Converting a website to an e-book (newbie question)

[Rovertek]

Hi, everybody,

This is my first post—as I am very new to e-books.

My elderly aunt does not use Internet, so I thought I would show her our family website as an e-book.

Is it possible to convert an existing website to an e-book? I heard something about the Calibre app, but I know nothing about it. I am the website creator, so I have all files, if conversion is—in fact—possible.

I'm assuming that the converted website would have to be stored in reader's local memory or on memory-card?

I am an Apple Mac/iPad user. Currently, I don't own any kind of specialized e-reader. Which e-reader device would be best for such task? Can I use my iPad for that?

Open to all suggestions. Sorry for my ignorance...

[kovidgoyal]

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...specific-order

[Rovertek]

Thank you, Kovid.

Does anyone have answers to my more general questions from my original post?

[darryl]

Originally Posted by Rovertek

Hi, everybody,

I am an Apple Mac/iPad user. Currently, I don't own any kind of specialized e-reader. Which e-reader device would be best for such task? Can I use my iPad for that?

Open to all suggestions. Sorry for my ignorance...

You can use your ipad to read ebooks. IBooks is integrated, but many Apple users in these forums seem to use Marvin. Both programs will read epub books. The simplest thing is for you to just buy your books from the IBooks app, Amazon also has an app for IOS, though I believe Apple won't let this app link to Amazon's site, so buying your ebooks from Amazon directly on your IPad is not as easy as on Amazon's other apps. Of course, you can use the browser to purchase your books from Amazon if you wish.

You will see references to sideloading in these forums. What this essentially means is buying ebooks from stores other than the one tied to your device and then loading those books on to your device. I understand Marvin and IBooks will read epubs, and sideloading is possible to Marvin and last I heard also to IBooks, though with IOS it is always necessary to check the current situation.

I do not read on an Apple device so what I have posted is just my understanding gleaned from various sources and not from my own experience. Hopefully others here will correct anything I may have got wrong.

If you want a specialised reader there are many choices. Some read through apps on phones or tablets. Others prefer e-ink devices such as Kindles or Kobo's.

Good luck.

[Rovertek]

Thank you, Darryl,

That is a helpful info. I was also hoping for more comments/advice on converting a website to e-book format...

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Rovertek

Thank you, Darryl,

That is a helpful info. I was also hoping for more comments/advice on converting a website to e-book format...

There's no way to give much of an answer without knowing how the website is built.

Pure HTML websites can generally be converted to the more common ebook formats, though there will likely be flaws that need massaging. Modern ebook formats (e.g. ePub, Amazon AZW3, ...) are HTML based, but the HTML supported is a subset of what is commonly supported in web browsers. Other website "stuff & nonsense" (such as JavaScript, PHP, multimedia functions,...) either aren't supported or have only limited support in only a limited number of readers.

IMO, if the site uses anything beyond basic HTML, I would look into cloning the site into a local webserver. You might look into "MAMP" and similar. These can run on any Windows or MacOS machine and, with a little effort, can completely replicate the Internet version of the website. In the past, I've used MAMP to create a portable WordPress site for demonstration to a client.

[Rovertek]

Thanks, Dwig,

I guess my website (created with RapidWeaver) is too complex. MAMP serves most of it, but not everything. I've always had problems with MAMP. But this route seems to be more feasible than Calibre, anyway.

[BetterRed]

@Rovertek - there are several of browser extensions that will convert a set of webpages to an EPUB, a search for "convert web pages to epub" should find them, the names EPUBPress, GrabMyBooks and dotEPUB come to mind.

I've no idea if any of them are any good, but you could give them a go.

BR

[Rovertek]

Thank you, BR, this info was helpful, as well.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I can only use a tool that is independent of any third party website or service (privacy concerns). My website I want to convert requires membership.

[BetterRed]

@Rovertek - curious - why can't you 'copy' your website to your ipad and open it in an IOS browser as file://whatever

I've done something similar with Firefox on Android in the past. I hasten to add, with a simple set of very simple pages.

BR

[Rovertek]

@BetterRed — It doesn't work that way, when you don't have an Internet access (as is the case with my elderly aunt I mentioned in my original post).

My website is totally dependent on PHP. In theory, using a local server (MAMP) should do the trick, as Dwig suggested, but—depending on the kind of content—even that fails sometime.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Rovertek

My website is totally dependent on PHP. In theory, using a local server (MAMP) should do the trick, as Dwig suggested, but—depending on the kind of content—even that fails sometime.

I have to admit I glossed over your exchange with Dwig, sorry 'bout that

So, I'm guessing your IPad is WiFi only. If your elderly aunt lives somewhere with mobile phone coverage, could you borrow a device with mobile connectivity (3G, 4G whatever) probably not a phone - too small; or buy a 3-4G/WiFi hotspot gadget and use your IPad. You might even be able to use your phone as a Wifi hotspot gadget.

I'll say it again Sam: The more dependent we become on telecommunications networks the less we get done

BR