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Originally Posted by Manichean
Sure, there's a code view that allows you to edit the XHTML by hand. However, there's also a book view that allows for, dare I say it, WYSIWYG editing of the book. You don't have to do anything.
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The problem is that you can correct spelling errors etc in the book view. That is definately WYSIWYG. The problem comes when the file is crappy. There is no easy way to say: Lets remove al indents, or please create a blank line after each paragraph, or remove it or find all bottom margins at the end of a page.
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Also, there's no real need for you to get that worked up about this issue of using ePub and/or Sigil as a conversion step. I only stated what I've found to work best when converting, neither you nor the OP have to use that method.
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I'm not worked up at all
I only point out that what everybody is telling about ePub is not neccessarely true.
It is not simple HTML in a container, It can be, but rarely is so. It is not easy to edit like you can edit a Doc file or an RTF or a HTML file. You can create an ePub with almost any office tool. But as soon it is a ePub you will loose the abillity to edit it in comfortable way.
And the format is so young an immature that everybody does something else with it. It is (not yet) a real standard that is implemented everywhere in te same way
So I can end op with a ePub that has no problems at all at my Cybook, but has 5 cm margins on my wife's Bebook. Or that is complete on the Bebook, but misses parts from each long chapter on the Cybook because it has not enough memory to show a complete chapter. This last 'problem' was solved with Mobi more than 5 years ago. Simply read in what you can en pick up the next part when ready. There is no reason at all why it is not implemented in ePub readers. But nobody does
That is the reason Calibre has all these different output and input settings for every reader and that you will have to cut the original manuscript in all those small pieces. And this goes straight against my feelings, why have a computer if I have to do all those things myself? I think we left the 1980's behind a long time ago, together with the Wordplex.
For the people who don't know that was a dedicated text processing machine. It was quite nice and was page based. A big improvment on line base software in these days. The only problem was that it could work exactly on ONE page. So as soon as you inserted a new line, the last line of the page was shifted to a new and empty page, or in the early moddels, you lost it. It could not reorder all the following pages. Sounds like ePub to me 
And it is also the reason that I downgraded the Cybook to the old firmware that reads Mobi, That I did not upgraded the Bebbok to ePub and that I bought a Kindle which is inherently Mobi. Any mobi book I have shows up nicely on alle of them. There are only a few small differences. Mostly depending on the availabillity of certain fonts/sizes.