How to Create a Table of Contents in Open Office

A table of contents is a document map that aids in navigating multi-page documents and provides an overview of document contents. Documents such as print or online books, research papers or magazines often include a table of contents at the beginning of the document. One application you can use to create a table of contents is OpenOffice Writer. OpenOffice is a free suite of desktop productivity programs that includes Writer as its word processing program. OpenOffice Writer includes a table of contents feature that uses document headings to automate the process of creating a basic table of contents.

Instructions

Getting Started

1

Place the mouse cursor at the point in the document you want to add the table of contents. Longer documents usually include the table of contents just after the title page, but you can place it wherever you want.

2

Select the "Insert" tab on the Writer main menu, then "Indexes and Tables" to open the "Insert Text/Table" window.

3

Select the "Index/Table" tab if it is not already the active tab.

Set Table of Contents Attributes

4

Enter required information into the information boxes in the "Index/Table" section. If you want to include a title, type in a title such as "Table of Contents."

5

Select "Table of Contents" from the "Type" drop-down list and then place a check mark in the "Protected against manual changes" to prevent accidental changes to your table of contents.

6

Choose "Entire Document" from the "Evaluate up to Level" drop-down box and then select the number of levels you want to include in the table of contents. For example, if you want to include document titles, subtitles, and section headings, select the number "3."

7

Place a check mark in the "Outline" box of the "Create From" section. Remove the check mark from the "Index Marks" box if it contains a check.

Apply Styles and Create Table of Contents

8

Select the level number you want to format from the list on the left side of the window. For example, to format titles, select the number "1" from the list.

9

Select a style from the "Character Styles" drop down box. Writer applies the style immediately and displays a preview in the "Preview" pane. Repeat this to apply style to remaining table of contents levels.

10

Click "OK" to close the "Insert Index/Table" window and insert the table of contents into your document.