SIGIL EPUB EDITOR LIVES…
UPDATE 10/28/13) SIGIL 7.4 WAS RELEASED FOR BOTH MAC AND WINDOWS ON 10/27/13 — SO SIGIL IS STILL LIVING STRONG!!
The demise of any program is always a possibility.
In September 2013, the Sigil Development blog (http://sigildev.blogspot.com/) announced: “Sigil is not dead but it’s development has slowed considerably to the point it’s not being developed very much at this point. The best way I can describe it is Sigil is on life support.”
That put a scare into thousands of users.
FEAR NOT (Yet). On October 27, 2013, Sigil released the 7.4 update to their program you can Download Here
What would you do if Sigil ePub Editor stopped being available?
Any software, even depreciated ones, are still useful. You can continue to use them for years even without an update. And Sigil ePub Editor is still the best options I have found for for fiction and non-fiction formatting, so I would say continue to use it.
I will continue to recommend and use SIGIL ePub Editor; however, I am also looking into alternative options to offer my readers for ebook formatting.
In the mean time, I suggest you download the version(s) of Sigil that has worked for you in the past, and keep a back on a MASTER CD, just in case.
OTHER NEWS == SIGIL Project code moved to Github
Currently the source code for Sigil is no longer being managed on Google Code. It is now available on GitHub and can be accessed at https://github.com/user-none/Sigil . However you can still download the most current and depreciated SOFTWARE versions of Sigil from the Google Code site. http://code.google.com/p/sigil/
It’s a pity to see Sigil vanish. Yet, there is a very valuable alternative (although not for free). Jutoh is the other eBook compiler software that’s been favored by several self-publishers. Jutoh is available for both OS, Win and Mac. I researched Jutoh before I switched to Sigil and your eBook. :-) Looks like I have to switch back again.
Hans, I wouldn’t switch yet. In fact, I wouldn’t even switch unless you lose your original software and you can’t find it online anywhere. The thing about programs, if they continue to work on your machine, then they still work. I am using an older version of Word – 2008, but it is fine for my purposes. I even used a 10 year old version of InDesign (Pagemaker), and it worked fine as well. Programs are still viable, and as for the purpose of ebook formatting Sigil is the same.
My recommendation is to download the last two stable version you used (like 5.3 and 7.2 for Macs) and put that on a Master CD.
However, I am sure that some great programmers will step forward to pick up the slack. And if not, you have to remember that the source code for SIGIL is Open Source. So how long will it take some smart person to invest some $ and create their own tool from the Sigil Source code? It would be a gold mine!
All that said, we are coming up with alternatives for formatting that is still easy to use — Jutoh is one, so perhaps there is a how-to book on the horizon for that as well :)
Suz
Suzanne, many thanks for this update about Sigil, and your advice on what the current development means.
I do hope someone steps up to take over the development. Sigil is a fantastic tool — I’ve experimented with a bunch of different ones, and Sigil is the one I keep coming back to. Your training materials helped me a lot with that process, and I recommend them to others.
Like you, I plan to keep using Sigil — with eyes wide open.
Gary,
I too have tried many different tools and Sigil Epub Editor is the one tool that is easy to use and provides the elements needed for a well formatted file.
I am happy you find the materials helpful, and am thrilled you recommend me to others — very much appreciated.
Suz
“And it is a fantastic program for basic fiction and limited non-fiction formatting”
I must disagree since Sigil clearly is better when you are using it as an HTML + CSS editor, which means you probably are making complex stuff happen. Though it is presented as a WYSIWYG editor, you make the most of it using its advanced features (regex, clips, etc.). There are very few tools as well-thought as Sigil when it comes to developing ebooks, others are trying to build “designers’ solutions”, which results in a code that is so bad that it actually perverts the entire ecosystem and stifles the EPUB standard and its innovations (bad code in volume definitely plays a significant role in the scarce support of EPUB 3; if developers pushed to EPUB 3 implementation as they should in normal circumstances, something like 70% of EPUB 2 files available on the market would not display properly.
That being said, in the absence of a 0.7.3 packaged version, Sigil is dead for Mac users running Mavericks. The previous version crash because of Qt 5.1.1. A packaged version exist but you have to install Qt5.1.1 to make it run. Alas, there is a huge bug concerning embedded fonts (text won’t display). In other words, it is so difficult to run Sigil on Mavericks that it is dead until a working package is made.
I merely wanted to point out to authors Sigil’s potential issues, such as bogging down when creating a graphic heavy book, or unexpectedly closing. But you are right – -I shouldn’t include “limited” to the statement.
You need to remember that most authors are not wanting to make ebook formatting a career — most just want to “get it done” and Sigil is the best option.
I use various programs depending on the project – but still use Sigil to finish up the process (OPF and NCX file mainly). While it is a great program, I have less issues on graphic heavy books in Dreamweaver – the program doesn’t bog down or close unexpectedly like it does with Sigil.
So while Sigil, in my opinion, is one of the best programs for ebook formatting, authors need to at least be aware of potential problems.
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UPDATE 10/28/13: UPDATED 7.4 SIGIL EPUB EDITOR RELEASED — has not been tested with Maverick at this time http://www.unrulyguides.com/2013/10/sigil-ebook-html-editor-7-4-released-sigil-lives/
UPDATE 10/28/13: SIGIL LIVES: http://www.unrulyguides.com/2013/10/sigil-ebook-html-editor-7-4-released-sigil-lives/
I stumbled on your site, looking for info on Sigil. Nice site! I’ll bookmark it.
I didn’t know Sigil was threatened! I also didn’t have a sense on how many people love it as much I as do.
I basically taught myself about the ePub format from Sigil, I love that Sigil let’s me “build” an ePub rather than just being an export filter on a word processor. As a former graphic artist and book designer, I appreciate that.
Just a crazy idea — how about Sigil becoming a module in OpenOffice or LibreOffice?
Sigil is not longer dead… for now. Please read: http://www.unrulyguides.com/2013/10/sigil-ebook-html-editor-7-4-released-sigil-lives/
There several modules for converting to EPUB but the issue is whether they are maintained. I have used Writer2Epub with Open Office, but not that the same program for LibreOffice is not maintained. So, if you update your program, unless the module is created and maintained by the software manufacturer, it may not continue to work with the program: (example) Open Office http://extensions.openoffice.org/en/project/writer2epub. — Libre Office: http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center/writer2xhtml