Getting rid of Page Lists

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 08:44 AM

I have created an ebook with sigil which is all fine, validates and shows nicely in Kindle Previewer except at the end of the book is a list of contents and pages - which I want to get rid of. I can't find a way of doing that, any advice gratefully received.

DiapDealer · 03-09-2025, 09:00 AM

If you can't delete it, it's probably the NAV document. Which is a required element of epub3.

KevinH · 03-09-2025, 09:44 AM

You can remove the Nav from the OPF spine completely if you do not want your readers to see a Table of Contents as part of their normal reading order. If you just want to hide the PageList you can do so by editing the pagelist nav tag in the Nav itself and adding the hidden attribute.

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 12:51 PM

Many thanks KevinH. That worked perfectly. May I ask a supplementary? Having hidden the navigation links at the end of the book, the dropdown navigation is used but it starts, in my book, with the 'Introduction' in 'Section 4', followed by the Chapters. However I want to add a new nav item for my 'Section 1' (a separate html doc) above the 'Introduction' in the nav list. How can I do that? Do I have to edit the toc.ncx and content.opf docs - I'm a bit scared to do that.

KevinH · 03-09-2025, 01:01 PM

How best to do that depends in how the Nav was constructed in the first place. If it was built by hand and not tied to xhtml heading tags (h1, h2, etc) then editing the nav by hand is probably the best way to go after adding the new section, and dragging and dropping it in BookBrowser where it should be in the proper order.

If your Nav was properly built based on xhtml h1, h2, and h3 tags, the Sigil can completely rebuild the table of contents based on those tags and the order of files in Sigil's Bookbrowser. Be careful not too lose the existing page list as you will be adding "pages".

Either way make a Checkpoint *before* starting any changes (or at the very least do a file save as under a new name) so nothing is ever permanently lost.

Then reading up on the Sigil User Guide so that you better understand how epubs are constructed, and edited is highly recommended.

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 01:12 PM

Section 1 already exists but not appearing in toc.ncx. So do I add a new navPoint element referencing it at the top of the navMap in toc.ncx and that is all?

KevinH · 03-09-2025, 01:17 PM

On epub3 the toc.ncx is NOT used. So Editing the ncx will not help. Is this an epub2 or an epub3.

I assumed with a Nav document, it was an epub3.

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 01:22 PM

It is epub 3

KevinH · 03-09-2025, 01:27 PM

The only reason to add an NCX to an epub3, is to help support ancient epub2 only e-readers. Under the Sigil Tools menu under epub3 tools is a tool to create an NCX from the epub3 nav. It will sync them.

You will need to hand edit the actual epub3 nav document. Following the pattern of the existing li tags inserting a link to the new file.

Once that is done, you can use the epub3 only tool to create/update the ncx fromthe nav if you want to support those older epub2 only e-readers.

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 01:34 PM

As far as I can see, up to the body tag, the HTML of Section 1 is absolutely identical to Section 4 and there is no nav.xhtml document.

KevinH · 03-09-2025, 01:43 PM

The nav need not be called "nav.xhtml". The nav is an xhtml file, not an xml ncx file. One way to identify the epub3 nav document is to mouse over the xhtml files in BookBrowser and see which one has the "nav" property semantic set. Another way is to highlight the suspect file and then right click on it use Sigil's GetInfo menu from the popup. The nav file will have "nav" listed under its Manifest Properties.

KevinH · 03-09-2025, 01:45 PM

Yes all xhtml files are generally nearly identical up to the body tags. It is the body of the file that distinguishes it. The nav's body follows very specific rules about how links in the table of contents are formed that must be followed as the nav must be machine parseable and understanable by all epub3 e-readers.

The nav document is probably the one you edited to hide the Page list in it. Use the GetInfo popup menu on it in BookBrowser to confirm.

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 02:12 PM

Ah, the file toc.xhtml has the 'nav' property semantic set. But I have given the nav tags of both Contents and Page-list a style of 'Display:none' to hide the links at the bottom of the book as you suggested. So if I add the extra file in the nav Contents toc.xhtml, will the automatic navigation pick that up despite the 'Display:none'?

perkin5 · 03-09-2025, 02:17 PM

Oh boy - I've just done that and it works! Thanks so much. I think you have sorted me out and I get it.

03-09-2025, 08:44 AM	#1
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	Getting rid of Page Lists I have created an ebook with sigil which is all fine, validates and shows nicely in Kindle Previewer except at the end of the book is a list of contents and pages - which I want to get rid of. I can't find a way of doing that, any advice gratefully received.

03-09-2025, 09:44 AM	#3
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,403 Karma: 5702578 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	You can remove the Nav from the OPF spine completely if you do not want your readers to see a Table of Contents as part of their normal reading order. If you just want to hide the PageList you can do so by editing the pagelist nav tag in the Nav itself and adding the hidden attribute. Last edited by KevinH; 03-09-2025 at 09:51 AM.

03-09-2025, 01:01 PM	#5
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,403 Karma: 5702578 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	How best to do that depends in how the Nav was constructed in the first place. If it was built by hand and not tied to xhtml heading tags (h1, h2, etc) then editing the nav by hand is probably the best way to go after adding the new section, and dragging and dropping it in BookBrowser where it should be in the proper order. If your Nav was properly built based on xhtml h1, h2, and h3 tags, the Sigil can completely rebuild the table of contents based on those tags and the order of files in Sigil's Bookbrowser. Be careful not too lose the existing page list as you will be adding "pages". Either way make a Checkpoint before starting any changes (or at the very least do a file save as under a new name) so nothing is ever permanently lost. Then reading up on the Sigil User Guide so that you better understand how epubs are constructed, and edited is highly recommended. Last edited by KevinH; 03-09-2025 at 01:03 PM.

03-09-2025, 01:45 PM	#12
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,403 Karma: 5702578 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Yes all xhtml files are generally nearly identical up to the body tags. It is the body of the file that distinguishes it. The nav's body follows very specific rules about how links in the table of contents are formed that must be followed as the nav must be machine parseable and understanable by all epub3 e-readers. The nav document is probably the one you edited to hide the Page list in it. Use the GetInfo popup menu on it in BookBrowser to confirm. Last edited by KevinH; 03-09-2025 at 01:50 PM.

03-09-2025, 02:17 PM	#14
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	Oh boy - I've just done that and it works! Thanks so much. I think you have sorted me out and I get it. Last edited by perkin5; 03-09-2025 at 05:06 PM.

03-09-2025, 09:00 AM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,306 Karma: 203719142 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	If you can't delete it, it's probably the NAV document. Which is a required element of epub3.

03-09-2025, 12:51 PM	#4
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	Many thanks KevinH. That worked perfectly. May I ask a supplementary? Having hidden the navigation links at the end of the book, the dropdown navigation is used but it starts, in my book, with the 'Introduction' in 'Section 4', followed by the Chapters. However I want to add a new nav item for my 'Section 1' (a separate html doc) above the 'Introduction' in the nav list. How can I do that? Do I have to edit the toc.ncx and content.opf docs - I'm a bit scared to do that.

03-09-2025, 01:12 PM	#6
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	Section 1 already exists but not appearing in toc.ncx. So do I add a new navPoint element referencing it at the top of the navMap in toc.ncx and that is all?

03-09-2025, 01:17 PM	#7
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,403 Karma: 5702578 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	On epub3 the toc.ncx is NOT used. So Editing the ncx will not help. Is this an epub2 or an epub3. I assumed with a Nav document, it was an epub3.

03-09-2025, 01:22 PM	#8
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	It is epub 3

03-09-2025, 01:27 PM	#9
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,403 Karma: 5702578 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	The only reason to add an NCX to an epub3, is to help support ancient epub2 only e-readers. Under the Sigil Tools menu under epub3 tools is a tool to create an NCX from the epub3 nav. It will sync them. You will need to hand edit the actual epub3 nav document. Following the pattern of the existing li tags inserting a link to the new file. Once that is done, you can use the epub3 only tool to create/update the ncx fromthe nav if you want to support those older epub2 only e-readers.

03-09-2025, 01:34 PM	#10
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	As far as I can see, up to the body tag, the HTML of Section 1 is absolutely identical to Section 4 and there is no nav.xhtml document.

03-09-2025, 01:43 PM	#11
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,403 Karma: 5702578 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	The nav need not be called "nav.xhtml". The nav is an xhtml file, not an xml ncx file. One way to identify the epub3 nav document is to mouse over the xhtml files in BookBrowser and see which one has the "nav" property semantic set. Another way is to highlight the suspect file and then right click on it use Sigil's GetInfo menu from the popup. The nav file will have "nav" listed under its Manifest Properties.

03-09-2025, 02:12 PM	#13
perkin5 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kindle	Ah, the file toc.xhtml has the 'nav' property semantic set. But I have given the nav tags of both Contents and Page-list a style of 'Display:none' to hide the links at the bottom of the book as you suggested. So if I add the extra file in the nav Contents toc.xhtml, will the automatic navigation pick that up despite the 'Display:none'?

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