[First Project]

[Gwen]

Hi, 

I want to try contributing to Standard Ebooks by making an Ebooks. I have chosen Maria, or the Wrongs of Women, by Mary Wollstonecraft from the beginner ebooks list. 

The text I will use is from the Gutenberg Project

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/134

And the scans are from Google Books (the quality of the only non-copyrighted copy on the Internet Archive is very poor). It was originally printed in 1798 as part of a 4 volume series of her posthumous works.

The first 8 chapters are in Volume 1, here

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Posthumous_Works_of_the_Author_of_A_Vind/SWZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

and the rest are in Volume 2

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Posthumous_Works_of_the_author_of_a_vind/YmZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

-Gwen

[Alex Cabal]

Great, that one would be a good start.

Since this book has two prefaces, you will also have to add a half title page. See the manual for copy and paste.

Make sure to read the Standard Ebooks Manual of Style before starting, as you won't know what to fix if you haven't read the standards. In particular, please closely review the semantics, high level patterns, and typography sections:

https://standardebooks.org/manual

https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics

https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level-structural-patterns

https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-typography

The step by step guide will take you from start to finish:

https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-step

This page on common issues in older books may be useful:

https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks

Please email often if you have any questions at all. Our standards are well-established so there is probably already a standard for formatting whatever problem you've encountered.

When you're ready, email back with a link to your Github repository so that I can assign you a manager and reviewer.

Have fun! 🙂

[Gwen]

https://gist.github.com/Programmedtokill/d062a889fa7e90beddb3ff431bbf99ae

Hi, I attempted to make my Github repository here but I'm not sure how to put the whole file folder into github

[Cecil New]

That's not a repo. Go to https://github.com/new and fill out the form. Do not add a readme or license. Just make it empty.

Reply with link to the repo, then just follow https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-step until you get to the point on making your first commit. Then you will need to use some git commands to associate your local folder with the repo. 

Just take it a step at a time.

[Gwen]

https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Maria-Mary-Wollstonecraft-Standard-Ebooks

Okay here I made the repository. But I still have a problem, how to I actually edit the the text in the xhtml files?  They just open in the browser where they can't be edited. Is there another software that I need to edit the xhtml? I am trying to do step 6 in the step by step guide, "Do a rough cleanup of the source text and perform the first commit."

[Cecil New]

The repos are normally named like the following (lots of examples to pursue in SE's main repo):

https://github.com/standardebooks/thomas-paine_the-age-of-reason

So a dash is used to separate the author's names and the words of the book title and an underscore is used between the author and title. If you want to rename the repo, that is easy... just click on the settings and "rename" is the first thing you'll see.

To edit the files you will need a text editor. I use vs-code, others use notepad++... your choice. 

[Gwen]

https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Mary-Wollstonecraft_Maria

Ok I renamed the repository to make it like you said.

[Alex Cabal]

The root of the repository should contain ./images/, ./src/, and
LICENSE.md. It looks like you have an additional folder containing those
all, which you should remove.

Make sure you carefully follow the step by step guide exactly, including
commits and commit messages.

Robin will manage this project with Lukas reviewing.

On 12/31/25 5:10 PM, Gwen wrote:
> https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Mary-Wollstonecraft_Maria
>
> Ok I renamed the repository to make it like you said.
>
> On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 3:48:49 PM UTC-6 ceci...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> The repos are normally named like the following (lots of examples to
> pursue in SE's main repo):
> https://github.com/standardebooks/thomas-paine_the-age-of-reason
> <https://github.com/standardebooks/thomas-paine_the-age-of-reason>
>
> So a dash is used to separate the author's names and the words of
> the book title and an underscore is used between the author and
> title. If you want to rename the repo, that is easy... just click on
> the settings and "rename" is the first thing you'll see.
>
> To edit the files you will need a text editor. I use vs-code, others
> use notepad++... your choice.
>
> On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 4:16:17 PM UTC-5 Gwen wrote:
>
> https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Maria-Mary-Wollstonecraft-

> Standard-Ebooks <https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Maria-Mary-
> Wollstonecraft-Standard-Ebooks>

>
> Okay here I made the repository. But I still have a problem, how
> to I actually edit the the text in the xhtml files?  They just
> open in the browser where they can't be edited. Is there another
> software that I need to edit the xhtml? I am trying to do step 6
> in the step by step guide, "Do a rough cleanup of the source
> text and perform the first commit."
>
> On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 2:08:42 PM UTC-6
> ceci...@gmail.com wrote:
>

> That's not a repo. Go to https://github.com/new <https://
> github.com/new> and fill out the form. Do not add a readme

> or license. Just make it empty.
>
> Reply with link to the repo, then just follow https://
> standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-

> step <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-
> ebook-step-by-step> until you get to the point on making

> your first commit. Then you will need to use some git
> commands to associate your local folder with the repo.
>
> Just take it a step at a time.
>
> On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-5 Gwen wrote:
>
> https://gist.github.com/Programmedtokill/

> d062a889fa7e90beddb3ff431bbf99ae <https://
> gist.github.com/Programmedtokill/
> d062a889fa7e90beddb3ff431bbf99ae>

> Hi, I attempted to make my Github repository here but
> I'm not sure how to put the whole file folder into github
>
> On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 10:50:30 AM UTC-6
> Alex Cabal wrote:
>
> Great, that one would be a good start.
>
> Since this book has two prefaces, you will also have
> to add a half title page. See the manual for copy
> and paste.
>
> Make sure to read the Standard Ebooks Manual of
> Style before starting, as you won't know what to fix
> if you haven't read the standards. In particular,
> please closely review the semantics, high level
> patterns, and typography sections:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual>
>

> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics
> <https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics>
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-
> level-structural-patterns <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level-
> structural-patterns>
>
> https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8-
> typography <https://standardebooks.org/manual/
> latest/8-typography>

>
> The step by step guide will take you from start to
> finish:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-

> ebook-step-by-step <https://standardebooks.org/
> contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-step>

>
> This page on common issues in older books may be
> useful:
>
> https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/
> common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks

> <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/
> common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks>

>
> Please email often if you have any questions at all.
> Our standards are well-established so there is
> probably already a standard for formatting whatever
> problem you've encountered.
>
> When you're ready, email back with a link to your
> Github repository so that I can assign you a manager
> and reviewer.
>
> Have fun! 🙂
>
> On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 9:01:11 AM UTC-6
> Gwen wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I want to try contributing to Standard Ebooks by
> making an Ebooks. I have chosen Maria, or the
> Wrongs of Women, by Mary Wollstonecraft from the
> beginner ebooks list.
> The text I will use is from the Gutenberg Project

> https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/134 <https://
> www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/134>

> And the scans are from Google Books (the quality
> of the only non-copyrighted copy on the Internet
> Archive is very poor). It was originally printed
> in 1798 as part of a 4 volume series of her
> posthumous works.
> The first 8 chapters are in Volume 1, here
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/
> Posthumous_Works_of_the_Author_of_A_Vind/

> SWZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 <https://
> www.google.com/books/edition/
> Posthumous_Works_of_the_Author_of_A_Vind/
> SWZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0>

> and the rest are in Volume 2
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/
> Posthumous_Works_of_the_author_of_a_vind/

> YmZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 <https://
> www.google.com/books/edition/
> Posthumous_Works_of_the_author_of_a_vind/
> YmZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1>
>
>
> -Gwen
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> standardebooks/382509d7-014d-4ef3-909b-5dc5996e069cn%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> standardebooks/382509d7-014d-4ef3-909b-5dc5996e069cn%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Gwen]

I'm having trouble setting up the Github repository properly. In Ubuntu I have the terminal open in the folder I want  and I tried to use the git push command to Add the files to my Github repository. It prompts me to log in, but once I do that it doesn't actually sync the files to the website. I can't figure out what the command is to get it to do it, maybe I'm googeling the wrong things. 

Also I can't get the se clean . function to work. I get the following error message Error  File: /root/Mary-Wollstonecraft_Maria/src/epub/text/chapter-1.xhtml. Exception: Couldn’t parse XHTML file. Exception: Opening and ending tag mismatch: section line 9 and div, line 56, column 7 (<string>, line 56)

Well line 9 looks like this 

<section id="chapter-1" epub:type="chapter"> 

and line 56 looks like this (it's just plain text)

intrude nothing of himself into the work, but to give to the public the words

I have no idea what column 7 even means. There are no columns, it's not a table. 

[Jan Klass]

`git push` is the correct command to send your local change history to your remote repository.

You say “It prompts me to log in, but once I do that it doesn't actually sync the files to the website.”

What does it say/print when you run `git push`?

It may be an issue after your renaming of the repository when your local repository has the outdated reference.

Or the push reference is missing (doubtful given it asked you to log in).

What does it display when you run `git remote --verbose`?

[Alex Cabal]

Column 7 means the 7th character.

Are you familiar with HTML/XML/XHTML? Your chapter 1 has malformed XHTML
because <section> on line 9 is not closed at the correct level.

I suggest looking up an XML/XHTML tutorial to familiarize yourself with
how XML, and XHTML, differs from HTML. Unless you feel confident working
with XML, then this process will be very painful because XML syntax is
very unforgiving.

Then I would look up a Git tutorial to learn the basics, and look up how
to create a Github repo from an existing local Git repository. There are
an endless amount of tutorials to do that.

On 12/31/25 8:14 PM, Gwen wrote:
> I'm having trouble setting up the Github repository properly. In Ubuntu
> I have the terminal open in the folder I want  and I tried to use the
> git push command to Add the files to my Github repository. It prompts me
> to log in, but once I do that it doesn't actually sync the files to the
> website. I can't figure out what the command is to get it to do it,
> maybe I'm googeling the wrong things.
>
> Also I can't get the se clean . function to work. I get the following

> error message _Error  File: /root/Mary-Wollstonecraft_Maria/src/epub/

> text/chapter-1.xhtml. Exception: Couldn’t parse XHTML file. Exception:
> Opening and ending tag mismatch: section line 9 and div, line 56, column

> 7 (<string>, line 56)_

> github.com/new> <https://
> > github.com/new <http://github.com/new>> and fill out the form. Do

> not add a readme
> > or license. Just make it empty.
> >
> > Reply with link to the repo, then just follow https://
> > standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-

> <http://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by->
> > step <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an-

> <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an->
> > ebook-step-by-step> until you get to the point on making
> > your first commit. Then you will need to use some git
> > commands to associate your local folder with the repo.
> >
> > Just take it a step at a time.
> >
> > On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-5 Gwen wrote:
> >

> > https://gist.github.com/Programmedtokill/ <https://
> gist.github.com/Programmedtokill/>
> > d062a889fa7e90beddb3ff431bbf99ae <https://
> > gist.github.com/Programmedtokill/ <http://gist.github.com/

> Programmedtokill/>
> > d062a889fa7e90beddb3ff431bbf99ae>
> > Hi, I attempted to make my Github repository here but
> > I'm not sure how to put the whole file folder into github
> >
> > On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 10:50:30 AM UTC-6
> > Alex Cabal wrote:
> >
> > Great, that one would be a good start.
> >
> > Since this book has two prefaces, you will also have
> > to add a half title page. See the manual for copy
> > and paste.
> >
> > Make sure to read the Standard Ebooks Manual of
> > Style before starting, as you won't know what to fix
> > if you haven't read the standards. In particular,
> > please closely review the semantics, high level
> > patterns, and typography sections:
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual <https://standardebooks.org/
> manual> <https://

> > standardebooks.org/manual <http://standardebooks.org/manual>>
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics>
> > <https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/4-semantics>>
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high- <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high->
> > level-structural-patterns <https://
> > standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level- <http://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/7-high-level->
> > structural-patterns>
> >
> > https://standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8- <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/latest/8->
> > typography <https://standardebooks.org/manual/ <https://
> standardebooks.org/manual/>

> > latest/8-typography>
> >
> > The step by step guide will take you from start to
> > finish:
> >

> > https://standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an- <https://
> standardebooks.org/contribute/producing-an->
> > ebook-step-by-step <https://standardebooks.org/ <https://
> standardebooks.org/>

> > contribute/producing-an-ebook-step-by-step>
> >
> > This page on common issues in older books may be
> > useful:
> >

> > https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/ <https://
> standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/>
> > common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks
> > <https://standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/ <https://
> standardebooks.org/contribute/how-tos/>

> > common-issues-when-working-on-public-domain-ebooks>
> >
> > Please email often if you have any questions at all.
> > Our standards are well-established so there is
> > probably already a standard for formatting whatever
> > problem you've encountered.
> >
> > When you're ready, email back with a link to your
> > Github repository so that I can assign you a manager
> > and reviewer.
> >
> > Have fun! 🙂
> >
> > On Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 9:01:11 AM UTC-6
> > Gwen wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I want to try contributing to Standard Ebooks by
> > making an Ebooks. I have chosen Maria, or the
> > Wrongs of Women, by Mary Wollstonecraft from the
> > beginner ebooks list.
> > The text I will use is from the Gutenberg Project
> > https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/134 <https://www.gutenberg.org/

> ebooks/134> <https://
> > www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/134 <http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/134>>

> > And the scans are from Google Books (the quality
> > of the only non-copyrighted copy on the Internet
> > Archive is very poor). It was originally printed
> > in 1798 as part of a 4 volume series of her
> > posthumous works.
> > The first 8 chapters are in Volume 1, here

> > https://www.google.com/books/edition/ <https://www.google.com/
> books/edition/>
> > Posthumous_Works_of_the_Author_of_A_Vind/
> > SWZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 <https://
> > www.google.com/books/edition/ <http://www.google.com/books/edition/>

> > Posthumous_Works_of_the_Author_of_A_Vind/
> > SWZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0>
> > and the rest are in Volume 2

> > https://www.google.com/books/edition/ <https://www.google.com/
> books/edition/>
> > Posthumous_Works_of_the_author_of_a_vind/
> > YmZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 <https://
> > www.google.com/books/edition/ <http://www.google.com/books/edition/>

> > Posthumous_Works_of_the_author_of_a_vind/
> > YmZVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1>
> >
> >
> > -Gwen
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send
> > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/>
> >
> standardebooks/382509d7-014d-4ef3-909b-5dc5996e069cn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>
> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ <https://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/>
> >
> standardebooks/382509d7-014d-4ef3-909b-5dc5996e069cn%40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>?
> > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/

> standardebooks/55d25594-cab0-40ef-922e-ea96d75830b4n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/55d25594-
> cab0-40ef-922e-ea96d75830b4n%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Gwen]

If if run that command it returns

origin  https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Mary-Wollstonecraft_Maria (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/Programmedtokill/Mary-Wollstonecraft_Maria (push)

Programmedtokill is my username on Github. I tried running 'git push -u origin master', it prompted me to log in and then said "everything up to date,"  but it doesn't seem like the files are actually there on the website.

[Emma Sweeney]

You have two branches (main and master) when you should have one (main). I recommend starting over: new local repo, new initial commit, new remote repo. After making your initial commit, follow the instructions to "push an existing repository from the command line" found in your new remote repo. You should push later commits using `git push origin main`.

Once you get your first commit correct, it will be much easier fix repo issues.

Emma

[Gwen]

https://github.com/Programmedtokill/mary-wollstonecraft_maria

Thank you Emma, I have made the new repository here. 

As for the problem with the se clean function, the error message was actually very misleading. There was a bunch of weird nonsensical junk html at the end of each chapter and when I removed it manually then the clean function worked just fine. 

[Gwen]

I have a question about an issue between the scans and the Gutenberg version. The Gutenberg text has more footnotes than the original scan. For example in the Appendix section there is a footnote in the Gutenberg version but no footnote in the Google Books scans. Should I delete the extra footnotes or keep them?