iBooks Author "Enable As Hyperlink" Greyed Out

You don't completely describe the actions you have tried but it seems you are trying to create the link from the destination rather than the starting point?

Have you tried highlighting (selecting) the word or text you want to link FROM?

I have to admit I have never used iBooks... Yet.

Spare a thought for me, I am contemplating over 15,000 hyperlinks in a work of 240,000 words with many forign person and place names.

I am one of those who mistrust links ! Better if you put images in the post, using the camera icon above.

Follow the guidlines in the Help files and its works fine.

Problems arise ( or they did for me) when trying to use text in a text box.

Yes, I have been trying to link from one page to another

Select some text or single words from both pages main text content.

LINKS between pages in iBooks Author doesn't work!!! This is a VERY SERIOUS error for iBooks Author... I agree with vinnvg and Epochmaker and luanne415. I've found it impossible to make sensible links between different pages with this software. I want readers to have the choice to jump direct from a "List of Images," at the front of the eBook and/or from a reference to an Image in the text (Plate 8, for example) straight to the image itself.

iBooks author doesn't appear to allow authors to create a hyperlink in either "Title" or "Caption" boxes authors create with the Inspector Tool.

I have tried EVERYTHING, but the only way I can create a hyperlink in the phrase "see Plate 8" that will take a reader direct to Plate 8 is by using "Bookmark."

Sadly, it's impossible to create hyperlinks in either text boxes or in Caption or Title boxes created with Inspector.

Why not????

Mark Howell

I have downloaded iBA and heve tried to make a link, it *seems* I need to create a 'bookmark' then make a link to the bookmark, it's a somewhat convoluted process which didn't work, I even looked at the Help section...

To me if hyperlinks are at best unreliable or at worst impossible, I will forget iBA and save myself a lot of angst.

I did look at iBA when it was first released but came to the conclusion it needed to mature before it could be used for anything except plain text and images. I can't wait forever for the software to mature fully. The whole reason I want to use digital publication is so I can have internal hyperlinks and references, one of the most basic and fundamental features of digital text. This should have been sorted in release one. I can only assume iBA does not have a high priority.

I have already created 80% of the links in Adobe InDesign, it seems I just carry on and complete toe task in that software, then publish in one of the other formats, rather than iBA. Creating hyperlinks in InDesign is very easy and reliable. Sad. 😟

Set up correctly, a bookmark link using text on page 3, will take the reader to the target text on page 10.

Follow the Help files and remember to use the pop up name ..of the bookmark.

If the +. - are greyed out, its usually because your bookmark text is not valid.

See if this explain it better....

Create a bookmark. In this example, you want the reader to be able to check (whatever) on page 6 which is related to ( whatever) on Page 3.

First, go to page 6 select a word or phrase - I used “bookmark 1” select the text and in the Inspector click the BOOKMARK tab - then clcik the + at the bottom, it will then add “bookmark 1”.

Go to page 3.

Select your your hyperlink - Book Mark 6, in this example and in the Inspector, select Hyperlink.

Click Enable as hyperlink - select Link to Bookmark Open NAME and you should see the bookmark name you made… click it to activate

I set up a few test pages for this, you have to accomodate your own pages and bookmark identity

I do not actually use tables, but just trying to create a book mark in a table - does not seem to be possible..

But as teh attached image shows...... it can be achieved!

The test text on the left results in greyed out Bookmark - but on the right is a bookmark to Page 2 using a couple of words. I simply added a text box, created the Bookmark... and dragged the text box in place.

Would that help you?

Confirming its a two part process... you have to create target and the link to it.

I found this which may help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QfdsctfHIg

All I can say is that it works for me!

First select the "target" page/text = insert Hyperlink > Bookmark or select text and using the Inspector Hyperlink > Bookmark - this will result in the text giving its name to the BM and showing which page it is on. See below

Next go forward to the "BM Trigger" - here I have added text "BookMark"

Select the text as shown, and insert or enable as an Hyerlink --- Now where you see NAME, drop the menu window to reveal the TEST bookmark on page 4 and click on that and its now a link to page 4

I did the same with the test in a table using a text box overlaid on an empty table cell - and it works for me.

Come away from your book and open any templete and name it "Test" use this to "play" or practice making the book marks. Which is what I did just now to make teh test and image.

The Loren Ipsum text was copied from a template and pasted into an added into a new 2 column page.

add 2 or 3 pages. Below is my text. Look at the section page and you can see the red text BM scroll down to P4 and you can see the target "TEST" in red.

Not sure if its relevant but Bookmarks seem to suit page links to take a reader to a chapter/section page paragraph.

For the Table text, I inserted a standard text box and used the Figure option

Just a thought.... select all text on the page. Go to Format > Advanced, and uncheck "Define as Placeholder Text".

Try this and let me know.

- Create a text box

- Select all the text ('Type to enter text') and delete. Just a box.

- Place your new text in the text box.

- Now you can able to activate the hyperlink.