by Jeff Davis | Aug 06, 2002

Takeaway: A table of contents can make the difference between an average document and great document. Find out the benefits of using a TOC and learn a quick lesson in generating a TOC in Word.

• Make a good impression. A document with a table of contents has a more professional appearance than a document without one.
• Arrange generic viagra from canada your material. When you're creating or editing a document, a TOC helps outline and organize your thoughts so you don't leave out anything important.
• Manage reader expectations. The TOC gives readers a high-level view of the content in the document. The author can use the TOC to set the tone and the framework for the document.
• Provide a road map. Readers need familiar points of reference for quickly locating important information. The TOC's page numbers help when users thumb through a hard copy. When viewing a "soft" copy of the Word document, users can enjoy Web-style navigation by clicking on an item in the TOC. (To read more about creating Web-style links in Word documents, click here.)
• Make the document easier to discuss. Have you ever been in a meeting reviewing a document and the copy that was distributed didn't have page numbers, much less a table of contents? Set the standard for documents that require group discussions, and include a TOC in your key documents.
• Complement your training outline. When writing how-to manuals or documentation to be used as a handout in technical training, one of my favorite tricks is to use my training outline as the entries in the table of contents. The TOC acts as an executive summary or cheat sheet for the content of the document.

Figure A

This sample document demonstrates how easy it is to generate a table of contents.

Figure B

When I generated the table of contents, Word copied all items formatted with the Heading 1 style.

by Mark Kaelin | Mar 23, 2006

Takeaway: Microsoft Word has a built-in feature generic viagra cheap for creating a table of contents. Learn how to substitute your own custom styles for the default styles.

People who read this, also read…

• Master Word's table of contents feature with styles
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• Anatomy of Word: Create a table of contents using defined styles
• Teach Word users the six benefits of a table of contents
• Top table tricks for form designers

If you have an explanation or quick fix that would make a good SolutionBase article, then we invite you to submit your solution using this form.

Problem

Microsoft Word has long had the built-in ability to create a table of contents (index, table of figures, and table of authorities are also part of the feature). This utility, found under the Insert | References menu, works well if you follow the default Word styles for headings, subheadings, figures, footnotes, etc.

However, if you use custom styles in your documents, this automated creation function was very limited or non-existent, depending on how custom you chose to get. But Word does allow you to substitute your custom styles for the default styles, reviving the feature for even the most colorful of custom styles.

Solution

Step 1

Before you can use it to create a table of contents, you first have to create a set of styles. In Word 2003, you can create styles by clicking the double-A (AA) button on the Formatting toolbar, or by navigating to the Format | Styles and Formatting menu.

Once you create your new style, for top level headings (Heading 1) for example, you can highlight that text and click the New Style button on the Styles and Formatting window, similar to Figure A.

Figure A

Custom style

Step 2

Once you have a set of styles created to your satisfaction, you can then specify which level (TOC 1, 2, 3 …) each style will represent in your table of contents. This is accomplished by navigating to Insert | Reference | Index And Tables and then clicking the Options button on the Table Of Contents tab. On the ensuing dialog screen, you can then specify your hierarchy as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

TOC hierarchy

After clicking the OK button a couple of times, you will have inserted a table of contents for your document. However, you will also notice that the table is displayed in the default style. If you want to apply your custom style to the table of contents, you have one more step.

Step 3

Now that you have established a set of custom styles, you can apply those styles to other parts of the document including the table of contents. Navigate To Insert | Reference | Index And Tables and click on the Modify button on the Table Of Contents tab; then click the Modify button again for each level. On the ensuing dialog screen, you can change the styles associated for each level in the hierarchy (Figure C).

Figure C

Modify TOC styles

Obviously, the styles shown in the figures are a little over the top, but the principles are the same no matter what custom styles you want to implement.