Welcome
Welcome to Michèle’s TopOfPage plugin, designed to add meaning full information to the top of pages: page number, current chapter and last section header.
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General information
Plugin name: TopOfPage
Version: 1.0.0 – 8/18/26
Fee: Free
Availability: Adobe Marketplace
Status: Not yet published
Source code in book: Adobe InDesign Automation of Nonfiction Books via JavaScript
Requirements
The TopOfPage plugin relies on recognizing chapter and sections headers so that it could place the appropriate text in the top of each page. The algorithm requires five paragraph styles: DSL – HDG0 no number and four more numbered HDG0, HDG1… Settings follow:
- Unnumbered paragraph style named DSL – HDG0 no number defines new unnumbered paragraphs.
Its basic character formats size should be set to 26 or whatever.
Its Bullets and Numbering List Type should be set to None, Level and Character Style are grayed out.
Its Keep Options Start Paragraph should be set to Next Odd Page. - Numbered paragraph style named DSL – HDG0 defines new numbered paragraphs.
Its basic character formats size should be set to 0.1. Its
Its Bullets and Numbering Character Style should be set to DSL – CHAR HDG0; see below.
Its Bullets and Numbering List Type should be set to Numbers, Level set to 1.
Its Keep Options Start Paragraph should be set to Next Odd Page. - Numbered paragraph style named DSL – HDG1, HDG1… define sections.
Its basic character formats size should be set to 0.1. Its
Its Bullets and Numbering Character Style should be set to DSL – CHAR HDG0; see below.
Its Bullets and Numbering List Type should be set to Numbers, Level set to 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
Its Keep Options Start Paragraph should be set to Anywhere.
Please note that the names of the style itemized above are carved in stone. The InDesign user must create these for the algorithm to work. I shall, in a later version, render the names of these style name customizable.
What it does
A reader-friendly nonfiction book should instantly reveal to the reader where he/she is at relative to the book’s content. The page number, the current chapter’s name, and the last subchapter/section’s name should be displayed in the top-of-pages.
The TopOfPage plugin creates and positions text-frames and inserts into them chapter names and last section seen headers. The Top-of-page inserts task relies on two sub-tasks: Remove existing top-of-page text-frames followed by Insert top-of-page text-frames. Removing top-of-page inserts provides flexibility to the InDesign user. He/She is free to make changes which may shuffle text around and can rely on the TopOfPage plugin to refresh the top-of-pages.
The algorithm uses the styles itemized above to create an array of pages along with their respective chapter and last section header seen.
Please note that a dialog box displays the HOMEDIR full path to enable the plugin user find the IndexesReadme.txt file.
For more information
You will find source code in my InDesign automation book so that you could roll your own ImageProcessing plugin.
For information on other plugins please go back to my InDesign Automation page plugins section.
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