Table of contents please! or on-page search functionality.

1. 94

   Glen Kowalskiposted 9 years ago

   I tend to create long-form content.  A table of contents or a search function at the top of a hub would greatly benefit my users who may already know a bit about the subject and are looking for something new.

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   1. 32

      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It's been suggested before but HP doesn't want to add the feature.
      
      However, you can still make one.  This is how I do it:
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/113669#post2419013

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   2. 0

      Ally Lewisposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      In all seriousness, do you mean like the way Wikipedia does it? (A lot of sites do, but that's probably the most prevalent and well-known example.) The TOC is after the overall summary and you click which part of the text you want to read specifically and jump to it by clicking it? Because that'd be a good idea.

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2. 94

   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   I found this hub, written by Darkside, which might help:
   http://darkside.hubpages.com/hub/tableofcontents

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   1. 78

      Lionrhodposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I used Darkside's tutorial and it worked great. EXCEPT in testing my links I found that it reloaded the page every time I clicked on a link & caused enormous lag.
      
      Is there a way of doing this without causing the page to reload?
      
      I vote for a TOC module! Please.
      
      And those who want to build their own TOC, no reason why they still can't do that.

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      1. 0

         calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I agree with you about the reload issue.  Unfortunately it occurs because we cannot create anchors with "a" tags with the "name" or "id" attributes in the html editor.  The only attributes allowed in the "a" tags are "href" and "target" and anything else gets stripped out when you save html changes.  The method in Darkside's tutorial is the only one that will work with the current limits on what we can code in the html editor.

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         1. 32

            Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Here's a tutorial Hub for creating a Table of Contents:
            http://sidkemp.hubpages.com/hub/TOC

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            1. 0

               calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Sid's method is equivalent to Darkside's, and you'll notice if you click on the entries in his hub's TOC, the page refreshes, as it does on all our hubs for those of us who have created a TOC.

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               1. 32

                  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  One thing else to note:  If you have a Hub which becomes Editor's Choice, if you don't change the links in a Table of Contents, a redirect is also involved for each link.

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3. 94

   Glen Kowalskiposted 9 years ago

   I have no idea why they wouldn't want to include a table of contents.  Sure it may lower the amount of time a user spends on page but it is significantly more useful to the user. 
   
   The link-based TOC is doable but really a bit of a hassle when this could be automated by a hubpages module.  Squidoo fell out of favor with me during the 'great purge' but the TOC was one thing they did do very well.

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   1. 32

      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Many Hubbers would prefer an automated option for creating the TOC and it has been suggested many times before.  Right now, HP isn't going to provide one.

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      1. 94

         Glen Kowalskiposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         well maybe if we continue to clamor for one they will listen-or shut down the forums one

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         1. 32

            Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            They do listen.  But, the decision is theirs to make.

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            1. 94

               Glen Kowalskiposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Of course it is.  Just a bit of sarcasm/humor for the morning..the more I post the more you will figure out that I have a dry sense of humor and love sarcasm-but not in a bad way.

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               1. 32

                  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  

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         2. 73

            relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Feel free to clamour.  Don't expect results.  Just saying...
            
            In the meantime, given that the instructions are everywhere, a lot of us have hand-built our own TOCs.  Just like we did on Squidoo during the years before they built the tool for lazy people.

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            1. 94

               Glen Kowalskiposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I resemble that lazy remark   Seriously I will have to start doing it manually I think.  But I still reserve the right to whine and #@#@ because I can

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4. 0

   Ally Lewisposted 9 years ago

   Readers could do it the old-fashioned way and just Ctrl+F...

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   1. 87

      lobobrandonposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's the best way. Why do you call it old fashioned

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      1. 0

         Ally Lewisposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Sometimes "old-fashioned" and "best" are synonymous

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   2. 78

      Lionrhodposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Only if they know specifically what they're looking for.

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      1. 0

         Ally Lewisposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I'm sure they could search the words that brought them to the site in the first place. Like keywords they're looking for in the article. But you're right.

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         1. 78

            Lionrhodposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            IMO a TOC isn't just to let people know exactly where on your page to find the keyword that brought them there. While it can do that, a well designed TOC will give them an overview of your hub; an idea of whether or not it is likely to answer the question they originally had. It can entice them into spending their valuable time with you, rather than going on to the next search option.
            
            As an example:  Let's say I'm looking for information about a particular herb. Maybe I want to figure out if it's safe to use on my dog.
            
            The first page I find turns out to be a long list of herbs. No TOC so I don't know where to look. In this case I do a keyword search and eventually learn that "dog" and the particular herb I was looking for are both on the page, but nowhere associated with each other. I close the page, somewhat miffed that Google wasted my time.
            
            The second page has a TOC. It's so full of chemical jargon that I know it's not going to help because I'll spend more time translating than finding the information I need. I close the page, but am grateful to the author for immediately letting me know I'm in the wrong place.
            
            The third page has a TOC. This one clearly states "Safety for Pets" as one of their subjects. Awesome. I immediately go to the section I need, get my information. Then depending on the page, I might stick around to read more. I probably bookmark the page to come back to also. And I'll probably check back to this author's site when I'm looking for information on other herbs, just to see if they have something on that.
            
            Since I never want to rely on just one source where the safety of my dog is concerned, I then go to another page. This page also has a TOC. There's nothing in it concerning Pet Safety, however there is another subject that I find myself intrigued in. Even though this page doesn't have the information I was looking for, I stick around to read.

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5. 87

   lobobrandonposted 9 years ago

   Additionally, when I do it personally, I'm free to name the contents the way I want to. It doesn't have to be the same as the module heading.

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   1. 32

      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This is a great point and I hope, if HP ever decides to offer an automated TOC, that HP would provide the choice as well.  The wording on TOC  links can be very good for SEO if you use keyword phrases.

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6. 84

   Marisa Wrightposted 9 years ago

   Here's the Feature Suggestions thread:
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/121701#post2581848

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7. 0

   julieannbradyposted 9 years ago

   I'm old-fashioned, very ambitious, and not lazy. But I vote for the TOC feature with the ability to "x" out capsules not to appear. I've got some lengthy hubs and was accustomed to pointing out specific locations for my readers.
   
   As an aside, is there a capsule like the one we had at the big S, "the most important thing" I think it was called where you could put in a link to a module. That would be a nice feature.

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