If someone asked you to write a short book on a topic of your expertise, your document would include a cover page, Table of Contents, Chapters, etc., etc. Finally, you are almost done but for a few last minute additions and you realize you now have to update your homemade Table of Contents (TOC)! Well, Microsoft Word 2007 feels your pain! In this article, I will cover the sneaky way Word 2007 provides an easy shortcut for creating a Table of Contents using Styles and Reference Tools.
What does Style... got to do, got to do with it?
Tina Turner asked this question about love. You probably thought Style was about making your text pretty. Word 2007 uses preset Heading Styles to determine the heading levels that will correspond to an automatic TOC you can place anywhere in your document with a mere mouse click. (So for those who have already spent hours reviewing headings and page numbers of your homemade TOC, this is going to break your heart: Just delete it and don't look back.) Our first step toward automating your TOC will be to apply style to your headings. On the Home tab, locate the functional group for Styles. (Click the 'more' button to view all preset Heading Styles.) Whether you are starting from scratch or with a full document, simply select and apply 'Heading Level 1' to all your main headings, 'Heading Level 2' to all your subheadings and so forth. Maybe you already did this for style but if not, do this to learn and you will never start without considering heading styles again!
Everybody plays the fool for the Reference Tool
Word 2007 has an entire tab dedicated to placing updating objects into your document called the Reference Tab. To insert an Automatic Table of Contents, first place your cursor where you want the TOC to appear. Second, go to the Reference tab and in the first functional group, click the "Table of Contents" button. Now press "Automatic Table 2: TOC" (for example sake) and "et Voila!" (See Below) Your automated Table of Contents has been created and programmed specifically for your document.
It Takes Two, Baby
Now that you see that it only takes two steps to insert a Table of Contents, I am sure you want to know how to keep this loving feeling. Notice that if you hover your cursor over your TOC field, your information is encased in a blue field. To update information, double click or refer to the reference tab for the "Update Field" button, or simply hit F9. In order to change the look of your Table of Contents, click the "Table of Contents" button again on your reference tab and a dialogue box will open and provide you extra options to customize the look of your Table of Contents.
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