Community Wishlist Survey 2019/Wikisource/Improve export of electronic books

Random proposal ►◄ Wikisource The survey has concluded. Here are the results!

Improve export of electronic books

Original title (Français): Améliorer l'exportation des versions électroniques des livres

Problem: Imagine if Wikipedia pages could not display for many days, or would only be available once in a while for many weeks. Imagine if Wikipedia displayed pages with missing information or scrambled information. This is what visitors get when they download books from the French Wikisource. Visitors do not read books online in a browser. They want to download them on their reader in epub, mobi or pdf. The current tool (Wsexport) to export books in these formats has all those problems : on spring 2017, it was on and off for over a month ; after october 2017, mobi format did not work, then pdf stopped working. These problems still continue on and off.
Français: Imaginez si les pages Wikipédia ne s’affichaient pas pour plusieurs jours, ou n’étaient disponibles que de façon aléatoire durant plusieurs jours. Imaginez si sur les pages Wikipédia certaines informations ne s’affichaient pas ou était affichées tout croche. C’est la situation qui se produit pour les visiteurs qui désirent télécharger nos livres. Les visiteurs ne lisent pas les livres en ligne dans un navigateur, ils désirent les télécharger sur leurs lecteurs en epub, mobi ou pdf. L’outil actuel (Wsexport) permettant l’export dans ces formats possède tous ces problèmes: au printemps 2017, il fonctionnait de façon aléatoire durant un mois; depuis octobre 2017, le format mobi puis pdf ont cessé de fonctionner. Ces problèmes continuent de façon aléatoire.

Who would benefit: The end users, the visitors to Wikisource, by having access to high quality books. This would improve the credibility of Wikisource.
This export tool is the showcase of Wikisource. Contributors can be patient with system bugs, but visitors won’t be, and won’t come back.
The export tool is as important as the web site is.
Français: L’utilisateur final, le visiteur de Wikisource, en ayant accès à des livres de haute qualité. Ceci contribuerait à améliorer la crédibilité de Wikisource. L’outil d´exportation est une vitrine pour Wikisource. Les contributeurs peuvent être patients avec les anomalies de système, mais les visiteurs ne le seront peut-être pas et ne reviendront pas. L’outil d’exportation est tout aussi important que le site web.

Proposed solution: We need a professional tool, that runs and is supported 24/7, as the different Wikimedia web sites are, by Wikimedia foundation professional developers.
The tool should support different possibilities of electronic book, and the evolution of ebooks technology.
The different bugs should be corrected.
Français: Nous avons besoin d’un outil professionnel, fonctionnant et étant supporté 24/7, comme tous les différents sites Wikimedia, par les développeurs professionnels de la fondation Wikimedia. Les différentes anomalies doivent être corrigées.

More comments: There are not enough people in a small wiki (even French, Polish or English Wikisource) to support and maintain such a tool.
Français: Nous ne sommes pas assez nombreux dans les petits wiki (même Wikisource Français, Polonais ou Anglais) pour supporter une telle application.

Phabricator tickets: phabricator:T178803, other issues: https://github.com/wsexport/tool/issues
Proposer: Consulnico (talk) 10:06, 7 November 2018 (UTC), from the the 2017 proposal by Viticulum, with 54 endorsements.[reply]

Discussion

When it comes to PDF format, mw:Reading/Web/PDF Functionality is probably also related here? --AKlapper (WMF) (talk) 12:46, 7 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Yes it is a "related tool" mw:Reading/Web/PDF Functionality is not covering Wsexport features: Wikisource books are split in multiple subpages and Wsexport is able to know automatically which pages should be included and in which order. It also properly attributes the proofreaders of the Page: pages and extract the relevant metadata (e.g. the author is the original author of the work and not the Wikisource contributors).

On the technical side about Wsexport: its codebase is mostly derived from a quick PHP hack and is not able to scale with the current load on the restricted tools labs capacities. A full rewrite is I believe required in order to get this tool in a working state. Tpt (talk) 09:14, 10 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

+1 we need to increase reading capability. downloading in e-reader format would expand off-line reader base, increasing use-ability. will require some community management. Slowking4 (talk) 22:00, 15 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

As a writer of science (Mathematics and Physics) books, it is important for me, to be able to extract these books also in odt form. I have already written three books in both forms (wiki and odt) and the additional effort to do this was not exactly sparse. Of course I need the odt Format, in order to be able to change contents according to the needs of my pupils any time, without needing to change the wiki project. If extraction in odt format exists, then it is very easy to make a pdf out of it (the opposite is not exactly so easy). I already tried to create a Star-Basic macro, that should do part of the job, the wiki-programmers can maybe find there ideas for a wiki2odt converter. If this in not possible, a working pdf converter would also suffice... Yomomo (talk) 05:25, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Voting

Support Consulnico (talk) 23:50, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Akme (talk) 03:41, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support I use WSexport every day for distribution of texts to users who are not always on line. Wuyouyuan (talk) 08:27, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Le ciel est par dessus le toit (talk) 09:41, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Using WExport instensively too ! Patrice Dargenton (talk) 11:12, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Noé (talk) 16:24, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Peter Alberti (talk) 17:08, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Viticulum (talk) 21:14, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hector (talk) 22:06, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 01:05, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Satdeep Gill (talk) 07:12, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਵਿਰਦੀ (talk) 07:14, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Harshaan Ghuman (talk) 07:15, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Simranjeet Sidhu (talk) 07:18, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jagvir Kaur (talk) 07:22, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kaviraf--Kaviraf (talk) 07:27, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Zabia (talk) 10:14, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Richard Nevell (talk) 10:55, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support very important and necessary if we really want to achieve "Knowledge as a service" and "Knowledge equity" for our readers. VIGNERON * ^discut. 12:34, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support 200% pro. This is more than a simple need! Best regards, Benoit Rochon (talk) 15:03, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jeb (talk) 15:50, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yodaspirine (talk) 17:22, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Amqui (talk) 17:32, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Pepe piton (talk) 18:03, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tpt (talk) 20:07, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Aristoi (talk) 20:10, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ninovolador (talk) 20:17, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Thurs (talk) 20:24, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Laurent Jerry (talk) 21:28, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Pymouss Tchatcher - 21:42, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support as quickly as possible! Wieralee (talk) 23:04, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ankry (talk) 23:26, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bodhisattwa (talk) 03:53, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Llywrch (talk) 07:35, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bzhqc (talk) 08:25, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Geraki ^T_L 14:07, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Dorades (talk) 14:25, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support I support Derfgiuliano (talk) 14:43, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nala ^Discuter 14:51, 19 November 2018 (UTC)
Support —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 15:03, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Emptyfear (talk) 15:22, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sadads (talk) 17:59, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hsarrazin (talk) 20:42, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ernest-Mtl (talk) 20:47, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Zdzislaw (talk) 00:09, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lostinlodos (talk) 01:05, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yomomo (talk) 05:30, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support The export tool is as important as the web is ! Acer11 (talk) 05:48, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Barsetti46 (talk) 06:19, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Candalua (talk) 06:36, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Toto256 (talk) 06:38, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Shev123 (talk) 09:15, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yes please! Thekidpossum (talk) 13:40, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Thibaut120094 (talk) 14:19, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lyokoï (talk) 15:51, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Needed fix many problem in export (ie. maps) and others And.martire (talk) 16:35, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Salicyna (talk) 18:24, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Pamputt (talk) 18:37, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Automatik (talk) 18:52, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Alex brollo (talk) 19:44, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Vigno (talk) 20:30, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 23:01, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support JAn Dudík (talk) 06:19, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Vulp here 07:18, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Conny (talk) 15:09, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Novak Watchmen (talk) 15:21, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ayack (talk) 16:29, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support I started working on wiki source because of broken e-pubs. S1.pl (talk) 16:32, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Absolutely necessary for this type of project. Gce (talk) 17:26, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Support for tables needed last time I checked. Library Guy (talk) 19:44, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Per proposal and rationale given by some of the supporters of the proposal. SshibumXZ (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support MartinPoulter (talk) 12:05, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Balajijagadesh (talk) 18:47, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jayantanth (talk) 19:48, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Flo Beck (talk) 20:11, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Manseng (talk) 21:57, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Good quality export of Wikisource books to epub, mobi and pdf formats is very importnat. Siddhant (talk) 01:15, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Effectivement, j'ai déjà rencontré plusieurs fois des problèmes d'export Tpe.g5.stan (talk) 09:47, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Chrisric (talk) 11:12, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Cantons-de-l'Est (talk) 11:41, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --*j*jac (talk) 11:54, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sahaquiel9102 (talk) 17:37, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Slowking4 (talk) 19:36, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Vieux têtard (talk) 22:42, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sannita - not just another it.wiki sysop 01:02, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support A must-have functionality for Wikisource that has sadly been lacking. As both an editor and reader of Wikisource, I can attest to the fact that the current e-book exporting tool is slow, buggy and simply not up-to-date with the latest technical advantages and needs. odder (talk) 10:44, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Acélan (talk) 13:09, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Would be very useful in other languages too. this is definitely not unique to fr.ws. Naḥum (talk) 20:16, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Indispensable !! Et de préférence avec une compatibilité multiple (epub-mobi-ODT) SyB~Anicium (talk) 20:26, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~ Seb35 [^_^] 14:39, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yland (talk) 17:38, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Micru (talk) 21:28, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ranjithsiji (talk) 22:53, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support — AfroThundr ^{(u · t · c)} 03:06, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support PMG (talk) 11:55, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support This is needed. Mathieugp (talk) 13:31, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support in the hope that improvements to this functionality would also be able to help Wikivoyage's (currently broken) book creator. Mx. Granger (talk) 14:37, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support for Wikisource and beyond! Trizek ^{from FR} 17:46, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Nemo 22:44, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ManuD (talk) 08:25, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Zyephyrus (talk) 18:19, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support User:JLTB34 --JLTB34 (talk) 19:37, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Abecido (talk) 09:26, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bibar (talk) 10:13, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Saig Keryann (talk) 14:38, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support An important feature, needed to promote wider use of Wikisource by readers. Sites allowing to download ebooks are popular now, and we need to have such feature — NickK (talk) 16:35, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Strong support! Edhral 07:09, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --OrsolyaVirág (talk) 14:23, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --.mau. ✉ 15:58, 30 November 2018 (UTC)
Support Very important and should be a basic funcion of all mediawiki services... ciampix (talk) 16:17, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Pyb (talk) 16:28, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Arcyon37 (talk) 16:40, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mauricio V. Genta (talk) 16:41, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]