Baka-Epub

1. Introduction
2. Requirements
3. How to use
   1. [Advanced] Getting texts and images from non-existent page on Baka-Tsuki
4. Acknowledgment

Baka-Epub is a tool to make ePub from light novel in Baka-Tsuki. It consists of two parts:

1. Baka-HTML, a user script for converting Baka-Tsuki pages into plain HTML. During that process, unwanted page elements like the layout are removed, embedded images (both inline ones and thumbnails) are replaced with the full version.
2. Baka-Epub, a Sigil plugin for cooking the plain HTML into a proper eBook. The output will look pretty much like what the gone BTE-GEN will produce. However, there're some differences which can be either improvements or just my own preferences.

There's also krytykal-to-HTML, which has the same function as Baka-HTML's but for krytykal.org and similar Wordpress sites. Unlike Baka-HTML, it's not a user script but just a plain Js script to run in browser Js console.

Baka-Epub is designed especially for me and my workflow. Naturally, it's likely unsuitable for non-me users, possibly including you. So if you're not me, I recommend using WebToEpub instead.

For change logs, todo list, random notes, or whatever, see baka_epub_dev_notes.txt (yes, plain text, and possibly out-of-date).

Requirements

To run Baka-HTML, you need Firefox and Greasemonkey, latest stable version recommended. A different browser with a different user script manager might work, but only the listed softwares are supported. I can't test stuff on what I don't have or use. As of 2016-07-04, I use Firefox Nightly 50.0a1 and Greasemonkey 3.8 on Linux Mint 17.3 64-bit.

To run Baka-Epub, you need Sigil version 0.8.9 or later, latest stable version (0.9.6) recommended. The plugin makes use of the Python 3.4 interpreter, sigil_bs4 and sigil_gumbo packages, which are included in Sigil 0.8.9+ by default. The plugin is tested in Sigil 0.9.6 on Linux Mint 17.3 64-bit and Sigil 0.9.5 portable on Windows 7 32-bit.

To run krytykal-to-HTML, you need a browser having a console to run arbitrary Javascript codes. Chrome and Firefox have it built-in.

How to use

Note: You'd better perform the following steps precisely. Baka-Epub is made under the assumption that you do stuff precisely. If you don't, only God knows what will happen.

Getting texts and images

• Browse to a Baka-Tsuki webpage that contains the full text of the wanted light novel, like Ultimate_Antihero:Volume_3.
• Click on the button "Baka-Epub" in the upper right tab bar. Note: the button only appears if you install the user script properly. Screenshot.
• The whole page will be converted to plain text. Unwanted elements will be removed. Small images will be replaced with their full version. It can take a while depending on your network connection speed and Baka-Tsuki server's state. Screenshot.
• Save the page in Web Page, complete format (html with images, or whatever your browser calls). I recommend adding date and script version to filename, like Ultimate Antihero - Volume 03 [2016.07.04][bke_v0.6.4].html. Screenshot.

If your source is in krytykal, like Omae wo Onii-chan ni Shite Yarouka volume 1, browse to the webpage, open Js console, copy the contents of krytykal-to-HTML.js and paste into the console, press Enter, and you're done. You should see some lines starting with [krytykal-HTML] appearing in the console. Screenshot.

Process raw materials into a proper ePub

• Run Sigil. Right click on Text (on the left panel), and then Add Existing Files.... Choose the file you saved in the previous step, i.e Ultimate Antihero - Volume 03 [2016.07.04][bke_v0.6.4].html. You should now have two files in the Text section. You may add more text files if you want; there's no limit on this.
• Now, let's select a cover image. See the list of images in Images section. If the cover image is already there, like Ultimate_Antihero_03_Cover.jpg, right click on it > Cover image (there should be a tick there if you right click on it again). If it's not yet there, right click on Images and use Add Existing Files... to add one, and then mark it. Screenshot.
• Click menu Plugins > Edit > Baka-Epub. The plugin will now run. You should see Status: success and a load of text below. Screenshot. Note: again, Baka-Epub only appears there if you install the plugin properly.
• If you want, add/edit some information (metadata) in menu Tools > Metadata Editor.... The table of Contents is created automatically, as you can see in the right panel.
• Save the result and enjoy. Again, I recommend putting script version in filename, like Ultimate Antihero - Volume 03 [2016.07.04][bke_v1.2.0].epub. Screenshot.
• Feel free to validate the result with EpubCheck, the official validation tool by the organization creating ePub format. I have tested Baka-Epub with more than 30 volumes of light novel, and the chance that the output gets zero error and zero warning is nearly 100%.

[Advanced] Getting texts and images from non-existent page on Baka-Tsuki

To do this, you simple pretend to create or edit a page (register an account on Baka-Tsuki and your user page is a good idea), and run the user script on the preview panel. With this, you can get whatever you want without messing up existing stuff in Baka-Tsuki.

For example, the full text page for Monogatari Series - Volume 14 - Koyomimonogatari doesn't exist. I edit my user page with this wikitext here, and then do like this, this, and this.

Acknowledgment

• The user script is based on the script Baka Tsuki eBook converter version 2 by Poligrafowicz. It was posted in JCafe24, which is down for now. Only God knows when the site will be up again.
• The CSS stylesheets page_styles.css and stylesheet.css are from BTE-GEN by Lord-Simon. The website is down, but the source code can still be access in his Github repository. I don't know PHP so it doesn't matter to me.