2.3 Index Hyperlinking

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 3

  • Subject(s):

    InDesign to EPUB

  • Resource Type(s):

    Step-by-Step

  • Audience:

    Technical

Suggested Prerequisite

Before reading this, you might want to read:

Index Hyperlinking

Hyperlinking internal references in InDesign has always been a bit of work, particularly if you have the fitness of an ebook in mind. The Insert Cross References feature is one way to do it, but it is laborious and the links are only one-way in the ebook. This is also just not an option for something like a books index.

LiveIndex is a paid script that helps with the process. And it works really nicely. Activated from the scripts panel, it has a series of options, and even allows you to ask it to hyperlink everything with a specific character style — which is helpful for roman numerals. 

Another complex screenshot. A section of the text is selected and show as black. The Live Index palette is opened, activated from the Scripts menu.

The numbers that are hyperlinked appear with a visible square around them in the InDesign file. In this instance only the numerals under the “N” header are hyperlinked. 

The section of the text that was highlighted in the previous image, a chunk of an index, now shows black rectangles around the numbers that are now hyperlinked.

It works by placing anchors at the start of the page where the index item is mentioned. So it’s not perfectly precise in that the user won’t get linked to the instance where the word or phrase is used. But it is vastly better than an index that is not linked at all.

Next Steps

1

Module 2, Step 4

2.4 Creating a Long Description

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 4

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
2

Module 2, Step 5

2.5 Object Styles

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 5

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
3

Module 2, Step 6

2.6 Edit All Export Tags

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 6

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
4

Module 2, Step 7

2.7 Table Styles

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 2, Step 7

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
5

Module 3, Step 1

3.1 Exporting an Ebook

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 3, Step 1

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical
6

Module 3, Step 2

3.2 InDesign EPUB Export Options

Making Ebooks with InDesign: Module 3, Step 2

Subject(s): InDesign to EPUB
Resource Type(s): Step-by-Step
Audience:
Technical

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