Contents revealed

Considering the number of Web-based features that take their cue from paperbound forms, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at Contents. Here the contents are placed in the left hand margin, apart from the text itself; a great layout. For those who are trying to get their head around Chapter 17 Hermeneutic Ontology, it's helpful to have the contents, which expand in summary what is being covered

17.1 Historical Presuppositions

17.1.1 The Perils of Traditional Ontology

While the index will take you to particular terms you want to go directly to, the contents are broader and take you through in order. Opuntoid cacti could appear in the front as there is a sizeable entry on them in the Herbiguide. Opuntia engelmannii if you don't spot it on the page will be in the index.

II
Contents in a web environment are what you see on the homepage or at the top or side of the screen when you're accessing the site. The difference is in the metatext; I can refer to other published writings in a printed work but I can't link to them.

Anyone charged with updating their website at intervals knows that content has a different meaning in the online world.

III

Table of contents