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pinczehelyi
Participating Frequently
December 14, 2022
Answered

Hyperlinks opening in the ebook reader

  • December 14, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 1263 views

Hi Community!

I've made an epub file, including a lot of hyperlinks. When i open it in Adobe Digital Edition and click on any of them, it opens IN the the ebook reader and no chance to get back to the ebook. No esc, no ctrl+z, etc... Is there any chance to open them in a browser instead of ADE? However it wouldn't be a problem, but the fact that i'm not able to step back is a huge problem. Many thanks!

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Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

With Bob's comments below noted —

 

A fixed-page EPUB is indeed a horse of many colors. It's a format to be avoided for new works unless nothing else will work (which boils down to mostly-image books that have to go through an EPUB seller).

 

Some apps that manage links have a checkbox or the like for the link to "open in new window" and if you check that, the app or export will add the appropriate code to the link. I don't work much with hyperlinks in INDD or EPUB docs other than TOCs etc., so I may not have an absolute answer.

 

I've just tried several things, and can't seem to figure out how to add the target command to a link within InDesign; frustrating, because I have fairly high mastery of web development. But, a plain link (to Wikipedia) opens in my browser from both Calibre reader and Kindle Previewer. That is — it works, and it works as expected, not opening within the e-book reader. So I am not sure the target command is needed, but maybe another brain here knows what ID wants in the link space to add the target command.

 

So I suspect the behavior you're seeing is peculiar to ADE, which tries to be an all-in-one e-reader and (to continue my gentle deprecation that always amuses Bob) proves to be a zero-in one app. Don't use it; check the link behavior in whatever end point readers you actually expect your users to be using.

 

2 replies

P
pinczehelyiAuthor
Participating Frequently
December 14, 2022

I forgot to mention it, that i made buttons to open the links, so they are not directly clickable as hyperlinks.

BobLevine
Community Expert
BobLevineCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 15, 2022

You also forgot to mention that it's a fixed layout epub. That adds a whole level of complication to this thing. There's just no real standard for it and except for very specialized cases where the reader device and app can be controlled I'm not a big fan anymore. 

 

James was kinder than I would have been referring to ADE; the best device and reader app is the Books app on an iPad. After that Throrium is probably the best bet. I'll let James pop back and give you any advice on editing that markup.

    P
    pinczehelyiAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    December 15, 2022

    Oh, sorry about that, i didn't know that it's important... However i've already made it like this, and unfortunately there's no time to change it. 😞 But i need to find a solution anyway.

    James Gifford—NitroPress
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    Legend
    December 14, 2022

    First, ADE is a pretty lousy tool to test (or read) EPUB documents in. Get a more standard reader like Thorium or Calibre.

     

    Second, EPUB is just packaged web pages, so the behavior is much the same as on a browser. If the browser/reader itself is not set to open a new page for a link, it will open the link in the current 'page.' The only way to modify this is to add a "_target=" command to every link, to force it to open in new or otherwise designated page.

     

    It might be possible to edit all the links in the source doc using GREP or Find/Replace, to add a _target statement. But you might want to try one or two, manually edited, to make sure the behavior is what you want it to be.

     

      P
      pinczehelyiAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      December 15, 2022

      Hi James,

      could you please help me, where and how to place that command, if the link is a button?

      Many thanks! 

      P
      pinczehelyiAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      December 15, 2022

      With Bob's comments below noted —

       

      A fixed-page EPUB is indeed a horse of many colors. It's a format to be avoided for new works unless nothing else will work (which boils down to mostly-image books that have to go through an EPUB seller).

       

      Some apps that manage links have a checkbox or the like for the link to "open in new window" and if you check that, the app or export will add the appropriate code to the link. I don't work much with hyperlinks in INDD or EPUB docs other than TOCs etc., so I may not have an absolute answer.

       

      I've just tried several things, and can't seem to figure out how to add the target command to a link within InDesign; frustrating, because I have fairly high mastery of web development. But, a plain link (to Wikipedia) opens in my browser from both Calibre reader and Kindle Previewer. That is — it works, and it works as expected, not opening within the e-book reader. So I am not sure the target command is needed, but maybe another brain here knows what ID wants in the link space to add the target command.

       

      So I suspect the behavior you're seeing is peculiar to ADE, which tries to be an all-in-one e-reader and (to continue my gentle deprecation that always amuses Bob) proves to be a zero-in one app. Don't use it; check the link behavior in whatever end point readers you actually expect your users to be using.

       


      So, i've tried Thorium and it's much much better then ADE. Now the "written" hyperlinks are working well, but the others - which are made as buttons - are still don't... But it's a step forward anyway, because earlier those were didn't work either.

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