Installing it
Joomla
Install pkg_hikariflipbook-<version>.zip through System, Install, Extensions.
The package installs four things:
| Piece | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Component, Hikari Flipbook | The book manager: define a book once, place it anywhere |
| Module, Hikari Flipbook | A book in a module position |
| Content plugin | {flipbook ...} inside an article |
| File extension | The viewer itself, installed once and shared by the rest |
Joomla 4, 5 and 6, PHP 8.1 or newer.
Updates
The package registers its own update site, so System, Update, Extensions offers new versions like any other extension. The update file and the packages both come from the project's GitHub repository; nothing else is contacted, and there is no key to enter.
WordPress
WordPress 6.4 or newer, PHP 8.1 or newer.
- From the plugin directory: search for Hikari Flipbook under Plugins, Add New, install and activate. Updates then arrive the way every other listed plugin's do.
- By hand: download
hikari-flipbook-<version>.zipfrom the releases page, then Plugins, Add New, Upload Plugin. A plugin installed this way does not update itself: install the newer zip over it, or switch to the directory version.
Where a document may live
A book's path is relative to the site root, and it has to stay inside it:
images/catalogue.pdf, wp-content/uploads/catalogue.pdf. A path that climbs out of
the site is refused rather than guessed at.
Seven kinds of document work:
| What | Notes |
|---|---|
| A PDF | The usual case. Scans work too, where the host has the tools below |
| A folder of images | Used in natural order, so page-2.jpg comes before page-10.jpg |
| An EPUB | Fixed-layout books show as they were designed; books that reflow are laid out into pages for the screen they are read on |
| A CBZ | A comic archive: a zip of pictures, in natural order. CBR is not read, since RAR needs a decoder we will not ship; rezip it as a CBZ |
| A Kindle book | MOBI, AZW and AZW3, as long as it has no DRM. A book bought from Amazon and still tied to an account will not open, and nothing here works around that |
| An FB2 | FictionBook, zipped or not. It reflows, and its cover and title become a first page |
| A folder of HTML pages | One file per page, in natural order. The pages are yours to edit, the text is real text and the links work |
A folder holding pictures is a book of pictures; a folder holding HTML files and no pictures is a book of pages. Anything else in the folder, a stylesheet for instance, is left alone.
An EPUB that reflows, an FB2 and a Kindle book have no fixed pages either, and behave the way the paragraph below describes.
An EPUB that reflows has no fixed pages: the number of them depends on the size of the screen, so page 12 on a laptop is not page 12 on a phone. Links to a page still work, because what is stored is the place in the book rather than the number of the page. Hotspots are not offered on such a book, for the same reason.
What the server can do for you, if it has the tools
Two features use programs a host may or may not have. Both are optional: without them the book is the same, it simply does more work in the browser.
| Tool | What it adds | Without it |
|---|---|---|
pdftotext (poppler) |
The document's words in the page, for search engines | The page carries a link to the document and no text |
pdftoppm (poppler) or Imagick |
The cover of a lightbox book, drawn once on the server | The browser downloads the whole document to draw the cover |
Nothing has to be configured. They are used if they are there.