What does a minimal EPUB have as far as tags go?

[crankypants]

I'm trying to make an EPUB. So I have 2 related questions.

1. What is the minimal code in the XHTML files of an EPUB? (Where the content goes.)
2. What are the tags I should stick to so the EPUB works with the greatest amount of readers? Not all readers support all the same tags.

I ask because Sigil doesn't support some tags like: <aside>, <blockquote>, and <codeblock>. So I was wondering if those are not supported very much by ebook readers. My workaround thus far is to make a class for the <p> tag for a block quote, and set my own margins.

My Google Play reader for Android doesn't render this list correctly (manually entered in Calibre):
<ol>
<li>One</li>
<li>Two</li>
</ol>

But it does render this list correctly (which Sigil formats correctly):
<ol>
<li>One<br/></li>
<li>Two<br/></li>
</ol>


Thank you.

[issybird]

Moved to E-Book Formats forum.

[theducks]

The render engine is at fault.

Lists are cranky at best on e-readers

Remember. EPUB is a subset of HTML

a number of ereader engines are EPUB Plus extras. don't count on the extras accros brands, and sometimes, even models

[HarryT]

The "<BLOCKQUOTE>" tag should be supported by all devices; it's basic HTML. I've certainly not encountered a device which doesn't support it.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by crankypants

1. What is the minimal code in the XHTML files of an EPUB?

There is no minimal code. Theoretically, you should be able to use any valid XHTML file in an ePub.
Some tags/CSS rules aren't supported, though.
You can easily check your ePub with the online version of the official IDPF checker, ePubCheck.

Originally Posted by crankypants

I ask because Sigil doesn't support some tags like: <aside>, <blockquote>, and <codeblock>.

Sigil 0.8.x does support all of these tags, if you use the proper doctype for HTML5 files. However, if you want to use <aside> or <code>, you'll have to convert your book to an ePub3 book with the Sigil ePub3 output plugin. (<blockquote> can also be used in epub2 books.)

Originally Posted by crankypants

My Google Play reader for Android doesn't render this list correctly (manually entered in Calibre)

Theoretically, all ePub apps and eInk readers should display valid ePubs correctly, however, very few apps actually support all features defined in the ePub2/3 standards.
There are many other Android epub apps out there that might display your book better. I'd recommend a free Adobe RMSDK based app, e.g. Bluefire Reader.

Originally Posted by HarryT

The "<BLOCKQUOTE>" tag should be supported by all devices; it's basic HTML. I've certainly not encountered a device which doesn't support it.

Many ebook designers use <blockquote> tags incorrectly. For example, the following code fragment will be flagged by epubcheck:

  <blockquote>
    This is a blockquote.
  </blockquote>

However, if you add paragraph tags (or other suitable tags), the book will pass epubcheck:

    <blockquote>
      <p>This is a blockquote.</p>
    </blockquote>

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Many ebook designers use <blockquote> tags incorrectly. For example, the following code fragment will be flagged by epubcheck:

  <blockquote>
    This is a blockquote.
  </blockquote>

However, if you add paragraph tags (or other suitable tags), the book will pass epubcheck:

    <blockquote>
      <p>This is a blockquote.</p>
    </blockquote>

Thanks - that's just ignorance . I find it an extremely useful feature and use it in virtually all the books I create. It's extremely useful for purposes like quoting letters.

[Jellby]

Minimal? I guess you can do almost anything with:

<div>, <span>, <img>, <a>

If you want some semantics, you can (and should) use:

<p>, <em>, <strong>, <br/>, <h1>...<h6>, <hr/>, <blockquote>

I think that pretty much covers all I use in my books.

[DaleDe]

All the information you want is in our wiki. See ePub for ePub 2. There is also a ePub 3 article.

Dale

[crankypants]

Sigil 0.8.x does support all of these tags, if you use the proper doctype for HTML5 files.

So what's the proper doctype I should be using for my epub3 books? I'm using this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <title></title>
  <link href="../Styles/Style0001.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>

Which was put in there automatically by Sigil.

Wait, am I missing something? I thought EPUB supported XHTML 2 yet the doctype specifies XHTML 1.1. I want to make EPUB3 books with Sigil, that's my whole goal.

Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. How many ereaders actually support EPUB3? EPUB3 has been out for several years, right?

All I want to do is include images in my books. No audio or video yet.

[crankypants]

About <blockquote> not working in Sigil 0.8.7 preview. When I went to the code/tags view, I typed in a block quote like this:

<blockquote><p>Some long lines long enough to wrap in the Sigil preview.</p>
</blockquote>

The Sigil preview seemed to update but it didn't indent the block quote until I changed the zoom factor. Or does the Sigil preview wait a few seconds when I stop typing to update the preview window?

I have Windows 8.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by crankypants

So what's the proper doctype I should be using for my epub3 books?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html>

Originally Posted by crankypants

I want to make EPUB3 books with Sigil, that's my whole goal.

Sigil has only minimal ePub3 support, it's best to start out with an ePub2 and export it with the ePub3 output plugin once you're done to avoid validation issues. (You can't save ePub3 files with Sigil because Sigil'll downconvert them to ePub2 files.)

Originally Posted by crankypants

How many ereaders actually support EPUB3? EPUB3 has been out for several years, right?

Very few. Once of them is the Kobo. As for mobile apps, there's iBooks for iOS and Gitden Reader for Android/iOS. Adobe has released a new RMSDK with ePub3 support for eInk readers, but, AFAIK, none of the major reader manufacturers has implemented it yet.

Originally Posted by crankypants

All I want to do is include images in my books. No audio or video yet.

In that case epub2 is fully sufficient, because you could easily emulate the functionality of HTML5 tags such as <aside> and <code> with CSS rules.

Originally Posted by crankypants

About <blockquote> not working in Sigil 0.8.7 preview.

I haven't been able to reproduce this issue with Windows 10 and Sigil 0.8.7. Did you assign styles to <p> or <blockquote> tags? If so, they might be causing this issue.

[JSWolf]

If you want 100% minimal, than what you want is just <p></p>

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you want 100% minimal, than what you want is just <p></p>

You know how to get down to the basics.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you want 100% minimal, than what you want is just <p></p>

Try putting that in your table of contents.

Dale