Amazon Kindle eBook: return link problem

[abdel.badou]

Hello everyone,

I'm a student from Switzerland and I'm trying to write an ebook (in HTML CSS).
I already generated the .mobi and everything is working well.
I still have only one problem, I want to add a link "back to page" having the same behaviour as the back button and I was wondering if there was a function I can call or anything else that I can use to trigger this button or mimic its behavior.

More precisely, when I press a hyperlink (in page 1) going to a new page (page 2) inside the book, I am enable to recover page 1 with the same view because I don’t know where page 1 starts (different from one kindle to another). Also using a Hyperlink in page 2 pointing to the hyperlink in page 1 brings a shifted view where the hyperlink in page 1 is set at the top of the page.
The back button that is present on kindle resolve this problem, allowing me to came back to the original view of page 1, but I cannot find a way to call previous button.
I’m looking for something like: Back to book, is this possible?
Also if this is not possible, is there a way to create popups in the book like the translation popups when I hover words or any other solution ?

Thank you very much for your help,
Abdel Badou

[knc1]

This is not the correct form, we do Kindle applications here, not e-books.

I think you want this forum:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=168

(If you click the 'report' button on your post above you can use that report form to ask a moderator to move this thread to the correct place.)

[HarryT]

Moved to the Kindle book format forum.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by abdel.badou

Hello everyone,

I'm a student from Switzerland and I'm trying to write an ebook (in HTML CSS).
I already generated the .mobi and everything is working well.
I still have only one problem, I want to add a link "back to page" having the same behaviour as the back button and I was wondering if there was a function I can call or anything else that I can use to trigger this button or mimic its behavior.

More precisely, when I press a hyperlink (in page 1) going to a new page (page 2) inside the book, I am enable to recover page 1 with the same view because I don’t know where page 1 starts (different from one kindle to another). Also using a Hyperlink in page 2 pointing to the hyperlink in page 1 brings a shifted view where the hyperlink in page 1 is set at the top of the page.
The back button that is present on kindle resolve this problem, allowing me to came back to the original view of page 1, but I cannot find a way to call previous button.
I’m looking for something like: Back to book, is this possible?
Also if this is not possible, is there a way to create popups in the book like the translation popups when I hover words or any other solution ?

Thank you very much for your help,
Abdel Badou

I believe that if you make links to another part of the book, and that linked-to part contains a link back to the original place, modern Kindles are clever enough to display the text of the destination link in a pop up with an option to go to the link location. But I'm uncertain as to whether the precise formatting requirements have actually been documented.

There's no way to specify "a click of the back button".

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I believe that if you make links to another part of the book, and that linked-to part contains a link back to the original place, modern Kindles are clever enough to display the text of the destination link in a pop up with an option to go to the link location. But I'm uncertain as to whether the precise formatting requirements have actually been documented.

There's no way to specify "a click of the back button".

The precise requirements for a pop-up footnote are as follows:

In the body text:

<A id="anchor1" href="#fn1">[1]</A>

In the footnote:

<p><A id="fn1" href="#anchor1">[1]</A>
Text of footnote 1...
</p>

<p><A id="fn2" href="#anchor2">[2]</A>
Text of footnote 2...
</p>

When you click the "[1]" footnote hyperlink, the text of footnote 1 will appear in a pop-up window, and will stop at the point at which the next footnote starts.

You must have the backlink present, or you will not get popup footnotes.

[Notjohn]

I usually put the anchor at the start of the paragraph. Otherwise the return clicks simply puts the number as the first character on the "page," which I find rather confusing. (I suppose if it were a long paragraph, I'd put the anchor at the beginning of the sentence.)

Some books put a Back link on top of the note (I suppose it could also go at the end). This presumably to give the reader a bigger target to click on. For the same reason, instead of a miniscule asterisk or roman numeral, I generally render it in square brackets, like [1].

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The precise requirements for a pop-up footnote are as follows:

In the body text:

<A id="anchor1" href="#fn1">[1]</A>

In the footnote:

<p><A id="fn1" href="#anchor1">[1]</A>
Text of footnote 1...
</p>

<p><A id="fn2" href="#anchor2">[2]</A>
Text of footnote 2...
</p>

Must the names be "anchorX" and "fnX"? Must the footnotes be bare <p> or can they be <div> or have a class? Must the contents of the <A> tags be the same in the text and footnote?

When you click the "[1]" footnote hyperlink, the text of footnote 1 will appear in a pop-up window, and will stop at the point at which the next footnote starts.

Does it appear styled? If the footnotes are in a separate XHTML file with a different stylesheet from the main text, is it correctly applied?

Originally Posted by Notjohn

I usually put the anchor at the start of the paragraph. Otherwise the return clicks simply puts the number as the first character on the "page," which I find rather confusing. (I suppose if it were a long paragraph, I'd put the anchor at the beginning of the sentence.)

Some books put a Back link on top of the note (I suppose it could also go at the end).

Maybe this would work.

In the text:

<P id="anchor_p1">Some text with
a footnote<A id="anchor1" href="#fn1">[1]</A></P>

In the footnote:

<p><A id="fn1" href="#anchor1">[1]</A>
Text of footnote 1...
<div><A href="#anchor_p1">Back</A></div>
</p>

The idea is that you get the pop-up, but if you display the footnote in its page, you can go back using the "Back" link, which gets you to the start of the paragraph, not to the footnote number. Even if the popup stops at the second <A>, that would be better.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Must the names be "anchorX" and "fnX"?

Nope. Call them whatever you want. Those are just the names that I use.

Must the footnotes be bare <p> or can they be <div> or have a class?

They can contain pretty much any HTML and CSS that you wish, although some things (such as images) will not appear in the popup. They will, however, appear if you click on the "Jump to footnotes" link at the bottom of the pop-up window.

Must the contents of the <A> tags be the same in the text and footnote?

No. The only requirements are that:

1. The <A> link contains both the anchor and the backlink. Without the backlink you won't see the footnote as a popup. Ie you won't get a popup if you have a backlink at the end of your footnote as a separate link.

2. The <A> link must be the very first thing in the footnote, because it's used by the Kindle to determine where one footnote end and the next one begins.

Does it appear styled? If the footnotes are in a separate XHTML file with a different stylesheet from the main text, is it correctly applied?

There are restrictions on what CSS is applied to the popup, although I've not figured out exactly what they are. There's a "Jump to Footnotes" link at the bottom of the popup which displays the footnote in a full-text page, where of course it does appear correctly styled.

[abdel.badou]

Does this pop ups work on the kindle preview (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000765261), and if yes does someone ave a test that works one them ?

Thank you very much for your help.

[abdel.badou]

Hello,

I tested your code and the code given by amazon for footnotes popups (https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A1IZ6N1F51ZYJ2) but it doesn't work on my wifi kindle (version 4.1.1). It sends me to a new footnote page so I have the same problem with the back link.

Does anyone have an example that works on this version of kindle or any solution to this problem ?

Thank you very much for your help.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by abdel.badou

I tested your code and the code given by amazon for footnotes popups (https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A1IZ6N1F51ZYJ2) but it doesn't work on my wifi kindle (version 4.1.1).

AFAIK, popup footnotes are a firmware-specific feature and were first introduced with the Paperwhite 1.
Also your Kindle doesn't appear to have the latest firmware.
Just to be on the safe side, install the 4.1.3 firmware, compile your test file with Kindle Previewer/KindleGen and transfer it to your Kindle with via USB.
If your Kindle still doesn't display popup footnotes, the firmware of your device doesn't support it.
In that case, you'll have to buy a used PW1 (or better) or install an Android/iOS app. For example Gitden Reader supports popup footnotes.

[HarryT]

Yes, the code examples I gave will not magically add popup footnotes to a device that doesn't support them .