Sigil 1.8.0 and Epub 3.0 metadata

[z537815]

Greetings.

I may very well be overlooking something, but here it goes.

If I want to add metadata to an Epub 3.0 file, Sigil 1.8.0 presents me with a different set of possible metadata than for an Epub 2.x file. I assume this is "works as designed".

I'd like to add calibre's series-support to an Epub 3.0 file: calibre:series and calibre:series_index. Which metadata-tags do I use?

Thx.

[BeckyEbook]

Look here.

[KevinH]

You only need calibre:series and calibre:series_ index for epub2. Epub3 has its own official way to handle series and series_index:

Here is a snippet from the opf showing how to do that.

<meta id="seriesid" property="belongs-to-collection">NAMEOFSERIES</meta>
<meta refines="#seriesid" property="collection-type">series</meta>
<meta refines="#seriesid" property="group-position">INDEXVALUE</meta>

In Sigil's metadata editor you do the following:

1. Add an Element and select "Belongs to Collection", fill in series name
2. Add a Property to that Element and select "Collection is a Series"
3. Add a Property to that Element and select "Position in Group", fill in series index

Sigil's MetaEditor will properly create the seriesid and all the refines needed.

Why the epub3 spec took something so simple and made it so complex is anyone's guess!

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by BeckyEbook

Look here.

Yes. It would appear that nothing much has changed on the Sigil/Epub3 front regarding calibre series metadata in the two years that have passed since the OP last asked.

[z537815]

Originally Posted by BeckyEbook

Look here.

Thx. I guess I ran into this before. Again, I'm dealing with how Aldiko Next processes these tags.

Found something new, though. The Metadata-editor has this list of tags. The list for Epub 3.x contains something called custom element, which seems to be something I could use because it allows me to actually specify the tag I'd like to include.

So I select custom element, specify calibre:series in the next box, and, sure enough, that tag does appear in the epub's metadata. I then specify the value, do the same with calibre:series_index and save the epub.

Much to my surprise, when I open the epub again, these tags have disappeared! The metadata-editor doesn't list them, and, of course, neither do they show up in the OPF.

Custom element does not support just any tag? everything seems to be OKE, until I save the epub. No messages.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by z537815

So I select custom element, specify calibre:series in the next box, and, sure enough, that tag does appear in the epub's metadata. I then specify the value, do the same with calibre:series_index and save the epub.

Unless Aldiko Reader requires Calibre metadata entries, simply follow KevinH's instructions.

[KevinH]

Based on a web search Aldiko and "epub3" there is very little info. Aldiko appears to be quite quite old and may only support epub2 and epub2 metadata with very limited font and css support. There was some talk of Aldiko adopting the Readium 2 SDK in an Aldiko update.

If they did adopt Readium 2, then my instructions are correct. If not, you might want to think about moving to a more modern e-book reader that has better css, font, and epub3 support. Perhaps Thorium.