Creating and Modifying an Index

To help readers find specific concepts and terms that might not be readily located by looking at a table of contents, you can include an index at the end of a document. Word creates an index by compiling an alphabetical listing with page numbers based on index entry fields that you have marked in the document. As with a table of contents, an index is inserted at the insertion point as a single field.

Tip

You don't need to create indexes for documents that will be distributed electronically because readers can use the Find feature or Windows Desktop Search to go directly to search terms.

In the index, an index entry might apply to a word or phrase that appears on a single page or is discussed for several pages. The entry might have related subentries. For example, the main index entry shipping might have below it the subentries supplies, procedures, and packing. An index might also include cross-reference entries that direct readers to related entries. For example, the main index entry shipping might have below it a cross-reference to warehouse.

To insert an index entry field in the document, you select the text you want to mark, and click Mark Entry in the Index group on the References tab to open the Mark Index Entry dialog box, where you can do the following:

• Use the selected text as is, modify the entry, and add a subentry.

• Format the entryfor example, to make it appear bold or italic in the indexby right-clicking it, clicking Font, and selecting the options you want.

• Designate the entry as a cross-reference, a single-page entry, or a page-range entry.

  Tip

  Cross-references appear in the index in the format

  intercom. See phones

  In this manner, you can direct readers to index terms they might not think of when looking for specific information.

  
  

• Specify the formatting of this entry's page number.

After you have set the options in the dialog box the way you want them, you can insert an index entry field adjacent to the selected text by clicking Mark, or adjacent to every occurrence of the selected text in the document by clicking Mark All. The Mark Index Entry dialog box remains open to simplify the process of inserting multiple index entry fieldsyou don't have to click the Mark Entry button for each new entry. You can move the dialog box off to the side so that it doesn't block the text you're working with.

Tip

When building an index, you should choose the text you mark carefully, bearing in mind what terms readers are likely to look up. One reader might expect to find information about cell phones by looking under cell, whereas another might look under mobile, another under phones, and another under telephones. A good index will include all four entries.

Index entry fields are formatted as hidden; you cannot see them unless you click the Show/Hide ¶ button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab. When the field is visible, it appears in the document enclosed in quotation marks within a set of braces, with the designator XE and a dotted underline.

Tip

You can hide any text in a document by selecting it, clicking the Font Dialog Box Launcher on the Home tab, selecting the Hidden check box, and clicking OK. When you print the document, Word will not include the hidden text unless you click Options in the Print dialog box and then under Printing Options, select the Print Hidden Text check box.

You can change the text of an index entry by editing the text within the quotation marks in the index entry field as you would any other. (You could also edit the text in the inserted index, but that change would not be permanent; regenerating the index or pulling index entry fields for another purpose would restore the original entry.) To delete an index entry, you select the entire hidden field and then press the Delete key. You can also move and copy index entries using the techniques you would use for regular text.

Tip

Dragging through any part of an index entry field that includes one of the enclosing braces selects the entire field.

To create an index based on its index entries, you position the insertion point where you want the index to appear and then click the Insert Index button in the Index group on the Reference tab to open the Index dialog box, where you can specify the following:

• Whether the index formatting should use styles from the current template or be based on one of six predefined formats that you can preview in the Print Preview box.

• Whether page numbers should be right-aligned, and if so whether they should have dotted, dashed, or solid tab leaders.

• Whether the index should be indented, with each subentry on a separate line below the main entries, or run-in, with subentries on the same line as the main entries.

When you click OK in the Index dialog box, Word calculates the page numbers of all the entries and subentries, consolidates them, and inserts the index as a single field in the specified format at the specified location in the document. If you make changes to the document that affect its index entries or page numbering, you can update the index by clicking it and then clicking the Update Index button in the Index group on the References tab.

Tip

You can also update the index by right-clicking it and then clicking Update Field.

In this exercise, you will first mark a few index entries and a cross-reference entry. Then you'll create and format an index, delete an index entry from the document, and update the index.

USE the 03_Index document. This practice file is located in the Chapter08 subfolder under SBS_Word2007.

BE SURE TO display non-printing characters before starting this exercise.

OPEN the 03_Index document.

1.	In the table of contents, point to the Warehouse heading, hold down the key, and then click the heading to move to the bottom of Page 3.
2.	In the paragraph below the heading, select the word Receiving. Then on the References tab, in the Index group, click the Mark Entry button. The Mark Index Entry dialog box opens.
3.	In the Main entry box, change Receiving to receiving (with a lowercase r). Tip Index entries will appear in the index exactly as they appear in the Mark Index Entry dialog box. For consistency, make all entries lowercase except those for proper nouns.
4.	Click Mark All. Word inserts hidden index entry fields adjacent to every occurrence of the word Receiving in the document. Tip If this document contained instances of the word receiving, those would not be marked because their capitalization does not match the selected word.
5.	In the same paragraph, select the word Shipping, and click the title bar of the Mark Index Entry dialog box to activate it and enter the selected text. Then change the first letter in the Main entry box from uppercase to lowercase, and click Mark All.
6.	Repeat Step 5 for the words Packaging and Inventory in the same paragraph. Troubleshooting You might have to move the dialog box to see and select the words you want to mark.
7.	On the next page, in the paragraph under the Phone System heading, select the word phone, and then in the Mark Index Entry dialog box, change the entry to phones, and click Mark All.
8.	In the same paragraph, select the word intercom, and then in the Mark Index Entry dialog box, under Options, select the Cross-reference option. The insertion point moves to the space after the word See in the adjacent box.
9.	Without moving the insertion point, type phones, and then click Mark. A cross-reference to the phones index entry appears adjacent to the word intercom.
10.	Move to Page 5, and select the word Supplies in Ordering Supplies. Then in the Mark Index Entry dialog box, change word in the Main entry box to supplies, type ordering in the Subentry box, and click Mark.
11.	Move to the bottom of Page 6, and select the word Packages in the second Receiving Packages heading. Then in the Mark Index Entry dialog box, replace the word Packages in the Main entry box with supplies, type receiving in the Subentry box, and click Mark.
12.	Close the Mark Index Entry dialog box.
13.	Press to move to the end of the document, and then press to insert a page break. The insertion point moves to the top of the new page.
14.	Type Index, press , apply the Heading 1 style to the new heading, press , and then press again.
15.	On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Show/Hide ¶ button to hide non-printing characters. Show/Hide ¶ Troubleshooting When hidden text is visible, the document might not be paginated correctly. Always turn off the display of non-printing characters before creating an index.
16.	On the References tab, in the Index group, click the Insert Index button. The Index dialog box opens.
17.	In the Columns box, change the setting to 1.
18.	Click the Formats arrow, and in the list, click Formal.
19.	Clear the Right align page numbers check box. Then click OK. Word compiles a short index based on the few index entries you just marked. The index is formatted in one column with the page numbers adjacent to their index entries.
20.	Display non-printing characters so that you can see the index entry fields in the document, and move to the Phone System heading on Page 4.
21.	Select the entire cross-reference entry following intercom, and press the key. Troubleshooting If you find it hard to select just this entry, try pointing to the right of the closing brace (}) and dragging slightly to the left. The cross-reference entry is deleted from the document.
22.	Press to move to the end of the document, and click anywhere in the index to select it.
23.	Hide the non-printing characters. Then on the References tab, in the Index group, click the Update Index button. The index is updated to reflect that you have deleted the cross-reference.

CLOSE the 03_Index document without saving your changes.