There are several different ways of moving your own content onto the iPhone and iPod touch for use with eReader. Each way has advantages and disadvantages and can be useful for different kinds of needs. This FAQ explains these different ways of moving content.

In this FAQ, the term Personal Content will be used for any eReader format PDB file you happen to own. It may be a file you downloaded from a free or commercial web site, or it may be a file you created yourself using Dropbook or Studio. It is assumed you have such files on your desktop computer and wish to copy them onto your iPhone or iPod touch to read using eReader.

Method 1: Direct Download from Other Vendor's Web Site

In release 1.1 of eReader for iPhone and iPod touch you may browse from within the eReader application and directly download material from any web site that offers eReader format PDB files. For this to work, the other web site must offer files with extension PDB. An example of such a web site is Manybooks.net. Some web sites use different methods of downloading files that are not currently recognized by the eReader software.

Advantages of Method 1: Very easy to use if the site that has the content you are interested in directly allows eReader PDB file downloads. Especially easy if the site is optimized for the iPhone Safari browser.

Limitations of Method 1: Does not work for content you create yourself, unless you have some way of uploading them to a web server. (See Method 3 below for instructions on setting up a personal web server on your desktop computer.)

Step by Step Instructions:

  1. Open the eReader application on the iPhone or iPod touch.
  2. Click on the + icon in the upper right corner of the bookshelf page to add books.
  3. Select Another Site.
  4. Type in the URL of the web site. For example, www.manybooks.net is a site that has eReader format PDB files.
  5. Click on the download link for eReader PDB files that you want to read. They are transferred to your on-device bookshelf.

Notes If the site encrypts their eReader content, you must unlock the content as usual. If the site does not encrypt, the eBooks simply open up without asking for an unlock code. Only eReader format PDB files will work. Some PDB files are not eReader format.

Method 2: Personal Content Server

In this method, you upload your personal content to your eReader.com or Fictionwise.com account and it becomes part of your bookshelf. Therefore, you can get the file onto your iPhone simply by connecting to your eReader.com or Fictionwise.com bookshelf and downloading it exactly the same way you would download your purchases from our sites. You may either upload eReader format PDB files, or a ZIP file that contains a bunch of eReader PDB files.

Advantages of Method 2: This method has the advantage of simplicity. Nothing needs to be installed or configured on your desktop computer. This method works for PC, Mac, Linux, or any other operating system that has a standard browser. All you need is a free account on eReader.com or Fictionwise.com and a browser.

Limitations of Method 2: Currently there is a limit of 25 megabytes worth of personal content for each eReader.com or Fictionwise.com account. This is enough for approximately 50 typical novel-length books. However, you can delete eBooks from your personal content uploads to make room for others. We may increase this limit in the future once we see how often the feature is used.

Personal Content
  1. Log in to your eReader.com or Fictionwise.com account. If you don't already have one, you can create one for free by clicking on the REGISTER link.
  2. Click on the link to go to your Bookshelf.
  3. Click on the link to go to the PERSONAL CONTENT screen.
  4. Use the form to browse to wherever the PDB or ZIP file is stored on your personal computer and then click on the UPLOAD button.
  5. Depending on size and your connection speed it may take a while for the upload to complete. You will see the content listed on this page when upload is complete.
  6. You may delete items by clicking on the DELETE button next to each item.

Notes: eReader.com and Fictionwise.com are not backup services and we do not guarantee your files will remain on our servers forever. Keep backup copies of your eBooks yourself, we assume no liability for lost or corrupted files uploaded to our servers. You agree not to violate copyrights by uploading materials that you do not have rights to.

Method 3: Personal Web Server Running on Your Desktop Computer

eReader for iPhone and iPod touch allows you to download eReader format PDB files from any web site that supports "ereader://" format links. You can transfer files directly from your desktop computer to your iPhone and iPod touch if you have even a simple web server running on your personal computer.

Advantages of Method 3: Unlike the Personal Content Server, there is no limit to the number of eBooks you can maintain this way. You are limited only by disk space on your desktop computer.

Limitations of Method 3: You need to have enough technical know-how to install a web server on your computer. This is easy to do on Mac computers and Linux computers, but on Windows you will need to find a web server package to install and some configuration is usually necessary to get it working. We do not currently have a recommended web server for Microsoft operating systems but we are evaluating several now.

Step by Step Instructions for Mac Computers

You can use the Personal Web Sharing feature on your Mac computer to gain access to eReader eBooks that you have downloaded there.

  1. From the Apple menu select System Preferences.
  2. Click on Sharing, which is found in Internet & Network.
  3. A list of available options will be visible - select Web Sharing.
  4. Make note of the address at the right of the screen - it will be your IP address followed by your short computer name. It will look something like this: http://123.456.0.123/~yourshortname/
  5. Close System Preferences.
  6. Next go to Finder and select Go > Home.
  7. Find the Sites folder. If you have not created your own web site you can append the index.html file to the list and link to information that you want to share -- like your eReader books. You will need to use a special link format so that the iPhone will know to launch the eReader application to download the books.

    Your eReader book links should be in the format:
    ereader://IPADDRESS/~yourshortname/book.pdb

    For example:
    ereader://123.456.0.123/~yourshortname/my-book.pdb

    The "ereader://" prefix replaces "http://" and will allow your iPhone to automatically launch eReader and download the book instantly.
  8. Using your iPhone/iPod connected to the Internet, enter the address you made note of earlier in Safari. When the book link is clicked, the eReader application should automatically open and begin downloading your books.

Tips:

  1. The Mac which has been set up with Personal Web Sharing must be turned on and connected to the Internet.
  2. Sleep mode will disable access, so you may want to turn it off if you are trying to connect of a long time.

Instructions for Windows and Other Computers

We are currently investigating different freely available web servers for other platforms that may be easy enough for average consumers to install. Currently we do not have specific recommendations, but we expect to have some soon. For now, if you do not have the technical skills to install a web server on your computer, please use one of the other methods for the time being.