epub 2.0 vs epub 3.0???

[Gregg Bell]

I haven't used Sigil in months and now that I am I notice the -epub 2.0 at the end of the file name. So I googled 2.0 vs 3.0. There are of course some differences but from what I could tell they weren't very substantial. Anyway.

1) As a writer self publishing on Apple, Kobo, B&N, Amazon, am I okay with the 2.0 or should I be using 3.0?

2) If answer to question #1 is I should be using 3.0, how do I do that via Sigil?

[DiapDealer]

1) Not really a Sigil-related question. The arguments of 2 being better/worse than (or preferable to) 3 (and vice versa) are better left to other venues/discussions. Sigil simply allows you to create both.

2) You choose in the general preferences whether you want new epubs to be created as EPUB2 or EPUB3. Otherwise, Sigil opens existing epubs as they were created. The name in the title bar just lets you know what format you're currently working with.

If you have existing EPUB2s and wish to convert them to EPUB3s, you use the Epub3-itizer plugin.

[JSWolf]

Unless you are wanting features of ePub 3 that do not exist in ePub 2, then stick with ePub 2 as there would be no reason to go ePub 3 and it would be more difficult to make the ePub 3 vs the ePub 2.

[DiapDealer]

This is exactly why I suggested that this sort of discussion would be best left to other venues: personal opinion and/or dogma being presented as fact. The fact is: there are two epub standards being utilized today in the ebook world. Sigil is agnostic about which you choose to use. Seek enlightenment about which will better suit your needs/purposes eleswhere, because there's very little true objectivity on the subject to be found around here.

[cedhax]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

I haven't used Sigil in months and now that I am I notice the -epub 2.0 at the end of the file name. So I googled 2.0 vs 3.0. There are of course some differences but from what I could tell they weren't very substantial. Anyway.

1) As a writer self publishing on Apple, Kobo, B&N, Amazon, am I okay with the 2.0 or should I be using 3.0?

2) If answer to question #1 is I should be using 3.0, how do I do that via Sigil?

I recommend you stick with EPUB 2.0, unless you absolutely need some EPUB 3.0 feature. For example, if you intend to publish books with vertical writing (Japanese, Chinese), or audio, video clips, or MathML stuff, then you absolutely need EPUB 3.0, as they are not EPUB 2.0 features.

From the way you frame your questions, it sounds like that you don't need these 3.0 features. If so, stick with EPUB 2.0.

Even if you were to publish in EPUB 3.0, it might get downgraded to effectively 2.0, as not all existing reader devices from Apple, Kobo, B&N, Amazon, etc. can handle EPUB 3.0 and its (approx.) equivalent formats.

[DiapDealer]

I'm closing this thread. Question #2 has been answered, and question #1 is not relevant to Sigil. Feel free, Gregg, to take up the question of which epub standard is "best" for your needs in the Workshop Forum. I'm afraid it's simply got nothing to do with Sigil.