Working with sections on Writer

It is possible to separate a Writer document on "blocks" more or less self-contained called "Sections". These sections can be as short as a paragraph, as long as several pages or can cover the whole document. Sections are useful when it is needed to have different number of columns on the same page, when it is needed to insert an external document, when it is needed that a whole block from the document hides when a condition is fulfilled... On this page we will see how to use them.

Inserting a section

From the Insert → Section menu we will see

Section tab

Here it is possible to accomplish several tasks.

• It is possible to give a name to the section, so it is easier to find it on the Navigator. * It is possible to link the section with a different part of the document or with a different file, to show the linked content.* It is possible to protect the section content with a password, avoiding edition.* The options under "Hide" permits to set a condition to hide the section, making it invisible on the document. We will come back to this when talking about variables and fields. * It is possible to set the section to be editable even on read only documents, for example to build a form.

Columns tab

As with the frames, it is possible to set the section to be separated on columns even if the page style over which the section flows do not have them. This is particularly useful to have different number of columns on the same page, like a scientific paper where subject and abstract are on one column while the rest of the document is on two.

Here, the option "Evenly distribute contents to all columns" makes the columns fill simultaneously when content is added: with the option set to off the left column will fill before the other ones.

Indents tab

To define a minimum space before and after a section.

Background tab

To set either a background colour or a background image for the section.

Footnotes/Endnotes

To group the notes at the end of a section, restart the numbering, etc. We will come back to this topic later.

Editing Sections

To change the settings of an existing section, it is enough to go to Format → Sections.

On the left list is it possible to select the section to be modified. As it is possible to see from the screenshot the available options are the same you get under the Section tab when a section is created. The other options are accessible from the  Options  button.