Skeleton CSS

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

So if Mobi 7 is all HTML does that mean that kindlegen (in my case) is figuring out all of the CSS (precedence, combinators, cascade, etc.) in the epub it's being fed and generates pre-CSS HTML that closely matches as possible what the CSS specified?

Yes, effectively.

Hitch

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Yes, effectively.

Hitch

Great, thanks. That doesn't sound so bad. My CSS works on my old Kindle Touch so hopefully what kindlegen produces looks reasonable on the old Mobi.

[lumpynose]

Heh, I just remembered that I have a drawer of old devices; found my old Palm Pilot M105. It uses AAA batteries so I popped 2 in and it boots just fine. Now I need to enable the serial port on my PC so that I can transfer files to it. Is this a reasonable reader for it or is there something better?

http://www.mobyware.org/mobipocket-r...et-108327.html

And this for connecting the Palm to my pc.

https://www.companionlink.com/suppor..._On_Windows_10

Edit: Even better, I found a Palm III xe. And the cradle I found is for it, not the M105.

And a Dell Windows Mobile PDA (not Windows CE). Now to see if its battery holds a charge ...

I feel like a necromancer, waking up these dead devices. "Skeleton CSS" indeed.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Gang:

what about just using an older KP? Previewer (old style) shows KF7/mobi/prc/whatever. I still have it AND use it

Hitch

Amazon is trying really hard to discourage use of the older Previewer 2. From the Kindle Previewer 3 web page regarding the older Previewer:

Amazon no longer supports this version of Kindle Previewer, and does not provide software or security updates. The layout of your book will look different to customers reading on latest Kindle devices and apps, and your installation might be vulnerable to security risks.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Amazon is trying really hard to discourage use of the older Previewer 2. From the Kindle Previewer 3 web page regarding the older Previewer:

Hell, I know that. But he asked how to see KF7 file appearance. Every time I start it up I get whines and warnings from Amazon, but it saves me effort if a file has a fatal flaw, instead of the onerousness of having to sideload the cursed thing, synch it, etc. first. Ya know?

Hitch

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Hell, I know that. But he asked how to see KF7 file appearance. Every time I start it up I get whines and warnings from Amazon, but it saves me effort if a file has a fatal flaw, instead of the onerousness of having to sideload the cursed thing, synch it, etc. first. Ya know?

Hitch

I also use Previewer 2. I just think it is funny how hard Amazon tries to make people stop using it, even though it still serves a useful purpose.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I also use Previewer 2. I just think it is funny how hard Amazon tries to make people stop using it, even though it still serves a useful purpose.

Still lets you see Kindle DX and ~ how KF7 (old MOBI) would look on older devices.

Helps make sure your fallback CSS works fine.

Kindle Previewer 3 doesn't let you do that since it's only displaying KF8 (KFX(?) because of "Enhanced Typesetting"?).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

So if Mobi 7 is all HTML does that mean that kindlegen (in my case) is figuring out all of the CSS (precedence, combinators, cascade, etc.) in the epub it's being fed and generates pre-CSS HTML that closely matches as possible what the CSS specified?

Yes, that's what's going on. that nice CSS file is being integrated into the HTML. It's a right mess when you look at the code from a Mobi eBook.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Chaihana Joe

One would think that, somewhere out there, somebody would have posted an elegant barebones ePub CSS file for novice book designers to base their work on. Try as I might, though, I haven't been able to find one.

Can anyone point me to such a thing? I'm looking for a minimal approach - maybe a hundred lines of code, max. I don't care if not every eventuality is catered for, in fact I'd see working under the constraints of something so simple to be a good discipline.

I would be looking for something that worked pretty much universally across platforms.

TIA

The best way to get a skeleton CSS is when you are working on eBooks, create your own. Use the full file for each eBook you make. Save the CSS separately and then when you are done making the eBook, remove all unused CSS. But what you will end up with is your version of a clean CSS file that you can use.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I also use Previewer 2. I just think it is funny how hard Amazon tries to make people stop using it, even though it still serves a useful purpose.

Because they'd rather people replace their old kindles than have ebook publishers tweak their books to work on old devices.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Because they'd rather people replace their old kindles than have ebook publishers tweak their books to work on old devices.

Poorly formatted books—without proper fallbacks—can still get dinged for KQNs (Kindle Quality Notices). Hitch has written about this extensively over the years.

[radius]

Originally Posted by Chaihana Joe

One would think that, somewhere out there, somebody would have posted an elegant barebones ePub CSS file for novice book designers to base their work on. Try as I might, though, I haven't been able to find one.

Personally, I quite like the formatting of Feedbooks ebooks for learning on. The coding is clean and consistent; it isn't too complicated; and it includes most things you need for a book.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Poorly formatted books—without proper fallbacks—can still get dinged for KQNs (Kindle Quality Notices). Hitch has written about this extensively over the years.

Well in that case it's not funny and they should incorporate some way of testing the fallbacks with the current version.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Well in that case it's not funny and they should incorporate some way of testing the fallbacks with the current version.

Kindle Previewer 2.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Kindle Previewer 2.

Yes, but I meant implement it in Kindle Previewer 3 since they're discouraging people from using 2.