How to Create a Table of Content Articles in WordPress
If you are a WordPress user and often write in-depth articles, creating a table of contents for articles is something worth doing. The table of contents or table of content is a list that contains the headings in your article. I will explain how to create a table of contents in WordPress later. But what exactly does the table of contents do?
Simply put, a table of contents will help visitors find the section of the article they want to read. Sometimes readers don’t want to read the whole article, but only a certain part. Like when you go to the market and want to buy fish, of course. It would be better if you know where the fish shop is instead of having to walk around the market, right?
WordPress itself doesn’t include a table of contents as a default feature. This means you have to add the table of contents yourself via a third-party plugin. Table of Content plugins can be found easily in your WordPress. It’s just that among the many plugins, there are several that I recommend for you to use.
Table of Contents
- 3 Recommended WordPress Table of Contents Plugins
- How to Create a Table of Contents in WordPress
- Conclusion
3 Recommended WordPress Table of Contents Plugins
To find the table of the content plugin you need, you can go to the plugin menu in the WordPress dashboard. After that select ” Add New “. After the “ Add Plugins ” page opens, type the keyword “ table of content ” in the search field then press Enter on your keyboard.
You will find several tables of content plugins. So, which one should be chosen? The three plugins that appear above are highly recommended for you to try. You just have to choose one of them.
1. Easy Table of Contents
As the name suggests, this one table of contents plugin is easy to use. This plugin can add a table of contents automatically to your WordPress posts, pages, and custom posts.
In addition, it can also work well in the Classic Editor, Gutenberg, as well as several page builders such as Divi, Elementor, and WPBakery. Easy Table of Contents has been installed more than 200 thousand times by WordPress users with an average rating of 4.5 stars.
2. LuckyWP Table of Contents
This WordPress table of contents plugin can also help you create an attractive table of contents for posts, pages, and custom posts on your web or blog. Interestingly, LuckyWP Table of Contents supports display customization very well.
Besides being able to be used automatically, this plugin also supports manual usage so you can choose which articles need to be listed and which don’t. It has been installed more than 60 thousand times with a 5-star rating.
3. Table of Content Plus
The same is the case with the previous 2 WordPress table of contents plugins. This one plugin can also make it easier for you to add a table of contents to your articles. Table of Content Plus supports the use of shortcodes so you can customize the table of contents or choose not to use them on certain pages. This plugin has been installed more than 300 thousand times with a 4.5-star rating.
How to Create a Table of Contents in WordPress
If you ask, which of the 3 WordPress table of contents plugins I mentioned earlier is the best, Table of Content Plus in terms of several installations or LuckyWP Table of Contents in terms of rating. But this time, I will demonstrate how to create a table of contents in WordPress with the LuckyWP Table of Contents plugin. Here are the steps you can follow.
1. Install the LuckyWP Table of Contents Plugin
How to install the plugin is to click “Install Now” in the search results as shown in the previous image. After the plugin is installed, you need to activate the plugin so that it can be used.
2. Manage Plugins
Plugin settings can be done in the “Installed Plugin” list or the “ Settings > Table of Contents ” menu. There are several settings that you can do, such as General settings, Appearance, Auto Insert, and so on.
You don’t need to change everything, some I recommend changing are General > Header > Title. You can keep your table of contents title as “Contents” or change it to “Table of Contents” or whatever you like.
After that move to the “Appearance” tab, you can change the appearance of colors and so on if you want. For the “Auto Insert” tab, please tick “Enable” if you want the table of contents to appear automatically in each article.
Don’t forget to set the position of the table of contents and the type of post you want to add to the table of contents automatically. Automatic settings will be very helpful if you have a lot of articles in your previous WordPress and don’t allow them to be added manually.
3. Add to Article
LuckyWP Table of Contents default setting is manual addition to posts. If you set up an automatic table of contents, you can skip this process.
The way to add a table of contents manually is by clicking the table of the content icon above your typing area (for classic editors). After that, you can still do further customization if you want or directly save according to the settings. For more details, see the image below.
But if you use a block editor, all you need to do is add a “Table of Contents” block to the article you are writing. Or you can also use the “Classic” block and then look for the table of contents icon like the previous picture.
Conclusion
Well, that’s how to easily create a table of contents in WordPress using a plugin. Pretty easy to try, right? Having a table of contents will make it easier for readers to understand your article.
Although there is no claim of a direct effect of the table of contents on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), at least the use of the table of contents improves the user experience of web or blog visitors. Fortunately, a good user experience is highly preferred by search engines. Good luck.
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