When exporting content from WordPress, especially for print or structured digital formats, controlling the appearance of the table of contents is often a critical concern. While WordPress provides basic TOC functionality through plugins or built-in features, the visual presentation is rarely customizable without deeper intervention. This is where stylesheets come into play. By applying targeted CSS rules to exported content, you can precisely define how the table of contents looks, regardless of the original theme or template used in the WordPress site.

The foundational task is determining the exact HTML elements and classes used by your WordPress export plugin.

Most WordPress export tools, whether using native export functions or third-party plugins like WP PDF or Print Friendly, output HTML with consistent class names or IDs for TOC elements. You may encounter classes such as toc-list, content-toc, or post-toc.

By inspecting the exported HTML file in a browser or text editor, you can determine the exact selectors used for each level of the TOC, such as h2 for main sections and h3 for subsections.

Once the selectors are known, you can create a custom stylesheet that overrides default styling. A refined approach includes setting font-size to 13.5px, choosing a readable sans-serif like Roboto, and eliminating list indicators with list-style-type: none.

You can also control spacing by adjusting margin and padding values to ensure readability without clutter.

For hierarchical clarity, you can indent child items using the margin-left property. Each nested level may benefit from 10px, then 20px, then 30px of incremental indentation.

This can be achieved with CSS rules like .toc ul li ul margin-left: 10px; and.toc ul li ul li ul margin-left: 20px; .

Color and typography play a significant role in accessibility and aesthetics. You can assign a dark gray text color instead of pure black to reduce eye strain, and use a subtle hover effect to improve interactivity in digital exports.

For instance, a:hover color: #0d47a1; transition: color 0.3s ease; provides visual feedback without being distracting.

If your export process allows for external CSS injection, you can link to your custom stylesheet directly in the HTML head section. If not, you can embed the CSS within a style tag inside the exported document’s head.

This ensures that the styling travels with the document and renders consistently across different devices and platforms.

It is also important to test the exported document in multiple viewers—such as Sumatra PDF, Safari, and Microsoft Edge—to confirm that the stylesheet applies correctly. Certain converters discard custom fonts or reset margins.

So, using widely supported rules like font-weight, letter-spacing, margin-top, padding-left, and color yields the most reliable results.

Finally, to maintain consistency across multiple exports, save your stylesheet as a reusable template. Store the CSS file in your template library for easy retrieval across projects.

You can also include it as a default in your export plugin settings. This eliminates the need to recreate styling from scratch each time and ensures brand or organizational formatting standards are upheld.

By taking control of the TOC’s appearance through stylesheets, ketik you transform a generic, often unattractive list into a professional, well-organized navigational aid. Custom-styled TOCs boost readability and authority, turning plain exports into polished publications