Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex2002ans
Yep, Google Docs completely mangles the Styles in your document, and reexporting out of it creates a gobbledygook mess of code which doesn't represent the original at all.
I don't see why not. I've used it in proofing stages, where I've:
- Completed initial ebook/EPUB.
- Convert EPUB->DOCX.
- Upload DOCX to online word processor.
- Give author link.
- They proof/do whatever.
- Make minor adjustments to text, add a Foreword, leave comments.
- Answered/Solved comments auto-email everyone who needs to be notified.
Then when we iron out all the final pieces...
- I export + do my usual cleanup
treating it just as if it was "a fresh book" file, except 90%+ of the groundwork was already done.
If not much changed:
- The code difference merging is very simple.
If a lot has changed:
- I treat it like a fresh file.
- (It would still be MILES ahead of the low-quality mess originally submitted from authors.)
But I mostly do EPUB-First/HTML-First workflows...
If you had DOCX-First workflows, you'd do all your cleanup at that stage, then you'd treat that online version—or a DOCX close to it—as the ultimate "source file".
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From my initial reading, it seemed like Hitch wanted this for a PROOFING stage, and I assume it was to:
- Show author "final" copy.
- Have them comment/proof on it.
- Keep the conversion team+author in sync.
The EPUB annotation/commenting tools aren't there yet, but the DOCX/ODT/PDF ones are much more mature.
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Collabora Office is the LibreOffice-based equivalent. It runs on Online/Mobile too.
Good thing is, it treats your files just as LibreOffice would:
- No mangling of Styles
- No destruction of the underlying document.
You also get:
- Full privacy
- Keeping your documents out of Google's grubby little hands.
- (Can even self-host your own server if you wanted.)
And, as power users, you still get full access to the full power of the entire office suite. Not some dumbed-down version that's missing a ton of features.
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Side Note: If you want some more info, see their recent talk given at:
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Pfffff. Women!!! Who needs ’em?  |
Hi, TEX:
I just don't see how that would expedite
editing the e-books. Sure, it would mean that our customers would
not have to download an EPUB reader; but then again, that would also mean that they wouldn't have any idea what their e-books look like. At best, this is a mixed result.
What I was seeking, is some functionality that would work more or less like what we already have for PDFs. We have a variety of options, for our customers, vis-à-vis PDFs. For example, our customers can use the commenting function in Adobe acrobat reader, to leave us edits and comments in their PDFs. Depending upon how clean those comments are, we can also import those same comments into InDesign. We have other ways, other methods, of importing edits made by customers, into InDesign as well.
This newest functionality that I was discussing in this thread, enables our customers to do nothing more but click the filename; open up a browser window; and leave us edits and comments,
in that browser. They don't need software or anything else other than a computer. That's a boon for our tech-challenged (more than usual) customers.
That's pretty much what I was looking for. I don't see a real possibility that we would export the kind of EPUB that we make into word — don't forget to use number of the EPUB that we make are fairly complex. I do not see them exporting to word readily, easily or usable.
But, I'll contemplate it!!!
Hitch
(Dictated to DNS, but not read.)