Because Author-it is a component content management system, you’ll find that you work with a lot of individual topic objects. If you’re working on a book (aka a “project” in other applications), you can quickly create a list of topics in that book using the following procedure:

1. Click Search.
2. Under Object Type, select Topic Object.
3. Under In Book, select the book name from the list.
4. Click Find Now. The right pane will be populated with all topics used in the book.The list will not include any topics from books that are included in the book itself (when you’re merging books) unless you tick Resolve sub-books.
5. Select all topics in the right pane.
6. Right-click and select Copy to Clipboard.
7. Open Microsoft Excel (or other spreadsheet application). (You can use Word, but it comes in with the tabs…you’ll have to convert the content to a table.)
8. Press CTRL+V.

Voila

You can use the same technique to create a list of all topics in the library, or with 5.x, for topics in multiple books. (Click the ellipsis button next to In Book and select the books you want to use.) You can also use the same technique to create lists of any object type, such as index entries, graphics, hyperlinks, and so on.

By Char James-Tanny, Author-it Certified Consultant, JTF Associates Inc.  Published with permission; first published on the helpstuff blog.