Multi-paragraph Footnotes

rez9000 · 06-30-2020, 09:28 AM

I posted this question in a thread someone else had started about their footnote issue, but I'm not sure if anyone has seen it (as it was an old thread), so apologies for the duplication...

I'm a relative newbie and I'm not a designer, coder or ebook author or anything of that stripe.

I won't go into any major details yet, as an answer to an initial question may be sufficient:

The question is this: if I have, in an AZW3 format book, a footnote that consists of more than one paragraph, is it possible to apply a css style or use inline attributes to display the text within the popup in the same fashion as it appears in the main text?

Just for some background, those who are familiar with the Discworld novels will know that there often lots of footnotes, some of which can take up close to half a page (in a print copy).

I have them all in print, but I wanted to also have them in ebook form, so I've been steadily buying them on Amazon. However, I'm not happy with the style and 'feel' of them, so I've been adjusting them to suit my own personal taste (like using custom fonts for the title page and the main text, etc.). It all works fine, but when it comes to the footnotes, the popup form won't behave the way I want it to - e.g. it doesn't use the font I've set in the css, it doesn't fully justify and it puts spaces between paragraphs. So I want to know if they can be made behave the way I want them to at all.

In the footnotes file/page I have at the end of the book, in my Calibre editor preview page and on the reader itself, the page containing the footnote looks absolutely fine.

But in the popup, previously it ran all the paragraphs together, but now it puts a space between them. The text remains stubbornly unjustified no matter how I try to tweak the stylesheet or try and use inline attributes.

So before posting any stylesheets and other info, I'd like to know if it's possible to have a popup footnote where multiple paragraphs are displayed within the popup in the same manner text appears within the main text, e.g. first line unindented, then indented first lines for the remaining paragraphs and for the text to be justified and using the custom font. If it's not possible, then that's that and I'll implement a different style. If it is possible, then I can post my code and open it up for dissection and guidance.

Thanks in advance.

pdurrant · 06-30-2020, 09:47 AM

How a footnote is displayed by an ebook reader is entirely up to the reader software.

You may be able to code the footnote so that certain ebook readers display it as you'd prefer, but there's no guarantee that a later update won't change the way it's displayed.

Other will, I hope, be along to say how things currently work with the various different Kindle devices and apps, since they are not consistent between, say, a Kindle PaperWhite and the Kindle for PC app.

rez9000 · 06-30-2020, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

How a footnote is displayed by an ebook reader is entirely up to the reader software.

You may be able to code the footnote so that certain ebook readers display it as you'd prefer, but there's no guarantee that a later update won't change the way it's displayed.

Other will, I hope, be along to say how things currently work with the various different Kindle devices and apps, since they are not consistent between, say, a Kindle PaperWhite and the Kindle for PC app.

Thanks pdurrant. Ultimately then, it's not a case of being able to code one's requirements if the software itself simply won't do it?

The only software platform that interests me is the Paperwhite 3 and the Fire 8 as it's for my own personal use. If anyone happens to know the restrictions of those formats, that would be very helpful to know.

ps67 · 06-30-2020, 01:02 PM

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...1UxXa_mDOF5ei2

10.3.12 Footnote Guidelines: pag 33/34

For all Kindle ereaders it should be the same, I don't know for Kindle Fire but I suspect that it will work also on that device

Hitch · 07-03-2020, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ps67

10.3.12 Footnote Guidelines: pag 33/34

For all Kindle ereaders it should be the same, I don't know for Kindle Fire but I suspect that it will work also on that device

??? You do realize that the Guidelines say absolutely nothing whatsoever about multi-paragraph formatting for footnotes?

Hitch

ps67 · 07-04-2020, 04:23 PM

It's true. I should have read the OP more carefully.

06-30-2020, 09:28 AM	#1
rez9000 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite Gen3	Multi-paragraph Footnotes I posted this question in a thread someone else had started about their footnote issue, but I'm not sure if anyone has seen it (as it was an old thread), so apologies for the duplication... I'm a relative newbie and I'm not a designer, coder or ebook author or anything of that stripe. I won't go into any major details yet, as an answer to an initial question may be sufficient: The question is this: if I have, in an AZW3 format book, a footnote that consists of more than one paragraph, is it possible to apply a css style or use inline attributes to display the text within the popup in the same fashion as it appears in the main text? Just for some background, those who are familiar with the Discworld novels will know that there often lots of footnotes, some of which can take up close to half a page (in a print copy). I have them all in print, but I wanted to also have them in ebook form, so I've been steadily buying them on Amazon. However, I'm not happy with the style and 'feel' of them, so I've been adjusting them to suit my own personal taste (like using custom fonts for the title page and the main text, etc.). It all works fine, but when it comes to the footnotes, the popup form won't behave the way I want it to - e.g. it doesn't use the font I've set in the css, it doesn't fully justify and it puts spaces between paragraphs. So I want to know if they can be made behave the way I want them to at all. In the footnotes file/page I have at the end of the book, in my Calibre editor preview page and on the reader itself, the page containing the footnote looks absolutely fine. But in the popup, previously it ran all the paragraphs together, but now it puts a space between them. The text remains stubbornly unjustified no matter how I try to tweak the stylesheet or try and use inline attributes. So before posting any stylesheets and other info, I'd like to know if it's possible to have a popup footnote where multiple paragraphs are displayed within the popup in the same manner text appears within the main text, e.g. first line unindented, then indented first lines for the remaining paragraphs and for the text to be justified and using the custom font. If it's not possible, then that's that and I'll implement a different style. If it is possible, then I can post my code and open it up for dissection and guidance. Thanks in advance.

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06-30-2020, 09:47 AM	#2
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 70,465 Karma: 304500000 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	How a footnote is displayed by an ebook reader is entirely up to the reader software. You may be able to code the footnote so that certain ebook readers display it as you'd prefer, but there's no guarantee that a later update won't change the way it's displayed. Other will, I hope, be along to say how things currently work with the various different Kindle devices and apps, since they are not consistent between, say, a Kindle PaperWhite and the Kindle for PC app.

06-30-2020, 01:02 PM	#4
ps67 Guru Posts: 724 Karma: 7000000 Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Italy Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Elipsa, Pocketbook Color PB633, Inkpad Color	https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...1UxXa_mDOF5ei2 10.3.12 Footnote Guidelines: pag 33/34 For all Kindle ereaders it should be the same, I don't know for Kindle Fire but I suspect that it will work also on that device

07-04-2020, 04:23 PM	#6
ps67 Guru Posts: 724 Karma: 7000000 Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Italy Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Elipsa, Pocketbook Color PB633, Inkpad Color	It's true. I should have read the OP more carefully.

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