Create an index

Microsoft Office Word 2003

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Create an index

  1. Do one of the following to mark index entries:

    ShowMark words or phrases

    1. To use existing text as an index entry, select the text. To enter your own text as an index entry, click where you want to insert the index entry.
    2. Press ALT+SHIFT+X.
    3. To create the main index entry, type or edit the text in the Main entry box. You can customize the entry by creating a subentry or by creating a cross-reference to another entry.

      Notes

      • To include a third-level entry, type the subentry text followed by a colon (:) and then type the text of the third-level entry.
      • If you want to use a symbol, such as @, in the entry, type ;# (semicolon followed by the number sign) immediately following the symbol.
    4. To select a format for the page numbers that will appear in the index, click to select the Bold or Italic check box below Page number format. If you want to format the text for the index, right-click it in the Main entry or Subentry box, and click Font. Select the formatting options that you want to use.
    5. To mark the index entry, click Mark. To mark all occurrences of this text in the document, click Mark All.
    6. To mark additional index entries, select the text, click in the Mark Index Entry dialog box, and then repeat steps 3 through 5.

    ShowMark entries for text that spans a range of pages

    1. Select the range of text you want the index entry to refer to.
    2. On the Insert menu, click Bookmark.
    3. In the Bookmark name box, type a name, and then click Add.
    4. In the document, click at the end of the text you marked with a bookmark.
    5. Press ALT+SHIFT+X.
    6. In the Main entry box, type the index entry for the marked text.
    7. To select a format for the page numbers that will appear in the index, click to select the Bold or Italic check box below Page number format. If you want to format the text for the index, right-click it in the Main entry or Subentry box, and click Font. Select the formatting options that you want to use.
    8. Under Options, click Page range.
    9. In the Bookmark box, type or select the bookmark name you typed in step 3.
    10. Click Mark.

    ShowAutomatically mark entries by using a concordance file

    1. Create a concordance file.

      ShowHow?

      1. Click Insert Table Button image on the Standard toolbar.
      2. Drag to select two columns.
      3. In the first column, enter the text you want Microsoft Word to search for and mark as an index entry. Make sure to enter the text exactly as it appears in the document. Then press TAB.
      4. In the second column, type the index entry for the text in the first column. Then press TAB. If you want to create a subentry, type the main entry followed by a colon (:) and the subentry.
      5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each index reference and entry.
      6. Save the concordance file.

      ShowTips

      • To make sure Word marks all the text you want to index, list all forms of the text you want to search for. For example, type erupt, erupting, and eruption in three separate cells in the left column, and then type volcanoes in the matching cells in the right column.
      • To speed up the creation of a concordance file, first open both the concordance file and the document you want to index. To see both documents at once, click Arrange All on the Window menu. Then copy text from the document you want to index into the first column of the concordance file.
    2. Open the document you want to index.
    3. On the Insert menu, point to Reference, click Index and Tables, and then click the Index tab.
    4. Click AutoMark.
    5. In the File name box, enter the name of the concordance file you want to use.
    6. Click Open.

    Word searches through the document for each exact occurrence of text in the first column of the concordance file, and then it uses the text in the second column as the index entry. Word marks only the first occurrence of an entry in each paragraph.

    Note  Microsoft Word inserts each marked index entry as an XE (Index Entry) field in hidden text format. If you don't see the XE fields, click Show/Hide Paragraph mark Button image on the Standard toolbar.

  2. Click where you want to insert the finished index.
  3. To make sure that the document is paginated correctly, you need to hide field codes and hidden text. If the XE (Index Entry) fields are visible, click Show/Hide Paragraph mark Button image on the Standard toolbar.
  4. On the Insert menu, point to Reference, click Index and Tables, and then click the Index tab.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • Click a design in the Formats box to use one of the available designs.
    • Design a custom index layout.

      ShowHow?

      1. In the Formats box, click From template, and then click Modify.
      2. In the Styles box, click the style you want to change, and then click Modify.
      3. To add the new style definition to your template, select the Add to template check box.
      4. Under Formatting, select the options you want, and then click OK.
      5. In the Style dialog box, click OK.
  6. If you’re building an index for text in another language, click the language in the Language box.
  7. Select any other index options you want.

To update the index, click to the left of the field and press F9.

Notes

  • Don't modify index entries in the finished index; if you do, your changes will be lost when you update the index.
  • If you create an index in a master document, expand the subdocuments before you insert or update the index.
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