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How to add a table of contents in Confluence Cloud
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How to add a table of contents in Confluence Cloud
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How to add a Confluence table of contents
- Customising your table of contents
- Improving your table of contents design
Why add a Confluence table of contents?
Adding a Confluence table of contents has numerous benefits for your pages. Make navigation easier for you and other users with these simple steps.
Long pages can be difficult to digest. If you want to improve the user experience and structure your Confluence pages effectively, a table of contents (TOC) is essential. It acts as a roadmap, allowing users to scan your content and jump straight to the information they need.
Curious about other ways to optimise page navigation? Enhance your Confluence pages further with tabs, numbered headings, and more - all included with Mosaic for Confluence.
Curious about other ways to optimise page navigation? Enhance your Confluence pages further with tabs, numbered headings, and more - all included with Mosaic for Confluence.
How to add a Confluence table of contents
Go to edit mode and type in the shortcut /table of contents. Select the "Table of contents" macro in the dropdown.
- Use the Basic tab in the sidebar to choose the layout (list or flat) and which heading levels (e.g. H1-H3) to include.
- Use the Advanced tab to configure more advanced options, such as excluding specific headings or applying custom CSS.
- Press Publish or Update to see it in action.
Note: The macro relies on your page structure. Ensure you have standard Confluence headings throughout your text, or the table will be empty. Need help? Check out our guide to formatting text in Confluence.
You now have a table of contents for your page! Keep reading to learn how to configure your TOC for your needs.
How to customise your Confluence table of contents
Once you’ve added the macro, you can fine-tune it to suit your page. To get started, click the Table of Contents macro followed by the pencil Edit icon.
Basic customisation
Display as: Choose “List” for a vertical menu, or “Flat” for a horizontal one (great for saving space).
- Bullet style: Select from numbers, bullets or square brackets to separate your items.
- Heading levels: Limit the depth of your table. For example, only showing H1 and H2 to keep the list concise.
- Section numbering: Toggle this to auto-number your headings in addition to bullet points (see below for an example).
Advanced customisation
- Indentation: Adjust the CSS value to change how indented the sub-headings appear.
- Filtering: Use this to include or exclude headings containing certain words, phrases, or numbers. Make sure to separate different expressions that you want to filter by typing a comma between each.
- Custom styling: If you want to use custom styling for your table of contents, you can assign a CSS class name that is referenced in your CSS style sheet.
- Printing: Choose whether the TOC should appear when the page is exported to PDF.
Now you have everything you need to keep users coming back - and improve the user experience for yourself, too.
How to improve the design of your table of contents
While the built-in Table of Contents macro is functionally great, it can look a little plain. If you want something that matches your brand or stands out more visually, you have options. The examples below use macros included in Mosaic for Confluence.
Frame it with a background
You can place your Table of Contents macro inside a Background macro from Mosaic. This allows you to add a coloured container or background image behind your table of contents, making it a distinct design element on the page.
Build a custom menu with Buttons
For complete creative control, you can build a manual table of contents using Buttons and anchor links. This method takes a little more setup, but it lets you create a stylish navigation bar or a grid of quick links that perfectly match your branding.
To do this, simply hover over a header and click the link icon to copy its link, then create a Button that links to that header.
Why should you use a table of contents on your Confluence page?
- Improve navigation: Users can skip scrolling and jump straight to the answer they need.
- Ensure accessibility: A TOC can improve accessibility for users who rely on screen readers or have other accessibility needs, allowing them to navigate the content more efficiently.
- Enhance documentation and knowledge management: In Confluence, a table of contents serves as a roadmap for documenting and organising information, making it easier to maintain and update content over time.
- Improve searchability: Including a table of contents with relevant keywords and links can improve the page's visibility and structure, helping users find content more easily.
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