Editing the Look of a Mini-TOC

For mini-TOCs, you can use styles to adjust properties such as font family and size, indentation, word spacing, spacing above/below, and TOC width. In print output, you can also adjust the page number alignment and leader settings (e.g., the dots between the headings and the numbers).

A style called "MadCap|miniTocProxy" is used to control the look of the entire container. Other styles (e.g., p.MiniTOC1) are used to control the look of individual entries in it. Style properties—such as margin-left, font-size, and mc-leader-indent, mc-leader-format—are used to affect the look in different ways. If you have different values set for the container than you do for an individual entry (e.g., different font families are specified), the value set for the individual entry takes precedence.

How to Edit the Look of a Mini-TOC (Entire Container)

1. From the Content Explorer, open the stylesheet that you want to modify.

2. From the Medium drop-down in the Stylesheet Editor, make sure the proper medium is selected before you begin. In the Advanced view, you can open multiple mediums at once; you just need to look at the title at the top of the medium pane and make sure you are working in the correct one. If you are not using stylesheet mediums for your different outputs or if you want all mediums to have the same settings, just leave the medium set to default and continue.

   Mediums can be used if you want to use one group of settings for online output types and another group of settings for print-based output types. For example, you might use the default medium for your online outputs and the print medium for your print outputs. See Mediums and Media Queries.

   Please note that Flare remembers the last medium that you used when working in the stylesheet, so it may or may not be the one that you want to use the next time around.

   

3. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays . If the button displays instead, then click it.

   Note Some of the necessary style properties can also be changed in the Simplified view in the Stylesheet Editor.

4. In the upper-left of the editor, make sure the drop-down field is set to .
5. On the left side of the editor, scroll down and select the MadCap|miniTOCProxy style or a class that you have created under it (e.g., MadCap|miniTOCProxy.myclass).

6. From the Show drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select .

   Note If you want to see properties that are of particular importance for a style, you can select Show: Assorted Relevant Properties.

7. (Optional) You can use the toggle button in the local toolbar to show properties below in a group view or an alphabetical view .
8. Locate the property you want to change.

9. The area to the right of the property is used for selecting and entering values. If you know how to enter the information correctly, you can click in the value field and type it directly. Otherwise, click the ellipsis button to the right of the property. Depending on the type of property, the appropriate controls and options display, allowing you to choose or enter values (e.g., select from a drop-down list, click a button, complete fields in a dialog or popup). If you completed values in a popup, click OK at the bottom of the box.

   Following are some of the more common properties that you might change.

   Common Properties

   • Background To change the background of a mini-TOC, expand the Background property group and change any of the properties within it. If you select both a background image and color, the image takes precedence.
   • Border above To change or remove the border line that appears at the top of a mini-TOC in online output, expand the Border property group. Then to the right of border-top, click , and in the popup set the border width, unit of measurement, color, and/or style. Click OK. You can also use the other cells in this property group to add borders below, to the left, or to the right of the mini-TOC.
   • Depth To change the number of levels of topic links shown in the mini-TOC, expand the Unclassified property group. Then to the right of mc-toc-depth, click , and select a number. The default setting is 3. Keep in mind that the depth can also be set directly on the proxy wherever it has been inserted. If you keep that proxy set with a depth of "default," the style setting will be used. But if you have a specific depth set on a particular proxy, that number will be used instead of the style setting. Remember that online outputs treat the depth setting differently than print outputs.
   • Font family To change the font family (e.g., Arial, Verdana), expand the Font property group. Then to the right of font-family, click , and select the font family or font set you want to use.
   • Padding above To change the amount of empty space (padding) above the text within the mini-TOC container, expand the Box property group. Then to the right of padding-top, click , in the popup set the padding value, and click OK. You can also use the other cells in this property group to add padding below, to the left, or to the right of the mini-TOC.

   Note For more information about the components and properties in the editor, as well as the tasks that you can perform in it, see Styles and Stylesheets, Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet, and Stylesheet Editor.

10. Click to save your work.

How to Edit the Look of a Mini-TOC (Individual Entries)

1. From the Content Explorer, open the stylesheet that you want to modify.

2. Complete one of the following sets of steps, depending on whether you want to use the Simplified view or Advanced view in the Stylesheet Editor.

   • Simplified The Simplified view displays styles in a grid view and is often best for brand new users.

     This view provides an easy way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar and dialogs (similar to the way one would use an interface such as Microsoft Word). In some cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, autonumbering format, borders, background). One advantage of the Simplified view is that you can apply a property to multiple styles at the same time. You can also click a check box to hide the properties in the editor, allowing you to see only the styles.

   • Advanced The Advanced view displays styles in a tree structure, and despite the name, is user friendly for authors of all levels.

     For the properties, you can toggle between a grouped display and an alphabetical display. The Advanced view of the Stylesheet Editor lets you edit more settings than are available in the Simplified view. In addition, the Advanced view lets you see and apply settings to multiple mediums and media queries at the same time.

   Warning Mediums can be used if you want to use one group of settings for online output types and another group of settings for print-based output types. For example, you might use the default medium for your online outputs and the print medium for your print outputs.  From the Medium drop-down in the Stylesheet Editor, make sure the proper medium is selected before you begin. In the Advanced view, you can open multiple mediums at once; you just need to look at the title at the top of the medium pane and make sure you are working in the correct one. If you are not using stylesheet mediums for your different outputs or if you want all mediums to have the same settings, just leave the medium set to default and continue. Please note that Flare remembers the last medium that you used when working in the stylesheet, so it may or may not be the one that you want to use the next time around. See Mediums and Media Queries.

   If Using Simplified View

   1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
   2. In the upper-left corner of the editor, click in the drop-down field and select .

   3. In the Styles section of the editor, scroll down until you find the p style, followed by a period and the mini-TOC class that you want to customize (e.g., p.MiniTOC1, p.MiniTOC2, p.MiniTOC3). MiniTOC1 is used for the first-level heading in the mini-TOC, MiniTOC2 is used for the second-level heading, and so on. Select the class that you want to modify.

      Note The levels always begin with the MiniTOC1 style. For example, if the Mini-TOC proxy was placed in a topic under a heading using the h2 style, the first level in the generated mini-TOC still uses the style MiniTOC1 (not MiniTOC3).

      Note For mini-TOCs in print output, the page numbers in the generated list inherit their style settings from the list items before them. However, if you want the page numbers to look differently, you can modify the MadCap|xref.TOCPageNumber style.

   4. In the local toolbar of the editor, click . The Properties dialog opens.

   5. Select a tab to make changes to the heading level. You can make several adjustments on the various tabs. Following are two of the most common tabs to edit: Paragraph and Leader.

      Paragraph Tab

      Use this tab to make paragraph changes (e.g., alignment, indentation, spacing) to the header level.

      Leader Tab

      Use this tab to make changes to page numbers and the area between them and the header text.

      • Leader Select the format of the area between the mini-TOC heading and the page number (None, Dot, Dash, Underline).
      • Page Number Select the alignment (Left, Center, Right) of the page number.
      • Page Number Width To change the width of page numbers in the list, click the upper-right arrow and select Length. Then enter a number and unit of measurement.

      Additional changes can be made in the Advanced view.

   If Using Advanced View

   1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays . If the button displays instead, then click it.
   2. In the upper-left corner of the editor, click in the drop-down field and select .
   3. On the left side of the editor, expand the p style. Classes of the style are shown below it.

   4. Find and select the mini-TOC class that you want to customize (e.g., MiniTOC1, MiniTOC2, MiniTOC3). MiniTOC1 is used for the first-level heading in the mini-TOC, MiniTOC2 is used for the second-level heading, and so on.

      Note The levels always begin with the MiniTOC1 style. For example, if the Mini-TOC proxy was placed in a topic under a heading using the h2 style, the first level in the generated mini-TOC still uses the style MiniTOC1 (not MiniTOC3).

      Note For mini-TOCs in print output, the page numbers in the generated list inherit their style settings from the list items before them. However, if you want the page numbers to look differently, you can modify the MadCap|xref.TOCPageNumber style.

   5. From the Show drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select .

      Note If you want to see properties that are of particular importance for a style, you can select Show: Assorted Relevant Properties.

   6. (Optional) You can use the toggle button in the local toolbar to show properties below in a group view or an alphabetical view .

   7. Locate the property you want to change.

      Note Do not use the "PrintSupport" properties for the MiniTOC1 through MiniTOC9 style classes.

   8. The area to the right of the property is used for selecting and entering values. If you know how to enter the information correctly, you can click in the value field and type it directly. Otherwise, click the ellipsis button to the right of the property. Depending on the type of property, the appropriate controls and options display, allowing you to choose or enter values (e.g., select from a drop-down list, click a button, complete fields in a dialog or popup). If you completed values in a popup, click OK at the bottom of the box.

      Following are some of the more common properties that you might change (some are unique for print output, others are appropriate for both online and print output).

      Common Properties

      • Alignment of Page Number (Print Output) To change the alignment (left, right, center) of the page number, expand the Unclassified property group. Then to the right of mc-leader-align, click , and select one of the alignment options.
      • Font Family To change the font family (e.g., Arial, Verdana), expand the Font property group. To the right of font-family, click , and select the font or a font set you want to use.
      • Font Size To change the font size (e.g., 10 pt, 11 pt), expand the Font property group. To the right of font-size, click , and set the font size.

      • Leader Format (Print Output) To change the format of the area between the mini-TOC heading and the page number, expand the Unclassified property group. To the right of mc-leader-format, click , and type the character to use. For example, if you want a series of dots, type a period. If you do not want to use a leader format, leave this field blank.

        Note You can enter one character only (period, hyphen, or underscore). Spaces are also supported, and if you use a character that is not supported, a space will automatically be used.

      • Leader Space Before/After (Print Output) Expand the Unclassified property group. To change the distance from the end of the list entry to the start of the leader, click to the right of mc-leader-indent, and set the margin value. To change the distance between the end of the leader and the page number, click to the right of mc-leader-offset, and set the margin value.
      • Padding Above To change the amount of empty space (padding) above the mini-TOC heading, expand the Box property group. To the right of padding-top, click , and set the padding value. You can also use the other cells in this property group to add padding below, to the left, or to the right.

      • Space in Front (Indentation) To change the distance from the left page margin to the beginning of the mini-TOC heading, expand the Box property group. To the right of margin-left, click , and set the margin value. You can specify additional indentation for headings that wrap to more than one line. To do this, expand the Unclassified property group. To the right of mc-multiline-indent, click , and set the margin value. See Creating Multiline Indentation.

      Note For more information about the components and properties in the editor, as well as the tasks that you can perform in it, see Styles and Stylesheets, Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet, and Stylesheet Editor.

3. Click to save your work.

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