InDesign epub code cleanup

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

I will leave that as a homework assignment…

I would use the smaller font size that works in all cases.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would use the smaller font size that works in all cases.

We know YOU would, but others may want a different look and are willing to do the extra coding to make it work.

[Sarmat89]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Zip uses LZW and/or deflate

Zip files used for containers (EPUB/office docs) can use only deflate compression or none.

[paperwhite13]

The advice I have come across is to just use the <small> tag instead of a span class; ADE renders it just fine. So that would be

<p>S<small>O </small>I<small> HAVE HEARD</small>, said Death.</p>

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

The advice I have come across is to just use the <small> tag instead of a span class; ADE renders it just fine. So that would be

<p>S<small>O </small>I<small> HAVE HEARD</small>, said Death.</p>

Looking Death's Dialogue in paperback edition of Reaper man it's very hard to tell if it's real 'small-caps' or simply a smaller font in capitals. The starts of Death's sentences uses a regular capital.

What happens on ereaders or apps that don't support Media Queries?
[Edit: the dog ate my homework text books]

I only see them in ebooks downloaded from Amazon.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Looking Death's Dialogue in paperback edition of Reaper man it's very hard to tell if it's real 'small-caps' or simply a smaller font in capitals. The starts of Death's sentences uses a regular capital.

What happens on ereaders or apps that don't support Media Queries?
[Edit: the dog ate my homework text books]

I only see them in ebooks downloaded from Amazon.

As long as the media queries are not taken as errors, ADE should ignore them. So you would would get small-caps in the smaller font size.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

The advice I have come across is to just use the <small> tag instead of a span class; ADE renders it just fine. So that would be

<p>S<small>O </small>I<small> HAVE HEARD</small>, said Death.</p>

That is the same type of kluge that people have used for things like drop-caps. Unfortunately, there are still quite a few people who use it. It is NOT a recommended technique. It breaks up words so any spelling checkers, or search algorithms would not work, and it is not accessibility friendly...think what TTS programs would sound like: S...O...I...have heard...

In the example I gave above, none of that is an issue.

JSWolf is correct that a standards compliant device/app would just ignore any styling that it doesn't understand/support. So style from most basic to most complex, or older to newer, or least capable to most capable. The device/app will style to its highest level of compatibility without giving any errors. All MQs typically go on their own stylesheet in case older(er) devices that don't support MQs don't lose all the rest of the styling on the sheet.

So I have heard, said Death.

Is basic, but at least it is grammatically correct, readable, searchable, TTS able, etc. If the user doesn't LIKE that they have a basic device then it's up to them to decide if they want upgrade, or just live with it...if they even notice they didn't have the small-caps...they've never seen it on that device.

You can also adjust your coding based on the capabilities of your target devices/apps. If you are marketing on Amazon, you only need to worry about kindle capabilities, not kobo quirks... swap the css sheet to a kobo version if you are going to sell there...not that difficult.

[paperwhite13]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

That is the same type of kluge that people have used for things like drop-caps. Unfortunately, there are still quite a few people who use it. It is NOT a recommended technique. It breaks up words so any spelling checkers, or search algorithms would not work, and it is not accessibility friendly...think what TTS programs would sound like: S...O...I...have heard...

It was my unfortunate contribution (to preserve the exact styling--mixed small caps with regular caps) to the advice that led to that. I think that

<p><small>SO I HAVE HEARD</small>, said Death.</p>

would preserve both the small caps where sighted users are concerned, and the information that Death's words ring differently for everyone else. (Even the previously mentioned Random in Death uses <small> where small caps are concerned )

[paperwhite13]

In my opinion, it's more important when something is in all caps, whether they're regular or small; you need to preserve the caps, first and foremost.

[Quoth]

The PocketBook app TTS seems to largely ignore spans.
Why spell check the HTML? You spell check the source, and no-one should be writing a novel or anything else directly in HTML.
In the paperback book the sentences by Death always start with a regular capital.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by paperwhite13

It was my unfortunate contribution (to preserve the exact styling--mixed small caps with regular caps) to the advice that led to that. I think that

<p><small>SO I HAVE HEARD</small>, said Death.</p>

would preserve both the small caps where sighted users are concerned, and the information that Death's words ring differently for everyone else. (Even the previously mentioned Random in Death uses <small> where small caps are concerned )

That won't work. You have lost the actual caps. With this code, the space is correctly preserved.

CSS

small {
  font-size: 0.8333em;
}

HTML

]<p><small>S<small>O</small> I <small>HAVE</small> <small>HEARD</small>, said Death.</p>

[paperwhite13]

It's not just a line, this is how Death speaks, and I would bet money that there's authorial intent. The caps, regular or small, are part of the book, they need to stay one way or the other.

[Turtle91]

lol. That is assuming the author spell-checks at all!

Starting with a regular capital is grammatically correct, but doesn’t require splitting the letter from the rest of the word.

Reverting back to the “styling is done on the CSS sheet, structure is done in the HTML” I would consider ALL BOLD TYPING in html as styling. Just mark the applicable text with a class, and then you can use all the available CSS options to style it however you want… including different styles for differently capable devices.

But, do as you wish…

[paperwhite13]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That won't work. You have lost the actual caps.

Sorry, I don't understand, what do you mean I've lost the actual caps? It's ironic that this time around you're pushing for writing a CSS class when a simple tag works

[paperwhite13]

Originally Posted by Turtle91

lol. That is assuming the author spell-checks at all!

I'm absolutely certain Terry Pratchett was spell checking and that he meant to use caps when talking about a voice as heavy as neutronium

Originally Posted by Turtle91

Starting with a regular capital is grammatically correct, but doesn’t require splitting the letter from the rest of the word.

I don't understand if this is about my first (bad) comment, or the second one (which I stand by).