Official account for SEED.html Simple EPUB Editor.
I’m the creator of the app, Stewart Haines. Hi there.
New blog!
Following on from the post about converting plain text source to EPUB-ready xhtml...
This new post introduces the plain text music notation format called 'abc', and describes how the SEED.html app can be set up to convert abc code block within markdown content to inline SVG images for responsive digital sheet music.
#epub #epub3 #svg #markdown #abc
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2026/01/transforming-plain-text-to-svg-for-epub.html
New blog!
I wrote about the various plain text formats I’ve tried as source content for EPUB books in the SEED.html app.
Maybe you know some of them: markdown, textile, org-mode, asciidoc, LaTeX and fountain
#epub #markdown #asciidoc #orgmode #latex
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2026/01/transforming-plain-text-to-epub-3.html
Have you heard of Invisible XML?
With it you create a grammar that describes the structure of a plain text document so it can be handled with XML tools. Very apropos.
Turns out there's a javascript implementation of the parser (Grammix), which runs in a browser. Very exciting!
The blog post shows an EPUB created with markdown and textile grammars and a single ixml parser.
#ixml #markupmonday #seedhtml #epub
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/12/invisible-xml-to-epub-3.html
A podcast inspired me to learn what a language shift is in EPUB and whip something up in the SEED.html app
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/12/language-shifting-in-epub-3.html
I read a slide deck from 2012 about scripted EPUB in the iBooks app. Here’s what I thought of it in relation to the SEED.html app in 2025.
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/12/scripted-epub-3-in-2025.html
I blogged!
This post describes an EPUB 3 file that presents audio clips and flashcard-style toggling of individual Georgian phrases.
The material is derived from a book called Beginner's Georgian by Dodona Kiziria published by Hippocrene.
I'm well out of my lane now, making language education resources. But this is the exact presentation of text/audio that I wanted when I started learning Georgian from this book.
#epub #epub3 #languages #georgia #kartuli
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/12/language-resources-in-epub.html
This week I have mostly been open sourcing the SEED.html project.
It’s now on GitHub with an MIT license.
Here's a slightly technical blog post about what goes into a SEED.html EPUB file that makes it different to regular EPUB 3.
https://seedhtml.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/adding-source-to-epub/
New blog post includes embedded EPUB with playable Georgian folk song practice materials by ensemble Adilei.
And tasteful animated svg playback indicator.
The post uses epub.js and loads an unzipped epub package from cloudflare instead of the .epub directly.
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/10/vakhtanguri-practice-materials-by.html
I created an EPUB specifically for the blog.
It includes a code listing for the reading system script that I use for responsive EPUB layouts.
You can read the EPUB in the blog post, download it for your own device, or edit it directly in the SEED.html app.
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/10/simple-script-for-responsive-layout.html
Developer notes
I’ve been blogging about interactive EPUB content and the EPUB reading ecosystem recently over at the link below.
That's fine for what it is, but I've been holding back on some of the technical detail around how these books have been authored so as not to scare the authors.
This new blog will be the no-holds barred technical description of what the SEED.html app is and how it is made.
The linked blog post embeds an EPUB 3 file that has audio with many individual play buttons to trigger short clips.
The source material is a recording my father made on reel-to-reel tape while he was in Africa in the early 1960s.
The blog embedded EPUB format is making me think about long form writing on the web in a way I hadn’t anticipated. #epub3 #hola
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/10/jims-letter-from-kenya.html
I’ve been looking for places to host EPUB files so they can be embedded in my blog posts but also thinking about workflow for distributing collections of EPUBs.
This post has an embedded EPUB that is hosted on cloudflare pages which does what I need. #epub #epub.js
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/09/album-liner-notes-in-epub.html
I made a sample EPUB with some tasteful interactivity. It’s a recipe that lets the reader choose units of measurement (metric, imperial or volume) and quantity (cooking for 4 or 24?).
Here’s my blog post about it. The EPUB is readable in the blog post and then the SEED.html editor is only one click away.
Tell me how it could be simpler. 💁
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/09/dynamic-content-in-epub-3.html
I just worked out that I can embed EPUB files into blog posts.
I don’t know who will be interested in this but I find it very satisfying.
I’m using the epub.js JavaScript library which looks like it’s been abandoned as a project. #epub #epub3
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/09/embedded-preview.html
Blogged it with a bit more context
https://blog.stewarthaines.com/2025/09/adilei-practice-materials.html
Here’s a video of an EPUB
I’m working with Adilei’s practice materials recordings. Each song in those materials has four mp3 files - one with the balanced mix, then one each with the 3 voices in the foreground.
They are packaged in an EPUB file and have clickable play buttons for each clip starting each phrase or verse.
The EPUB validates but needs JavaScript and audio APIs in the reading system to be displayed as designed.
Specifically this track
This week I’ve been mostly working with audio in EPUB using Georgian ensemble Adilei’s Practice Materials recordings. It’s coming along nicely.