I was very excited the day the iPad came out. I resolved that day that I would get PassPorter on the iPad. And I did begin offering all our books as Online Editions in PDF form, but it’s not good enough for me. I actually want PassPorter’s Walt Disney World guidebook to be in the iBooks store, and the only way to do that is to offer it in the EPUB format (the open standard for e-books). This is tricky, because EPUB is really intended for basic text and anyone who is familiar with PassPorter knows that it is a very structured, graphic-heavy book with a lot of tables and charts.
Thus, I’m so happy to announce that I am very close to realizing that dream. I am finalizing our first EPUB version of PassPorter’s Walt Disney World 2014. The edition has that reflowable content, meaning you can optimize text for your display device. The ability to reflow text means that this edition does not, however, depict the pages of the print edition exactly. We have tried to retain the general structure, look, and feel as much as possible though. Special features of this edition include the ability to search, tap page numbers and other linked references to move within the book, and tap hyperlinks to visit a web page. The content is the same as the print edition; the only thing missing are the PassPockets (organizer pockets) that we include in the back of the print editions. For that, we want to make an app (and I’ve started the process for it).
But I need feedback before the book is submitted to the iBook store. Peer reviews are very important to PassPorter. If you have an iOS device (iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch) with the iBooks app installed, or a Nook, please download this file and take a look at it. It’s everything up to the end of chapter 1. Tell me what you think and what we can improve.
iOS and Nook Directions: Get your iOS device and make sure iBooks is installed — if not, it’s a free download from the Apple store (iBooks is Apple’s e-book reader app). While still on your iOS device, navigate to this page and click this link: PassPorters_Walt_Disney_World_2014-peek . If nothing happens, that may be because you’re viewing this link through Facebook — view this page in Safari instead and click the link again. If it downloads correctly, you will see a screen like this on the iPad:
Or like this on the iPhone:
Tap “Open in iBooks” and you’ll be sent to your iBooks app, and the book will open for you automatically.
Kindle Directions: On your Kindle, click this link to download the MOBI version. I have tested this on the Kindle app on my iPhone, as I do not have access to a Kindle today, and it worked pretty well.
Things to look for: ability to resize text, tapping hyperlinks (both internal and external), and readibility
Please Note: You can see some content in the book past chapter 1, but all the images have been removed past this point so I could get the file small enough to upload and download easily for testing.
Anyone who gives me useful feedback — feel free to reply here or e-mail me at jennifer (at} passporter {dot) com — will have their name (or username, your choice) added to the About page of the EPUB/MOBI files in recognition.
Hey there, Jennifer. Getting “This page cannot be found” on an iPad 3 with iOS 7
Thanks — all fixed now! Give it another try. 🙂
Got it!
Clicking on the link is not working on my ipad2
I fixed the link — give it another try please. 🙂
Looks great even on the smaller screen for iPhone will try on my mini later
When I try to open it, its says that it can’t open. That little screen never opened.
Kelly, what iOS device are you using? You could also try going to the link directly: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9244695/PassPorters_Walt_Disney_World_2014-peek.epub
I’m clicking link on page on my iPhone 4S. The link scrolls across bottom, but goes no where.
Hmm … I’m not sure about this one. It worked okay on my iPhone 5. I will get my iPhone 4 and try it there. [Updated to add: I tried it on my iPhone 4 without a problem. Make sure you have iBooks installed — it’s a free app from the App store.]
Yah!!! I got it to download (I’m using ipod touch). One thing I’ve already noticed is that in the table of contents-some of the words overlap. Like for page 188 and 189 I get
“Tips and notes for Disney’s”
-the overlapped lettering – ings for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
This seems to happen at the top of just about every page.
Interesting! I have no overlap on either my iPhone or iPad. Thank you for letting me know! If you have a screenshot of it (you can take one by holding down the Home button and Lock button at the same time), please share it. Thanks!
The overlap may be due to how large the reader has the font set. I just downloaded and noticed some things are on different pages than they should be. I set the font to the smallest font and it all looks good so far.
Spoke too soon, the images are not coming up for me.
Are images missing in the front matter and chapter 1, or is it they only missing images after chapter 1? I removed all images after chapter 1 to cut down on the size of the sample file.
Hi, Jennifer! I just tried it on my iPhone 5. It looks great, even on the tiny screen. I tried a few of the website hyperlinks and the worked perfectly! Having this format on our mobile devices at the parks would be extremely helpful. Great job!
The font and size tend to be an issue with the layout of the pages. And some of the images in the back sections are not showing up.
Images were removed from the back entirely before I uploaded. Thanks so much for looking at this!!
The font size messes with the layout a lot. I love that there are links for the chapters so all you have to do is tap. Would be nice if that continued to the index.
Nothing much I can do about the font size messing with the layout. That’s one of the “features” of an EPUB. I like those links, too!
I tested this application on my Nook HD. I found the content to function beautifully. I could easily adjust the text size to suit my preferences. I tested several hyperlinks in the content and each one functioned well. I viewed the sample under publisher defaults then I adjusted the pages to my preferences again, with no problems. I love this version of Passporter, I’ll admit that I read almost exclusively on my nook. I look forward to a passpocket app. I also was able to see the sample on my computer through the nook app and on my phone although I prefer the larger screen! Excellent job!
Thank you!
Viewed on my iphone5, no issues downloading or opening in iBooks. Graphics look great! Will try on iPad also. Keep up the great work on books and podcasts!
looks good on a kindle Paperwhite, but Alexanders “About the authors” page scrolls off the right edge at larger fonts so you can only read the left half of all the lines. There is also a blank page after some of the authors (Jennifer Marx and Dave Marx) and some of the PassPorter Team (Sandy Bostwick, Bernie Edwards, and Cheryl Pendry). Also, there is no Go To for the table of contents and there are no links in the table of for page 13 (Getting There and Back) through page 292 (Your Own Walt Disney World)
Looks good. The links work well. I’m getting my son an IPAD AIR for Christmas. I’ll add this to his ibooks to plan for our next trip! An app for pass pockets is a great idea. I had a bit of trouble loading onto my Nook HD+, but after I restarted the Nook, I was able to load without trouble. The links work as well on the nook as they do on the IPAD.
I was able to resize the text on the iPad and the Nook without difficulty. I had no problems with overlapping with the larger font sizes.
Well done! We always bring our reading devices with us on vacation. It will be great to have our Passporter on each device.!
Looked through it some today. One suggestion that I would make is this. In sections like “What’s unique” or “About” – really any with a box around the text block – remove the box. Due to the fluid nature of eBooks, they just end up looking incomplete.
Other than that, looks fantastic!
Looks Great! No issue with text, unusuall spacing etc. Links I tried all worked fine. Access online will be great! I can plan for my trip anywhere and not have to carry the bulky book (which I love) with me.
I viewed via my Nook app on the iPad. I did not see any hyper links for contents and index, perhaps they didn’t work on the Nook app, because I saw where someone else mentioned having them. Also, is there anyway to bring more color to the pages? Perhaps a border with hidden mickeys? Another big benefit to the book is the ability to jump to any section based on the categories on top and side that are color coded. Anyway to bring that in to the digital version?
I think there is a lot of promise with the digital version!
As with all of your work, everything is fantastic.
I had no problem downloading on both the iBook and my kindle ipad version.
It will be amazing. Love the fact that i can click the
name of the chapter in the table of content and that it will take me there, at
the tap of the arrow on the bottom, i will be back again at the table of content!
Great work thank you so much!
Josee (Canada)
Trying to open it on my kindle and it says “cant open file”
Allora, did you download the EPUB or MOBI file? Try downloading the MOBI file and trying again. 🙂
I tried downloading the Mobi file straight from my Kindle
Easy download on my iPad(1). Font size and style changes work great. Selecting from the contents menu correctly links to the corresponding page. Bookmarks and Notes working fantastically as well. Testing as many url links as I came across them. All seemed to open correctly in the browser.
The only issues I really came across was table formatting for the following when changing the font size:
– Web Site Index
– PassPorter Goodies
Vacation At-A-Glance (when font size forces items like “Breakfast: Lunch:” as multiple lines in a single cell)
Most of these text items will try to extend past their constraints of the cell they are located in, or when forced onto a second line will overlap.
My only other comment is in regards to items that are very useful in the printed version, but not the digital version. The autograph pages for example. It would be a really neat feature to be able to capture digital autographs. Also, the instructions in “Planning With Your Passporter” that involve “using a standard ball-point pen….” and the reference to the spiral binding and pockets just read somewhat silly in the digital version. Having experience with customer service in the technology field, I find it very easy to imagine a person actually trying to write on their tablet….with a pen. Perhaps a note to open the chapter in a noticeable highlighted box noting that some tips in the chapter apply to printed versions of PassPorter’s Guide only. “Please don’t try to write in your digital version”.
Otherwise, really pleased with the Digital version preview on the iPad. If I have a free moment I will also try on my 4th generation Kindle (no touch screen, black and white screen).
Great job!