Thread: Kobo future firmware feature request thread
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Old 10-13-2013, 10:24 PM   #849
Rev. Bob
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Device: Kobo H2O, iPad mini 3, Kindle Touch
Quote:
Originally Posted by Antioch View Post
I don't yet own a Kobo (and will likely stick with my old Nook until this is fixed) so I can't provide many details, but it seems like there is an issue with reflowing paragraphs that cross page boundaries. (Someone once referred to this as "widows" and "orphans" which I didn't understand).
Widows and orphans, in this context, refer to the number of lines that can't be left alone at the top (widows) or bottom (orphans) of a screen. Those values normally default to 2, meaning that if you've got room for three lines at the end of a screen, but they belong to a paragraph that's only four lines long, you can't display all three of those lines - because that leaves only one line for the top of the next page, and one is less than two, so that's forbidden.

One way to deal with that scenario is to move the whole paragraph to the next page, leaving a three-line gap at the end of the current one. A better way is to split the paragraph one line early, putting two lines at the end of one page, then the other two at the top of the next. Neither way is "wrong," though. To further complicate things, remember that you also have to factor in any normal gap that might appear between paragraphs. If the paragraph's a quotation, the extra side margins also affect things.

Some people deal with that problem by setting both values to 0, but there's a reason for the default; it usually helps the (human) reader maintain a certain flow by keeping paragraphs more intact.
Last edited by Rev. Bob; 10-13-2013 at 10:26 PM.
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