Adding a table of contents in a Pages document

[BudVitoff]

Running an iMac under High Sierra Version 10.13.4.

Honestly, I'm really trying to apply the stuff I see in Apple support, but I'm getting nowhere.

If I could get just one entry into a Table of Contents (TOC) I could take it from there ... maybe. I have a nicely laid out document, all in the same font. I have short header lines every so often and I only want them in the TOC. I don't really want to change the font for those headers, and I don't have to include anything from the text of the paragraphs. Am I being too naive to think that Pages should be able to default to the layout that I've set up -- and all I'd have to do is identify those header lines and tell it where to put the TOC??

I'm sorry, but I don't even know how to ask smart questions on this one.

The only clue I have is the message "The table of contents is empty because you aren't using the paragraph styles set to appear in it." Why can't I understand what they're trying to tell me?

(

 

[chscag]

That message is a bit cryptic. You have to use paragraph styles for your TOC. For example, one of the styles is "Title", "Heading", and so forth.

Try this Apple KB LINK which may explain it better: How to create a Table of Contents in Pages

 

[BudVitoff]

Well, I was encouraged by your link title, but when I click on it I get to a page titled "Pages for Mac: Add a table of contacts in a Pages document", which I had already printed before I made my post so I'm still batting zero.

From what you say, I'm not going to get my wish about not changing the font style for my headings. IMHO, that's not very user-friendly. One would think that it would default to what the user had already specified. Nevertheless, I can live with that, because I have other problems.

From reading the help stuff, and from personal experience with other software doing the same kind of thing (many, MANY years ago), I should be able to add the paragraph styles and, as I do, the system should update the TOC in real-time. No joy there, because I select and double-click the first heading (one word), nothing happens, and when I move to the next heading, I lose the highlight on the first heading. I thought I might be able to keep that highlight using the command key but that didn't work.

Then as a final slap in the face, I get a second TOC right after the first with the same error message, and my first heading just disappears.

I know I'm doing something wrong -- I just don't know what it is!

 

[BudVitoff]

Okay, I know what it is. I'm just too darn stubborn about using my original font for my paragraph style. Everything started working once I gave in. There was one moment of panic early in the game when suddenly my entire document went from left-aligned to center-aligned. I'm not sure why, but selecting all and clicking left-align put things back without any apparent damage.

I am having a little trouble right now. My original text looks like

and I just wanted the "1." and "a." headings to appear in the TOC, but the text paragraph comes along with them. A regular return sticks a "b." heading in there, and a shift-return keeps the text in as well.

Can you help me out on this, please?