Writer’s table of contents feature lets you build an automated table of contents from the headings in your document. Before you start, make sure that the headings are styled consistently. For example, you can use the Heading 1 style for chapter titles and the Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles for chapter subheadings.

Although tables of contents can be customized extensively in Writer, often the default settings are all you need. Creating a quick table of contents is simple:

1. When you create your document, use the following paragraph styles for different heading levels (such as chapter and section headings): Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3. These are what will appear in your table of contents. You can use more levels of headings, but the default setting is to use only the first three levels in the table of contents.
2. Place the cursor where you want the table of contents to be inserted.
3. Select Insert > Indexes and Tables > Indexes and Tables.
4. Change nothing in the Insert Index/Table dialog. Click OK.

If you add or delete text (so that headings move to different pages) or you add, delete, or change headings, you need to update the table of contents. To do this:

1. Place the cursor within the table of contents.
2. Right-click and select Update Index/Table from the pop-up menu.

If you cannot place your cursor in the table of contents, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > Formatting Aids, and then select Enable in the Cursor in protected areas section.

You can customize an existing table of contents at any time. Right-click anywhere in it and select Edit Index/Table from the pop-up menu. Chapter 12 (Creating Tables of Contents, Indexes and Bibliographies) of the Writer Guide describes in detail all the customizations you can choose.

Creating indexes and bibliographies

Indexes and bibliographies work in a similar way to tables of contents. Chapter 12 (Creating Tables of Contents, Indexes and Bibliographies) in the Writer Guide describes the process in detail.

In addition to alphabetical indexes, other types of indexes supplied with Writer include those for illustrations, tables, and objects, and you can even create a user-defined index. For example, you might want an index containing only the scientific names of species mentioned in the text, and a separate index containing only the common names of species. Before creating some types of indexes, you first need to create index entries embedded in your Writer document.