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Extending Table of Contents beyond a single page.

On my 16" MacBook Pro, in Pages version 14.1, I am typing a long document that requires a Table of Contents that will extend beyond a single page. I'm experiencing my Table of Contents jumping intact to the next page once its lines have filled the page on which it was started. Can I cause it to remain on the page on which it began building, while it continues to progress onto the next page and succeeding pages as I continue typing the body?

iPhone 11 Pro Max, iOS 17

Posted on Jul 8, 2024 9:58 PM

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6 replies

Jul 9, 2024 7:14 AM in response to Eduspan

The only person who can definitively answer this has generated sufficient Table of Contents entries and found a means to have it break across page boundaries. That won't be me, and probably the majority of normal responders to this community. It can be done in MS Word, though with some obfuscation.


I stand to be wrong, but a Table of Contents in Pages is a document object, not body text, and thus may not possess the qualities that you hope will allow it to break across pages.


It does respond to a two-column layout and to align your page numbers left of the gutter, you will need to select each ToC entry, visit the Text > Layout tab > Stops field, and reduce the default width from 6.5 to 5.5 or whatever aligns the page numbers on the right.


Here is a sample:



As n-columns flows left to right on the same page and then into column 1 on the next page, etc., this may be your alternative to split the ToC across page boundaries in Pages. In my example, the ToC is on a first page (and section) of the document, and any spillage to the next page will still be a member of that section.

Jul 10, 2024 2:47 AM in response to Eduspan

Hi Ed,


What am I doing right?



The Table of Contents flows from Page 1 to Page 2.

The meat of the document has been pushed onto Page 3 (as expected).

Chapter titles are Heading style with Body style text in following paragraphs.



What are you doing that differs from what I am doing?


Tested in Pages 13.1 under macOS Ventura 13.3.1


Regards,

Ian.

Jul 9, 2024 5:07 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you, VikingOS10.  Your reply was helpful and intriguing.  I like learning solutions created to get around software incapabilities.  And, although the fast-approaching deadline for the submission of my document prevents me from replacing my own “get-around” scheme at this point in the game, I’m eager to apply your solution to the rewrite that will be due.


My current solution is to insert a table of contents on each page of the section, and, for each, slightly changing the names of the paragraph styles.  As long as I don’t have to edit the body text after its completion, I am safe.  Any editing thereafter, however, could bring on a whole new set of headaches with respect to the several tables of contents.


Your solution, on the other hand, sounds foolproof, and I’m anxious to try it.  Thanks again.

Jul 16, 2024 2:50 AM in response to Yellowbox

Hello again, VikingOSX and Yellowbox.


Again, thank you for your replies. As a result of assorted tinkering in my attempt to get the hang of creating sections and section breaks, my lengthy table of contents was finally able to flow from page to page as I typed the body text. The ticketing had constituted the greater part of my effort to section off my table of contents from the body text.


I noticed that when the breakthrough occurred, the section break icon (an invisible) was place at the top of the page directly following the page on which the table of contents was being created. That icon previously had been placed at the bottom of the same page as that on which the table of contents was building.


As I intimated, I had performed a lot of tinkering before the page-to-page flow began and, cannot, therefore, say with certainty that the placement of the section icon had anything to do with enabling the table of contents to break across page boundaries, especially considering the fact that I have not since experimented regarding the placement of the section break icon. I look forward to tinkering in that regard later.

Jul 16, 2024 2:51 AM in response to VikingOSX

Hello again, VikingOSX and Yellowbox.


Again, thank you for your replies. As a result of assorted tinkering in my attempt to get the hang of creating sections and section breaks, my lengthy table of contents was finally able to flow from page to page as I typed the body text. The ticketing had constituted the greater part of my effort to section off my table of contents from the body text.


I noticed that when the breakthrough occurred, the section break icon (an invisible) was place at the top of the page directly following the page on which the table of contents was being created. That icon previously had been placed at the bottom of the same page as that on which the table of contents was building.


As I intimated, I had performed a lot of tinkering before the page-to-page flow began and, cannot, therefore, say with certainty that the placement of the section icon had anything to do with enabling the table of contents to break across page boundaries, especially considering the fact that I have not since experimented regarding the placement of the section break icon. I look forward to tinkering in that regard later.

Extending Table of Contents beyond a single page.

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