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vivis10433457
Known Participant
February 7, 2018
Question

Indexing the index of a book

  • February 7, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 682 views

Hi,

I have a book that contains an index of case laws.

I need to index every apperance of a case law, which is found in the text (as a string), to a link of an external website.

I've been told that it is possible to do so comprehensively in Indesign.

Can you please guide me where do I find more information about it?

Thanks,

Meital

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

T
teachbit
Participating Frequently
February 7, 2018

Hi,

I found this link:

If you’ve got an Index prepared by a professional indexer, and you want to convert the page numbers in the index to interactive hyperlinks (for exporting to PDF or even ePUB) there’s out LiveIndex script:

http://www.id-extras.com/products/liveindex

There are more links to script on the site https://indesignsecrets.com/alternatives-indesign-indexing.php

I guess, you have to include a hyperlink into the index, see more about hyperlinks here:

https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-interactive-pdfs-in-indesign-using-hyperlinks--vector-3288

hope this helps.

TᴀW
TᴀW
Legend
February 7, 2018

@teachbit: Thanks for mentioning our LiveIndex product, but in this case it won't do what Meital is asking. LiveIndex takes a pre-existing index that already has page numbers, and turns all those page numbers into live, internal links, so that when the user clicks on them they are taken to the appropriate page in the exported PDF or, for ePubs, they are taken to the text that was at the top of the page in the InDesign document (obviously ePubs don't have pages, so that's as close as it gets).

What Meital is asking for is a request I've heard a few times from publishers of legal texts. They want the case reference in the text to become clickable and take the reader to a separate online database of case law, or any other repository of law online.

There is no built-in feature in InDesign that can do this -- and there couldn't be when you consider how many possible variations of citations there are, and how many countries and languages in the world, each with their own legal system and online databases!

However, a custom solution (a script or add-on for InDesign) is definitely possible. Even then, the publisher would need to work hand-in-hand with the developer to make sure they've got all possible citation formats covered...

Ariel

Visit www.id-extras.com for powerful InDesign scripts that save hours of work — automation, batch tools, and workflow boosters for serious designers.
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