SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block

Description

Add a Table of Contents block to your posts and pages. The TOC is a nested list of links to all heading found in the post or page. To use it, simply add a block and search for “SimpleTOC” or just “TOC”.

The maximum depth of the toc can be configured in in the blocks’ sidebar among many other options. There can hide the headline “Table of Contents” and add your own by using a normal heading block.

SimpleTOC is open-source and developed on GitHub Pages. If you find a bug or have an idea for a feature please feel free to contribute and create a pull request.

Spin up a new WordPress instance with the SimpleTOC plugin already installed.

Features

• Designed for Gutenberg.
• Zero configuration: Add the SimpleTOC block to your post and that’s it.
• Minimal and valid HTML output.
• Utilizes the browser’s built-in details tag for a collapsible interface.
• No JavaScript or CSS added. Unless you activate the accordion menu.
• Style SimpleTOC with Gutenberg’s native group styling options.
• Inherits the style of your theme.
• Smooth scrolling effect using CSS.
• Optional ARIA Label and navigation role attributes.
• Translated in multiple languages. Including German, Japanese, Chinese (Taiwan), Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Spanish and Latvia.
• Ideal for creating a Frequently Asked Questions section on your website.

Customization

• Administrators can utilize global settings to supersede the individual block settings.
• Add background and text color with Gutenberg groups.
• Native block support for wide and full width.
• Control the maximum depth of the headings.
• Choose between an ordered, bullet HTML list. Or indent the list.
• Select a heading level or turn it into a paragraph.
• Disable the h2 heading of the TOC block and add your own.

Compatibility

• GeneratePress and Rank Math support.
• Works with popular AMP plugins.

Credits

This plugin is forked from pdewouters and uses code from Easy-Table-of-Contents

Many thanks to Tom J Nowell and and Sally CJ who both helped me a lot with my questions over at wordpress.stackexchange.com

Thanks to Quintus Valerius Soranus for inventing the Table of Contents around 100 BC.

Screenshots

Blocks

This plugin provides 1 block.

• SimpleTOC Adds a Table of Contents.

Installation

SimpleTOC can be found and installed via the Plugin menu within WordPress administration (Plugins -> Add New). Alternatively, it can be downloaded from www.remarpro.com and installed manually…

In Gutenberg, add a block and search for “SimpleTOC” or just “TOC”. Please save your content before you use the block.

FAQ

Configuring Global Settings in SimpleTOC

SimpleTOC allows you to configure global settings for your WordPress website. These settings can be enforced globally, overriding any block-level configurations that may exist. To access these settings, navigate to the SimpleTOC section of the WordPress Settings.

How do I add a background color to SimpleTOC using Gutenberg groups?

Select the block and select “group” in the context menu. Apply “background color”, “link color” and “text color” to this group. SimpleTOC will inherit these styles. You would like to use this styled SimpleTOC group next time you write a post? Convert it to a reusable block.

How to exclude a single heading from the TOC?

If you really want to hide a single heading from the table of contents, then add the CSS class “simpletoc-hidden” to a heading block. You can find this field in the same place as the HTML anchor field: In the Block > Advanced sidebar. But first, think about the reason you would like to hide a specific heading. Maybe you would like to remove all headings of a specific depth level. Then there is an option for that in the blocks options in Gutenberg. If you think this heading should not be part of the toc perhaps it is not needed in the post itself?

I would like to save my SimpleTOC settings as default. Is that possible?

You can convert your configured SimpleTOC block into a reusable block in Gutenberg. It will keep its settings. This way, you can use your desired settings for each new post by adding the reusable block.

How to add a div tag wrapper to the TOC?

If you add a custom class to the SimpleTOC block in “Advanced” and then “Additional CSS Class(es)” a div with that class will be wrapped around the HTML output.

How to allow developers to exclude specific headings programmatically?

Use the ‘simpletoc_excluded_blocks’ filter. For example, this code will exclude heading blocks that are inside a column block.

Example:

add_filter( 'simpletoc_excluded_blocks', function ( array $blocks ) {
    $blocks[] = 'core/column';

    return $blocks;
} );

How do I change the color of the accordion menu?

The heavy plus character I used can not be colored with css without hacks. But you can change the icon to something else and change the color of the new icon.

.simpletoc-collapsible::after {
    content: "?";
    color: #e94c89;
}

How do I add SimpleTOC to all articles automatically?

I don’t see an easy solution at the moment. SimpleTOC is only a block that can be placed in your post. If there was a plugin that adds blocks to every post, then this would be the solution. I think this should be another separate plug-in to keep the code of SimpleTOC clean and … well, simple.

Reviews

Great plugin that works really well

Mark Wilkinson November 5, 2024

This is an excellent plugin that easily adds table of contents in your posts / pages and it provides links to the relevant headings. Does exactly what I want and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for an easy to use tale of contents block plugin. Thanks so much for sharing.

Genuinely Great Plugin

nishantmalik November 4, 2024

Profile bio appears to be a newly established website that focuses on creating bios for various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. The site aims to assist users in crafting concise and engaging personal or professional bios, which are essential for making a good first impression online?

Genuinely Great Plugin

Robert October 20, 2024 1 reply

I genuinely appreicate the the SimpleTOC plugin – I use it for my site and it fits in seamlessly. It is a great example of a perfect plugin. And I look forward to contributing to its code in a few months. I have a really bad case of a wonderful domain I got from someone who used it badly and who got that domain semi-blacklisted so I get no SEO traffic at all and SimpleTOC has been one of the highpoints for my users that I get from LinkedIn that in the end result means they stay on average on the page three and a half minutes (3:30+, I think recently it was 3:13 if I excluded suspicious traffic). Some posts get average of five minutes plus. People underestimate time on site and engagement in general but in particular how a small addition like a table of contents can add to the website and customer experience.

Reliable, it delivers!

emalassidis April 21, 2024

Have been using this block for quite a while now. It never failed to deliver.

Works in FSE templates

Jaroslav “Dero” Polakovic April 17, 2024 1 reply

Simple, easy to style, to the point and most importantly – works in FSE templates out of the box. No annoying nags in the WP Admin. Thanks!

Does not have GeneratePress Support — Adds Lag / Delay to Back to Top

Vondelphia.com March 27, 2024

If you add this block/plugin and try to use Back to Top feature in GeneratePress it will turn something that works into something that takes 15s to scroll to very top. At first I thought maybe I needed to create a function to change the speed but nope, it’s this plugin….

Contributors & Developers

Changelog

6.6.0

• Added: Testest compatibility with WordPress 6.7

6.5.6

• Fixed: All script versions have been updated to prevent caching issues.
• Fixed: Legacy Accordion was always expanded. Thanks Francesco Palmieri.
• Added: Updated dependencies for improved performance and stability.?
• Added: Testest compatibility with WordPress 6.6

6.4.3

• Added: A pointer cursor on hover for the hidden TOC

6.4.3

• Added: Utilizes the browser’s built-in details tag for a collapsible interface. Thanks @infinitnet
• Compatibility with WordPress 6.5
• Fixed: Minor localization problems.

6.3.2

• Fixed: Option for automatic refresh did not work in some instances.

6.3.0

• Added: Option for automatic refresh. This can be disabled in the blocks advanced settings.
• Added: Option to globally disable automatic refresh in the WordPress SimpleTOC settings.

6.2.0

• Added: Implemented smooth animation for improved user interaction in the accordion menu.
• Added: Upgraded styling of the accordion menu for a more visually appealing and modern user experience.

6.1.0

• Fixed: Broken markup when tags closed for headers below minimum. Thanks @harmoney !

6.0.10

• Added aria-hidden attribute to icon in accordion. Thanks Alex Stine!

6.0.9

• Added ARIA accessibility labels for the accordion. Thanks Amber Hinds!
• Fixed: Caching of accordion JavaScript. Thanks jghitchcock!
• Added correct ARIA controls attribute.