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Farid Ely
Farid Ely
Participating Frequently
February 26, 2024
Answered

Is it possible to convert index numbers in InDesign to a form other than numbers?

  • February 26, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1679 views

Hello Adobe community,
I have an urgent question and I couldn't find an answer elsewhere.
The question is about the index in AndDesign, and exactly when it is included in the epub version.
Can we convert the numbers that appear in front of the topics to another form, and at the same time keep the links working?
My friend, whose book I am working on, insists on this point a lot, and I have never read anything about this topic.
Thanks in advance for reading and for the help.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Peter Kahrel

    In the GREP tab of the Find/Change window,

     

    Find what: [\s,]\s\K\d+

    Change to: <Your replacement string>

     

    Click somewhere in the index, and select Story from the Search dropdown. 

    2 replies

    Peter Kahrel
    Community Expert
    Peter KahrelCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    February 26, 2024

    In the GREP tab of the Find/Change window,

     

    Find what: [\s,]\s\K\d+

    Change to: <Your replacement string>

     

    Click somewhere in the index, and select Story from the Search dropdown. 

      N
      Nedlaw
      Legend
      March 3, 2024

      Hi! This is great -- with a small however that shows I am missing something.

      Summary of problem: The eventual EPUB does not appear to link from the Index to the instance, and I'm not sure how to figure this out/debug. I am aware that EPUB is a set of zipped HTML docs.

      Details:

      1. I created an InDesign book with two documents; call them targets.indd and index.indd.
      2. In targets.indd, there are three pages, each containing a single item; this, that, and the other thing.
      3. I created a normal index, which showed the three items and their respective page numbers.
      4. I tested this by creating a PDF, and the ID links from the index to the target were in place and worked.
      5. I ran the GREP, and replaced each of the page numbers with the word "Go."
      6. I tested this revision by creating a PDF, and the ID links from the index to each target still worked (this is great!).
      7. I created an EPUB version of the doc. This is where I began to have trouble. In ID, Window | Interactive | EPUB interactivity preview showed the target pages and the index page. While the EPUB previewer gave me a finger "pointer," clicking the word Go in the index did not take me to the target.
      8. I opened the EPUB in Calibre (not an Adobe product; I know). In Calibre, clicking the word Go took me to the target -- so as far as the HTML was concerned, this arrangement works.
      9. I opened the EPUB in Kindle Previewer 3.78 (just downloaded today; not an Adobe product, I know). The Kindle Previewer displayed the three target pages and the Index, but clicking Go in the index did not take me to the targets. There was no reaction to the click.

       

      So in both the Adobe EPUB previewer and in the Kindle EPUB previewer, the index links did not work. But in both PDF and in Calibre, they did.

       

      I am puzzled why the links appear to work sometimes but not others. I am sure this is because I am missing something that I otherwise should know. The GREP works just fine... except I don't end up with an index usable in EPUB. Any advice?

       

      Thanks as always to the community.

      -j

       

      James Gifford—NitroPress
      James Gifford—NitroPress
      Legend
      March 4, 2024

      See my reply to your other post.

       

      I believe indexes are too fragile to correct with GREP or even direct editing; a close look at the IDML code might show why, but I suspect it's breaking some critical sequence in the link code.

      Eric Dumas
      Community Expert
      Eric DumasCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 26, 2024

      Hi,

      Can you share a screenshot of what you have at the moment?

      I am not sure what you mean by the 'number in front of the topic'

       

      An Index is a list of words you chose to include in an Alphabetical catalogue, InDesign will search these words and add to the list (index) the page number where they appear. more here Create an index in InDesign (adobe.com)

       

       

      In case the number you mention is a page number, maybe you meant a Table of Content (a list of headings catalogued using the formatting you apply to text in your book and listed to reflect the page number they are located). That can be adjusted in the Style settings of the TOC. In the screenshot below, the page number is after the entry.

       

        Farid Ely
        Farid ElyAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        February 26, 2024

        Thank you very much, and sorry for not explaining what I meant well enough. Now this is what I'm talking about and it's shown in the picture.
        Can we replace those numbers with something that performs the same role?

         

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