TOC wider than text

[Trashbagl]

Word 2002 SP3: I have custom page size 15.24 x 22.86 cm for all
sections. Deducting margins the width of text is about 9 cm, yet TOC
width is about 16 cm. Anyone know what's going on?

 

[Stefan Blom]

First, try to update the TOC. With the cursor inside it, press F9, or
right-click and choose to "Update Field". Select the "Update entire
table" option and click OK.

If updating doesn't help, you probably have to modify the position of
the right aligned tab stop (which determines the position of the page
number) for each of the TOC styles. This is necessary since explicitly
defined tab stops are always set from the *left* margin in Word.
However, if there are no explicit tab stops in the TOC styles, Word
sets the tab stops dynamically when you create or update the table of
contents.

 

[Trashbagl]

Updating the field doesn't work.

Seems like the tab option is the right track for if I select the TOC
and then go to Format / Tabs I can set a right tab at 9 cm and bring
the TOC into line. However, when I update the TOC it goes back to its
original width and I have to reset the right tab.

You mention ,,TOC styles" but I don't see any when I display all
styles. The TOC uses Hyperlink as the style and when I try to modify it
I don't see an option to set tabs.

What do I have to do to make this change permanent?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you have accepted the default option to make the entire TOC hyperlinked,
then it is very difficult to modify TOC styles. If you remove the \h switch
from the TOC field, your page numbers will still be hyperlinked, but the
entries will not be, and you will be able to access the TOC styles more
easily.

 

[Trashbagl]

Thanks, Susan. Removed the \h switch and modified the TOC style and
that fixes it. The only oddity was that TOC1 only shows up in the
Formatting of Selected Text box and is nowhere to be found in the list
of All Styles.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

By default, the list of All Styles doesn't really list *all* styles (see
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/sfpane/StylesAndFormattingPane.html), just
sort of "all the styles we think you need to know about or be playing
with"--Word's usual "Mother knows best" approach. Although there are ways to
get the task pane to show what you want, I find it much more satisfactory
just to put a button on the toolbar for the old-fashioned Style dialog so
that I can access all styles easily. You can also force the Style dropdown
on the Formatting menu to list all styles (*really* all) by pressing Shift
while you click the down arrow beside it.