Quotation marks - "" to “”.

[benkuttner]

Hi,

I've read some of the threads relating to quotation marks from 2013 and could not find a definitive answer.

I have these kind of quotation marks "".

I'm after more interesting quotation marks “”.

I'm at the point in editing my ebook in Sigil where a simple CSS code would be perfect, rather than find and replacing "" to “” in every chapter.

Is this possible? Or are there no easy fixes for this?

Thanks in advance!

[JSWolf]

The problem you are going to have is you will need to read the entire book to make sure you've converted the quotes and apostrophes correctly.

You can install a plugin for Sigil to do the conversion for you. It's called Smarten Punctuation plugin.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=247088

[benkuttner]

Thanks for that. Have you used the plugin before? I'd probably still read it after using the plugin to be sure...

[DiapDealer]

The plugin uses the SmartyPants algorithm. It will not handle every, single edge-case scenario, but it will handle most common situations. The point is that any totally hands-off automated quotation-smartening process can be tricked. You'll want to proof the results carefully.

[Tex2002ans]

I still stand by what I said last year when Smart Quotes were brought up:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...21#post3290621

#1: Run through Diap's Smarten Punctuation.
#2: Run some Regex to check for a few common errors (‘em ‘til ‘twas -> ’em ’til ’twas + wrong quotes around em dashes).
#3 (Optional): Run through Toxaris's Dialogue Check. (This is BY FAR the most effective way to catch lingering quotation mark issues.)

[Notjohn]

I asked this question on this forum a while ago, and some kind soul gave me a clip that did the job. Alas, it's not on my travel notebook, so I can't paste it here, but likely a search would turn up that thread.

[jcsalomon]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

#3 (Optional): Run through Toxaris's Dialogue Check. (This is BY FAR the most effective way to catch lingering quotation mark issues.)

Where is this? Doesn’t seem to be in the Sigil plug-in index, or anywhere else obvious.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by jcsalomon

Where is this? Doesn’t seem to be in the Sigil plug-in index, or anywhere else obvious.

It's Toxaris's Microsoft Word plugin: "ePUB Tools"

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=213372

It has a button called "Dialogue Check", which is by far the best (and most thorough) tool I've used for quotation mark correction.

[Steadyhands]

I use this to fix words that have been shortened.

[ ]?‘(?i)(\d\d|ad[nta]{0,2}|app[yines]{0,5}|appen[eds]{0,2}|alf|ard[er]{0,2}|arf|arm|alf|ang[edingman]{0,3}|andsome|andle[ding]{0,3}|av[eing]{0,4}|bout|bye|cause|cept[ing]{0,3}|copter[s]{0,1}|cos|cross|cuz|course|d|e[emr]{0,1}|ea[singd]{1,4}|eartie[s]{0,1}|ell|elp[edling]{0,5}|ere[abouts]{0,6}|er[self]{0,4}|eard|f|fraid|fore|ford|isself|id|igh[er]{0,2}|ighness|im[self]{0,5}|gain[st]{0,2}|kay|less|lectric|mongst|member|n|nd|night|ne ath|nough|nother|nuff|o[o]{0,1}|old|ood|ome|ow|op[eding]{0,3}|ole|ot|oney|orse[flesh]{0,5}|ouse[ds]{0,1}|pon|puter[eds]{0,2}|prentice|r|round|s|scuse[ds]{0,1}|spect[sed]{0,2}|scaped|sides|splain[eding]{0,3}|special[ly]{0,2}(?!\’)|splosion|stead|t|taint|til|tis[n]{0,1}|twas[n]{0,1}|tween|twere[n]{0,1}|twon|twou[ldn]{1,3}|twill|ud|un|undred|urt[s]{0,1}|vise|way)([\p{P}|\s])

Replace with

’\1\2

It can be a little too greedy at times and get words you don't want, usually with shortened words that are a word themselves i.e. member could be either remember shortened to ’member or just member. What the original was makes a difference. I've tried to make it as universal as possible, i.e. appen[eds]{0,2} will do ’appen, ’appened, ’appens.

Open to suggestions also.