Safari Documentation
Upload via CoreSource
This chapter details the content submission processes for publishers using Ingram CoreSource for title deliveries.
Channel Setup
Once the Safari Content Distribution Agreement is signed, your Ingram rep will need to set up a distribution channel for Safari deliveries. Ingram has the Safari FTP credentials. Please specify EPUB as the default asset delivery format, with PDF as the 2nd preference to be delivered if EPUB is not available. The CoreSource setup screens are shown here.
Files and Metadata
CoreSource deliveries consist of one source file (EPUB, or PDF if EPUB is not available), metadata, and a cover image. The asset selection process is automated once the channel is set up. If no EPUB exists for a given title, the system will automatically deliver a PDF file. To automate deliveries to Safari at this point, please check with your CoreSource representative.
NOTE: If an EPUB version of a title will become available within a few weeks, please wait to distribute the title to Safari until the EPUB is available, rather than delivering a PDF. EPUB provides a much better mobile experience for our readers than PDF does.
Here are the basic file specifications. For a complete detailed list, see the Files and Metadata Overview chapter:
- One source file, either:
- EPUB 2.x validated with epubcheck version 1.2.
- EPUB 3.x validated with the current epubcheck (at this time: version 3.0b5).
- For titles for which EPUB does not exist, such as backlist titles, submit PDF. The PDF should be a cropped, bookmarked version of the PDF file provided to the printer when the print book went to press. Scanned PDFs usually aren’t acceptable for Safari. If a scan is all that’s available, please contact content@safaribooksonline.com so we can evaluate the PDF.
- Cover Image: A .jpeg or .png with a minimum width of 400 pixels.
Additional Safari Requirements
Supplemental Content / Tertiary Assets / Extras
Any additional files our readers will need while reading the book, such as code, examples, templates, or video clips, should be made available on Safari. Typically, these are the files that were on the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM that was bound in the book, or are hosted on the publisher’s or author’s website.
NOTE: On Safari we refer to these as Extras, because they appear on the Extras tab of the title, but despite the name, our readers consider them essential.
CoreSource doesn’t automate delivery of tertiary assets at this time, so here’s how to make them available on Safari.
- Add a link to the book’s description text (in CoreSource): Add a link to the site where the files can be downloaded. Here’s an example of what to add, generally at the end of the description. “Download the examples from the book at http://publisher.booksite.com/thisbook.html.”
- Use the Safari Content Manager (SCM) to add links to hosted files, or to add files to be hosted from Safari. See the SCM chapter for more details about using the SCM.
- Add a download link (and optional description text), that will appear on the book’s Extras tab on Safari. Go to the My Books tab of the SCM, search by title or ISBN, and then click Actions > Edit. (If the title does not come up in the search, choose Legacy Import from the link in the far left navigation pane. Enter the Safari FPID - generally the 13-digit print ISBN without hyphens. Choose to import from live.) Then, navigate to the title’s Extras Links tab. Specify link type (external_link), and add a description and the URL. Multiple links and descriptions are supported. Example descriptions: “Download the code and practice files for this title.” “Download the examples from the book.”
- If the files are not hosted elsewhere, add the files themselves (and optional description text). The files will appear for download on the book’s Extras tab on Safari. They will be hosted on our secure Extras server, and the links to download the files are not available to non-subscribers and are not sharable. To add a file for download, go to the My Books tab of the SCM, search by title, and then choose Actions > Edit. (If the title does not come up in the search, choose Legacy Import from the link in the far left navigation pane. Enter the Safari FPID - generally the 13-digit print ISBN without hyphens. Choose to import from live.) Then, from the Book Assets tab, choose Upload Your Asset. Once you’ve selected and uploaded the file, you’ll see it in the list of Book Assets. Edit the newly-uploaded file to add description text by selecting Actions > Edit. Examples of descriptions: “This zip contains the practice files for Chapter 7.” “Test what you learned in Chapter 2 with this assessment.”
- After adding links or files, click the Promote button to send the updates to the Safari staging server. You can review the Extras tab on the staging server (after the SCM indicates that the book is STAGED), or go ahead and promote the updates to our live site via My Books, locating the title, clicking Actions > Promote to SBO.
Book Titles and Editions
Titles with an edition number (that is, not a first edition) should include the edition as part of the title; e.g., Learning the SCM, 2nd Edition. The CoreSource delivery process automates appending the edition number to the title if the edition field is populated in metadata, so please ensure that the edition field is populated in CoreSource, for all titles other than first editions.
Title Acceptance and Title Removals
Please refer to the linked sections for our policies and processes for title acceptance and title removals.