Creating a Table of Contents

CleverCat can be used to create a Table of Contents, which will automatically draw information from your database.

The Table of Contents can be found under the second tab of the Print Menu. You are given a selection of which template you would like to use for the Table of Contents. CleverCat provides a simple template that can be used for your Table of Contents, but it can be fully customized just like any other template.

To enable the Table of Contents, choose Yes for the Show Table of Contents option. Then, make sure it is marked for printing by checking it on the category list. You can drag and drop the Table of Contents to reorder it, as with any other category.

The Rebuild Page Index function is key to creating a Table of Contents. The actual Page Number of any record in your catalog, especially when using Dynamic-style templates, may not be known until the catalog has been printed. When the Rebuild option is selected, as each page is printed, its Page Number will be recorded in the database. This makes sure that page numbers in your Table of Contents will be correct.

You can also manually set the Index Number/Start Page of the Table of Contents, by double-clicking it in the list. If this is set to a negative number, is position will never be changed when using the Rebuild Index option, allowing you manually set its position and keep it there.

Only the categories selected for printing will be included in the Index Page or Table of Contents, just as only selected categories will be Indexed if the Rebuild option is selected.

NOTE: The Rebuild option will not update the Category Index Number / Start Page if the Compact option is used. The Compact option allows each category to begin printing, mid-page, where the previous category ended, using the same template for all categories. With Compact, it is common for multiple, small categories to start on the same page. Changing the Index in this case will result in multiple categories having the same Starting Page, which will become confusing on future prints.

Editing Your Table of Contents

To edit the category options for your Table of Contents, go to the Table of Contents / Index tab on the Print Menu, select the template you want to edit from the drop-down menu, and then click Editor.

This will bring you to the Category Editor page for the Table of Contents. You can set the Printed Label, which will change the name in the category list. You can also set the Option Text, which will appear in the Page Footer.

The bottom half of the page allows you to select images to use in the Page Header and Page Footer. It also allows you to select an image to use as the Page Background.

Templates for the Table of Contents

To edit the template for the Table of Contents, click Edit next to the PDF Template option. Alternatively, you can access this page from the Template Editor on the main menu sidebar.

The Page Setup options are the same as for any other template, and thus the
Page Layout
tutorial will explain this page in further detail.

Clicking on the Next Page button on the sidebar will take you to the Layout Editor for the Table of Contents. Again, most functions have been covered in a previous tutorial, in this case the
Product Layout
tutorial

To the left is a sample layout for the Table of Contents.

When creating a Table of Contents, there are a few cells you will likely want to place. The Category cell will display the name of each category in your catalog, while the Page cell will display the corresponding page number. You will likely also want to place a Data Table, which can be set to display the Subcategories and corresponding page number of each Subcategory.

To edit Data Tables, click the Next Page button from the Layout Editor. This page works similarly to the Data Table Editor, and is discussed in more depth on the Data Tables tutorial.

Below is an example of a Data Table used in a Table of Contents.

In your Data Table, you will likely want to place both a Subcategory cell and a Page cell. The Subcategory cell will display the name of each Subcategory, while the Page cell will display the corresponding page number.