Kindle Previewer not seeing TOC

[John123]

Hi All,

I have started using KindlePreviewer to compile mobi files from epub edited in Sigil. The TOC is fine in the epub file but KindlePreviewer shows its TOC greyed out . . . not there?

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks,

John.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by John123

Hi All,

I have started using KindlePreviewer to compile mobi files from epub edited in Sigil. The TOC is fine in the epub file but KindlePreviewer shows its TOC greyed out . . . not there?

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks,

John.

John:

You need an HTML TOC (sometimes called an "inline TOC") and a guide item in the OPF pointing thereto. Once you've done that, compile the book with Previewer and your TOC should be active.

Hitch

[John123]

Originally Posted by Hitch

John:

You need an HTML TOC (sometimes called an "inline TOC") and a guide item in the OPF pointing thereto. Once you've done that, compile the book with Previewer and your TOC should be active.

Hitch

Hi Hitch,

Thanks once again for coming to the rescue!

I don't know if this is the forum to make such an observation, but, in my humble opinion the whole ebook industry (which is growing exponentially), seems to be just a little haphazard. By which I mean the production of ebooks. We use free software, Sigil, Calibre, KindlePreviewer, etc. fantastic in their own right, but seem just a little rough around the edges. Both the main platforms (epub and mobi), are not, if you like, "joined up". I guess you could draw some parallels to the VHS/Betamax video thing of the early '80s.

The bottom feeders, such as myself, need you technical guys to give us workarounds and tweeks to get it all to work properly. I see lots of posts on here which roughly say: "This didn't work" or "That didn't appear as it should" etc. etc.

I just wonder if the big boys, Adobe Amazon et al. are waiting in the wings to let the dust settle and bring out a cohesive one-stop-shop program? Or are they waiting to see which platform has the ascendancy. Which, indeed, may not be the best one, just the most expeditious, money-making ereader.

This forum, and the programs used therein, is fantastic and work very well, so please don't think I am bad-mouthing anything or anyone, just merely observations.

Once again, Hitch, thank you very much for your help.

Cheers,

John.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by John123

Hi Hitch,

Thanks once again for coming to the rescue!

I don't know if this is the forum to make such an observation, but, in my humble opinion the whole ebook industry (which is growing exponentially), seems to be just a little haphazard. By which I mean the production of ebooks. We use free software, Sigil, Calibre, KindlePreviewer, etc. fantastic in their own right, but seem just a little rough around the edges. Both the main platforms (epub and mobi), are not, if you like, "joined up". I guess you could draw some parallels to the VHS/Betamax video thing of the early '80s.

The bottom feeders, such as myself, need you technical guys to give us workarounds and tweeks to get it all to work properly. I see lots of posts on here which roughly say: "This didn't work" or "That didn't appear as it should" etc. etc.

I just wonder if the big boys, Adobe Amazon et al. are waiting in the wings to let the dust settle and bring out a cohesive one-stop-shop program? Or are they waiting to see which platform has the ascendancy. Which, indeed, may not be the best one, just the most expeditious, money-making ereader.

This forum, and the programs used therein, is fantastic and work very well, so please don't think I am bad-mouthing anything or anyone, just merely observations.

Once again, Hitch, thank you very much for your help.

Cheers,

John.

Dear John:

No problem. I don't think anyone is "waiting in the wings," so to speak. I actually think that Amazon, et al, were surprised by the response to the legitimization of self-publishing, and are a step or two behind in creating self-pubbing tools...not ahead of the wave. I mean, hell, think where we'd all be if whatsisname (oh, hell...Valloric, that's it) hadn't created Sigil, and if user_none, meme, etc., hadn't taken it over.

Ebookery is sort of in its "wild west" phase right now. It's a bit like a boom town...parts of the town spring up immediately, other parts not so quickly, and everybody is complaining about the parts that aren't built yet, or the fact that to get to the saloon you have to hike through two feet of mud out on the unpaved street through which the rainwater runoff flows. {shrug}. This is pretty common stuff in "new" trends. And while there are folks here (and elsewhere) who've been making ePUBs, or .lit or .pdb, etc., for their e-readers ahead of the trend for a while, the general public really only caught fire on e-reading in late 2009 and 2010, so the trend is relatively new. Thus, we all build whatever houses we can in the boom town and hope that they don't get caught in a flood, LOL.

Anyway, you're welcome. No problem.

Hitch

[John123]

Wonderful analogy. I have a vision of the man with no name riding off into the sunset with a Kindle in his holster.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by John123

Wonderful analogy. I have a vision of the man with no name riding off into the sunset with a Kindle in his holster.

"Shane, Shane! Shane, come back! What's the secret to the Start Reading Location?" ;-)

Hitch