Report Structure and Layout

Reports in TerraSitu are structured documents with configurable page layout, body and appendix sections, and export options. This article explains how to control the structure of your reports.

Understanding Report Structure

A report consists of ordered sections. Each section has a category:

• Body — the main content, numbered 1, 2, 3, ...
• Appendix — supplementary material, lettered A, B, C, ...

Body sections always come first. Appendix sections follow at the end. The Table of Contents reflects this structure automatically.

Setting Up Page Layout

Page layout is configured at two levels:

Template-level defaults

Open the template in the Template Builder and click Template Layout Settings. Here you can set:

• Default page size — A4 (standard), A3 (large format maps), or Letter (US clients)
• Default orientation — Portrait (standard) or Landscape (wide tables, maps)
• Margins — top, bottom, left, right in millimetres (default 25mm)
• Table of contents — toggle on/off, and set depth (1 = sections, 2 = sections + subheadings)

These become the defaults for all sections in all reports using this template.

Per-section overrides

Open a section in the report editor and click the Layout button. You can override:

• Page size and orientation for that section only
• Column layout — useful for species lists (two-column) or annotated content (sidebar)
• Whether the section starts on a new page (or continues from the previous section)
• Custom header and footer text for that section

Customising Headers and Footers

By default, the report title appears in the page header and "Generated by TerraSitu" in the footer. Override these at the section level using the Layout panel.

Multi-Column Layouts

For appendix sections containing species lists, data tables, or reference material, a two-column layout can make better use of the page. Select Two-column in the Column Layout dropdown for that section.

The Sidebar options (Sidebar Left / Sidebar Right) are useful for sections with annotated content or callout boxes alongside main text.

Table of Contents

When the TOC is enabled, the exported PDF and Word document include a dedicated table of contents page after the cover page.

• PDF export — the TOC is generated with dot leaders and page numbers
• Word export — the TOC uses Word's built-in TOC field, which updates when you open the document and click "Update Fields"

Body sections are numbered (1, 2, 3) and appendix sections are lettered (A, B, C) in the TOC.

Page Breaks

By default, each section begins on a new page. Uncheck Page break before in the Layout panel to have a section continue on the same page as the previous one — useful for short sections or notes that logically follow the preceding content.

Related Articles

• Using the Report Editor — Formatting text, inserting tables, and using cross-references
• Authoring and collaborating on reports — Overview of the full report authoring workflow