Hi all! I’m a new network manager, and I was wondering what (if any) support/tips/tricks you offer authors in importing microsoft word documents to pressbooks. Many of the authors I will be working with are most comfortable writing in microsoft word and have varying technical abilities/comfort using other text editors. Furthermore, we won’t have access to student employees to assist in typesetting, and I won’t have much time to devote to it myself.
I am especially interested in hearing about strategies for converting microsoft word files (footnotes, indices, etc. included) into pressbooks/wordpress XML. Is this something anyone has messed with?
Hi @ers6 and welcome! I haven’t heard of any strategies for converting Word files to XML for import but would be curious to hear. Importing Word docs into Pressbooks is discussed in this guide chapter. I appreciate the appeal of working in a familiar editor, but I should note that aiming to preserve formatting from an imported Word doc tends to involve after-the-fact typesetting work within Pressbooks.
The Visual Editor in Pressbooks has more in common with Word than the Text Editor; for reducing time spent typesetting, working directly in this editor might be worth considering as an alternative to the import approach.
haha whoops–my bad! I meant that the visual editor might be difficult to learn for some folks. I may be working with an emeritus faculty member on a book, so I’m trying to limit the amount of technical skills necessary on their part (if they’re not tech-savvy! who knows, maybe they draft in HTML haha)