ebook.com preview is mangled.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by roland1

Surgically enhanced, perhaps. Aesthetically attenuated. But edited? No frogging way.

[Not sure what it is with me and frogs today, but they're my go-to profanity substitute.]

I've got 6 frogs here. None are alive.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by roland1

Accessibility says use html not images. So I'll do that. I only have two columns for most. It's the row count that's knocking me off the page.

The best way to handle the table is let it drop if it needs to. You cannot know how the page's will layout. There are just too many variables. line-height, font, font size, margins, etc. will make the pages different. So just...

[roland1]

I've been looking at the tables and they look pretty good and anyone who is motivated to learn what I'm talking about will make the effort — they have it way easier than the people using toothbrushes to clean off dinosaur bones in the hot sun for months on end.

And if they don't like it, well then frog them!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by roland1

Accessibility says use html not images. So I'll do that. I only have two columns for most. It's the row count that's knocking me off the page.

It always is. Our in-house rule is 10 rows and 3 columns--anything larger than that will tend to cause issues.

I'm not saying you can't do HTML, don't get me wrong; but if you want to force your table to remain on a single screen, you can use the page-break before method, of course, but that only works intermittently--your reader decides and chooses, not you, around font sizes, etc., and how they orient the reader (for example, what can you do around someone who rotates their device to landscape? Not much!).

The other reality is, most people are smart enough to know how to zoom and read a table. Are you absolutely SURE that the table has to be seen on a single "page" (screen)? Or are you imposing your print view onto an Reading device user?

And yes--for accessibility, HTML is better.

Hitch

[roland1]

Hitch, I don't have to have tables on one page. I just thought it might be a better experience for the reader to have it all in one place—if I could manage it somehow with code.

The table splitting looks a little savage at times. The split is not always a full row but maybe just enough of it to get the text on. Or maybe 1.5 rows. So it always has a "broken" look to it. That's what I'd like to get away from.

But in general, I don't have an issue with splitting—if someone wants to read stuff on a phone, they know what they're getting in to.

[roland1]

Well, you know the apocalypse is nighe when something positive happens in the world.

Today I received an email reply that they have fixed the technical issue at ebooks.com that caused my ebook preview to be structurally massacred. It actually looks pretty normal now —*if you don't read the content.

--- exhibit A:

19 May 2022, 17:37 GMT+8
Dear Roland,

I apologise for such a late reply.

Our developers found the issue and have now resolved it. The book is now displaying correctly in the Online Reader.

Sincerely,

[Tech supporter's name retracted out of my automated Canadian politeness reflex.]

Ebooks Support
www.eBooks.com

--------

I did create another CSS edited version of my ebook, but have only uploaded it to Amazon so far. But it definitely seems the issue was at their end and not with my CSS — although the code was definitely "heavy-handed" for ebook use.

[Hitch]

Hoorah for eBooks.com! Well done by them.

Hitch