The highlight function on Kobo devices

flyingtoad · 05-28-2013, 02:33 AM

The "Highlight" function works erratically on my Kobo Aura [software 2.5.2] :

For instance, books bought from Kobo and directly downloaded on the reader, let you make highlights more easily than epubs sideloaded from calibre [extended kobo plugin activated].

-- Particularly, Kobo ebooks allow highlighting a word or group of words, in the first twenty pages of the book, and thereafter, the function does not work any more.
Strangely, if I go back to page 1, or 2 of the Kobo ebook, I can highlight any word in a paragraph, but not if I then jump forward to page 100.

-- As for sideloaded epubs added to the Aura from calibre, I hardly manage to make one or two highlight on page 1, and that is all I can do.

How the highlight function works for you, please ? Am I missing something about the proper way to make highlights ? I should be most grateful for your help.

Thank you.

tshering · 05-28-2013, 03:50 AM

There is a certain bug that prevents highlights and annotations to be visually marked on the screen. Those highlights and annotations are however listed in the annotation list. This bug concernes (mainly?) kepubs. If this is what your are experiencing, you can find some information here, and there is also a link with a suggestion on how to make those highlights/annotations visible. This tool (for Windows) has also a function to do this. There is however a drawback to this (cf. the documentation). This drawback is the same whether you use the tool or do it manually.

flyingtoad · 05-28-2013, 06:15 AM

Thank you tshering for your detailed response.

I am glad to know that highlights are nevertheless, recorded in the background, and thanks to your studies on the subject, which I will read with a lot of interest, I will, eventually be able to annotate and collect words through my readings.

I hope that Kobo will bring an update to correct this bug.

tshering · 05-28-2013, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingtoad

I am glad to know that highlights are nevertheless, recorded in the background

I would like to clarify that I referred only to one of several problems with highlights and annotations. In some situations, highlights/annotations are not recorded at all. You have to check the annotation list to know whether a highlight/annotation that is not visible has been recorded or not.

flyingtoad · 05-28-2013, 09:57 AM

This seems to be quite complicated...

Apparently most of the words I had wanted to be highlighted were not recorded at all in the background.

flyingtoad · 05-28-2013, 11:43 AM

I am grateful tshering, for your very instructive studies about annotations on the kobo.
I now understand much clearly what can be done at the moment !

tshering · 05-28-2013, 03:28 PM

I am not sure whether I understand correctly that you sideload all your books as kepub.epubs. If this is the case, try to sideload them as simple epubs.

flyingtoad · 05-29-2013, 12:40 PM

tshering, there are two kinds of books on my kobo,
-a set bought from Kobo store and downloaded directly,
-a set of epub books sideloaded with the calibre plugin, hence, they were auto transformed to kepubs.
I will follow your advice and use one or two epubs to see what it gives.

Thanks!

flyingtoad · 05-30-2013, 02:38 PM

Here is on more observation :
Concerning books bought from Kobo, I have noticed that highlighting works only on the first pages of each chapter. Kobo Aura stops highlighting in the middle to the end of its chapter, and starts again at the beginning of the next chapter.

tshering · 05-30-2013, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingtoad

Here is on more observation :
Concerning books bought from Kobo, I have noticed that highlighting works only on the first pages of each chapter. Kobo Aura stops highlighting in the middle to the end of its chapter, and starts again at the beginning of the next chapter.

I guess you know, that if you bought a kepub from Kobo, you can also download the epub version of it. Maybe this works better.
Is one of your problem books DRM free and you can share it? Would be interesting whether it has the same problems on another Kobo reader.

Madlechuck · 05-30-2013, 10:17 PM

I can confirm for the kobo touch, I've started a new book yesterday (bought on the kobo store using my kobo touch). Highlighted a few words here and there. 7 total all in chapter one. Now, when I highlight, it just doesn't register anymore. If I jump to chapter two, the highlighting works again. Same thing for the chapter before (prologue in that case). I think it's not about the beginning of the chapter as much as the amount of highlights you did in it so far. But even if I delete one of my previous highlighted text from chapter one and then try to highlight a new passage from the same chapter, it's still broken. So basically, once a chapter is broken, it stays that way. Anyone can relate? Wrote to kobo tonight and I'm waiting for their solution.

flyingtoad · 05-31-2013, 01:48 AM

tshering, the bought book from Kobo for which I have exposed my remarks has a DRM.

I have followed your recommendation and sideloaded the same bought title, which is the ePUB format of it.
For the sake of the study I should tell that the bought book is 'The Great Gatsby' and its link on kobo store is as follows :
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-G...746r0ETZ6Q&r=2

Highlights comparisons :
-bought kepub, downloaded from Kobo :
--highlights works in the first pages of the chapters and stops. You may highlight again on any other chapter, provided it is the beginning of it,
--or as Madlechuck mentionned, highlights works for a numbered of time usually <10 until the chapter is broken.
--Recorded highlights appear in light gray.

-ebup version of the same book, downloaded from the Kobo website, sideloaded with calibre but WITHOUT the extended plug-in by jgoguen,
--the sideloaded book on my Kobo Aura has therefore, the epub extension,
--you may highlight as many words or phrases as you like independently of your location in the books or chapters.
--highlights appear in dark grey.

Style comparisons :
-bought kepub, downloaded from Kobo :
among other things,
--nicer pagination,
--related Kobo reading statistics,
[i.e. on your screen at the left and bottom, "m% Read" with a down-arrow for statistics]
--Title of the book at the top,
--"Chapter n - Page x of y" at the bottom,
--dictionary is working properly
[i.e. the window appears with definition of a word, and the page to the dictionary is shown if you choose the complete definition by pointing at the bottom of your screen],
--Book Cover :
--- appears properly on the sleep screen,
--- appears properly in the extreme-left window of the home menu
[i.e. when the book is the last read of your set of books]
--- appears properly in any other window of the home menu if the book is not the last read.

-ebup version of the same book, downloaded from the Kobo website, sideloaded with calibre but WITHOUT the extended plug-in by jgoguen.
among other things,
--pagination is different, looks very standard in comparison [it has a Kindle look],
--related Kobo reading statistics doesn't work anymore
[i.e. on your screen at the left and bottom, "m% Read" without the down-arrow for statistics]
--title of the book at the top,
--"Page x of y" at the bottom [no chapter number]
--dictionary is working properly
[i.e. the window appears with definition of a word, and the page to the dictionary is shown if you choose the complete definition by pointing at the bottom of your screen]
--Book Cover :
--- appears properly on the sleep screen,
--- the book may [or may not, depending on the ePUB book itself] appear as a single dot in the extreme-left window of the home menu
[i.e. when the book is the last read of your set of books, you see a dot in the middle of a rectangle]
--- nevertheless, it always appears properly in any other window of the home menu if the book is not the last read.

I agree with Madlechuck. At least, Kobo should fix the highlight function on the books that they are selling on their store, otherwise I suppose readers would be eventually dissatisfied to buy books from them, as highlighting is such a basic function we may find working on books bought from Sony eReader or Amazon Kindle.

davidfor · 05-31-2013, 03:15 AM

I just tried to reproduce this with the preview of "The Great Gatsby" and a couple of different kepubs that I have. For my two books, I added a highlight to each paragraph in the first two pages. As the paragraphs were short, that was over 20 highlights. Then I skipped a few pages and added some more and repeated until the end of the chapter. One ended up with 62 highlights or annotations over two chapters. The other only 37. I stopped when I got bored. Both of these are DRM free

The preview of "The Great Gatsby" is only the first chapter. So, I put about 15 hightlights on the first page and the another five on page 5 and five more on page 8, the last in the chapter. There were not problems with any of the highlights.

It might be a problem with the complete book. The preview is DRM free, but the page said the book has DRM.

I'll have to find a book with DRM in my library and check that.

flyingtoad · 05-31-2013, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

... and a couple of different kepubs that I have. For my two books, I added a highlight to each paragraph in the first two pages. As the paragraphs were short, that was over 20 highlights. Then I skipped a few pages and added some more and repeated until the end of the chapter. One ended up with 62 highlights or annotations over two chapters. The other only 37. I stopped when I got bored. Both of these are DRM free...

Thank you davidfor, for your tests.
May I please ask how are formatted the other couple of kepubs which you kindly put on test ?
I mean, are they free kepubs downloaded from kobo, or, are they calibre-sideloaded kepubs ?

I can't even highlight more than 4 to 5 words in any DRM-freed book, sideloaded to my Aura with calibre AND the extended plugin by jgoguen.

I suppose it is notable to say that I also bought from the Kobo bookstore, two other books, which were more expensive [US$9.99], and from renown publishing houses, the latter perhaps, might be of importance in the way the ebook is built

I don't really know, I guess programmers could tell, but I digress. The main point is that, they are DRM kepub, downloaded to the Aura...and the result is the same !

I can barely highlight up to 10 words in a chapter before it breaks.

davidfor · 05-31-2013, 06:26 AM

The books came from Kobo as kepubs. One was free and the other purchased. The previews are all kepubs.

On the train home, I tried another purchased kepub. This one had DRM. Same basic test highlighted at least one word in each paragraph for the first two pages, skipped a few pages, did the same for one page and a few pages later. Then did the same for the last two pages of the chapter. Right now it shows 56 highlights in the chapter.

I haven't tried a sideloaded kepub. But, if your books weren't sideloaded with the one of the very recent versions of the extended driver, the chances of their being issues with the bookmarking is very high. I just tried one I sideloaded the other night, and it failed on the first highlight. The highlight shows, but it is in the wrong place. I'll resend that with the latest or pick another sample.

One thing: are you only using highlight, or are you annotating? There shouldn't be a difference, but ...

05-28-2013, 02:33 AM	#1
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	The highlight function on Kobo devices The "Highlight" function works erratically on my Kobo Aura [software 2.5.2] : For instance, books bought from Kobo and directly downloaded on the reader, let you make highlights more easily than epubs sideloaded from calibre [extended kobo plugin activated]. -- Particularly, Kobo ebooks allow highlighting a word or group of words, in the first twenty pages of the book, and thereafter, the function does not work any more. Strangely, if I go back to page 1, or 2 of the Kobo ebook, I can highlight any word in a paragraph, but not if I then jump forward to page 100. -- As for sideloaded epubs added to the Aura from calibre, I hardly manage to make one or two highlight on page 1, and that is all I can do. How the highlight function works for you, please ? Am I missing something about the proper way to make highlights ? I should be most grateful for your help. Thank you. Last edited by flyingtoad; 05-28-2013 at 02:35 AM.

05-28-2013, 09:57 AM	#5
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	This seems to be quite complicated... Apparently most of the words I had wanted to be highlighted were not recorded at all in the background. Last edited by flyingtoad; 05-28-2013 at 10:03 AM.

05-30-2013, 10:17 PM	#11
Madlechuck Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2013 Device: Kobo touch	Same problem I can confirm for the kobo touch, I've started a new book yesterday (bought on the kobo store using my kobo touch). Highlighted a few words here and there. 7 total all in chapter one. Now, when I highlight, it just doesn't register anymore. If I jump to chapter two, the highlighting works again. Same thing for the chapter before (prologue in that case). I think it's not about the beginning of the chapter as much as the amount of highlights you did in it so far. But even if I delete one of my previous highlighted text from chapter one and then try to highlight a new passage from the same chapter, it's still broken. So basically, once a chapter is broken, it stays that way. Anyone can relate? Wrote to kobo tonight and I'm waiting for their solution.

05-31-2013, 01:48 AM	#12
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	tshering, the bought book from Kobo for which I have exposed my remarks has a DRM. I have followed your recommendation and sideloaded the same bought title, which is the ePUB format of it. For the sake of the study I should tell that the bought book is 'The Great Gatsby' and its link on kobo store is as follows : http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-G...746r0ETZ6Q&r=2 Highlights comparisons : -bought kepub, downloaded from Kobo : --highlights works in the first pages of the chapters and stops. You may highlight again on any other chapter, provided it is the beginning of it, --or as Madlechuck mentionned, highlights works for a numbered of time usually <10 until the chapter is broken. --Recorded highlights appear in light gray. -ebup version of the same book, downloaded from the Kobo website, sideloaded with calibre but WITHOUT the extended plug-in by jgoguen, --the sideloaded book on my Kobo Aura has therefore, the epub extension, --you may highlight as many words or phrases as you like independently of your location in the books or chapters. --highlights appear in dark grey. Style comparisons : -bought kepub, downloaded from Kobo : among other things, --nicer pagination, --related Kobo reading statistics, [i.e. on your screen at the left and bottom, "m% Read" with a down-arrow for statistics] --Title of the book at the top, --"Chapter n - Page x of y" at the bottom, --dictionary is working properly [i.e. the window appears with definition of a word, and the page to the dictionary is shown if you choose the complete definition by pointing at the bottom of your screen], --Book Cover : --- appears properly on the sleep screen, --- appears properly in the extreme-left window of the home menu [i.e. when the book is the last read of your set of books] --- appears properly in any other window of the home menu if the book is not the last read. -ebup version of the same book, downloaded from the Kobo website, sideloaded with calibre but WITHOUT the extended plug-in by jgoguen. among other things, --pagination is different, looks very standard in comparison [it has a Kindle look], --related Kobo reading statistics doesn't work anymore [i.e. on your screen at the left and bottom, "m% Read" without the down-arrow for statistics] --title of the book at the top, --"Page x of y" at the bottom [no chapter number] --dictionary is working properly [i.e. the window appears with definition of a word, and the page to the dictionary is shown if you choose the complete definition by pointing at the bottom of your screen] --Book Cover : --- appears properly on the sleep screen, --- the book may [or may not, depending on the ePUB book itself] appear as a single dot in the extreme-left window of the home menu [i.e. when the book is the last read of your set of books, you see a dot in the middle of a rectangle] --- nevertheless, it always appears properly in any other window of the home menu if the book is not the last read. I agree with Madlechuck. At least, Kobo should fix the highlight function on the books that they are selling on their store, otherwise I suppose readers would be eventually dissatisfied to buy books from them, as highlighting is such a basic function we may find working on books bought from Sony eReader or Amazon Kindle. Last edited by flyingtoad; 05-31-2013 at 02:19 AM.

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05-28-2013, 03:50 AM	#2
tshering Wizard Posts: 3,489 Karma: 2914715 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: kobo touch	There is a certain bug that prevents highlights and annotations to be visually marked on the screen. Those highlights and annotations are however listed in the annotation list. This bug concernes (mainly?) kepubs. If this is what your are experiencing, you can find some information here, and there is also a link with a suggestion on how to make those highlights/annotations visible. This tool (for Windows) has also a function to do this. There is however a drawback to this (cf. the documentation). This drawback is the same whether you use the tool or do it manually.

05-28-2013, 06:15 AM	#3
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	Thank you tshering for your detailed response. I am glad to know that highlights are nevertheless, recorded in the background, and thanks to your studies on the subject, which I will read with a lot of interest, I will, eventually be able to annotate and collect words through my readings. I hope that Kobo will bring an update to correct this bug.

05-28-2013, 11:43 AM	#6
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	I am grateful tshering, for your very instructive studies about annotations on the kobo. I now understand much clearly what can be done at the moment !

05-28-2013, 03:28 PM	#7
tshering Wizard Posts: 3,489 Karma: 2914715 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: kobo touch	I am not sure whether I understand correctly that you sideload all your books as kepub.epubs. If this is the case, try to sideload them as simple epubs.

05-29-2013, 12:40 PM	#8
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	tshering, there are two kinds of books on my kobo, -a set bought from Kobo store and downloaded directly, -a set of epub books sideloaded with the calibre plugin, hence, they were auto transformed to kepubs. I will follow your advice and use one or two epubs to see what it gives. Thanks!

05-30-2013, 02:38 PM	#9
flyingtoad Member Posts: 14 Karma: 1054 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: Kobo Aura, Kindle 1st gen, Sony PRS 350	Here is on more observation : Concerning books bought from Kobo, I have noticed that highlighting works only on the first pages of each chapter. Kobo Aura stops highlighting in the middle to the end of its chapter, and starts again at the beginning of the next chapter.

05-31-2013, 03:15 AM	#13
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	I just tried to reproduce this with the preview of "The Great Gatsby" and a couple of different kepubs that I have. For my two books, I added a highlight to each paragraph in the first two pages. As the paragraphs were short, that was over 20 highlights. Then I skipped a few pages and added some more and repeated until the end of the chapter. One ended up with 62 highlights or annotations over two chapters. The other only 37. I stopped when I got bored. Both of these are DRM free The preview of "The Great Gatsby" is only the first chapter. So, I put about 15 hightlights on the first page and the another five on page 5 and five more on page 8, the last in the chapter. There were not problems with any of the highlights. It might be a problem with the complete book. The preview is DRM free, but the page said the book has DRM. I'll have to find a book with DRM in my library and check that.

05-31-2013, 06:26 AM	#15
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	The books came from Kobo as kepubs. One was free and the other purchased. The previews are all kepubs. On the train home, I tried another purchased kepub. This one had DRM. Same basic test highlighted at least one word in each paragraph for the first two pages, skipped a few pages, did the same for one page and a few pages later. Then did the same for the last two pages of the chapter. Right now it shows 56 highlights in the chapter. I haven't tried a sideloaded kepub. But, if your books weren't sideloaded with the one of the very recent versions of the extended driver, the chances of their being issues with the bookmarking is very high. I just tried one I sideloaded the other night, and it failed on the first highlight. The highlight shows, but it is in the wrong place. I'll resend that with the latest or pick another sample. One thing: are you only using highlight, or are you annotating? There shouldn't be a difference, but ...

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