Design the ultimate eBook site - Page 3

ondabeach · 02-17-2010, 08:16 AM

Ok, I've given the library a face lift, check it out and let me know what you think.

John F · 02-17-2010, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondabeach

...

For the Readers:

Completely anonymous eBook purchase and download. You don not need to become a member or be logged in to the site to download our free public domain titles or to purchase paid eBooks.

...

Has this changed? I can't seem to do anything without logging in.

ondabeach · 02-17-2010, 04:54 PM

doh!

my bad.

not enough sleep?

Fixed!

Tks.

JSWolf · 02-17-2010, 05:04 PM

Making someone register to see the site is a bad idea. Making them register to download/buy anything is ok.

ondabeach · 02-17-2010, 05:19 PM

You don't need to log in to view or download eBooks guys, I had a brain fart at 2am and uploaded an incorrect file version to the site. It is fixed now and ZuluExpress is once again the land of the anonymous. Of course I'll be adding lots of cool stuff for member's only, just ask and you shall (might

receive.

But please do tell me what you think of the new look for the library

cbarnett · 02-17-2010, 07:07 PM

I like the look, but when I click on the Library button, the buttons on the far right beside the book description are truncated and unreadable. I'm still impressed with your site and what you're trying to achieve with it!

Elfwreck · 02-17-2010, 07:36 PM

Poor grammar and punctuation in book descriptions doesn't inspire me to download those books. (And claiming that The Lost World created the genre of science fiction is a bit much... a lot of people put Shelley's Frankenstein as the first science fiction novel.)

The text boxes with the book descriptions should have a slight internal margins; it's hard to read text that's flush against the lines of the boxes.

The formatting of the books themselves--some of the free ones, anyway--is not good in the Firefox ePub reader. Some have no indents for paragraphs *and* no spaces between paragraphs; the Kipling poetry has hard returns after every line (with space between, even inside verses) and no bolding or indication of the start of a poem other than all caps; Dracula has chapters named Navpoint 1 through Navpoint 9.

Should not have clickable sub-sections with no content. If there are no books in that category, the link shouldn't be live.

Also--no direct download. Clicking "download now" opens a new tab in Firefox which opens the epub. The books should have a direct right-click-to-download button.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 02-17-2010, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Also--no direct download. Clicking "download now" opens a new tab in Firefox which opens the epub. The books should have a direct right-click-to-download button.

This is actually due to the Firefox ePub app... it did the same for me. When I dumped the app, I retained download ability. (IOW, a problem with the app, not Zulu.)

ondabeach · 02-17-2010, 08:54 PM

Tks cbarnett, glad you like where it's headed.

Elfwreck, tks for your comments about the formatting, I will pass them on to the people editing the eBooks writing the synopses.

As far as who started the Sci-Fi genre, I'm sure there are dead people all over the world who would argue with both of us, if they weren't dead that is!

Tks for the info re the FF ePub app Stevo, as soon as I make any money you're going the payroll!

(You do know I won't rest until ZR is a place you'd be proud to market your works)

I am in the process of creating new buttons to replace those daggy text ones (books by this author, reviews etc) so that column will dissappear soon.

JSWolf · 02-17-2010, 09:02 PM

And make it easy to find free books.

ondabeach · 02-17-2010, 09:11 PM

Hi wolf, you mean as a search option on the library screen, something like a filter? Right now 70% of our eBooks are free

There is an option there now to 'Sort' your search result and one of the criteria you can choose is price.

JSWolf · 02-17-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondabeach

Hi wolf, you mean as a search option on the library screen, something like a filter? Right now 70% of our eBooks are free

There is an option there now to 'Sort' your search result and one of the criteria you can choose is price.

Not an option to sort on price, but a link that's easily seen to click to see a list of just the free eBooks that you can sort in multiple ways.

ondabeach · 02-17-2010, 10:33 PM

A filter it is that asking for you are? (that's my Yoda impersonation)

No problemo, on the library page, to the left (or above) the 'Sort By' box I will add an option to only show eBooks that are 'Free', under $3 or whatever.

I will now sharpen my coding pencil and be at it

ondabeach · 02-27-2010, 03:55 PM

Hi Guys, I've made some more changes/refinements based on these suggestions and ones from other threads. Some things are still coming but need to wait as they require broader changes throughout the site. I can't thank you all enough for your ideas, just keep'em comin'. the library page is starting to look pretty cool and I've got the required button clicks find and download/buy eBooks to a minimum.

If I let something slip through the cracks make sure to let me know.

Hi JSWOLF, your filter for hiding public domain titles is going in today.

Hi Elfwreck, we have started re-editing all of our public domain titles, synopses and sample chapters.

I'd love some feedback on the new feel to the library page and some more ideas to keep me working and out of trouble

Check it out here.

GhostHawk · 02-27-2010, 11:43 PM

Starting to get places.

I love the direct download links, sorting by price, etc.
Wishing you all the best, keep doing what your doing!

02-17-2010, 05:19 PM	#35
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	You don't need to log in to view or download eBooks guys, I had a brain fart at 2am and uploaded an incorrect file version to the site. It is fixed now and ZuluExpress is once again the land of the anonymous. Of course I'll be adding lots of cool stuff for member's only, just ask and you shall (might receive. But please do tell me what you think of the new look for the library Last edited by ondabeach; 02-17-2010 at 05:20 PM. Reason: typo

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02-17-2010, 08:16 AM	#31
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	Ok, I've given the library a face lift, check it out and let me know what you think.

02-17-2010, 04:54 PM	#33
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	doh! my bad. not enough sleep? Fixed! Tks.

02-17-2010, 05:04 PM	#34
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,537 Karma: 129670952 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Making someone register to see the site is a bad idea. Making them register to download/buy anything is ok.

02-17-2010, 07:07 PM	#36
cbarnett MR prodigal son Posts: 1,085 Karma: 1083739 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O	I like the look, but when I click on the Library button, the buttons on the far right beside the book description are truncated and unreadable. I'm still impressed with your site and what you're trying to achieve with it!

02-17-2010, 07:36 PM	#37
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,185 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	Poor grammar and punctuation in book descriptions doesn't inspire me to download those books. (And claiming that The Lost World created the genre of science fiction is a bit much... a lot of people put Shelley's Frankenstein as the first science fiction novel.) The text boxes with the book descriptions should have a slight internal margins; it's hard to read text that's flush against the lines of the boxes. The formatting of the books themselves--some of the free ones, anyway--is not good in the Firefox ePub reader. Some have no indents for paragraphs and no spaces between paragraphs; the Kipling poetry has hard returns after every line (with space between, even inside verses) and no bolding or indication of the start of a poem other than all caps; Dracula has chapters named Navpoint 1 through Navpoint 9. Should not have clickable sub-sections with no content. If there are no books in that category, the link shouldn't be live. Also--no direct download. Clicking "download now" opens a new tab in Firefox which opens the epub. The books should have a direct right-click-to-download button.

02-17-2010, 08:54 PM	#39
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	Tks cbarnett, glad you like where it's headed. Elfwreck, tks for your comments about the formatting, I will pass them on to the people editing the eBooks writing the synopses. As far as who started the Sci-Fi genre, I'm sure there are dead people all over the world who would argue with both of us, if they weren't dead that is! Tks for the info re the FF ePub app Stevo, as soon as I make any money you're going the payroll! (You do know I won't rest until ZR is a place you'd be proud to market your works) I am in the process of creating new buttons to replace those daggy text ones (books by this author, reviews etc) so that column will dissappear soon.

02-17-2010, 09:02 PM	#40
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,537 Karma: 129670952 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	And make it easy to find free books.

02-17-2010, 09:11 PM	#41
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	Hi wolf, you mean as a search option on the library screen, something like a filter? Right now 70% of our eBooks are free There is an option there now to 'Sort' your search result and one of the criteria you can choose is price.

02-17-2010, 10:33 PM	#43
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	A filter it is that asking for you are? (that's my Yoda impersonation) No problemo, on the library page, to the left (or above) the 'Sort By' box I will add an option to only show eBooks that are 'Free', under $3 or whatever. I will now sharpen my coding pencil and be at it

02-27-2010, 03:55 PM	#44
ondabeach Groupie Posts: 193 Karma: 192 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vanuatu Device: HTC touch Diamond, Ipaq 3115	Hi Guys, I've made some more changes/refinements based on these suggestions and ones from other threads. Some things are still coming but need to wait as they require broader changes throughout the site. I can't thank you all enough for your ideas, just keep'em comin'. the library page is starting to look pretty cool and I've got the required button clicks find and download/buy eBooks to a minimum. If I let something slip through the cracks make sure to let me know. Hi JSWOLF, your filter for hiding public domain titles is going in today. Hi Elfwreck, we have started re-editing all of our public domain titles, synopses and sample chapters. I'd love some feedback on the new feel to the library page and some more ideas to keep me working and out of trouble Check it out here.

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02-27-2010, 11:43 PM	#45
GhostHawk Data Privateer! Posts: 586 Karma: 62887 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Fargo ND Device: Ectaco Jetbook& Jetbook Lite	Starting to get places. I love the direct download links, sorting by price, etc. Wishing you all the best, keep doing what your doing!