Hi everyone,
I have found a work around solution for the time being which partially solves this issue.

It is a plugin called InPlace Editor for Confluence. I will quote the plugin description for those who are following this issue via email and are on a mobile device which doesn't support proper formatting of the Atlassian Marketplace.

InPlace Editor for Confluence delivers a convenient way to instantly edit large pages by parts enclosed within section headings.

This add-on provides you with the following capabilities:

• Quick edit of page sections in the pop-up form with standard Confluence editor.
• Easy selection of spaces where the section editing can be used and where it remains disabled.
• Temporary deactivation of the edit-by-parts functionality from the user interface when needed.
• Intelligent conflict resolution for simultaneous sectional editing by multiple users.
• Support for native Confluence editor prevents you from being puzzled by a new text editor and its ‘intuitive’ interface.
• Activation of the add-on for appropriate levels of heading sections.

Would love to see this feature implemented along with sectional editing. But in reality, if this feature is implemented, I might be okay without sectional editing. Thanks. Thumb up.

Is there any momentum on this feature or at the very least is there a plugin from ether Atlassian or a 3rd-party which provides this functionality?

These are really some handy ideas out of the request.
My intention was to have the content 'perm-visible', which is realized by the second option. Also the possibility to shift the dialog out of the editing window or select levels, great! Even if this could consume performance - an overview to a rough methodical approach and a quick jump to chapters is realized.

Also the first option is suitable and might consume less performance. Depending on the quantity of content this one seems to be useful for shorter editions, lists or presentations.

This is an issue I could get behind. I still think sectional editing (CONF-5913) would be great, but this might be another nice feature without or without it. I attached a mockup showing a couple ways I think this could be implemented.

Option 1
Just show a dropdown in the top editor bar that lists all the sections that appear in the document below it. This dropdown would be updated dynamically (i.e. you add a h2 line and it appears in this dropdown near immediately). Selecting an item in this list would jump you to that section. This dropdown would by default show you all levels.

Option 2
Have a floating "side bar" (more like a drawer) on the right side that when you hover/click on it, slides out and shows you your page outline, and clicking on any item jumps you to that section. There would also be a selector at the bottom to allow you to customize how many levels to show (h1 and h2 only, h1 through h4, etc).

Added UI Mockup: <ui mockup ideas - 2012-11-01>

Hi John, yes, partly concerning working on Sections. Such as a special table editor/edit-button for sections could be useful for several editors working on the same project (Depending on the editor target group).
But in my opinion/my situation and working preferences, I like to work with a table of content visible all the time to be able jumping from chapter to chapter when editing. This is the best overview style I can work with.
The idea with the edit button is good maybe not useful for everybody, so might be activated and deactivated. Nice is: "the users wants the preview / editor to 'jump' to the section being edited"
Have I answered your question by this?

Hi Julia, would this need be met by some form of sectional editing, such as some of the options proposed in CONF-5913?