iPhone novel help...

[unmadeup]

I'm one of a group of writers that includes Susanna Jones, Alison MacLeod and Jeff Noon who are creating a work of collaborative online fiction called 217 Babel Street.

Having seen the iPhone screen, I love it and think it's the ideal eBook reading format, and so I'm trying to design Babel Street specifically for the iPhone.

The only drawback is I don't have one myself, and the emulator iPhoney requires 10.4 and I'm back in the 10.3.9 doldrums.

I think I'm 99% of the way there. I'm pretty sure the front page and the main book pages work fine. I'm a little concerned that the "doorbell" page doesn't work properly, but I haven't seen it on an iPhone since I made my changes.

I'd really appreciate it if any iPhone people can check it out for me and give me some feedback.

 

[unmadeup]

Margins

... also, do the margins work OK in both portrait and landscape?

Thanks...

 

[gutterflowerjc]

I will check...

When I get home, however, I just checked the link with my computer, and I am a bit confused with the navigation... Is it supposed to work as one of those "Choose your own adventure" books, or just as a book where you go to the different places and read about it there?

-Jordan

 

[unmadeup]

When I get home, however, I just checked the link with my computer, and I am a bit confused with the navigation... Is it supposed to work as one of those "Choose your own adventure" books, or just as a book where you go to the different places and read about it there?

-Jordan

That'd be great. Thanks.

It's not a linear novel - in the same way that the web isn't linear - so it's more of a book that takes you go to the different places and lets you gradually discover a single story.

 

[SFStateStudent]

A nice read on the iPhone...

but why the conversational barriers between Damien and the Elderly ladies? Too much cliche' stuff that covers just surface stuff about these inquisitive ladies. Are these inaccurate assumptions by Damien or is he leading up to accusations of diminished memory, especially sensory and short-term memory like so many people ASS-U-ME exist with the Elderly? Damien seems to adjust his conversation style when interacting with the Elderly; using simpler words; maybe a slower speech rate; once again under the guise that older adults can't comprehend normal speech. Maybe Damien can start up a conversation regarding "AARP" or "Social Security" at least it would be a two-way conversation. The Penthouse is still not working, and Heston is my favorite character. Beyond this, it's a good read. Love the format for my iPhone!!!

 

[unmadeup]

but why the conversational barriers between Damien and the Elderly ladies? Too much cliche' stuff that covers just surface stuff about these inquisitive ladies. Are these inaccurate assumptions by Damien or is he leading up to accusations of diminished memory, especially sensory and short-term memory like so many people ASS-U-ME exist with the Elderly? Damien seems to adjust his conversation style when interacting with the Elderly; using simpler words; maybe a slower speech rate; once again under the guise that older adults can't comprehend normal speech. Maybe Damien can start up a conversation regarding "AARP" or "Social Security" at least it would be a two-way conversation. The Penthouse is still not working, and Heston is my favorite character. Beyond this, it's a good read. Love the format for my iPhone!!!

Thanks for the crit... I should say these are all successful authors in their own rights.

Did the formatting work ok for your iPhone? Did you have to resize any pages? I'm hoping they'll appear full size. Many thanks.

 

[SFStateStudent]

I love the format...

no resizing, full pages worked like a charm. KMA (Keep Me Advised), this is one of the best formatted for my iPhone novels I've witnessed. I wish you could work on some of those legal briefs that I am forced to read on a daily basis via Lexis Nexis Academic & JSTOR. Keep up the good work!

 

[memesmith]

Rather than offer literary criticism, I'll address your questions. Yes you are right. The doorbell page isn't working quite right. It comes up pretty small, and I have to double-click on it to resize it. The bell-pushes work fine. The title page takes a little longer than I might expect to load. Main body text layout works fine both landscape and portrait. But you could make the margins a little narrower. I think. I'm just getting my head around what thebright reading aesthetics for the iPhone might be, but there seems a modicum too much white space here, more noticaeable in portrait mode.

I've just finished reading my first novel on the iPhone (a peice of Firefly fanfic from Manybooks - you could usefully see how Manybooks formats HTML for iPhone) and its the first time I've ever managed to read a whole web-distributed story, which means the iPhone is a winner as avreading device, as far as I'm concerned.

Give my regards to Jeff. He won't remember me, he'd just had Vurt published and was still hanging around Waterstones a lot when I was a student in Manchester.

 

[unmadeup]

thanks...

Many thanks memesmith... very useful indeed. I'll pass on your best to Mr Noon.

Does anyone have any idea how to code jpgs so they appear full screen on an iphone?

I've tried setting width as a percentage (<width=100%>) but Safari for iPhone still re-sizes it, frustratingly.

 

[unmadeup]

no resizing, full pages worked like a charm. KMA (Keep Me Advised), this is one of the best formatted for my iPhone novels I've witnessed.

Thanks!

 

[unmadeup]

? Might have cracked it... ?

Many thanks memesmith... very useful indeed. I'll pass on your best to Mr Noon.

Does anyone have any idea how to code jpgs so they appear full screen on an iphone?

I've tried setting width as a percentage (<width=100%>) but Safari for iPhone still re-sizes it, frustratingly.

I might have got it. If anyone can point an iphone here and tell me what size the doorbells appear, I'd be hugely grateful.

 

[SFStateStudent]

Sorry for the delay...

I might have got it. If anyone can point an iphone here and tell me what size the doorbells appear, I'd be hugely grateful.

but I had to be in class for a bit. Looks fine in both portrait and landscape views. The Bells measure about 1/4" in portrait view, and 3/8" in landscape view "fully outward pinched." I like it.

 

[unmadeup]

Dang

but I had to be in class for a bit. Looks fine in both portrait and landscape views. The Bells measure about 1/4" in portrait view, and 3/8" in landscape view "fully outward pinched." I like it.

Drat. I thought I'd fixed it to appear full-screen without having to be resized.

Many many thanks for your help... it's very useful. I'll keep working at it.

 

[memesmith]

I might have got it. If anyone can point an iphone here and tell me what size the doorbells appear, I'd be hugely grateful.

Weird! The bell board is loading somewhat flakily now. Works finentge first time, filled the screen nicely. But then I noticed the address bar was'nt retreating off the top of the screen as it dies when other pages are fuller loaded so the bottom ofbthe bell board is cut off.

So anyway I'm testing it again to see if I can work out why, and suddenlybthe board is far too big for portrait mode!

 

[unmadeup]

Oddness

Weird! The bell board is loading somewhat flakily now. Works finentge first time, filled the screen nicely. But then I noticed the address bar was'nt retreating off the top of the screen as it dies when other pages are fuller loaded so the bottom ofbthe bell board is cut off.

So anyway I'm testing it again to see if I can work out why, and suddenlybthe board is far too big for portrait mode!

That may have been my fault. I was fiddling with that page at what I guess was the time you were logged on. I've found the code I need which specifies sizing of windows for the iPhone, but frankly I don't understand precisely what it does, so I've been fiddling with the parameters to see what effect they have. Which is difficult when you can't see what's going on. I really should get my own iPhone, shouldn't I? Anyway, all the help, as I said before, is very much appreciated.

 

[memesmith]

That may have been my fault. I was fiddling with that page at what I guess was the time you were logged on. I've found the code I need which specifies sizing of windows for the iPhone, but frankly I don't understand precisely what it does, so I've been fiddling with the parameters to see what effect they have. Which is difficult when you can't see what's going on. I really should get my own iPhone, shouldn't I? Anyway, all the help, as I said before, is very much appreciated.

Looking at it (the bell-board) again now, I can confirm it's nicely sized for the screen (well perhaps a modicum too big - the right had edge disapears off the side) but because the address bar stays in view its actually significantly too big, the lowest bell-push is invisible off of the bottom of the screen until you push it up, pushing the address bar off the top. The easiest work around would be to play with the size until it appears about 9mm shorter. Then it should fit nicely.

 

[theronster]

This is all rather intriguing.

I look forward to a wider implementation of these ideas.

 

[unmadeup]

Ta

Almost there now. So thanks a lot...