Creating a Table of Contents For Your Article

1. 60

   Megan Metlerposted 6 years ago

   I had a bit of trouble finding out how to create a table of contents. Thanks to DrMark1961 I found a very helpful article that lead me to the complete step-by-steps. I just wanted to share this with anyone who is having the same problem.
   Article by Glen: https://hubpages.com/community/tableofcontents

   replyreport
   1. 68

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Yup, that's the one.

      replyreport
   2. 95

      siramaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Now a days, the content get moved to niche sites. I hope we should use the short links when applicable.
      Nice article.

      replyreport
   3. 79

      Urbane Chaosposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I did that on a few of my articles back when it was all the rage.. but, this was the only one I left it on: https://hubpages.com/travel/FamousOklahomans
      
      So far, any of them that had the TOC didn't get moved to niche sites.  When I removed the TOC, then they were considered. 
      
      I figured that, most likely, it was the number of links involved.  This article is more a list, but others I did this with linked to different sections of the article. I'm not sure that I'd use a TOC again - if the article was long enough to merit one, I'd break it up in to two articles.

      replyreport
      1. 96

         ziyenaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         My article on genealogy with TOC was just recently approved for niche.  Perhaps if the article is more like a step-by-step guide than a regular article then it's more accepted with niche sites?  Just a thought

         replyreport
         1. 79

            Urbane Chaosposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            That very well could be.  The ones that I've tried it on were more list formats but I've never tried any other style.  Glad you got yours listed!  What's the name of it and I'll look it up?  It'd be nice to see how you did it.

            replyreport
2. 65

   Lovelli Fuadposted 6 years ago

   I don't always include a table of content to my article if it's less than 2,000 words in length. For shorter articles, TOC is not particularly helpful, but for longer articles, they make the stories easier to navigate.
   
   I had one experience with a Delishably article about Southeast Asian cookies that got a Pro Basic edit, and the editor listed, numbered all the food items I was describing in the article as if preparing them for TOC. But she did not add the internal links. I thank her for doing that because then the writer can decide whether or not to add the table of content links themselves.

   replyreport
3. 65

   Lovelli Fuadposted 6 years ago

   I take it back.
   
   Apparently, the unnecessary Pro Basic edit was not that thoughtful. I added internal TOCs to the article and it was immediately re-edited with even *more* unnecessary changes just to later inform me that if I continue adding spammy elements (How are TOCs considered spammy?!) they will defeature my article. It's so bad!
   
   The edits did not positively impact my views. I'm getting 0 to 1 views daily from that piece after the edits. What a disappointment.

   replyreport
   1. 68

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      The TOC is not a spammy feature, HP would have included it as a capsule if it were easy to set up.

      replyreport
4. 68

   RonElFranposted 6 years ago

   I had a TOC in my latest hub, but when it was moved to a niche site, the editor removed all those links. This is a 3500+ word article on "10 Greatest Hits Motown Initially Rejected" with text and video for each song. I thought that for an article that long, a linked TOC would be a great help to readers who might want to go directly to a particular song, but apparently it's not allowed.

   replyreport
   1. 68

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I asked Robin about this a year or so ago and she told me that they encourage TOC. Contact your editor and ask them why it was removed. If it had every single capsule in there it does look spammy, so other than cases where it looks really really bad it should be allowed (technically).

      replyreport
   2. 98

      DrMark1961posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Ron, this is a bullet list from an email from HP that I received last week. They said they wanted to HubPro edit one of my articles, and these changes would be made:
      Adding a table of contents
      Performing a grammar check
      Add links to your other articles (if applicable)
      Adding a video.
      Potentially adding an FAQ section to address the most frequently asked questions.
      Notice the first? If it is part of the editing process, it is certainly allowed.

      replyreport
   3. 68

      RonElFranposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I got a reply from Robin about my TOC links. She says that TOCs are allowed, and I can restore the ones in my article. She thinks the problem may have been that the links, which were inserted when the article was first published and before it was moved to a niche site, appeared in their interface as if directed to hubpages.com, which is not allowed.
      
      Bottom line, per Robin: a linked TOC is no problem if you do it right.

      replyreport