Epub3 Foot- End-notes

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

I would love if they would finally find a solution so that footnotes will be displayed the same as in paper books at the bottom of the page. So, no popups/hovering/links/etc.

+1000!

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Hi Toxaris,

You mean for fixed layout, pre-paginated ebooks, right? I am not sure how this could be handled in a reflowable without knowing the size of the page (so to speak).

KevinH

CoolReader displays foot-notes at the end of the respective pages in fluid epubs.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

CoolReader displays foot-notes at the end of the respective pages in fluid epubs.

So CoolReader at least does one thing right...

[fbrzvnrnd]

Actually the only way to have this is hoping before or after EPUB will adopt the @paged media. @footnote is here, I can use it with Prince, but I can not in EPUB.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

So CoolReader at least does one thing right...

Yes. In Android, AlReader does the same; it has support for display of footnotes on the page for fb2- and epub-files. So the technology to display footnotes in the same page already exists.

[fbrzvnrnd]

Actually coolreader do not show notes, show link content. So if you are reading a hypertext ebook is not usable.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by fbrzvnrnd

Actually coolreader do not show notes, show link content. So if you are reading a hypertext ebook is not usable.

Read this page:

http://e-ink-reader.ru/coolreader_en.php

and this one too:

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Cool_Reader

EDIT: Of course, first you must enable the feature:



and then select as "View Mode" (Settings.../Page tab) "One page" or "Two pages" (not "Scroll View"). After that, you'll see footnotes as the following picture:

[fbrzvnrnd]

Sorry, not. You don't see the footnotes, you see the content of the links destination. If you are reading a hypertext ebook where you navigate in ebook, coolreader is unable to understand when a link is a note and when it is a navigation element.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by fbrzvnrnd

Sorry, not. You don't see the footnotes, you see the content of the links destination. If you are reading a hypertext ebook where you navigate in ebook, coolreader is unable to understand when a link is a note and when it is a navigation element.

Ah, now I understand what you want to say. In order that CoolReader can know when a link is a note and when a link is a navigation element, you need to use the css [atribute] selector. Let's say that when you want a note, you should style your ebook with:

In your css stylesheet:

a [type="note"]  { /* and here you set the properties you want for notes, for example: */
     font-weight: bold;
     text-decoration: none;
     vertical-align: super; 
     font-size: 0.7em;
}

and in the .xhtml file:

<p>blah, blah, blah, blah <a type="note" href="#n1">1</a>, blah, blah, etc.</p>

CoolReader knows that the atribute type="note" is a note and not a navigation element. When a <a> selector doesn't have a type="note" atribute CoolReader will consider it as a navigation element.

[fbrzvnrnd]

Originally Posted by RbnJrg

Ah, now I understand what you want to say. In order that CoolReader can know when a link is a note and when a link is a navigation element, you need to use the css [atribute] selector. Let's say that when you want a note, you should style your ebook with:

In your css stylesheet:

a [type="note"]  { /* and here you set the properties you want for notes, for example: */
     font-weight: bold;
     text-decoration: none;
     vertical-align: super; 
     font-size: 0.7em;
}

and in the .xhtml file:

<p>blah, blah, blah, blah <a type="note" href="#n1">1</a>, blah, blah, etc.</p>

CoolReader knows that the atribute type="note" is a note and not a navigation element. When a <a> selector doesn't have a type="note" atribute CoolReader will consider it as a navigation element.

Uhm. Why css? If I simple use the type element in <a> coolreader do not see it?


f.

[RbnJrg]

Originally Posted by fbrzvnrnd

Uhm. Why css? If I simple use the type element in <a> coolreader do not see it?


f.

Yes, no problem with that. And if the a [type="note] selector is not defined, then CoolReader will use the default style for that. We only have to take care of using <a type="note ...> with footnotes and only <a ...> with navigation elements.

Regarding how CoolReader styles ebooks, remember that in the CoolReader folder you'll find the following files:

epub.css
fb2.css
htm.css
rtf.css
txt.css

If your ebook doesn't have css styles, then CoolReader will use some of those files. By the way, you can open them with a text editor and modify them with your own styles. However, for more or less complex layouts CoolReader is not the best ereader since it doesn't support many important properties (ie. float, border, etc.)

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by roger64

... On touch screens, foot/endnotes are not that much reliable, even with bigger anchors. ...

In my next batch of books, the first with footnotes, I've decided to use end notes and put them at the end of the chapter / xhtml file. In the body of the text I'm using

<a id="backref1" href="#ref1">[Footnote 1]</a>

No superscripting, no font size change. At the end of the file it has

  <section class="endnotes">
    <header>
      <h3>End notes</h3>
    </header>

    <ol>
      <li id="ref1">Hannibal, Missouri. (<a href="#backref1">Return to previous place.</a>)</li>
    </ol>
  </section>

Again, an easy to tap link for returning. Perhaps crude and inelegant but it's easy to tap.

Criticisms, thoughts?

[j.p.s]

When I'm reading a book, I often mistake teeny tiny superscripts for misplaced punctuation or specks of dust on the screen, or don't notice them at all. I would prefer [1] as [Footnote 1] seems a bit much, but I could get used to [Footnote 1].

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

When I'm reading a book, I often mistake teeny tiny superscripts for misplaced punctuation or specks of dust on the screen, or don't notice them at all. I would prefer [1] as [Footnote 1] seems a bit much, but I could get used to [Footnote 1].

Yes, [1] with the A tags around it is easier to tap than having only the 1 inside the A tags with the brackets outside of them. With no brackets it's definitely fiddly.

But what about superscripting? I noticed that having the [1] as a superscript was pushing up the line above it. I have this vague feeling that having a [1] in the middle or at the end of a sentence would look sort of odd. Putting the word Footnote in front of it disambiguates it.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Yes, [1] with the A tags around it is easier to tap than having only the 1 inside the A tags with the brackets outside of them. With no brackets it's definitely fiddly.

But what about superscripting? I noticed that having the [1] as a superscript was pushing up the line above it. I have this vague feeling that having a [1] in the middle or at the end of a sentence would look sort of odd. Putting the word Footnote in front of it disambiguates it.

You probably can't avoid making somebody unhappy. Would [Note 1] be too ambiguous? If so, I can certainly live with [Footnote 1]. Maybe someone else will weigh in with something really authoritative or convincing. I've finally learned to tap very small note indicators (I used to be so careful that I accidentally long pressed them, which resulted in a dictionary search of the character used for the footnote and I was convinced there are a lot of broken books out there until I learned to tap). Now my main problem with small note symbols is that I don't see them.