Saturday, January 26, 2013

A simple table of contents


<h2 id='toc'>Contents</h2>

<p class='center'><a href='#chapter01'>Chapter One</a></p>

<p class='center'><a href='#chapter02'>Chapter Two</a></p>

<p class='center'><a href='#chapter03'>Chapter Three</a></p>

<p class='center'><a href='#chapter04'>Chapter Four</a></p>

<p class='center'><a href='#chapter05'>Chapter Five</a></p>

<p class='center'><a href='#copy'>Copyright - About the Author</a></p>

You will of course add as many chapters as needed, advancing the link (#chapter06, #chapter07, etc.) with each addition. I like to number them as shown, but if you like you can give the link a descriptive name, as I have done for the final section (#copy) containing the copyright information and a brief biography of the author.

Update: If you work in Sigil, as I recommend, this task is simplified for you. First, you can actually build an "html table of contents" using the Tools option on the top menu. (Click on Tools > Table of Contents > Create HTML Table of Contents.) I don't do this because I prefer my own layout, and it's a chore to edit Sigil's version. Second, you don't have to put anchors in the chapter headings or even to use the href= instruction.. By breaking the large html file into separate chapters and sections, you can use the Insert > Link option on the top menu to quickly connect an item in the TOC to that chapter. Just swipe the mouse cursor over, say, Chapter Five, then link it to the appropriate file. The link will look something like this: <a href="../Text/Section0005.html">.