I am creating a book made up of interspersed blocks of original text and quotations and want two scripts to help.
First, the quotes are already in a MySQL database.
Table quotes:
QID, AID, author, text, comments, source
There are also several fields that won't be involved here. QID is the key for the quotes table. AID is the key to the author table, but for simplicity we will ignore that relation for this project as there is nothing in that table that I really need. I may or may not choose to use the source field but will want it displayed during editing in the first script.
A chapter in the book will consist of a title and a set of text entries and quotations. I want the first script to allow me to choose one chapter and scroll through the existing pieces. At any point in the chapter (top, bottom, or between existing elements) I want to be able to either search the database for an additional quote to insert or insert a text block. I need to be able to move elements up or down (doesn't have to be fancy, maybe just a plus and minus button to move it up one slot). Editing doesn't need to be anything more than my browser's ability to edit a textfield.
The second script will need to step through the elements created by the first script and output the content, and it will need to do this two times. In each pass it will write some code to a file, write some code, write the chapter title, some code, then write the individual blocks, and end with the chapter-ending code. Each text object will be bracketed by consistent code. Each quotation will be code, [login to view URL], code, [login to view URL], code, [login to view URL], code.
The first time the second script steps through the book the codes will be those appropriate for InDesign for a print book. In the case of a text block it will be very simple, declare a new paragraph, output the text, declare the end of a paragraph. If it's a quote it will be more comlex: declare the new paragraph, output the text, insert the codes for a line break and an indent, output the author, if comments is not empty, output a comma and a space, insert code, output the comments, and then declare the end of hte paragraph.
The second time through it will do the exact same things but the codes will be appropriate for creating a text file to become an eBook.
The winning freelancer does not need to worry about what the codes are, just to create the mechanism for writing them to the file. I haven't designed the final output, for purposes of illustration let's assume that it's going to be HTML. For example, here's a quote that might be used:
QID: 5576
AID: 1823
author: Edith Wharton
text: I was never allowed to read the popular American children's books of my day because, as my mother said, the children spoke bad English without the author's knowing it.
comments: 1862 - 1937
source: <em>A Backward Glance</em> (1934)
This is what might be output:
<p class quotes><span class text>
I was never allowed to read the popular American children's books of my day because, as my mother said, the children spoke bad English without the author's knowing it.
</span><br /><span class credits><em>
Edith Wharton
</em>,
comments
</span></p>
I run European website design firm with years of design experience personally developing over 300+ websites. I can also provide a list of references from past customers if you'd like. I'm not the cheapest you'll find, but I think you'll find my pricing affordable, and I work very quickly. Remember, you always get what you pay for in the design industry. Thank you for your time, and I hope we can do business together.
We specialize in pure HTML/CSS websites, and we can get this done for you quickly. Check your PM for more details about our bid. Regards, the redAtom Team
I will be happy to do this job for you. I'm experienced in PHP and MySQL. I'm looking forward to work with you and I assure you that you'll be satisfied with my work.
Hi,
I am interested in working with you on your Book Creation project. I have had over 15 years experience with web programming and am a native English speaker.
More in PMB
Hi, I have read your description. Looks like it is an easy, maybe tricky job.
I think two scripts should not be more then 250$, so, lets here from you.