Links die when converting from FXL epub to mobi?

[radiocure]

Hey, ya'll —

Has anyone else run into this?

I've got a clean fixed-layout epub with working links (both to external URLs and to other files within the book), but when converted to mobi—whether with KindleGen or Calibre—all the links cease working completely. Is this just a limitation of these conversion processes right now? Everything looks perfect, the links just can't be clicked. I've searched and searched, but I haven't seen anyone else talking about this specific situation either, though it seems like it should be a common enough question unless I'm missing something obvious.

Anyone know anything? I'd really appreciate it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by radiocure

Hey, ya'll —

Has anyone else run into this?

I've got a clean fixed-layout epub with working links (both to external URLs and to other files within the book), but when converted to mobi—whether with KindleGen or Calibre—all the links cease working completely. Is this just a limitation of these conversion processes right now? Everything looks perfect, the links just can't be clicked. I've searched and searched, but I haven't seen anyone else talking about this specific situation either, though it seems like it should be a common enough question unless I'm missing something obvious.

Anyone know anything? I'd really appreciate it.

Sorry, what do you mean, "converted to mobi?" The MOBI FF layout, coding, HTML and CSS is completely different than that of ePUB, whether ePUB3 (one ePUB to rule them all, for iBooks, GooglePlay and KoboBooks) or ePUB2 for the various devices. Unless you've specifically built your ePUB to Amazon's specifications, it won't "convert" to a FF MOBI. The Calibre mobi conversion certainly won't work for FF.

And what reader are you using, to test the capability of the links? For that matter, testing the resulting MOBI as an eBook?

Hitch

[radiocure]

Okay, so let me ask you this: after you build your epub to Amazon's specifications, what do you do with it? Or do you just personally never make FF Mobis aside from in the silly Kindle Kid's Creator or whatever?

What I do is run it through KindleGen, and on the 20 or so books I've done this for the result has been perfect, but I haven't had one with text links for footnotes before, and so that's why I'm asking if my workflow is impossible to begin with and that I've just been getting lucky for the last year—and if I am, I'm happy to hear a better way. I'm testing on a half-dozen different Kindles. Literally everything about the resulting .mobi is exactly as I'd like it to be—it's perfect—except the links don't go anywhere. It just seems surprising to me that everything else should work flawlessly but this one simple thing would be the thing to break. Should've known by now, I suppose.

[Doitsu]

Maybe didn't code the links correctly. My Kindlegen compiled test file worked fine on a PW2 and the Kindle for PC app.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by radiocure

Okay, so let me ask you this: after you build your epub to Amazon's specifications, what do you do with it? Or do you just personally never make FF Mobis aside from in the silly Kindle Kid's Creator or whatever?

Excuse me? We hand-code our FF and Comic-book mobis, thanks. That's why I'm asking about your use of the phrase, "conversion" to discuss converting a "fixed-format ePUB" into a "fixed-format MOBI." There isn't a "fixed-format ePUB" specification that converts cleanly and directly to MOBI, which is why I asked you. If you only mean that you are making an HTML/XHTML/CSS "epub" file that you then run through Kindlegen to get a FF MOBI, great, but your language led me to infer something completely different.

What I do is run it through KindleGen, and on the 20 or so books I've done this for the result has been perfect, but I haven't had one with text links for footnotes before, and so that's why I'm asking if my workflow is impossible to begin with and that I've just been getting lucky for the last year—and if I am, I'm happy to hear a better way. I'm testing on a half-dozen different Kindles. Literally everything about the resulting .mobi is exactly as I'd like it to be—it's perfect—except the links don't go anywhere. It just seems surprising to me that everything else should work flawlessly but this one simple thing would be the thing to break. Should've known by now, I suppose.

I've never had an issue with links working, except, of course, that they won't work in RM (region magnification) panels.

Hitch

[radiocure]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Excuse me? We hand-code our FF and Comic-book mobis, thanks.

Oh, I didn't mean for that sound accusatory or something (you seem defensive), and apologies if you thought I was being sarcastic—that was a real question, as plenty of people only use the format for things like children's books anyways.

Originally Posted by Hitch

If you only mean that you are making an HTML/XHTML/CSS "epub" file that you then run through Kindlegen to get a FF MOBI, great, but your language led me to infer something completely different.

Yes, that's what I meant. I'm sorry you found my language misleading.

Actually, though, for many, many FF books, you can export to epub right from something like InDesign if you'd like, feed that into KindleGen, and get a perfectly fine Kindle file from it. Where I work (which is not a self-publishing help service or anything, so granted this is a very tiny part of the publishing work we do) we do this pretty regularly.

Doitsu, thanks for the test files! This is only an issue I had with a rather complex fixed-format file, though, not an EPUB2 file.

For anyone else who happens across this thread: Turns out the problem only occurs if you try to style the position of the link in span tags (which I didn't know you couldn't do.) Don't do that and it's okay.