Sigil to Kindlegen -- No Table of Contents

[paul-b]

• generate toc.ncx in Sigil
• Save epub
• use Kindlegen to convert epub to mobi
• upload to kindle (Fire) to test

...and I can't get the TOC.

I've searched the Sigil site and these forums and haven't found anything to help me troubleshoot. Chances are that I'm missing something obvious.

I'm pretty good at troubleshooting... if someone could just give me some hints at what to look at.

Using Sigil 0.4.903 .. Kindlegen 1.2

Thank you.

[st_albert]

The only thing you're missing is that kindlegen does not create an in-line TOC from the toc.ncx file in the epub.

Calibre does create the inline TOC.

[DiapDealer]

Kindlegen only uses the ncx file for chapter "jump points" on the progress bar (bumping the joy-pad right or left will jump to the next/previous entry in the ncx).

As st_albert mentioned, you must create your own inline html TOC (marked as a toc in the guide section of the opf) for kindlegen to enable the "go to contents" feature. Kindlegen doesn't make it for you from the ncx.

[JSWolf]

The more I read about Kindlegen, the more I see how buggy it is.

Yes, Calibre will create a proper ToC based on toc.ncx. But if you put an internal ToC (page(s) of links) then you'll get two ToC when you convert using Calibre.

I've converted ePub to Mobipocket and found Calibre (in most cases) does a better job converting ePub then the Mobipocket tools.

[Bas]

I'v had similar problem to PaulB
Does this mean from JSWolf quote that you need to cancel the TOC you created in epub before going to Calibre?

[st_albert]

I think there is a conversion option in Calibre to tell it not to create another inline TOC if you already have one.

You should keep the epub's toc.ncx in any case, since (some?) kindle devices use both (for different purposes).

[Whackatagin]

My 2 Cents

Calibre all the way. Edit your TOC in Sigil, let Calibre do the rest. If your "producing" a novel for Kindle you will need to do a little code scrubbing though, Calibre is intended as a library. It just gets you very close to what you need. All hail Kovid.

Kindlegen is truely awful in to many ways to mention. It's sole purpose, I beleive, is to force inexperienced (no disrespect intended) self-publishing writers to produce bland featureless text only books with no professional looking formatting. After all, if we could all produce content to the same market standard why would we need publishers and publishing services.

Sorry, my cynical gene kicked in there.

[Bas]

I'v converted my book to epub in Sigil but am having difficulty with the contents TOC - still.

I'v stated to create the contents hyperlinks for chapters using:
<a name="answer_1"><p><Chapter1</p></a>
and
<a href="#answer_1">Chapter 1 in contents</a>

But the Chapter heading is an h2 and i=the html turns it into normal text, not in the centre.
Any ideas?
Shoot me down if I'm doing it the wrong way?

[Whackatagin]

Excerpt from: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=159198

5. Now you will see you have a whole list of xhtml files, one for each of your TOC items. Down at the bottom of this list you have a generate TOC from headings button, press it. Now check the boxes of the items you want to appear in your TOC. When you close this window you will now have a TOC.ncx on your list. This will convert just fine to any format. You can also click on the ncx file and edit what apears on your TOC. Just now it will probably only say "Chapter one" for instance. Just put your cusor inbetween the two chevrons and you can edit the entry to, say, "Chapter 1: A Strange Affair" or whatever. This will now appear instantly in your TOC. Note: If you have no entries in the generate TOC list you need to go back and highlight each chapter heading and select H1 from the little drop down at the top left of your screen. Try again and the chapter names should be on the list.

Hope this helps. Using the generate button at the bottom left will completely re-write your TOC into a well structured ncx file.

Good luck

[Bas]

Many thanks - just a bit more to go
I started writing the book in Sept and feel that I am almost there

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Bas

I'v converted my book to epub in Sigil but am having difficulty with the contents TOC - still.

I'v stated to create the contents hyperlinks for chapters using:
<a name="answer_1"><p><Chapter1</p></a>
and
<a href="#answer_1">Chapter 1 in contents</a>

But the Chapter heading is an h2 and i=the html turns it into normal text, not in the centre.
Any ideas?
Shoot me down if I'm doing it the wrong way?

Bang!

A simple manual/Inline TOC . Style is set in the CSS: .toc_item

<blockquote>
    <p><a class="toc_item" href="../Text/0743471792__p__split_1.html#Chap_1">Chapter 1</a><br />
  ...

Styling is set in the CSS: .chapter

  <h1 class="chapter" id="calibre_chapter_1"><a id="Chap_1"></a> <b>Chapter 1</b></h1>

Note: this example uses 2 different id, the first is used by the NCX, the other is used by the Inline (or other link)

[Whackatagin]

Originally Posted by Bas

Many thanks - just a bit more to go
I started writing the book in Sept and feel that I am almost there

Sheesh! that's fast. I started my current project in March 2009...and I'm nearly there. And I write full-time!

[st_albert]

And also note, as theducks' example illustrates, that you should use id= instead of name= .

[Bas]

Many thanks - the book is only a compilation - most of my time has been spent trying to improve the formatting but your Whakatagin para 6 has thrown me a bit.
It says remove all <br/> but does it mean "where a para is needed" as by removing them all it makes the items in my Contents turn into a sentence - plus all my bullet point lists have <br/> in them.
Also my paras all start with <p class="sgc-1"><span> html not with <p class=MsoNormal> ??

[Whackatagin]

Hi Baz.

The MsoNormal & SGC-1 thing....they are basically the same thing. The MsoNormal is just the style imported from a basic paragraph in a word doc. SGC-1 is the inherant Sigil style for an indented para. Most people import from word, that's why the kwik guide refers to Mso.

The BR tag thing...if you are going to mobi then these will all be ignored during conversion, that is why we use &nbsp; (Ironically, mobi conversion creates br tags. I know it's a mind-@*%$) As for the usage, here is a snippet from a well formed epub ready to convert. It shows: end of paragraph, paragraph break/new scene, and the start of the next set of paragraphs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<p class="MsoNormal">‘He’d better remember I’m the professional and he’s the student,’ muttered Stephen as he struggled after her with their luggage.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>


<p class="MsoNormal">After a short......(it goes on and ends as above, all paras should be as the first one above. Without the nbsp tag they will all run on, as in any normal book.)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As and epub, or after conversion via Calibre, it will apear as...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘He’d better remember I’m the professional and he’s the student,’ muttered Stephen as he struggled after her with their luggage.

After a short......(it goes on)
________________________________(with indents, post removed them.)

The nbsp tag within <P> tags is read as a new paragraph with nothing in it, this a blank line/paragraph break. It will work for any place where you want a blank line.

If you are authoring with Sigil you will encounter some differences. I know it sounds like a pain when you have obviously made a lot of progress in Sigil, but might I suggest you copy and past your chapter files back into word or wordpad, set it up as you want it and re-input back into Sigil. That will, most likely, sort most of your "gremilins". Going from epub to mobi is a fickle thing at the best of times, that is why you'll hear most folk cry "Simple is best".

Hope that helps and didn't just confuzzle you more...