Book tool/Help/Books

Please see the book tool deployment guide for detailed information on how to prepare your wiki to work with this extension. For questions and feedback either use:

the feedback page at meta, or
#booktool on IRC

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Book tool: help for beginners · help for experts · FAQ · give feedback · explore books

This page shows you how to create a book from Wikipedia articles in four steps. Books can be created in PDF format or ordered for printing on the PediaPress website.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Enable the "Book creator" tool

Fig.1 – The "print/export" box

The "Book creator" tool can be enabled from the "Print/export" box on the left hand side of the browser screen towards the bottom (see Fig.1). Click on "Create a book". The "Book creator" tool will appear at the top of your screen.

Step 2: Gather articles

Individual pages

By clicking on the "Add this page to your book" link, the current page being viewed is added to the collection. To add another article, simply go to that article, and click on "Add this page to your book" again.

Another way to add articles to your book is to hover your mouse over a link to another article. After one second, a message will pop up, giving you the option to add the linked article to your book.

Step 3: Review your book

Fig.2 – Set a title

Once you are happy with your book, click on "Show book" to be taken to the next step.

After you have clicked on the "Show book" link, you can add a title and a subtitle to your book (see Fig.2). You can also arrange articles and order them according to your taste with clicks and drags (details in the Advanced functions section below).

Step 4: Download or order a printed copy of your book

Fig.3 – Click to download

The finished book can be downloaded or ordered as a bound book. You can download the book in PDF format (viewable using OpenOffice.org software), by clicking the "Download" button (see Fig 3). To order the book as a bound book click the "Order book from PediaPress" button. Further information about printed books can be found in the FAQ.

Advanced functions

Changing the order of wiki pages

To change the order of wiki pages in your book, simply move the pages in the list entitled "Your Book". To do so, hover over the page title to move, click and drag it to the new location. Release the mouse button to finish moving the page to its new location. You can also automatically sort the pages into alphabetical order.

Saving and sharing your book with others

To save your book, you must have a registered account on Wikipedia (see Why create an account? for details on how to create an account). You can save your book on the "Book" page, which can be reached by clicking the "Show book" link in the menu on the left hand side. In the "Save and share your book" section, choose one of the location options and then provide a title for the book collection. It will then be saved by clicking the "Save book" button. For any assistance with the writing process, consider consulting [BookWritingFoundersUK: Book writers UK].

Further information

Further information on the books feature can be found on the for experts page. This page explains how the presentation of books can be changed and how to process saved books at a later date.

Printed books from PediaPress

By clicking the "Order book from PediaPress" button, your collection of wiki articles can be printed as a bound book. You will be forwarded to the website of PediaPress, a service that prints books based on wiki content. Further information about the printed books, including the cost and format, can be found on the FAQ page.

In 2007 the Wikimedia Foundation and PediaPress agreed upon a long-term partnership aimed to improve the availability of Wikipedia and other wiki-based project content, in the form of high-quality print products or text documents in the OpenDocument format.