As a team that has published thousands of WordPress tutorials, we quickly realized that readers need a simple way to navigate through lengthy articles and pages. This is why we include a table of contents in most of our articles, as it allows readers to easily find the information they are looking for.
However, not all table of contents plugins are equally effective. Some are cumbersome and can slow down your website, while others are overly simplistic and lack customization features. After extensive testing of various options, we have identified the plugins that truly provide value.
In this guide, we will present the 7 top table of contents plugins for WordPress that we have personally tested and utilized. These selections will enhance your content organization without compromising your site’s performance.
Overview: The Top Table of Contents Plugins for WordPress
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick summary of the best table of contents plugins available for your website.
| # | Plugins | Best For | Pricing |
| 🥇 | All in One SEO (AIOSEO) | A user-friendly table of contents plugin suitable for beginners | Free and Paid options (plans starting at $49.60 per year) |
| 🥈 | Table of Contents Plus | Free plugin for creating a basic table of contents | Free |
| 🥉 | Heroic Table of Contents | Displays content lists derived from headings | Free of charge |
| 4 out of 5 | Easy Table of Contents | A highly customizable table of contents solution | Free of charge |
| 5. | Joli Table Of Contents | A fully responsive table of contents | Available in Free and Paid versions (starting at $39.99/year) |
| 6. | CM Table Of Contents | Enhances table of contents performance for improved site speed | Free of charge |
| 7. | SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block | User-friendly and lightweight plugin | Free of charge |
Why Should You Use a Table of Contents Plugin in WordPress?
Incorporating a table of contents (ToC) into your WordPress site significantly enhances navigation for visitors exploring lengthy blog posts and pages.
It helps organize and structure your content, making it easier for readers to scan the article and quickly access any section of interest.
Additionally, a ToC improves your WordPress SEO as search engines like Google can include jump-to-section links next to your site in search results. Google may also feature your table of contents in snippets.
You can manually create a table of contents in WordPress by using HTML and CSS or by utilizing the advanced settings in the block editor. However, this process can be time-consuming and challenging for beginners, as even a small error can prevent your table of contents from functioning properly.
A simpler alternative for creating a table of contents is to use a WordPress plugin. This way, you won’t need to edit any HTML code, and you’ll have access to a wider range of customization options.
How We Evaluated WordPress Table of Contents Plugins
To provide you with the best recommendations, we subjected each WordPress table of contents plugin to a thorough testing process. Here’s what we focused on:
- User-Friendliness:We understand that ease of use is important. We assessed how simple it is to install, configure, and personalize each plugin, aiming for a seamless user experience.
- Customization Features:A quality plugin should accommodate various design preferences. We examined how each plugin allows you to adjust heading levels, styles, and overall aesthetics to match your website perfectly.
- Compatibility and Performance:We ensured that each plugin is compatible with a range of WordPress themes and versions. Additionally, we evaluated their impact on website speed, as nobody wants a sluggish page.
- Integration with Other Plugins:A smooth workflow is essential. We assessed how well each plugin integrates with popular WordPress tools, including page builders and SEO plugins.
- Mobile Responsiveness:With a significant number of users accessing websites on mobile devices, having a responsive table of contents is vital. We evaluated how each plugin adjusts to various screen sizes to ensure an optimal mobile experience.
Why You Can Trust CanadaCreate?
The CanadaCreate team is made up of experts with over 16 years of experience in WordPress plugins, SEO, hosting, online marketing, and more.
We conducted a comprehensive review of each table of contents plugin for WordPress featured in this list to provide you with the best recommendations. Interested in our detailed review process? Explore our editorial guidelines.
Now, let’s explore some of the top table of contents plugins for WordPress.
1. All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is a comprehensive SEO solution for WordPress that includes a specialized table of contents block. It allows you to optimize your website for search engines without needing technical expertise, primarily through its table of contents features.
At CanadaCreate, we utilize AIOSEO to seamlessly integrate tables of contents into our articles and enhance the SEO of our blog posts. This tool is also employed across our other brand websites, and we’ve conducted thorough research for our comprehensive AIOSEO review.
AIOSEO simplifies the process of adding a table of contents to your WordPress site. It features a dedicated table of contents block in the WordPress content editor that can be inserted anywhere within your blog post.
The AIOSEO block automatically creates a table of contents by utilizing your heading levels from H1 to H6.
In contrast to other automatic table of contents plugins, AIOSEO allows you to hide specific headings or fully customize the titles displayed in the table of contents.
Additionally, you can rearrange the headings and switch the format from bullet points to numbered lists.
Moreover, AIOSEO assists in generating XML sitemaps for your website, making it easier for search engines to discover new content. It also adds schema markup to enhance the visibility of your content in rich snippets.
The plugin also enables you to perform an SEO audit to ensure everything is properly optimized. AIOSEO provides suggestions for resolving various issues that could hinder your site’s ranking in search results.
Advantages:
- An all-in-one SEO toolkit
- Provides a customizable table of contents block
- Comprehensive TruSEO on-page analysis
- Effective keyword rank tracking
- Link management assistant
- Integrated WooCommerce SEO features
- Optimized for local SEO
- Advanced AI-powered tools
- Includes a built-in schema library
- Seamlessly integrates with powerful tools like Semrush
Cons:
- Limited features available in the free version
Reasons for Recommending AIOSEO:We recommend All in One SEO (AIOSEO) for its extensive features and user-friendly design. This plugin goes beyond just providing a table of contents; it serves as a comprehensive SEO solution. Its significant impact on improving our website’s search engine ranking played a crucial role in our recommendation.
Pricing:AIOSEO premium plans start at $49.60 per year, and there is also a free version called AIOSEO Lite available for trial.
2. Table of Contents Plus
Table of Contents Plus is another excellent WordPress ToC plugin on our list. It is user-friendly and offers various customization options to tailor the appearance of your table of contents.
One of the advantages we discovered while testing this plugin is its ability to use pre-designed color schemes that align with your brand. Additionally, you can customize the appearance by adjusting the width, font size, and text wrapping.
Additionally, this plugin allows you to automatically insert a table of contents into your pages and posts. It also provides options to customize the heading text displayed in the table.
To add your table of contents, simply use the shortcode [toc] wherever you want the table to be displayed. After adding it, you can preview your post to ensure everything appears correctly before publishing.
It also features smooth scrolling for anchor links, improving the user experience by eliminating sudden jumps.
Advantages:
- User-friendly and straightforward
- Various customization options available
- Automatically insert tables into your content
- Customize table colors to align with your brand
Disadvantages:
- Limited customization options compared to other table of contents plugins
Reasons to Choose Table of Contents Plus:We recommend this plugin for users seeking a free and straightforward solution to create a table of contents for their website.
Cost:Table of Contents Plus is completely free to use.
3. Heroic Table of Contents
Heroic Table of Contents is a useful WordPress plugin that enhances navigation within your blog posts.
Our testing revealed that this plugin includes a WordPress block designed for easily adding a table of contents to your posts and pages. It offers four attractive pre-designed table styles: outlined, rounded, contrasted, and gray.
You can also choose to display a collapse or expand icon for your table of contents, utilize bullets, numbers, or plain text, hide and rename headings without changing the original content, and much more.
Heroic Table of Contents is optimized for SEO and is mobile responsive, ensuring that your site maintains fast load times and a great user experience.
We have extensive experience with other products from this company, allowing us to confidently recommend them. Our comprehensive review of HeroThemes includes a detailed look at their customer service offerings.
Advantages:
- User-friendly and easy to set up
- Automatically generates a table of contents
- Highly customizable appearance and features
- Optimized for SEO
- Works well with most WordPress themes
Disadvantages:
- Limited compatibility with other plugins
Reasons to Choose Heroic Table of Contents:We highly recommend the Heroic Table of Contents plugin for its free access, user-friendly interface, robust features, and extensive customization options. If you are already using other HeroThemes products, this plugin will integrate perfectly with your setup.
Pricing:The Heroic Table of Contents plugin is available for free.
4. Easy Table of Contents
Easy Table of Contents is a widely-used plugin that allows you to effortlessly add a table of contents to your blog posts, landing pages, sidebars, and custom post types.
What we appreciate most about this plugin is its user-friendly design, which automatically generates a content listing based on the headings in your article. It is fully compatible with the WordPress block editor, classic editor, Divi, Elementor page builders, and more.
With this plugin, you also benefit from an auto-insert feature that allows you to add the table of contents to various post types.
Additionally, you have several customization options, including adjusting the table’s width, modifying font sizes, selecting a theme, and determining the number of headings to include when generating the table of contents.
Pros:
- Simple to install and use
- Automatically generates a content list
- Compatible with various plugins and themes
- Responsive design for mobile devices
- Extensively customizable
Drawbacks:
- It may impact your site’s loading speed
Reasons to Choose Easy Table of Contents:If you’re in search of a free plugin that allows you to create a list-style table of contents, this is the perfect option for you.
Cost:Easy Table of Contents is available as a free WordPress plugin.
5. Joli Table Of Contents
Joli Table of Contents is an SEO-friendly plugin designed for WordPress. We appreciated its lightweight design, which ensures that it won’t negatively affect your website’s performance.
The table of contents only loads when needed, and it is fully responsive, eliminating any concerns about optimizing it for various devices.
This table of contents plugin provides numerous options to personalize the look of your table of contents.
It includes two themes for the table and four free icons for the expand and collapse buttons. Additionally, the plugin allows you to select a numbering prefix, modify font size, adjust table width, add shadows, and more.
Advantages:
- Lightweight plugin
- User-friendly interface
- Creates responsive tables
- Various customization options
Disadvantages:
- Advanced customization options are not available in the free version.
Reasons to Choose Joli Table of Contents:If you need a fully responsive table of contents plugin, Joli Table of Contents is the ideal choice. It provides numerous customization options compared to other free plugins on our list.
Pricing Information:Joli Table of Contents is available as a free WordPress plugin. There is also a Pro version that includes additional customization features. Yearly plans start at $39.99 for a single site, with lifetime plans also offered.
6. CM Table Of Contents
CM Table of Contents by CreativeMindsSolutions is an incredibly user-friendly plugin for creating a table of contents.
With this plugin, you can select the post types where the table of contents will be displayed, including blog posts, specific pages, sidebar widgets, and custom pages. You also have the option to make the table collapsible, allowing users to expand or hide content.
In our view, the standout feature is the plugin’s various performance settings, which help ensure that the table of contents loads quickly without any delays.
In addition, there are numerous styling options available for your table of contents. You can customize the size, color, weight, and style for each level within the table. The plugin also allows you to display the TOC in either one or two columns.
Advantages:
- User-friendly plugin for beginners
- Settings for performance optimization
- Shortcode support available
- Variety of table of contents styles
Disadvantages:
- Limited customization options in the free version
Reasons to Choose CM Table of Contents:The CM Table of Contents plugin is ideal for users seeking full control over how the table of contents affects their site’s performance.
Cost:This is a free WordPress plugin.
7. SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block
As its name implies, SimpleTOC is a straightforward WordPress table of contents plugin that lacks unnecessary features. It is easy to use and provides essential functionalities.
You can effortlessly add tables of contents to your blog posts using the SimpleTOC block in the WordPress content editor. The plugin requires no additional setup, and all settings can be managed directly from the block editor.
SimpleTOC allows you to choose the minimum and maximum heading levels to be included in the table of contents, as well as options to show or hide the table’s heading and more.
However, it lacks the customization options found in other plugins on our list, such as AIOSEO. To style the table of contents, you will need to rely on the native styling features available in the WordPress theme customizer or full site editor.
Advantages:
- Performance optimized
- User-friendly for beginners
- Smooth integration with the block editor
- Responsive support
- SEO-friendly plugin
Disadvantages:
- Limited options for customization
- Occasional bugs may occur
Reasons to Choose SimpleTOC:If you’re in search of a straightforward, lightweight table of contents plugin, SimpleTOC is an excellent choice. It provides essential features without affecting your site’s performance.
Pricing Information:SimpleTOC is completely free to use.
Which Table of Contents Plugin is the Best for WordPress?
For those seeking the top plugin to enhance their content for search engines and effortlessly add a table of contents, we recommend All in One SEO (AIOSEO).
The AIOSEO block allows you to easily insert a table of contents, customize its appearance, and hide specific headings directly within the WordPress content editor. Additionally, AIOSEO provides tools for creating sitemaps, enhancing your content’s SEO, and much more.
If you’re seeking a specialized table of contents plugin for WordPress, consider Heroic Table of Contents. This user-friendly option offers a variety of customization features.
Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Table of Contents Plugins
Below are some frequently asked questions regarding the top WordPress table of contents plugins.
How can I add a table of contents using a WordPress plugin?
Many WordPress table of contents plugins provide a block in the content editor that allows you to place a table of contents anywhere within your post or page. Some plugins also support the use of shortcodes for adding a ToC.
Is it possible to add a table of contents in WordPress?
You can incorporate a table of contents in WordPress either manually or through a plugin. The manual approach can be labor-intensive, as it requires you to create a bulleted list of headings and then link each heading with anchor text.
Conversely, using a plugin streamlines the process, allowing you to simply select a block or utilize a shortcode to display the table of contents.
Bonus: Top WordPress Resources for Enhancing Your Blog
Explore these additional articles to further enhance your WordPress blog:
- How to Identify and Correct Grammar and Spelling Errors in WordPress
- Creating an Effective Blog Post Outline for WordPress
- Efficiently Managing Post Series in WordPress
- How to Implement Old Post Notifications on Your WordPress Blog
- Determining the Optimal Time to Publish a Blog Post (+ Testing Methods)
We hope this article has helped you discover the top table of contents plugins for WordPress. Don’t miss our guide on starting a WordPress blog and exploring the best customer review plugins available.
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