraphs.

mrmikel · 06-17-2014, 02:50 PM

It sounds like whoever did this did carriage returns in the source. If you have the source,you might be able to find and replace them there.

Lacking that, look at the code view and see what exists between the </p> at the end of the paragraph and the <p> at the start of the next one.

You can copy the </p>whatever is in between<p> to find and replace it with </p><p>.

Otherwise you can edit the stylesheet as suggested above to eliminate the space above.

http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_margin.asp

This has more about the css for the stylesheet. There is even a try it yourself so you can see the effect of various changes without messing up your epub until you understand what you need to do.

jimb949 · 06-17-2014, 03:38 PM

There is nothing between the paragraphs. It's just a blank space. So how do I use the find and replace tool to delete the blank spaces?

eschwartz · 06-17-2014, 04:15 PM

Then it is a css problem; see post #2.

DaleDe · 06-17-2014, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimb949

There is nothing between the paragraphs. It's just a blank space. So how do I use the find and replace tool to delete the blank spaces?

blank spaces in html used in epub are ignored between paragraphs. There is no need to replace them. They are not your problem. Likely CSS is the culprit.

Dale

JSWolf · 06-17-2014, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLius

Is it a CSS problem, or are there empty paragraphs or breaks between those paragraphs in the html file?

If its in CSS, you can change it to this:

p {
margin: 0;
padding:0;
}

If it's in the html, you can use regex to remove those empty paragraphs or breaks. But I'm no good with regex :-)

Actually, for a nook, that CSS is possibly incorrect. What you want is...

Code:

p {
margin-top: 0;
margin-bottom: 0;
text-indent: 1.2em
}

Just remember to set the body correctly and any style with a center needs a text indent of 0. Also, there's no need to set the padding unless you want some padding.

Code:

body {
oeb-column-number: 1;
widows: 0;
orphans: 0;
margin-top: 0;
margin-bottom: 0;
margin-left: 0;
margin-right: 0;
text-align: justify
}

The oeb-column is to keep ADE from going off into two columns when the ADE window is increased enough. It doesn't seem to bother any other ePub compatible reader that I know of.

mrmikel · 06-17-2014, 06:11 PM

CSS=Cascading Style Sheet. It is the stylesheet which is part of your book. In the listing for p there may be several items enclosed in the {} brackets which control what the paragraph margin is at the top and what it is at the bottom.

See the listing above. If you open the book in sigil and look at the book browser, the style folder and style sheet will be all by itself. Click on it and study it, together with the above info along with the web site I pointed out to you.

If there is no stylesheet, then the style information is located at the top of each file that makes up the book. You can check there too. Theoretically you could do both, but to avoid confusion, people either put the style information at the top of each text file, or they use a stylesheet to which all the text files refer. If it is at the top of each file, it will be enclosed with <style> tags, if I recall correctly.

jimb949 · 06-17-2014, 07:26 PM

In my style sheet there is no listing for p. I have some .MsoNormal listings and some .calibre listings. Should I add the p listing at the bottom of the stye sheet and put margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; inside?

JSWolf · 06-17-2014, 07:51 PM

What do most of the paragraphs begin with? Is it <p or is it <div?

If it is <p, add in the code for p that I posted a few messages back. If it is <div, use the same CSS code for p that I posted and change p { to div {

Also check what the class is next to the p or div. You might have to change that as well.

For example, if you see <p class="msonormal"> or <div class="msonormal"> then change msonormal to have the same CSS as the p I posted above.

eschwartz · 06-17-2014, 08:07 PM

CSS priority rules say that class (e.g. ".MsoNormal") selectors override type (e.g. "p") selectors. You will have to fix the .MsoNormal rules (assuming the margin was defined there) for anything to stick.

JLius · 06-18-2014, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, for a nook, that CSS is possibly incorrect. What you want is...

Code:

p {
margin-top: 0;
margin-bottom: 0;
text-indent: 1.2em
}

What would my code look like for a nook? Does it just ignore the margin: 0?

Toxaris · 06-18-2014, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLius

What would my code look like for a nook? Does it just ignore the margin: 0?

At least some models of the Nook have issues with the shorthand notation. So, it is better to write them out. Ignoring can be one thing, misinterpreting another. Not that bad when the value is 0, but still.

mrmikel · 06-18-2014, 06:16 AM

It is not surprising you have having problems. You have Word leftovers plus Calibre leftovers. This can make it very hard to see what is affecting things.

It might be an interesting experiment to save the epub with another name, open it in Sigil, edit the stylesheet to remove everything it and save the epub, then open it in your Nook to see what the effect is.

If the effect is more to your liking, you could add back bits of the stylesheet until you find just what is causing the problem.

06-17-2014, 01:34 PM	#1
jimb949 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: none	white space When I check my book on nook there is a blank space between each and every one of my paragraphs and it looks bad. I can delete them one by one but that would take me forever because I have 28 chapters. Is there a way to add a code in html to do this for me? It's a epub and I'm using sigil to do the editing.

06-17-2014, 07:51 PM	#11
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,015 Karma: 129333114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What do most of the paragraphs begin with? Is it <p or is it <div? If it is <p, add in the code for p that I posted a few messages back. If it is <div, use the same CSS code for p that I posted and change p { to div { Also check what the class is next to the p or div. You might have to change that as well. For example, if you see <p class="msonormal"> or <div class="msonormal"> then change msonormal to have the same CSS as the p I posted above. Last edited by JSWolf; 06-17-2014 at 07:54 PM.

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06-17-2014, 01:53 PM	#2
JLius Village idiot Posts: 157 Karma: 519566 Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Belgium Device: sony PRS T-1	Is it a CSS problem, or are there empty paragraphs or breaks between those paragraphs in the html file? If its in CSS, you can change it to this: p { margin: 0; padding:0; } If it's in the html, you can use regex to remove those empty paragraphs or breaks. But I'm no good with regex :-)

06-17-2014, 02:00 PM	#3
jimb949 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: none	It's in the html file. There is a blank space between the paragraphs.

06-17-2014, 02:50 PM	#4
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	It sounds like whoever did this did carriage returns in the source. If you have the source,you might be able to find and replace them there. Lacking that, look at the code view and see what exists between the </p> at the end of the paragraph and the <p> at the start of the next one. You can copy the </p>whatever is in between<p> to find and replace it with </p><p>. Otherwise you can edit the stylesheet as suggested above to eliminate the space above. http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_margin.asp This has more about the css for the stylesheet. There is even a try it yourself so you can see the effect of various changes without messing up your epub until you understand what you need to do.

06-17-2014, 03:38 PM	#5
jimb949 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: none	There is nothing between the paragraphs. It's just a blank space. So how do I use the find and replace tool to delete the blank spaces?

06-17-2014, 04:15 PM	#6
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Then it is a css problem; see post #2.

06-17-2014, 06:11 PM	#9
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	CSS=Cascading Style Sheet. It is the stylesheet which is part of your book. In the listing for p there may be several items enclosed in the {} brackets which control what the paragraph margin is at the top and what it is at the bottom. See the listing above. If you open the book in sigil and look at the book browser, the style folder and style sheet will be all by itself. Click on it and study it, together with the above info along with the web site I pointed out to you. If there is no stylesheet, then the style information is located at the top of each file that makes up the book. You can check there too. Theoretically you could do both, but to avoid confusion, people either put the style information at the top of each text file, or they use a stylesheet to which all the text files refer. If it is at the top of each file, it will be enclosed with <style> tags, if I recall correctly.

06-17-2014, 07:26 PM	#10
jimb949 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2014 Device: none	In my style sheet there is no listing for p. I have some .MsoNormal listings and some .calibre listings. Should I add the p listing at the bottom of the stye sheet and put margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; inside?

06-17-2014, 08:07 PM	#12
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	CSS priority rules say that class (e.g. ".MsoNormal") selectors override type (e.g. "p") selectors. You will have to fix the .MsoNormal rules (assuming the margin was defined there) for anything to stick.

06-18-2014, 06:16 AM	#15
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	It is not surprising you have having problems. You have Word leftovers plus Calibre leftovers. This can make it very hard to see what is affecting things. It might be an interesting experiment to save the epub with another name, open it in Sigil, edit the stylesheet to remove everything it and save the epub, then open it in your Nook to see what the effect is. If the effect is more to your liking, you could add back bits of the stylesheet until you find just what is causing the problem.

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