This may have already been addressed in a previous thread, but I am curious if you've ever thought about exposing your API and compiler so that customers can build their own books. I would like to build my own bible translation this way, for instance. Of course it would require the infrastructure of enabling a customer to upload and transfer the book onto the device which many other companies, as you probably know, handle in various ways. Just wondering if you've thought about this as it would make your already wonderful product even more useful and flexible!

Thanks for the time!

Tim Koets
Software Engineer

We are considering opening this up, but still need to work out how to allow users to install their own books.

I've just discovered an easy way to make any text into an ePub which can be read, highlighted, and annotated in iBooks or Stanza. Using the Atlantis word processor (http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en/ ) you can make ePub files with TOC, parts, and chapters, and probably other features I haven't explored yet. I took some G.K. Chesterton and Andrew Murray html books and saved them to files I can read on my iPhone. I've also converted pdf notes from lectures and sermons I listen to so that I can now follow along in the notes while I listen.

This leads to a couple questions:
1. Can I link verses to Mantis inside these epub books?
2. Is this a format that Mantis might eventually be able to read? I like scrolling through chapters instead of turning pages.

We may be supporting ePub in a future version of Mantis. We're still working on this possibility.

You can link to Mantis from outside documents such as this. See "Support / What's New" to see this new feature:


Remote Mantis launching via mantis:// URL

This allows developers of other apps to "link" to Mantis by simply creating a link like this: mantis://Genesis 1:1-3, or mantis://Genesis 1:1-3 (NKJV).

In addition, links such as this can be put into a web page. Clicking on a link such as this in a web page on your device will launch Mantis and open up to the selected verse (in the selected translation if one is provided and that translation is installed on your device.)