Endnotes - how?

[RMOP]

I'm not a regular here, and rarely edit ebooks. But, in working with one today, I could NOT find how to add Endnotes. Somehow, sometime, this ePub book (created from a .DOC file 10+ years ago) is nowshowing up with the previously added Endnotes as just a group of numbered entries at the end of the last chapter. In place of whatever formatting was present at the the time I created this book I find only the numbers corresponding to each footnote in the appropriate locations in the text of the book, just enclosed in square brackets [1] like this. But nothing to link them to the actual notes. There's only a dozen or so, so I don't mind inserting them by hand, but I cannot find the tool in the Calibre Editor for this. Just doesn't seem to be there. What am I missing, please? Many thanks.

[BetterRed]

I use Sigil for this, it has a couple of specific tools that help -- Insert->ID and Insert->Link.

Can't see anything similar in the calibre editor (surprisingly)… maybe I missed it.

The Sigil manual should provide you with sufficient detail to fix what you have using the calibre book editor - Sigil User Guide - look for the Links and IDs section in the ToC.

BR

[enuddleyarbl]

There's no tool in Calibre to create footnotes/endnotes. You'll have to do it manually. This is what I do for my footnotes:

For the source of the footnote (the place in the text that's pointing at the actual note), I use:

<a id="fn1" href="#fn1a" epub:type="noteref"><sup>n</sup></a>

That goes right next to the text that you want to have a footnote on. If you're not using epub3, the 'epub:type="noteref"' bit won't work, so just leave it off. Basically, all that does is set up an id on an anchor (the a id="fn1" bit (each footnote will need its own id so the footnote can link back to this location) and link to where the footnote is (the href= bit (again, unique ids, I just tack on an "a" to the end of the anchor id -- if the footnote is in the same file (chapter), then you can get by with the "#" -- if it's in a different file (perhaps an Endnote file near the end of the book), you'll need to insert the actual file name in there -- Calibre should give suggestions as you type).

For the target note, I use:

<aside id="fn1a" class="footnote" epub:type="footnote"><p><a href="#fn1"><sup>n</sup></a>.thenote.</p></aside>

Epub3 is needed for the aside and the epub:type= bits. If you're using epub2, then ignore the epub:type bit and use a div in place of the aside. The id will be the one the href in the source targeted and the href will use the href back to the source id.

EDIT: Oops. Forgot to mention, the 'class="footnote"' is for whatever css class you set up to format the footnote the way you want it. And, if you are using epub3, the epub:type should be "endnote", not "footnote" if that's what you're setting up.

[RMOP]

Originally Posted by enuddleyarbl

There's no tool in Calibre to create footnotes/endnotes. You'll have to do it manually. This is what I do for my footnotes:

<a id="fn1" href="#fn1a" epub:type="noteref"><sup>n</sup></a>

if the footnote is in the same file (chapter), then you can get by with the "#" -- if it's in a different file (perhaps an Endnote file near the end of the book), you'll need to insert the actual file name in there

<aside id="fn1a" class="footnote" epub:type="footnote"><p><a href="#fn1"><sup>n</sup></a>.thenote.</p></aside>

EDIT: Oops. Forgot to mention, the 'class="footnote"' is for whatever css class you set up to format the footnote the way you want it. And, if you are using epub3, the epub:type should be "endnote", not "footnote" if that's what you're setting up.

Many thanks. I've made substantial progress, and re-reading your instructions revealed what I am missing. ALL of my endnotes are at the end of the last chapter, meaning that w/o explicitly naming the file containing that chapter, the endnote links work ONLY for those which are ALSO in that last chapter.

I feel like I'm trying to build a piece of fine furniture using a axe and sledge hammer, so out-of-practice am I in a skill which I never pretended to master. So, I'm still a bit fuzzy about what the link should look like when making explicit reference to the file containing the endnotes.

Would, for example #fn1a" be replacged with the actual filename (index_split_018) of that last chapter? or what? I know I'm close since I have the three endnotes working within that last chapter. Just not exactly sure what it should look like. Here are the two snippets of the current (non-working) code for an endnote from a prior chapter:

<a id="fn14" href="#fn14a" epub:type="endnote"><sup>14</sup></a>”</p>

<div class="calibre1"><div class="s1"><p class="calibre2"><aside id="fn14a" class="endnote" epub:type="endnote"><p><a href="#fn14"><sup>14</sup></a><i> “Depart, Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of the Father…”</i></p>

Your patience is appreciated.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by RMOP

Would, for example #fn1a" be replacged with the actual filename (index_split_018) of that last chapter?

You need to point the file and the id, like this: index_split_018.xhtml#fn14.

Assuming your file with the note reference is 'index_split_18.xthml' and your endnotes are in file called 'endnotes.xhtml', then you would have this:

<a id="fn14" href="endnotes.xhtml#fn14a" epub:type="endnote"><sup>14</sup></a></p>

<div class="calibre1"><div class="s1"><p class="calibre2"><aside id="fn14a" class="endnote" epub:type="endnote"><p><a href="index_split_018.xhtml#fn14"><sup>14</sup></a><i> “Depart, Christian soul, out of this world, in the name of the Father…”</i></p>

[enuddleyarbl]

Adding a bit to what thiago.eec just said, if you've got the ids set in their respective id= lines, as you enter text in the href="" areas, Calibre should pop up a list of the various ids you can use. You ought to be able to cursor down to the one you want and right arrow out of it to select it. If it's not there, then you'll have to type the information. But, copy/paste should make things easier. If the endnotes are not randomly formatted, you might be able to speed things up with a search/replace on their formatting.

Also, and this could just be a matter of a partial copy/paste to the forum, you haven't closed your aside or divs in your 2nd code snippet.

And, I'll also mention that if the book doesn't have too many endnotes and if they're not big honkin' one, I just cut/paste them up to where they're referenced (getting rid of the filename in the hrefs). I even put them directly following the referencing paragraph instead of at the end of the chapter.

[RMOP]

Well, thank you again, very much. That did the trick (once I remembered to add the .xhtml extensions to the files being refereced - duh). I also created a new file "Endnotes.xhtml" and moved the endnotes there. Tidier.

[Doitsu]

Shameless plug: you might find my Sigil footnotes plugin helpful.

[RMOP]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Shameless plug: you might find my Sigil footnotes plugin helpful.

Thank you. Yes. I'll be checking it out. I only had 17 endnotes, but it was a real thrash to get that bit of xhtml just so. Whew. I recall that the original endnotes were produced in a .DOC file, so Calibre converted it just fine, probably to .MOBI, if I recall. But somehow the derivative .ePUB from THAT didn't convert the endnotes properly. But, I'll have to learn ePub anyway, as Kindle no longer accepts .MOBI format for the Send to Kindle bit.

[RMOP]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Shameless plug: you might find my Sigil footnotes plugin helpful.

Well, I downloaded the plugin and attempted to add it to Calibre. However, I got an error message:

calibre, version 6.14.0
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>InvalidPlugin</b>:The plugin in 'Z:\\DATA\\Calibre\\FootnoteLinker_v0.3.3.zip' is invalid. It does not contain a top-level __init__.py file

calibre 6.14 embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.19045')
Python 3.10.1
Windows: ('10', '10.0.19045', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
Successfully initialized third party plugins: Gather KFX-ZIP (from KFX Input) (1, 51, 0) && DeDRM (7, 0, 3) && Package KFX (from KFX Input) (1, 51, 0) && KFX metadata reader (from KFX Input) (1, 51, 0) && KFX Input (1, 51, 0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\gui2\preferences\plugins.py", line 325, in add_plugin
File "calibre\customize\ui.py", line 513, in add_plugin
File "calibre\customize\ui.py", line 64, in load_plugin
File "calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 298, in load
File "calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 393, in _locate_code
calibre.customize.InvalidPlugin: The plugin in 'Z:\\DATA\\Calibre\\FootnoteLinker_v0.3.3.zip' is invalid. It does not contain a top-level __init__.py file

No clue how to resolve this, but I'd like to try this plugin. Any help, please? Thanks.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by RMOP

No clue how to resolve this, but I'd like to try this plugin. Any help, please? Thanks.

Unfortunately, this plugin will only work with Sigil. (I mentioned it, because many epub creators use both Calibre Editor and Sigil.)

[RMOP]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Unfortunately, this plugin will only work with Sigil. (I mentioned it, because many epub creators use both Calibre Editor and Sigil.)

OK. My ignorance has been marginally reduced. Thanks. I'll take a look at Sigil. Thanks again.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Can't see anything similar in the calibre editor (surprisingly)… maybe I missed it.

There is no dedicated button for this. inserting ids is trivial to do. And the calibre editor autocompletes for you when you type the href of a link, popping up a list of files and anchors automatically, without needing to press a button. Not to mention that there is an insert hyperlink button as well, if you prefer a dedicated tool.

[RMOP]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

There is no dedicated button for this. inserting ids is trivial to do. And the calibre editor autocompletes for you when you type the href of a link, popping up a list of files and anchors automatically, without needing to press a button. Not to mention that there is an insert hyperlink button as well, if you prefer a dedicated tool.

Thanks. Well, now that I'm working w the code again, I find it tedious but otherwise trivial to insert endnotes. As long as I put placeholders for all needed endnote anchors and don't miss any (and have to re-number things), it's not too painful for a dozen or so endnotes.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by RMOP

Thanks. Well, now that I'm working w the code again, I find it tedious but otherwise trivial to insert endnotes. As long as I put placeholders for all needed endnote anchors and don't miss any (and have to re-number things), it's not too painful for a dozen or so endnotes.

Wait till you get asked to look at a scholarly publication where the author added close to a thousand footnotes/endnotes (some of the footnotes had 3 or more footnotes) and now wants someone to convert them to properly linked notes. For free and with a tight deadline. "The computer should be able to do all that..."

TANSTAAFL

Can't find the source of the other quote I likely misquoted horribly:

There's only one thing I do for free and that is nothing.