Page Numbers on Sigil

[Andygara2306]

Good Morning everyone!
I want to ask you a question: how can I insert page numbers in an epub file written by Sigil?
Thanks a lot

[KevinH]

Need more info:

Are these fixed page numbers based on a specific printed book with a known isbn?

Or are you talking about reflowable page numbers that most readers display?

If the latter, you really need do nothing, the e-reader will synthesize them for you.

If the former, does your xhtml source already include the id attribute on anchors at points where the page transition happens in the printed version?

Also is this epub2 or an epub3?

And finally, is this an academic work where there is the need to match and cite specific page numbers from a printed edition?

If not, you are better off without them.

Tables of contents, lists of figures, and other things based on page numbers really should be converted to links and the page numbers removed since epub is meant to be a reflowable format.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by Andygara2306

I want to ask you a question: how can I insert page numbers in an epub file written by Sigil?

Yes, like KevinH said... one of the biggest questions you can ask yourself is:

• Why?

Correctly adding "Real Page Numbers" (RPNs) to the ebook is a lot of work... while the benefits aren't the greatest.

* * *

If you do want more information, I've written about page numbers many times over the years:

• 2021: "Indexing in SIGIL - How to add "See also...""
  
  • I summarized all the latest "Real Page Number" information.
    
  • + wrote step-by-step instructions on converting numbers into links.
• 2020: "Create index on epub from printed book"
  
  • I described how you can mark pagebreaks with a rare character + generate page number code from that.
• 2020: "Page numbers in epub pageList"
  
  • I described the different EPUB2 + EPUB3 code.
• 2016: "Real Page Numbers for Reflowable Kindles"
  
  • We discussed all the pros/cons of RPNs.
    
  • (Especially see linked threads too.)

Over the years, I've mellowed a bit on RPNs.

I still don't go out of my way to add them, but I see potential benefits... especially for Accessibility (and blind readers).

Also, tools like DAISY's WordToEPUB have since come out, making exporting page numbers out of Word/DOCX much easier.

[theducks]

RPN only work if everyone is using the same Print Edition.

IMHO Chapter + Paragraph# works better as that does not change depending on text Zoom setting. It still fails on different editions (content edits).

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by theducks

RPN only work if everyone is using the same Print Edition.

Not necessarily.

Similar to navigating with the Table of Contents (HTML or NCX) or Headings (<h1>-><h6>), some devices/apps can navigate via page numbers as well.

Originally Posted by theducks

IMHO Chapter + Paragraph# works better as that does not change depending on text Zoom setting. It still fails on different editions (content edits).

At 39:30 of DAISY's "EPUB Accessiblity 101" video, page numbers get brought up.

For about 5 minutes, they described issues that Libraries/Students/Disability-Services bring up with missing page #s.

The director from Macmillan also mentions chapter/paragraph numbering, and how "most users find that very annoying".

* * *

Side Note: Back in the famous 2016 thread: "Sick of Amazon Kindle books without Page Numbers...", I came up with the terms "Format-specific"/"Format-neutral" ways of citing things:

• Physical book page numbers.
• [...]
• Byte-based "locations" in EPUB/MOBI.

+ listed all the pros/cons.

And in 2019: "Fractional Page Numbering", I described many of the edge-cases:

• "What's a word?"
• "What's a paragraph?"
• "What's a page?"

Side Note #2: In the famous 2017 thread: "Citing Websites", I also showed off EPUB3 page-list + how it shows up in some apps.

(I also described Link Rot + updating the backlist + linked to lots of good stuff too!)

* * *

Anyway, like I said, I've slowly been leaning more towards including RPNs if possible...

... but there's still a lot of niggling issues there. (Like marking where the actual pages are + trying to keep all Print/Ebook changes in sync.)

RPNs are definitely something that's been gnawing away at me for years... and it might be something I need to tackle at a mass scale soon.