Feature Request: Easy Book Pages with Flip-like Reading Structure

[tselven]

Describe the feature you'd like

I would like to propose a new feature for BookStack that enhances the reading experience by introducing an "Easy Book Pages" mode. This feature would allow users to navigate through book pages in a way that mimics traditional reading structures, similar to flipping through a physical book or using a digital flipbook.

Proposed Solution

1. A "Reading Mode" toggle that enables a page-flipping experience.

2. Smooth page transition animations to simulate real book page turns.

3. Keyboard (arrow keys) and touch (swipe gestures) support for easy navigation.

4. An optional single-page or dual-page layout, similar to traditional books.

5. A table of contents or quick navigation panel for better accessibility.

6. Ensure responsiveness and accessibility across devices.

My Background & Contribution

I am a college student and a beginner to open-source contributions, currently learning and improving my development skills. As part of a project, I would love to work on implementing this feature myself and submit a pull request for review. While I understand that feature requests must align with the project’s roadmap, I would be happy to take feedback, make improvements, and learn from the process.

Would this be something worth exploring for BookStack? I’d really appreciate any guidance or feedback on whether this feature would fit into the project and if a PR for this would be considered.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your thoughts!

Describe the benefits this would bring to existing BookStack users

Currently, BookStack provides a structured document-style reading experience, which is great for documentation. However, for users who prefer a more immersive and natural reading flow, a flipbook-style navigation could make reading long-form content more engaging and intuitive. This would be particularly useful for knowledge bases, digital books, and learning materials.

Can the goal of this request already be achieved via other means?

No, the exact goal of this request cannot be fully achieved with the existing features in BookStack.

While BookStack currently allows users to navigate through book pages using next/previous buttons and a sidebar navigation menu, it does not provide a natural reading flow with a flipbook-style experience. The current structure is more suited for documentation rather than an immersive book-reading interface.

The requested approach would introduce smooth page transitions, touch/swipe navigation, and an optional dual-page layout, which are not available in the existing system. This would make BookStack more versatile for users who prefer a traditional book-reading experience, improving usability for long-form content.

However, if there are alternative methods or existing extensions that can achieve a similar result, I would love to explore them and contribute to improving the experience further.

Have you searched for an existing open/closed issue?

• I have searched for existing issues and none cover my fundamental request

How long have you been using BookStack?

Under 3 months

Additional context

No response

[ssddanbrown]

Thanks for the suggestion @tselven,
I would not consider a PR into the core project for this feature at this time, since this isn't really something that has been requested before, the benefits here are based on preference, and since I'm not really keen on adding addition methods of viewing to the core app.

There may be ways you can achieve this via customization methods.