Footnotes?

" if you open "Paragraph Styles" one of the possibilities is "footnote text""

I see "footer" in paragraph styles but not "footnote." iBA 2.2

The current "best practice" workaround for authorial notes in iBooks Author 2.2 (current as of this post) is to use the Pop-over widget. This tactic is far superior to re-purposing bookmarks and the glossary. The basic formula is as follows:

• Create a small graphic image that is wider than it is tall. For example:

• Invoke the pop-over widget on the page where you want to place the author's note (formerly footnote) using the image above.

• Insert the text and images that constitute your citation, reference, note etc.

• With the image selected, open the Wrap pane in the Inspector, uncheck "Object causes wrap" and use "Inline (moves with text)" for Placement

• Drag the image to where you want it to appear, adjust and resize it (smaller) so that surrounding text formatting is not disrupted.

This will work in all orientations and will be impervious to subsequent text editing because the image will follow the text. Due to its small size, it may be difficult for some readers to tap accurately the first time. There is a variation on this theme that presents a bigger, easier to hit target but that has drawbacks as well.

I am preparing a detailed blog post on this subject that also explains why footnotes and endnotes in digital documents are obsolete and should not be used.

Still, this does not solve the issue of linked references, for instance. Especially for academic publishing this is very important

Maarten van der Smagt wrote:

Still, this does not solve the issue of linked references, for instance. Especially for academic publishing this is very important

I may not be fully understanding your objection but the Pop-Over widget does support hyperlinks as well as regular text and static images. Here's a screenshot to illustrate:

The Webpage hyperlink would be the thing to use for external references whereas Chapter or Section or Page Number options might be best for elements that require entire pages or sections (viz. bibliographies, webliographies or arachniologies, etc.). The Bookmark might be used to lead the reader to a specific part of a page. Note that Figure can link to:

The problem with hyperlinking to references within the book is getting the reader back to where they started. I would propose that Apple provide us with a new hyperlink called Return which uses iBooks history to return the reader to wherever they were in the book when they last tapped on a hyperlink. Webpage references to external sources don't have that problem because that link uses another app (Safari). Switching back to iBooks keeps the reader's place.

Hello All,

I would agree with Frank above, I have been using the pop up widget to help with this issue but would love for the user to have to ability to jump back to the previous page. This would be a great help Apple…

To add to this list the ability to customise widgets further would be great.

Where ever there is an activity within a widget at least you should have the choice to turn on or off activities to customise them even more within the inspector.

Regards,

Nigel

I have just today completed the first draft of my analysis of footnotes and endnotes in iBooks Author. It can be read here. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Hello Frank,

Thats great — Thanks!

Appreciate the posting.

I look forward to having a full read of it…

Regards,

Nigel