Forum: Author Hangout

Unfortunately, thus far, Lazeez won't budge on the matter, as it involves a LOT more work to implement and isn't used by anyone other than myself! :(

A lot of authors have sections and they are only visible in the index. It's the added text/description for a section that is only used in Arlene and Jeff. The section names should be visible in the chapters itself. I found that in almost every story where sections are used they split the story in logical, well..., sections ;) In most cases the name of the section is important for the context of that part of the story. I can understand why Lazeez doesn't implement this (yet?) because it's probably rather difficult without touching a lot of other code.
I have solved it for myself but other readers have to keep skipping back and forth between the chapters and the index. There's also the problem that sections are abused, i.e. used where they should not be used. The most common abuse is combining books into a single "story" and have sections name like "Book 1", "Book 2". That too I have solved for my custom library but again that's not something other readers can benefit from.
I will have to rewrite my conversions if Lazeez implements this but then it will benefit every reader.

I've implemented it, along with some other changes.

Wow, that's fast. You even added the numbers Ernest requested. It appears I don't have to change my conversion, it still works. I put the section name above every chapter number/name. You put the section name above the first chapter of a new section which might be more appealing to other readers then repeating it for every chapter. I didn't think of that option but it probably solved the problem of requiring more invasive changes.
Thanks!

Implementing that (and my later use of graphics and epigraphs for section breaks (though I've dropped the narrative elements), I implement SOL's section command { p}, but also include the other elements in the main chapter, including the section headers so the readers won't miss the section groupings.

To make it clear: I convert downloaded zips to my own html library with my own css. The SOL formatting is preserved as far as possible which is almost completely. I have several reasons for doing this: css formatting to my personal liking, reading off-line, formatting for all devices, add covers, add different themes, add choice of fonts, add font size selection, add pictures or maps where I feel I need them, and more. over time it has become quite a project where I even keep lists of author aliases, deceased/retired dates, US-to-metric converters, and a list of source links. I even have author profiles for a lot of authors with biographies, pictures, and links to their site. I created the same 'profiles' for universes. It started as a hobby project to better learn html, css, and javascript but it got a little out of hand and it grew with all sorts of nifty little extras ;)

You're one of the few authors that make the effort to add covers, graphics, and other extras which is greatly appreciated. Ernest is another author that takes great care of formatting and adding floorplans etc.
The section headers problem is now solved and from the original post of this thread I understand that the possibility for section notes are added. As you mentioned you used section headers containing locations which is exactly why I asked for the section names to be included in the chapters. It's important information. For my converted library I even extended it so that the section names are included in every chapter, not just the first chapter of a new section. We're very fortunate that SOL offers the very best formatting I have seen compared to other story sites.

Why not just incorporate the section name as part of the chapter name? Something like: Fred - On the way to Town

I thought about that before I implemented it in my custom library but the line would become too long in some cases. Imagine something like this:
"Part 1: September 15 to October 15 - Chapter 23: This is the chapter title." And there are examples where it would become even longer.
I don't convert sections for all stories and your stories are those where I don't convert the sections, simply because you already did the work ;) I also don't convert the sections if it's just book numbers. In those cases I split the book sections into separate books. Arlene and Jeff and Second Chance are examples that represent multiple books in my library where they are in a single "book" here on SOL.
The way you format your books doesn't require me to convert sections since you already have the (colored) sections in the chapters. I fix it only if there are sections in the index that don't appear in the chapters by incorporating the section titles in the chapter headings.
For here on SOL the point is mood, Lazeez explained that it is way too invasive to implement without a major rework of sections in code and database.