A Table of Contents (TOC) is a great way to organize content. In Template Designer, you can build a TOC using a layout. Let's look at the different parts of the TOC layout.

Add a Table of Contents layout

On the Design > Build tab, you'll find the TOC layout in the Static Elements category.

Drag and drop this layout onto the canvas (generally at the top of your template).

TOC properties

There are several properties you can control in your TOC, but keep in mind that you won't see any story titles populate the TOC until you create a message using your template. Instead you'll see several sample stories in their place to help you see the formatting to expect when you design your message.

Your TOC's editable properties are accessible on two tabs: Content and Style.

Content tab

The Content tab contains a modified rich text editor where you can add and stylize (format) text. The editor reflects the background and text color that you’ll see in your message.

To enter text, type in the editor. To format the text, highlight your desired text and apply styles from the editor toolbar.

NOTE: The TOC toolbar does not contain numbering or bulleting options. See Rich Text Editor for details about the rich text editor.

NOTE: You won't edit the TOC headings in the editor; these are automatically added in Message Designer.

Style tab

Use the Style tab to apply high-level styles to the story titles that populate your TOC. By default, each checkbox is checked.

• Bullet - Accept the default character, a hyphen ( - ) or input a character to use as the bullet. You can insert one character only.
• Use Default Line Height - Check the box if you want to use the default line height. Uncheck the box to access a dropdown and choose a different line height.
• Use Default Font Size - Check the box if you want to use the default font size. Uncheck the box to access a dropdown and choose a different font size.
• Use Default Font Family - Check the box if you want to use the default font family. Uncheck the box to access a dropdown and choose a different font family for this style.
• User Default Text Color - Check the box if you want to use the default text color for the TOC links. Uncheck the box to open a color picker and choose a different color.
• Use Default Text Decoration - Check the box if you want to use the default text decoration (none). Uncheck the box to choose a different text decoration.

Populate the TOC

The TOC automatically populates when you create a message using a template with the TOC layout. Each time you add a story, you'll have the option to add that story to the TOC.

1. In the Text Properties Content tab, check the Show in Table of Contents box. The panel expands to reveal the Story Title field.

Only the stories that you designate will display in the TOC.

2. Specify the story title that will display in the TOC when the message is sent.

Story Title notes

When creating story titles, note that:

• Story titles are limited to 25 characters; longer titles are truncated.
• Spaces in the story title are replaced with underscores ( _ ).
• An index number is added to the end of story titles.

Putting it together

After you have your TOC in place and you've designed your message, you're ready to see your TOC in action. When you look at your message preview on the Message Designer Review & Send tab, your TOC renders fully populated.