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Table of Contents using Word

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TimothyEllis:
The following is the help screen from KDP for creating a full Table of Contents from within Word.

This actually works, and takes only a minute for the creation.

Depending on your version of Word, you might have to create a 'Links' area yourself, and add 'Bookmark' to it. You do this in Word Options, but you need to select 'ALL' in order for Bookmark to be visible as an option to add. On my version of Word, the default setting didn't show Bookmark. But it was there, being hidden.

LilyBLily:
I've spent many hours in the past two days attempting to get a word doc in shape to be turned into an epub. This was for my box set project that I've been meaning to do for a year; I was combining three novels and a novella and removing various pleas for reviews and newsletter signups.

Of course the very first thing I learned is that my References section (Word 2010) doesn't have a Custom TOC setting. I consulted a formatting course I took in 2014, when Word 2010 was reasonably new. Same directions you have, and nope, what I have access to is not the same. This always happens.

I think I've wrestled the file into shape, but adding up the hours involved I have to say that the only rewarding part of the effort was the opportunity to make some edits to the texts. Otherwise, for me, paying someone else to format it is the logical way to go. I do like having closer control of the text, of course. I corrected some spelling errors of proper names and fixed a few punctuation mistakes and even got rid of a word that put the lie to what that character says and does in another book. But was it worth my time? I doubt it. As with a lot of DIY efforts, all the learning is in the first job, and there may not be a second one soon enough to remember what was learned.

TimothyEllis:

--- Quote from: LilyBLily on December 31, 2021, 03:03:16 PM ---Of course the very first thing I learned is that my References section (Word 2010) doesn't have a Custom TOC setting. I consulted a formatting course I took in 2014, when Word 2010 was reasonably new. Same directions you have, and nope, what I have access to is not the same. This always happens.

--- End quote ---

You also need the bookmark option as well these days.

It would work out cheaper in the long run to get a copy of Word 2013, or 2019 standalones. I'm using 2013, and both the full ToC and bookmark are there.

The other thing to check through is the options list which decides which features are on the menus. The default show is limited, but if you change it to show everything, a whole heap of options appear, and you can add them to the menus. Bookmark is one of these, and once I found it, I added it in right next to ToC.

You might have the options, but they are currently turned off, or not added to the menus. Worth checking.

RPatton:

--- Quote from: LilyBLily on December 31, 2021, 03:03:16 PM ---I've spent many hours in the past two days attempting to get a word doc in shape to be turned into an epub. This was for my box set project that I've been meaning to do for a year; I was combining three novels and a novella and removing various pleas for reviews and newsletter sign-ups.

Of course the very first thing I learned is that my References section (Word 2010) doesn't have a Custom TOC setting. I consulted a formatting course I took in 2014, when Word 2010 was reasonably new. Same directions you have, and nope, what I have access to is not the same. This always happens.

I think I've wrestled the file into shape, but adding up the hours involved I have to say that the only rewarding part of the effort was the opportunity to make some edits to the texts. Otherwise, for me, paying someone else to format it is the logical way to go. I do like having closer control of the text, of course. I corrected some spelling errors of proper names and fixed a few punctuation mistakes and even got rid of a word that put the lie to what that character says and does in another book. But was it worth my time? I doubt it. As with a lot of DIY efforts, all the learning is in the first job, and there may not be a second one soon enough to remember what was learned.

--- End quote ---

Sigil is great for handling some TOCs. As long as each chapter is its own file, the navigational TOC will take care of itself. You can even move pages around, you might have to change some files, the epub-checker plugin will tell you just what file and line needs to be fixed. (In my latest project, I accidentally moved a file, and the checker said the nav list was out of order. I could have either changed the nav list or moved the file back where it belonged to fix the problem.) Seriously, for a free software, it's above and beyond what you'd expect. I believe they also have a WYSIWIG editor that works with Sigil. You put your content in the editor (not sure how it works, haven't tested it out)and it produces nicely coded files for Sigil.

https://sigil-ebook.com/

Using word to create an epub is sort of like using a screwdriver to hammer in a nail. Sure, you can make it work, but it's not always going to produce best results. The key to a good epub is the CSS (and not an inline CSS), styles, and individual files. With properly assigned styles, individual files per TOC entry, and a clean CSS, updating books is almost too easy. Open up the epub in Sigil, open up the file where the change needs to be made, make the change, save the file, and re-upload. Only downside is that the change isn't made on the source doc. (My workflow includes making changes in the source doc, highlighting said change, then making the change in the epub - one extra step, but overall not that big of a deal in the long run.)

Making the jump from Word to epub might be intimidating at first, but you're going to have a lot fewer problems in the future. Or, you can hire someone to do all the formatting for you. And the good news is that you'll have an epub you can open up in Sigil and make any changes/updates to without having to reformat the whole book.

R. C.:

--- Quote from: LilyBLily on December 31, 2021, 03:03:16 PM ---... Of course the very first thing I learned is that my References section (Word 2010) doesn't have a Custom TOC setting...

--- End quote ---

I am not sure that is accurate. I can make MS Word 2010 correctly format TOC, Footnotes, References, Endnotes, and internal hyperlinks. I may be able to help if you want to reach out in a DM.

R.C.

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