You define the structure of a Habitat project by creating the Table of Contents (TOC), which includes the units, chapters, and pages of the publication.

Habitat automatically creates a default TOC when you create a new project. The TOC contains a sample chapter and page.

This article describes how to create and edit TOC elements in the Configure Project > Edit Structure view. It also provides information on how Inkling handles file and path names and displays content for changed TOC structures.

After you create a TOC, you can manage TOC elements in the Edit Content view.

Understand the TOC Hierarchy

Units and Chapters

The topmost structural element of a project’s TOC is the unit. Next in the hierarchy is the chapter. Neither units nor chapters are files. Units and chapters are organizational structures, like folders in a computer’s directory. Units are optional, but you must have at least one chapter in every project, and each chapter must contain at least one page.

• Units can have only chapters immediately subordinate to them.
• Chapters can have only pages immediately subordinate to them.

Pages

All content created in Habitat is displayed on a page. Unlike pages in a print book, these pages can be as long or as short as you need them to be.

Pages in Habitat are similar to web pages, as they can accommodate all of the content that you want to put together into a single logical unit. Your content need not suffer the arbitrary breaks forced upon it by the printed page.

Also, like web pages, you can add links that go from one page to another.

Understand Build Limits and the TOC

When building your project’s structure and adding content, keep the project as lean as possible. Doing this helps ensure that the build process can successfully create the final document in the specified format. And if much of your audience accesses the final publication on a mobile device, viewing and downloading a smaller document yields a better experience.

A project’s TOC can have up to 3000 pages. Projects that contain more pages than this recommended limit may fail during the build process. Projects that contain many widgets, images, and audio and video files may also cause the build process to fail.

If you have an extremely large project or one with many widgets, media files, or both, consider splitting it into smaller Habitat projects. If you need help with content strategy and structure, contact your EchoInk representative.

Understand Inkling File Name and Path Conventions

The file name and the file path of each TOC element are stored in a repository in the backend of Habitat. Once created, these file and path names never change. For example, if you move chapter3/ch3_file_name.html to Chapter 5, the path and name of the moved file remain the same: chapter3/ch3_file_name.html. The content, of course, appears in your document where you moved it in the TOC. And you can also change the label, numbering, and title in the HTML of the file so that the logic of your finished Inkdoc looks right.

Create the TOC

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.

3. Add a page, chapter, or unit by dragging it from the Add Structure sidebar on the right and dropping it into the table of contents in the center. Pages can be added to chapters, and chapters can be added to units.

   

4. Click the page, chapter, or unit in the center panel. The Inspector sidebar opens on the far right and displays fields relevant to the current page, chapter, or unit.
5. Click each field and enter the information. See The Inspector sidebar, below.
6. If you want to reveal the Add Structure sidebar again to add more items to the table of contents, click the X icon in the top right of the Inspector sidebar.
7. Click Save.

Edit Page, Chapter, and Unit Fields

The following table describes the editable and uneditable fields for pages, chapters, and units.

Add a Page to a Chapter

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.

3. In the center panel, click the right-pointing arrow next to the chapter thumbnail.

   This expands the chapter to display its pages.

4. Alternatively, you can toggle between expanded and collapsed views of the Table of Contents using the buttons at the top of the center panel.

5. From the Add Structure sidebar on the right, drag a new page to the center panel and drop it where you want it to appear in the chapter.

   The blue line that appears as you move the page shows where it will drop when you release it.

6. In the Inspector sidebar, enter designation, enumeration, and title, as needed.
7. Click Save.

Rename TOC Elements

You can rename chapters, units, and pages using the Inspector sidebar on the Configure Project > Edit Structure > Edit Structure page.

You can also rename pages by accessing the appropriate Edit Content page from the Edit Structure page, as follows:

1. On the Edit Structure page, hover over the page and click the blue arrow that appears on the right side to directly access the page in Edit Content.
2. Right-click the page name in the TOC, then click Rename.

Move Items in the TOC

You can move any element of the TOC so long as the element’s new location doesn’t violate the rules of the TOC hierarchy.

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.
3. In the center panel, drag an item to its new location.
4. You can select multiple pages by pressing Ctrl while clicking on each item. You can select a continuous sequence of pages by clicking on the first page in the sequence, then pressing Shift while clicking on the last page in the sequence. The group of pages can then be moved together to a new location.
5. You cannot select and move multiple chapters and units at a time.
6. Click Save to confirm your changes.

Nest Pages in the TOC

A page can be nested under another by dragging it into an indented position beneath its parent.

If you move a parent item, such as a chapter or page with nested pages, its child items will move with it.

Group Pages Into a New Chapter

You can select multiple pages and group them into a new chapter. This is useful when you want to quickly create a chapter structure for a flat list of pages.

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.
3. Select the pages you wish to group by pressing Ctrl or Shift while clicking on the pages in the center panel.

4. Click Group into New Chapter in the right sidebar.

   Habitat moves the pages to a new chapter beneath the lowest selected item.

5. Click Save.
6. Move the pages that you want to hide into the sandbox chapter.

Hide Draft Content in a Sandbox Chapter

Sandbox chapters are not included in final release builds. Use sandbox chapters to exclude draft and unfinished pages from the final publication. You can create as many sandbox chapters as you need.

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.
3. In the center panel, select an existing chapter or create a new chapter.

4. Select the Hide this chapter from release build checkbox in the Inspector sidebar. The blue arrow shows this checkbox in the figure below.

   The SANDBOX icon displays next to the chapter name in the center panel.

   

5. Click Save.

Delete Items From the TOC

When you delete a TOC element, the element displays with a strike-through mark. When you delete a chapter, the chapter and all of its children display with a strike-through.

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.
3. In the center panel, select the item that you want to delete. You can select multiple pages to delete at a time. You cannot select multiple chapters or units for deletion.
4. Click Delete Page, Delete Chapter, or Delete Unit in the Inspector sidebar. If you have selected multiple pages, you can mark all of them for deletion by clicking Delete Pages in the Inspector sidebar.

5. To confirm the deletion, click Save.

   Once you confirm a deletion, you cannot use Habitat to recover the deleted element. Select Support from the services dropdown menu in the top-right corner if you need to recover a deleted page or chapter.

6. If you wish to cancel a deletion before you have saved, select the item marked for deletion and click
   Restore Page, Restore Chapter, or Restore Unit in the Inspector sidebar. If multiple pages are marked for deletion, you can select them all and click Restore Pages.

Add Chapter Thumbnails

Chapter thumbnails are the images displayed next to chapter names in EchoInk reader apps.

1. Launch a project from the dashboard.
2. Click Configure Project > Edit Structure.
3. In the center panel, click a chapter. The Inspector opens on the right.

4. Click on the chapter thumbnail in the Inspector to open the Add Image dialog.

   If you create or upload images for chapter thumbnails, the image’s dimensions must not exceed 380 pixels wide x 419 pixels high.

5. Do one of the following:
   • Click Choose from Library, pick from the list of available images, and click Select.
   • Click Upload Image to add an image from your computer’s local drive.