TIP 106: Organizing a Bookmark Hierarchy
Bookmarks form an interactive table of contents that lets your readers quickly see an outline of the contents of your document. For your readers' convenience, it makes sense to organize your list of bookmarks into a logical hierarchy. That is, the main headings expand to display lower-level headings, which in turn expand to display another heading level. From a technical standpoint, there's no limit to the number of levels you can usebut from a functional perspective, you probably shouldn't use more than three levels. More than three levels makes your list confusing, as you can see in the example shown in Figure 106a. The more nested levels you have, the more screen space is required to display them, which decreases the size of the Document pane and ultimately reduces the value of using bookmarks at all. What good is an interactive table of contents if the entire screen is filled with the table and you can't see the contents?
Figure 106a. Bookmarks can be nested in an infinite number of levels, but the content may be difficult to see and work with.
Everything in Its Right Place
Before you start organizing the contents of your bookmark list into a hierarchy, make sure the heading levels are in the right order. Depending on how methodical you were when you created the bookmarks, they might not accurately reflect the order of the contents. To fix the sequence, first select the bookmark you want to move. Drag it up or down in the list to position it in its proper place. You'll see a dotted indicator line with a small black arrow below or above each title as you drag the bookmark up or down the list. The indicator shows where Acrobat will drop the bookmark. When you have the bookmark in the right location, just release the mouse. Reordering the list of bookmarks doesn't change the heading levels in any way. If you prefer, you can also cut and paste bookmarks. Click the bookmark you want to remove, and then choose Cut from the Bookmarks pane's Options menu. Then click the bookmark preceding the location where you want the bookmark moved, and choose Paste After Selected Bookmark. |
You can create parent and child relationships between entries in your document's Bookmarks list. If you have a complex document with dozens of headings, create several main headings and then nest child headings for each main heading. That way, your readers can scan the main headings, and when they see a topic of interest, they can click the heading to open the nested list displaying the child bookmarks. Nesting bookmarks decreases clutter and makes it easier for your reader to see what's in the document.
1. | Click the bookmark to select it. Drag up or down with the pointer positioned over the bookmark's icon. You'll see a horizontal black line below the icon (Figure 106b).
Figure 106b. Move a bookmark to a nesting position indicated by the horizontal line.
Another Way
If you find it difficult to drag and nest bookmarks, you'll be glad to know there's another way. Instead of dragging, click the bookmark you want to move and choose Cut from the Bookmark pane's Options menu. Then click the bookmark you want to make the parent of the cut bookmark, and choose Paste Under Selected Bookmark from the Bookmark pane's Options menu. |
Note Don't select and drag the bookmark label you'll just move the bookmark in the list, not change its hierarchy. Make sure you're moving the icon. | 2. | When you see the horizontal bar below the bookmark you want to use as a parent, release the mouse. The bookmark moves into a nested position below the parent bookmark. A level indicatoreither a minus or plus sign within a small boxappears to the left of the parent bookmark. Continue to move other bookmarks into the desired nesting locations (Figure 106c).
Figure 106c. The child bookmarks settle in beneath the parent.
| 3. | Click to expand and collapse the bookmark. When you move the parent bookmark, Acrobat includes any child bookmarks and levels in the move. Not only do child bookmarks move if you move the parent bookmark, but if you delete a parent bookmark, all levels of bookmarks nested within it are deleted as well. | 4. | If you want to move a bookmark out of a nested position, drag the bookmark icon to a position below the parent bookmark. When you release the mouse, Acrobat moves the bookmark up the hierarchy. |
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