How to Generate a Table of Contents in Knol

How to Create a Table of Contents

Knol creates a table of contents automatically for you, based on your use of the Heading, Subheading, and Minor Heading styles in the Format menu. These correspond to the HTML tags H2, H3, and H4 respectively.

So, simply follow these steps:

Select your major headings, and assign them the style Heading (H2)

Select your subheadings, and give them the style Sub-Heading (H3)

Select your minor headings, and use Minor Heading (H4)

And, you're done! Save the page and close out of the editor, and you will see the results.

Best Practices

• Write short headings. There is limited horizontal space within the Table of Contents area, so verbose headings are counterproductive. Notice that this heading "This is Minor Heading H4 ... again" just barely fits.
• Avoid using ALL CAPS.
  
• We recommend using no more than 10 top level headings (H2). 10 is the maximum which will display within the Table of Contents area. If you do provide more than 10 headings, users will be able to expand the Table of Contents display by clicking on the "more" link, which is automatically provided. It is counterproductive to use more than 100 total headings in a knol, counting H2, H3 and H4 headings all together. If your document is that lengthy or complex, it would be best to split it into multiple knols, at chapter boundaries.

FAQs about the Table of Contents

Q: Why just H2, H3, and H4. What happened to H1?

The "H1" HTML tag is not available in the Format menu. We do not recommend introducing H1 tags into your document content area since H1 tags are intended for use as document titles.

(Suppose you want to ignore our advice and introduce an H1 tag anyway. Well, you could do so using the HTML editor (on the far right hand side of the editor toolbar), or by cutting-and-pasting content from another editor. However, we do not recommend doing that.)

Q: Why does the Table of Contents keep appearing and disappearing?

The table of contents is only visible in View mode. It is hidden when you go into Edit mode.

Q: How can I turn off the automated "Content" function?

You can turn off the Table of Contents on individual knols, as well as make that your default for future pages. Mange the knol's settings, in the general panel, under interactions. See here.

Some Examples

Example use of the H2, H3 and H4 formatting styles.

Here are some example headings. Notice the table of contents which they generate (under the Email and Print links at the top of this page.)

This is Heading H2

This is Subheading H3

This is Minor Heading H4

This is Minor Heading H4

This is Heading H2 ... again

This is Subheading H3 ... again

This is Minor Heading H4 ... again