BookDesigner vs Crocodile Wrestling

[=X=]

Well after wrestling with BookDesigner this weekend I got to wondering, wrestling Crocodiles can't be much harder?

What do you all think?

[Patricia]

Well, I use BD most evenings and have got used to its occasional oddities. I've never tried the crocodile wrestling (there aren't many in Wales) so can't make a useful comparison.
What's been giving you problems in BD?

[zelda_pinwheel]

pff. wrestling THREE crocodiles is easier. with one arm tied behind my back. and blindfolded.


(that's why i stopped using it, and am hoping that someone will make a better app. or that calibre will soon support other formats.)

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by =X=

Well after wrestling with BookDesigner this weekend I got to wondering, wrestling Crocodiles can't be much harder?

What do you all think?

Heh!

Wrestling crocs is *EASY*!

First you toss in a few dozen grenades.
Then you pull out the croc bodies.
Finally you wrap them all up in a bow.

Now, wrestling with BookDesigner on the other hand.... makes me shake with fear!

Derek

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Well, I use BD most evenings and have got used to its occasional oddities. I've never tried the crocodile wrestling (there aren't many in Wales) so can't make a useful comparison.
What's been giving you problems in BD?

Well this is more a tongue and cheek post but since you asked. BTW Thanks

There are a lot of quirks that I've learned to work around.
I think the biggest issue I have yet to resolve one is with the format styles. They are just not WSYWIG. If used as is BD does mostly creates the eBooks with the expected format but if I deviate from the default format, the changes are not seen in the eBook. If I close out of BD and re-open it the formatting is also lost.

As an aside, I've yet to create a book without having to modify the HTML source, I feel bad for folks who are trying to use this tool and do not know HTML.

[Patricia]

Fair points.

TOCs
1. The automatic TOC will appear directly under the title (or first subtitle). If you don't want it there then it's fastest to leave it alone and to rearrange subtitles etc by cutting and pasting them around the TOC.
2. If you need to change an item in the automatic TOC then either delete the faulty entry (often best done by using the delete arrow rather than highlighting, for some reason.)
Alternatively, go to 'Edit/notes and links' and delete the link for the faulty entry. This will cause it to appear as ordinary text, which can be deleted or amended.
3. To add an entry, type it into the TOC, then go to 'Edit/notes and links' and add the new entry as a link. I find it easiest first to add the relevant section heading as a note, then link it to the new TOC entry.


Saving Files
BD is very quirky here. In the beginning I lost a couple of novels. How I swore.
This is what I do now.
1. Put text into BD (I just drag and drop the file in).
2. Check that it's vaguely ok -- basically whether BD has noticed the paragraph breaks.
3. Go to 'Make ebooks' and IMMEDIATELY make a book designer book. As I work on it, I try to hit the save changes button fairly regularly. This guarantees that your changes will be saved because it ensures that you have a location to save them.
(My original problems occured when I was working on two books at the same time. BD will save the last file [most of the time] but that doesn't work if you are juggling two books. Incidentally the Book designer books are typically saved in 'My Computer/C drive/program files/ Book Designer/BD'. This is useful to know, if you want to revise an earlier book.

Indenting
My experience is that BD will do a four-space indent automatically, whether you want it or not. It won't do more or less. This is a real pain if you ever want to convert poetry.


When you talk about 'Anote', do you mean 'notes and links'? They are for creating manual TOCs and for hyperlinking footnotes.
I've found that some html files have loads of surplus links, so click on 'notes and links/empty links' to delete the surplus. I also use it to fix broken notes and links.

WYSIWYG
I agree that BD is not perfect here. I use 'tools/element browser' a lot, in order to check that the titles, subtitles, italics, etc have come out where I want them.
Also 'view/ show nbls' ('show non-broken line-space') is useful when you want to make very precise changes.

I have to agree with you that this is not a perfect program. But it is surprisingly good. A few tweaks could make it even better. I'm only sorry that vvv, who invented it, hasn't had time to issue an update for a year now. I'm hoping that he will return to it before too long.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Heh!

Wrestling crocs is *EASY*!

That's what I figured. I've watch "Crocodile Hunter" several times. I think I can take a croc or two on.

[Donnageddon]

Have you tried rubbing BookDesigner's belly to make it sleep while you tie a rope around its snout and file it's sharp teeth?

[DMcCunney]

BD is certainly harder. I've wrestled with BD. I wouldn't try to wrestle a croc...
______
Dennis

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

Have you tried rubbing BookDesigner's belly to make it sleep while you tie a rope around its snout and file it's sharp teeth?

hm. maybe *that's* what i was doing wrong.

[nrapallo]

BD is harder (but safer )!

I could never get BD to properly recognize the html source (with images) I've tried in the past. Most html files were already well layed out and BD would then "destroy" that initial work with it's own rendition. So I gave up on it!

It seems to work well with properly formatted text, though.

[montsnmags]

Lies! All lies! I call your bluff and ask you, "How many have actually wrestled a crocodile?"

That's right. Nobody. Well, by crikey, I live only 20 minutes from the Irwin Crocodile Wrestling Gymnasium, also known as "Australia Zoo", and having wrestled with BookDesigner (BD is such a rambunctiously active little fella - grab him by the claws and tickle though, and he just curls up in your lap), I can tell you that my morning crocodile wrestling aerobic gym class is significantly more difficult. After I've wrestled, flipped and tied my forth or fifth croc' well I'm just completely buggered and it's all I can do to lift my breakfast vegemite toast to my cakehole.

Crocodile-wrestling...not easy, but you should try bunyip-wrangling sometime. Now that is difficult.

Incidentally, there's some nice points in there, Patricia, thanks. I wonder if they'd fit into the Wiki somewhere? (Maybe they're already there...I'll just go have a squizz...)

Cheers,
Marc

[slayda]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

pff. wrestling THREE crocodiles is easier. with one arm tied behind my back. and blindfolded.


(that's why i stopped using it, and am hoping that someone will make a better app. or that calibre will soon support other formats.)

How do you tie a crocodile's arm behind your back? And it seems unfair to blind fold them!

[Donnageddon]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

... it's all I can do to lift my breakfast vegemite toast to my cakehole...

Cheers,
Marc

I don't know why, but whenever I hear the word vegamite, I think of Spam (the lunheon meat, not the annoying email). Yes, I know they are completely different, but... anyway.

I wish I could find some vegamite. I am just fascinated by the concept of "a dark brown savoury food paste made from yeast extract". Leftover brewers' yeast no less!

I got to get some of this stuff!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I don't know why, but whenever I hear the word vegamite, I think of Spam (the lunheon meat, not the annoying email). Yes, I know they are completely different, but... anyway.

Possibly because they share a critical characteristic: no one who wasn't raised on them can understand how anyone can actually eat them.
______
Dennis