Difference between revisions of "Documentation/FAQ/Writer"
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== If I click in the middle of a table cell or in an empty paragraph, OpenOffice.org insert tabs in front of the cursor position. How do I stop this? == | == If I click in the middle of a table cell or in an empty paragraph, OpenOffice.org insert tabs in front of the cursor position. How do I stop this? == | ||
This is caused by a default | This is caused by a default |
Revision as of 22:47, 6 June 2006
Contents
- 1 If I click in the middle of a table cell or in an empty paragraph, OpenOffice.org insert tabs in front of the cursor position. How do I stop this?
- 2 These automatisms suck!!
- 3 How to easily come back to the default character format while typing when I just wanted to format one word?
- 4 How to format a piece of text (not a whole page) in columns?
- 5 How to correct the text of an hyperlink? (if I click on the text the target document loads)
- 6 How to move paragraphs with the keyboard?
- 7 How to select multiple parts of the text?
- 8 A series of '#' characters on a line by themselves has generated a bold black double line. How can I remove this line?
- 9 URLs (Uniform Reference Locators) appear underlined and in a different color from the rest of my text. How do I reverse this setting?
- 10 OpenOffice.org is changing my decimals into fractions. How do I reverse this setting?
- 11 When lower case text is typed, OpenOffice.org changes the first letter to uppercase. How do reverse this setting?
- 12 When using asterisks [ asterisk = * ], OpenOffice.org removes the asterisks [ * ] and presents the text in bold. How do reverse this setting?
- 13 How do I insert a page number of the form 'Page 1 of N'?
- 14 How do I insert a special character?
- 15 How do I insert a trademark symbol?
- 16 How Do I remove an envelope from a document?
- 17 How can I change the defaults for a new writer document?
- 18 How to delete a table?
- 19 I want to insert special characters with keyboard shortcuts. How do I do this?
- 20 How can I rotate a graphic with a given angle?
- 21 How can change the page number of the first page of my document to something other than "1"?
- 22 The space between the letters in a word seems just a bit too wide. It would look better if that space is being reduced. How can I achieve this?
- 23 Is there something like a Format Painter feature that copies the formats of one part of the text to other parts?
- 24 How can I place a time/date variable (or field) that updates automatically into a document?
- 25 How to print an envelope in OpenOffice.org?
- 26 How do I make page numbers alternate? (eg. even page numbers on the top-right, odd page numbers on the top-left).
- 27 What is the equivalent of MSO outline mode in OpenOffice.org?
- 28 How do I do revision marking (redlining) in OpenOffice.org?
- 29 How do I make my first page a cover/title page and start page numbering (Page 1) on the second page of my document?
- 30 How do I make a header appear on only the first page of my document?
- 31 How do I make a logo appear on the top of every page of my document?
- 32 How do you turn off the Automatic word completion behavior?
- 33 How do I create a simple outline-style numbered list? It should look like:
- 34 How do I join two adjacent tables?
- 35 How do I create a hanging indent in my document?
- 36 How do I perform a word count of my document?
- 37 How do I insert 'dummy text' into my document?
- 38 How do I create labels in OpenOffice.org?
- 39 How do I insert a Landscape page into my (portrait) document?
- 40 I have a blank page in my word processing document. All of my content seems to fit on the previous page. How do I get rid of this extra page?
- 41 How do I make a table heading row repeat on each page of my word processing document that the table appears on?
- 42 How do I perform a spellcheck in a multilingual text?
- 43 How do I remove a large number of hard returns from text that were pasted into my document (for example, from an email message)?
- 44 How do I protect (lock) a section of text so that the content cannot be changed?
- 45 I have some text that I want to appear with the first character of each word in uppercase and the rest of the word in lowercase (initial uppercase). How do I do this automatically?
- 46 In my document, how do I repeat more than one table row when the table breaks across pages?
- 47 How do I insert a Table of Contents into my document?
- 48 How do I update my table of contents (TOC)? I've added more data and it does not reflect my new headings.
- 49 How do I insert a variable for the current date into the footer of my document?
- 50 Trying to use the version control features for my word processing document, but some of the menu choices I've seen before do not appear. What's wrong?
If I click in the middle of a table cell or in an empty paragraph, OpenOffice.org insert tabs in front of the cursor position. How do I stop this?
This is caused by a default setting of the OpenOffice.org interface called 'Direct Cursor'. To change this behavior:
- From the pull down menus, select: Tools -> Options
- In the dialog that appears, select: Text Document - Cursor
- Change the 'Insert' value to 'Left Paragraph Margin' (it was set to 'Tabs')
- Click on OK
These automatisms suck!!
OpenOffice is configured in standard to execute, while typing a text, automatical formatting tasks. Those automatisms can be amazing or boring - especially because they can occure when you don't expect them.
You have two solutions: turn them off or learn to know them and domesticate them.
- Turn them ALL off/on: under Format-AutoFormat-While Typing.
- Turn some of them off/on: under Tools-AutoCorrect/Autoformat.
To USE them you have to know them and first recognize them, so...
How to recognize them?
When I type |
I get |
caused by |
module |
||
DNA |
And |
the replacement table |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) (<A HREF="#1">1</A>) |
All |
|
XImport |
Ximport |
|
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
<P ALIGN="left">All </TD> </TR> | |
coordination </TD> |
Coordination </TD> |
Capitalize first letter of every sentence </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
It was excl. on this day </TD> |
The lowercase won't be replaced by a capital though there is a dot and I check the option "Capitalize first letter of every sentence" in the AutoFormat. </TD> |
the exceptions table </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no2">2</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
*Hello* _world_ </TD> |
Hello world </TD> |
Automatic bold and underline </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
www.openoffice.org </TD> |
<A HREF="http://www.openoffice.org/">www.openoffice.org</A>
</TD> |
The URL recognition </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
1st, 2nd, 4th </TD> |
1st, 2nd, 4th </TD> |
The AutoFormat of the cardinal numbers </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
1/2 1/4 3/4
|
½ ¼ ¾ </TD> |
The AutoFormat of </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
The man -- yes, him! The man--yes, him! </TD> |
The man – yes, him! The man—yes, him! </TD> |
Replace dashes </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
<2_spaces> </TD> |
The second space doesn't appear </TD> |
Ignore double spaces </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
All </TD> </TR> | |
1 bottle of milk <Return> </TD> |
1. bottle of milk </TD> |
Apply numbering </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
---<Return> ===<Return> ___<Return>
|
horizontal lines created </TD> |
Apply border </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
+---+---+ </TD> |
a table </TD> |
Create table </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
My title </TD> |
My title </TD> |
Use styles </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
- one - </TD> |
</TD> |
Replace bullets </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no3">3</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
" </TD> |
« or an other typographical quote </TD> |
Custom quotes </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no4">4</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> | |
Int </TD> |
Int|roduction| </TD> |
Word completion </TD> |
<P ALIGN="left">(<A HREF="#no5">5</A>) </TD> |
</TD> </TR> | |
1.1 </TD> |
01/01/03 </TD> |
Number recognition </TD> |
(<A HREF="#no6">6</A>) </TD> |
Writer only </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <A NAME="no1">(1)</A> Menu Tools-AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, tabpage [Replace]
How to easily come back to the default character format while typing when I just wanted to format one word?Example: you write default, then underlined for a while and you want to come back to the normal styles. In this example, you have pressed [Ctrl]+U after "then" to format your text italic. You write default, then [Ctrl]+U underlined for a while and you want to [Right] come back to the normal styles.
How to format a piece of text (not a whole page) in columns?You have to use a section:
How to correct the text of an hyperlink? (if I click on the text the target document loads)Quick methode: [Alt]+click Permanante state: in the staus bar, click the field "HYP" (HYPerlink) to toggle it to "SEL" (SELection)
How to move paragraphs with the keyboard?
How to select multiple parts of the text?Copy, cut, format, delete parts of the text in differents areas of the document:
An other methode exists - the "lazzy" one (don't feel about holding [Ctrl] over 150 pages!):
-> the ADD mode has the same function than [Ctrl] + click
A series of '#' characters on a line by themselves has generated a bold black double line. How can I remove this line?A series of # symbols is a keyboard short cut to creating a solid line below a paragraph in a text document. To remove this line, click anywhere in the paragraph just above the thick line and choose Format -> Paragraph. The line set will appear on the Borders tab. To remove the line, keep the cursor in the paragraph above the line and choose Format -> Default. Learn more about automatisms <A HREF="025.html">here (#025)</A>.
URLs (Uniform Reference Locators) appear underlined and in a different color from the rest of my text. How do I reverse this setting?To reverse this setting:
URL recognition also recognizes anything with the '@' symbol as an email address. Turning this option off will cause email addresses to remain unrecognized. To selectively determine which addresses should be treated as links, leave URL recognition on, but turn off recognition by one of the following two methods:
An address which has converted to a link may be converted back to normal text by entering Ctrl-Z before the text cursor is moved. Learn more about automatisms <A HREF="025.html">here (#025)</A>.
OpenOffice.org is changing my decimals into fractions. How do I reverse this setting?<To reverse this setting:
Learn more about automatisms <A HREF="025.html">here (#025)</A>.
When lower case text is typed, OpenOffice.org changes the first letter to uppercase. How do reverse this setting?This setting is designed to correct sentences mistakenly typed starting with a lower case letter. To reverse this setting:
Learn more about automatisms <A HREF="025.html">here (#025)</A>.
When using asterisks [ asterisk = * ], OpenOffice.org removes the asterisks [ * ] and presents the text in bold. How do reverse this setting?Typing an asterisk [ * ] before and after a word or words allows for words to be made bold without using the mouse. Similarly, typing an undersc ore [underscore = _] before and after a word or words allows for words to be underlined. To reverse this setting:
Learn more about automatisms <A HREF="025.html">here (#025)</A>.
How do I insert a page number of the form 'Page 1 of N'?
The page number should appear in the footer or header of every page.
How do I insert a special character?The simplest method for inserting special characters is to select them from the special character dialog:
On certain platforms, OpenOffice.org does not have certain characters available in any font, including emdash and curly double quote characters. Characters used in mathematical formulas may be inserted using this method:
Formulas are graphical objects and characters inserted using this method may not convert well to other applications. OpenOffice.org also supports entry of certain characters (accented characters, ligatures, monetary symbols, etc.) via compose (keyboard) sequences.
How do I insert a trademark symbol?This symbol is only available in certain fonts. On Solaris platforms, the symbol is available in the 'Symbols', 'Serif' and San-Serif' font. To insert:
How Do I remove an envelope from a document?Removing an envelope from a document can be tricky. Work is being done to make this easier in the future. In the meantime, here are the steps to manually remove the envelope:
How can I change the defaults for a new writer document?You need to create a template that has the settings you want and then make that template the default. The way you do this is as follows:
Part 2: Make your new template the default
How to delete a table?For this, you need to highlight the whole table, then rightclick into the highlighted area and choose > Row > Delete.
I want to insert special characters with keyboard shortcuts. How do I do this?From OpenOffice.org Version 1.1 on you can use the built in macro recorder. To assign a character to a key, follow these steps:
Now that you have recorded the macro, you'll need to assign it to a keystroke.
How can I rotate a graphic with a given angle?Up to version 1.x, Writer doesn't contain a rotation facility for graphics. To be able to rotate graphics one needs to use Draw:
How can change the page number of the first page of my document to something other than "1"?
The space between the letters in a word seems just a bit too wide. It would look better if that space is being reduced. How can I achieve this?What you need to enable is "Kerning". Kerning is part of the typesetting process, where the space between letters is adjusted to the appearance of the letter and its neighbour. For example, when a V is followed by an A, the shape of the letters would result in a little too much space between them, and this just doesn't look nice. The A should be moved a little towards the V. This text is not kerned:
So how do you enable kerning? If you need kerning only for selected parts of your text, follow these steps:
If you need the whole text to be "kerned", follow here
Note that kerning is controlled by information in the font data (in particular the font metrics). Fonts that do not need such precise corrections, like fixed width fonts, will not be subject to kerning.
Is there something like a Format Painter feature that copies the formats of one part of the text to other parts?There are two possibilities within OOo Writer. For the first, follow these steps:
Another solution would be to actually add a button that acts like a format painter: It's an unofficial, but excellent addon written by the Francophone project. It adds two paintbrush icons to the tool bar, which copy and paint styles. Get it from here: http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=23756
How can I place a time/date variable (or field) that updates automatically into a document?You need to insert a time/date field that indicates the time when the doc last has been modified. Follow here:
How to print an envelope in OpenOffice.org?You need to print an envelope. Follow these steps:
Now you have an envelope.
How do I make page numbers alternate? (eg. even page numbers on the top-right, odd page numbers on the top-left).
== How to re-enable update of template style in OpenOffice.org 2.0.2? ==
Next time when you open this document you will have the update from template feature back. This is issue <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=63320">63320</a>
What is the equivalent of MSO outline mode in OpenOffice.org?Open the Navigator to have most of this functionality. The Navigator can be found in Writer's drop-down menus: Edit > Navigator.
How do I do revision marking (redlining) in OpenOffice.org?To enable the Revision feature:
Start making your changes. You will note that all new text passages you enter are underlined in color, while all text that you delete remains visible but is crossed out and shown in color.
How do I make my first page a cover/title page and start page numbering (Page 1) on the second page of my document?Here is the basic procedure for breaking a document into sections (for whatever purpose) as well as placing a page number in a footer of the second page:
How do I make a header appear on only the first page of my document?Follow these steps:
How do I make a logo appear on the top of every page of my document?Follow these steps:
If the graphic does not appear on every page, there are two possible problems. The page style in use could have the wrong header settings. To check the settings:
If the graphic appears on one or more pages, then stops appearing, the cause is likely to be a different page style that is applied on the page where the logo ceases to appear. Look below the document, just to the right of where the page number information appears. The name that appears is the page style name. If the style name is different, the document has been broken into sections. To change this:
How do you turn off the Automatic word completion behavior?Open a text document. From the pulldown menus, select: Tools->AutoCorrect/AutoFormat. Select the "Word Completion" tab. Deselect the check box to the left of "Complete Words". Click on OK.
How do I create a simple outline-style numbered list? It should look like:
There are two tools in OpenOffice.org that give you the ability to create numbered lists. One is the Format Stylist, accessed by selecting Stylist from the pulldown menu. It will open in a separate window and will default to opening the "Paragraph Styles" view. If you click on the fifth icon from the left, "Numbering Styles", you will see a list of pre-defined number styles. The other tool that you need is the numbering toolbar. At the extreme far right of the text toolbar (the bar that displays font name, font size, etc.), there is a small arrow that points to the left. Click on it. You will now see the numbering toolbar. You will not see this arrow if you are not already in a text area that has a numbering style assigned. It turns out that the numbering you want for the simple list above is already defined in the pre-defined numbering styles. If the style you need does not exist, you may also create your own styles. To create the list above:
If you need to make your own list numbering style, it is suggested to select one of the existing styles that is similar (in the Stylist), then right click to get a context menu. Select "New..." to make a new style based on the style that was selected. You will get a dialog with many tabs that allow you to configure your own numbering style. By the way, you can set up heading numbering the same way. Each heading level can be assigned a different paragraph style (e.g. Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3) but they all would be assigned the same NUMBERING style - so the list would number correctly. Note: OpenOffice.org will often make numbering difficult when you do the following actions:
How do I join two adjacent tables?The tables must be right next to each other for the "Join Tables" menu choice to appear. Even if there is only one text style between the tables with no content, the choice will not show up. When the tables appear to be almost touching, place your cursor into one of the tables. Right click to get the context menu. Select "Join Tables".
How do I create a hanging indent in my document?You have two basic options, depending on how you want your hanging indent to look.
* Create your own style:
How do I perform a word count of my document?Open the file, then select: File -> Properties. Click on the "Statistics" tab. The word count (and other statistics) will appear in the dialog. How do I insert 'dummy text' into my document?Follow these steps:
some text
How do I create labels in OpenOffice.org?Select: File -> New -> Labels. In the dialog that appears, you will be able to enter the initial text for the label(s) and select the label type (Avery, etc.) desired. Click on "New Document" to open the document using the settings you selected. How do I insert a Landscape page into my (portrait) document?In your open document in OpenOffice.org:
To end the Landscape area in your document:
I have a blank page in my word processing document. All of my content seems to fit on the previous page. How do I get rid of this extra page?Select View -> Nonprinting Characters from the pull down menus (so that the choice is checked). This will allow you to see the special control character that is pushing the page over to another sheet. Locate that character and delete it (after making a backup of your file). Be sure to turn these options off before printing. (If left 'on' you will be prompted for whether you want to print them or not). In rare cases, playing around with the Insert -> Manual Break feature using a change of page style can cause 'ghost' pages. These are pages that have no apparent content, no hidden characters, and cannot hold a text cursor. In the case tested, these 'ghost' pages were removed by the following procedure:
View -> Online Layout
'ghost' pages should not appear.
choice). The 'ghost' pages should not return. How do I make a table heading row repeat on each page of my word processing document that the table appears on?A repeating header row is the default in OpenOffice.org when creating a new table. If you have an existing table, or if you are using a different text document template, follow the following instructions:
table
to get the context menu, then select: Table
on the "Text Flow" tab
click on the check box next to "Repeat heading" (so that a check appears)
How do I perform a spellcheck in a multilingual text?When OOo checks the spelling of a word (note: word, not paragraph or text) it chooses the spelling dictionary appropriate to the language this single word comes from. This is defined in > Format > Character > Font. This individual language setting normally is set to the default language but can be changed to any other supported language. So, to perform a spellcheck on a multilingual text you need to select each word that isn't part of the default language and assign the appropriate language in > Format > Character > Font. However, if you want to set the whole text to a new language, highlight the whole text and change the setting in > Format > Character > Font. How do I remove a large number of hard returns from text that were pasted into my document (for example, from an email message)?Follow these steps:
Replace
that appears, click on the box next to "Regular Expressions"
field, type: ^$ This regular expression says to search for a paragraph marker '$' at the beginning of a paragraph - programmer terms for an empty paragraph.
button
space character, type a space in the "Replace With" field, then click the "Replace" button
nothing (remove the character), click the "Replace" button (without entering anything in the "Replace With" field)
the "Replace All" button. It is wise to save your document prior to using this option, in case it behaves unexpectedly. Note: Regular expressions do not appear to work in the 'Replace' field. How do I protect (lock) a section of text so that the content cannot be changed?Follow these steps to protect a section of text:
desired text
Insert -> Section
"Protected"
the default name assigned)
box
will keep anyone without the password from removing the protection set on the section. To insert a password on a protected section:
Format -> Sections
section (if, applicable)
protected"
a password and confirm the password
dialog)
Follow these steps to modify a section that you have previously protected:
Format -> Sections
that appears (only appears if password protected); Click OK
section (if, applicable)
button
instructions, above, to re-apply the section protection Note that, once you put a password on a section, you will be prompted for that password before receiving any dialog that might have a chance to access that section of text. I have some text that I want to appear with the first character of each word in uppercase and the rest of the word in lowercase (initial uppercase). How do I do this automatically?Follow these steps:
selecting)
Format -> Character
Effects'
on the box next to 'Title Case'
This method also works for anything that can be drag-selected, such as a table row or column. In my document, how do I repeat more than one table row when the table breaks across pages?This function is not very intuitive, but it is possible:
ROW
Format -> Cell -> Split
for the number of total heading rows needed. Make sure the "Direction" is set to "horizontally".
having to copy/paste data from rows you had previously created. If this method is used, the THEAD and TBODY tags are used when exporting to HTML format. How do I insert a Table of Contents into my document?Before inserting a Table of Contents, the Stylist must be used to identify headings. To mark headings:
the pull-down menu.
Heading Level from the dialog box.
as described above. To Insert the Table of Contents:
location where you would like a Table of Contents
Insert -> Indexes -> Indexes...
sure you are on the "Index" tab, then select the index "Type:" to be "Table of Contents"
settings in this dialog to create the type of TOC desired. For example, if you want a table of captions, you would click on the box next to "Additional Styles" and select your caption style.
How do I update my table of contents (TOC)? I've added more data and it does not reflect my new headings.Click inside the TOC (so that your text cursor is blinking somewhere inside it), then hold down your right mouse button to get the context menu. Select "Update Index".
Follow these steps:
(if you don't already have one) by selecting: Insert->Footer ->Standard
area, select: Insert -> Fields -> Other
You should now see the current date. If you see the name of the date field, select: View -> Fields (to turn off the check mark next to this choice). If you see nothing, it may be because you have not yet saved your document for the first time. Some version management functions become unavailable when you create an index (such as Table of Contents) within your document. Menu choices that will no longer appear include:
|