In this post you will find the best table of content plugins, what is a table of contents, and why are they so important for a better user experience.
In WordPress, it’s very easy to add a table of contents to your blog and there are several good plugins for that with a few different features.
You can choose the one that is the best option for your blog and make your posts easier to navigate.
Table of Contents
What Is Table Of Contents?
A table of content is a section on a blog post that displays all the headings of that post. When you click on any heading, it will scroll down and take you to that exact section of the post.
In WordPress, you can find a good table of content plugins. Some plugins do only that and others also include other blocks. In this post, I include the plugins that are dedicated table of contents plugins.
Good thing is that you can tweak it and change the design, show the specific headings, add the hide/show option, and much more.
Why Do You Need a Table Of Contents?
Every blog post, especially a long one, must have a table of content because it is great and I can say crucial for user experience. It makes navigation through the article much easier.
Imagine a blog post with 3000+ words that has 10 different sections and each of those sections has its own heading. But you want to read the 5th section. If there is no table of content, you have to scroll manually which is frustrating.
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Instead, if there were some kind of table of content, you would click the heading of that section and it would take you there immediately. It’s not frustrating and makes the reading process a better experience.
It’s not needed for small blog posts but is great for big articles, reviews, and top list posts.
Top Table Of Content Plugins
For this post, I picked my favorite table of content plugins that are easy to use, very lightweight, and all of them have great features. They work very similarly but there are some little differences.
Now, let’s dive in and see what they can do, why they are great, and which one is the best for you.
1. Easy Table Of Contents
Easy Table Of Contents is an amazing, easy-to-use, and my favorite WordPress table of contents plugin. Also, it’s one of the most popular ones and it’s installed on 200 000+ websites.
You can use it on pages, posts, and any part of your website. You can change the design, display it in the desired place on a post, exclude, specific headings, etc. Also, it’s lightweight and responsive.
This plugin has an auto-insert function. You set your settings, check the auto-insert option and it automatically displays it on every post. So, you don’t have to insert it on every post separately.
Easy Table Of Contents Features
- Auto-insert
- Custom design
- Typography options
- Responsive
- Heading depth option
- Lightweight
2. GutenTOC
Another great plugin is GutenTOC and it works as a Gutenberg block. So, you need to insert it on page/post manually and change settings from there. Works great and is very lightweight.
You can choose which headings to show in the table of contents, set different list types, change the margin, padding, and change design to your liking. Readers can hide or show it and also it has a smooth scroll feature.
And because it’s a Gutenberg block, you can change its settings, transform it into a reusable block and use it anywhere you want.
GutenTOC Features
- Gutenberg block
- Lightweight
- Responsive
- Customizable
3. LuckyWP
LuckyWP is a very popular plugin that is used by 70 000+ websites. It works much like Easy Table Of Contents, where you change settings separately and you can auto-insert it on pages or posts.
Tweak general settings like where to display it, which headings to show, change list types, change colors, typography, etc. It allows us to skip specific headings, and display them on top, bottom, before the first heading, and more.
Like other plugins, it’s responsive, has a smooth scroll option, hide/show option, and is very lightweight.
LuckyWP Features
- Easy to use
- Lightweight
- Customizable
- Responsive
- Auto-insert
- CSS class option
4. Table Of Contents Block
Table Of Contents Block is one of the most unique table of content plugins you can find on WordPress. Although it has almost identical features and options to other plugins, it has a very special option.
And it’s an option to make it sticky. This way, it will not be on the post but you can display it as a sticky section on the sidebar. And that is a very handy option for many bloggers.
Other than that you can change the design, choose which headings to show, make it collapsable, and more. It works as a Gutenberg block and you can make it a reusable block.
TOC Block Features
- Sticky option
- Customizable
- Responsive
- Lightweight
5. RTOC
RTOC (Rich Table of Contents) works differently from other WordPress table of content plugins on this list. It’s shortcode-based. So, you can tweak it, change it how you want and put the shortcode anywhere you like.
You change settings on its own dashboard which also has a live preview where you can see the changes. Once you are satisfied with the result, copy and paste the shortcode. Also, you can add or omit different values from the shortcode.
This might be the best option for some people who like the shortcode option. It’s great because you can display your table of contents on any part of your website.
RTOC Features
- Shortcode-based
- Customizable
- Lightweight
- Live preview
6. Joli
Joli is a very good plugin that has great features and options. It has a floating option but it’s available only in the premium version which has many other great features. But the free version has enough options for most bloggers.
Like LuckyWP, you change settings to a dedicated dashboard and with auto-insert function, display it on posts or pages. You can change design, fonts, display specific headings, and so on.
Also, Joli has great features for behavior and appearance. Some are free, but more powerful features are included in the pro version.
Joli Features
- Customizable
- Auto-insert
- Responsive
- Themes
7. SimpleTOC
SimpleTOC is one of the simplest table of content plugins you can find and can be the best option for many WordPress users. Some bloggers may need just the simple table of content and this is for them.
It’s a Gutenberg block and has very few options with a minimalistic panel. The only options it offers are heading remover, list types, smooth scrolling, and heading depth.
And because it’s so minimal plugin, it’s very lightweight. Just drop it on your posts and it will work. A very good plugin for simple blogs.
SimpleTOC Features
- Lightweight
- Simple
- Easy to use
- Minimalistic
Conclusion
Table of content plugins are great tools for bloggers and with them, you can make the reading process very easy for your visitors. Better user experience means a small bounce rate and more revenue. If you have long posts it’s almost mandatory to have some kind of table of content on every article.
Not only you can insert it on posts, but also on pages. If you have a page where you have important information that is divided by sub-headings, you can display a table of content for readers to easily navigate through different sections.