Today in this post I am going to share 10 handpicked, most popular wordpress table of contents plugin. Table of contents is an efficient way to present pieces of information in a blog post in table list form. It enables the visitors to go to the desired section of content without scrolling. Additionally, they help to increase organic traffic as Google does index list links and show them on search result pages.
So, now you know the benefits of having a table of contents. But the question is how to create a table of contents in wordpress and add them to every post.
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Top 10 WordPress Table of Contents Plugins
WordPress has a plethora of plugins in virtually every category, and there are quite a few which you will find for creating tables. However, there is only a handful of those which are actually worth utilizing and most of them are listed here.
You can install them, test them and if everything feels right, you can continue using them. 8 out of 10 are free to use and offers excellent compatibility with all sort of free and premium themes. 2 of them are premium, and I had to list them because of the unique features they will offer you.
Easy Table of Contents Plugin
Developed by Steven A. Zahm this 100% free extension will enable you to add a table of contents on your pages, posts, and all the custom post types. As of writing this post it has received a 4.4-star rating based on 15 reviews.
It comes with some natural options that are pretty simple to get used to and implement. This will be helpful for all those people who are still amateur in using WordPress. Additionally, it comes with some great features. For example, you get complete control over design and formatting. Furthermore, you can control table header, and it also supports multiple counter bullet formats.
There are thousands of users which are extensively making use of the plugin and have given positive reviews to it. The reason behind its popularity is the advanced functionality which allows the users to customize it in the desired manner.
Table of Contents Plus
All those people who are looking to build a content table for long pages, it’s a plugin you all need. It’s the best feature is that it enables you to automatically a create index of the tables on your pages. This feature assists your readers to navigate through long pages without scrolling up and down tediously. The content chart that will be produced by the plugin is same as that which is created by Wikipedia. By default, the table will get displayed before the first heading and will be aligned to the left side. It’ also supports custom post types along with full control over default anchor prefix.
One noticeable feature of this extension is it’s user-friendly yet powerful administration panel. With the help of admin panel, you can perform a variety of different functions. For example, you can change the display position to either left, right or center.
Furthermore, you can enable the smooth scrolling along with custom styling. Under custom styling, you can modify the background, links, on-hover and title color.
One of its unique features is its ability to generate a sitemap of tables present on your site. Since it supports shortcode, you can even add table content to your widget area using. All you need to do is to use the [ toc ] shortcode.
Simple TOC
It’s one of the simplest TOC extension I have ever used. It has a 3.5-star rating and has been developed by Bainternet.
Currently, there are two different ways to generate and show content table for any post. The first way is by adding <—TOC—> in your post. You can place the provided tag anywhere in your content, but I will strongly suggest to put it above first heading.
The second and more user-friendly approach is using the built-in editor. If this extension is active, then you should see a new button in your visual post editor. You first need to click that button and then it will generate a shortcode. The shortcode will be added to your article automatically where you previously had your cursor. Now save your content and preview it.
You can place the shortcodes generated via this extension in your posts or pages. All those website owners who have a fixed budget, the Simple TOC plugin is well suited for them. There has been no predefined limit which is specified for creating the number of tables. Additionally, you get 100% control over the design. To keep things simple this extension doesn’t come with integrated design options. You will have to manually create and save CSS styles in your theme’s stylesheet.
Multipage
It is one another open-source GLP v2 licensed table of contents plugin for WordPress. It’s 4-star rated and is maintained by developer Sergio De Falco. It enables you to segregate all the different posts into the multiple subpages and automatically generate the title for each of them. The table of content will appear automatically that will enable redirecting the visitors to the desired post subpage. So you can say that it’s quite a more advanced TOC extension. Multipage will not only help enhance the whole user experience and will also make your site more SEO friendly.
A few of the standout features of the plugin are the support for minimal CSS that is the reason behind the natural user customization. The plugin will enable you to generate the different page views and also modify the multiple page CSS. The plugin is really efficient if you want to curate all the posts into the single table of content which makes it easy for the user to have access.
CM Table of Contents
One of the best features of the plugin is that it comes with an ability to create TOC which are completely customizable and multi-level. There are decent options which are available for customizing the table of contents with the different titles, positions, sidebars, sections, headers that have been defined by the post content or your page.
For defining the table of content, you can make use of the div or spans or any of the CSS classes. It means that you will not be limited to only the h1 or the h2 tags.
HM Content TOC
If you want to generate content tables for specific HTML elements then this is the plugin you need. Its a 3.5-star rated extension developed by developers named dashaluna and tcrsavage. It has close to 60 active installs and hasn’t been updated for 2 years. So basically it’s development is inactive and so I will suggest you to not use it on any active site. If you are a developer and want to contribute to this project then you can do so by grabbing the source codes via SVN repo.
It comes with a very simple control panel from where you can control the table heading output. If you want to customize the style then you will have manually create the CSS and will have to add it to your site.
Content Table
Table of Content is a free WordPress plugin that is readily available in its repository. The plugin will offer you with straightforward functionality and features. This will make the usage of the plugin a straightforward one. The plugin depends on the shortcodes. By inserting the shortcodes into the posts will display the table of contents to the corresponding position.
One of the great features of the plugin is that supports translation. So, if you are among those who are into localization, then this plugin is perfect. There are not many efforts which are required from your end to localize the site as this can be done automatically without facing any kind of hassles.
Thrive Builder Plugin
If you are looking for the easiest and customizable TOC plugin, then there is no better option than Thrive Builder Plugin. There is no need to invest all your hard work in creating a good looking table of content. The TOC which gets generated by the plugin is an eye-catching one. Categorizing all the content will make it quite easy for the readers to go through it.
Thrive Builder provides you with a feature that will allow you to select the heading and then choose the desired TOC that will be associated with the line. A TOC will be generated when a specific title pops up.
Fixed TOC
Its the only floating table of contents wordpress plugin. It’s most important feature is that it supports custom post types and can be customized via WordPress in-built customizer. Furthermore, it comes with support for ‘next page’ tag and shortcode. These features are not available in any free addon available on official WordPress plugin repository.
It comes with almost 50 significant animation effects and furthermore gives you complete control over colors and effects. The plugin has a Metabox for every post and post. You even get some customization options for every individual post and page.
It even supports smooth scrolling and gives you an option to stick the generated TOC in the sidebar. One of it’s another noticeable feature is that it can dynamically highlight the current heading which you or your reader is reading.
JCWP Simple TOC
Developed by Jaspreet Chahal, it’s one another free plugin that is available in the WordPress repository. It comes with functionality that will allow displaying the ‘Table of Contents’ container on a particular post or page. Additionally, it supports ten custom scroll animations effects and gives you control to customize the scroll speed. It comes with eight pre-defined positions where you can display the content table index.
Although it comes packed with lots of great features, it seems that this extension is no longer updated. So, I won’t suggest you use it on any active website. If you are a developer and if you are interested in maintaining it then here’s the SVN repository from where you can browse its codes.
Conclusion
All the table of content plugins which are highlighted in this post, are among the best you can find in the WordPress repository. The best way to decide which plugin to use it manually try them on your local site. I will suggest first to try the free add-ons, and if you feel that they are unable to fulfill your requirements, then you can purchase and use the premium add-ons.
Do let me know the table of contents plugin you tried and proved to be beneficial for you. Looking for your positive feedback in the comments section below.
Thanks for Sharing excellent Infomation about WordPress Plugins. Really, I love your article and your tips. I have started blogging and I am enjoying. I implement in my blogs. It’s really helpful. Thank You again. :-
Oh yeah, thank you!
great revirew!
Good list. But some of the plugins that you’ve mentioned are outdated.
I’d like a plugin (Ultimate Blocks) that we have developed recently. It’s a Gutenberg blocks plugin that has an advanced “Table of Contents” block.
The ‘Table of Contents’ block has some amazing features like –
– Adding ToC anywhere in the post or page.
– Showing ToC in two or three columns.
– Showing or hiding ToC initially.
– Changing the name of the ToC.
– And more.
If you are using Gutenberg, give this plugin a try. You will like it.