WP Section Index

WP Section Index is aimed at users who write long blog posts or pages and divide them up using headings.

The plugin retrieves the headings from the content of the Page or blog Post being viewed, adds anchors to them and creates a neat list (in a widget) that allows the user to easily navigate the content, finding either the content for which they were specifically looking, or finding the content which they would find most useful. This list is also aimed at providing the user with a list of headings, explaining what the Page or blog Post is about.

If you enjoy writing long blog posts, but fear that your users won’t read through the entire post due to it’s length, fear no more. WP Section Index will make reading those long blog posts that much easier for your users.

Installing WP Section Index is really easily. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Upload the wp-section-index folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Setup the Section Index via the ‘Settings’ menu in WordPress (there’s a “Section Index” menu)
4. Load the ‘Section Index’ widget into one of your theme’s widgetised areas (preferably one that is viewable on both Pages and blog Posts)

When the plugin is activated, the setup process is clearly outlined via a series of administrator notices displayed near the top of the WordPress administration area.

So, how does this plugin work anyway?

The Section Index plugin is used in conjunction with a widget, displaying the section index for the page currently viewed by the user. The plugin looks through your content and creates easy-to-navigate-to sections within the content. This is ideal for long Pages or blog Posts.

The section index isn’t displaying. What gives?

If the widget is not visible on the Page or Post, the section index will not display. By the same token, if the widget is enabled and there are no sections for the Page or Post in question (or the section index has been disabled for that Page or Post) the widget displaying the section index will not display.

What’s this about a “Back to top” element ID?

This is the ID of an element (a div tag, for example) in your theme to which you would like the user to jump when a “Back to top” link is clicked. It is recommended that this element be somewhere near the top of the screen, usually a header or top element. The ID can be found by viewing the source of the page and looking for a tag with the id="" attribute. The value inside the quotation marks is what is inputted in the "Back to top" element ID field.