OpenOffice Writer 3.x User Guide

Table of Contents

Introducing Writer

Setting up Writer

Starting Writer

Starting from the system menu

Starting from an existing document

Using the Quickstarter under Windows

Using the Quickstarter under Linux

Preloading OOo under Linux/KDE

Starting from the command line

The Writer interface

Menus

Toolbars

Right-click (context) menus

Rulers

Status bar

Using the Navigator

Moving quickly through a document

Using the Navigation toolbar

Rearranging chapters using the Navigator

Setting reminders

Choosing drag mode

Writer documents

Creating a blank document

Creating a document from a template

Password protection

Saving a document automatically

Saving as a Microsoft Word document

Closing documents and Writer

Working with Text

Choosing options that affect all of OpenOffice.org

User Data options

General options

View options

Print options

Path options

Color options

Font options

Security options

Appearance options

Choosing options for loading and saving documents

General Load/Save options

VBA Properties Load/Save options

Microsoft Office Load/Save options

HTML compatibility Load/Save options

Choosing options for Writer

General options

View options

Formatting Aids options

Grid options

Default fonts

Print options

Default table options

Change tracking options

Compatibility options

AutoCaption options

Mail Merge E-mail options

Choosing language settings

Install the required dictionaries

Change some locale and language settings

Choose spelling options

Controlling Writer’s AutoCorrect functions

Formatting Pages

Selecting text

Selecting items that are not consecutive

Selecting a vertical block of text

Cutting, copying, and pasting text

Finding and replacing text and formatting

Use wildcards (regular expressions)

Find and replace specific formatting

Find and replace paragraph styles

Inserting special characters

Inserting non-breaking spaces and hyphens

Inserting dashes

Formatting paragraphs

Setting tab stops and indents

Defining your own tab stops and indents

Formatting characters

Autoformatting

Creating numbered or bulleted lists

Using the Bullets and Numbering toolbar

Example: configuring a nested list

Using footnotes and endnotes

Inserting footnotes/endnotes

Defining the format of footnotes/endnotes

Changing footnotes to endnotes and vice versa

Checking spelling

Using language tools

Using the thesaurus

Hyphenating words

Using AutoCorrect

Using word completion

Using AutoText

Line numbering

Undoing and redoing changes

Tracking changes to a document

Introduction

Preparing a document for review

Recording changes

Accepting or rejecting changes and comments

Merging modified documents

Comparing documents

Inserting notes

Linking to another part of a document

Using hyperlinks

Using cross-references

Using bookmarks

Working with hyperlinks

Inserting hyperlinks

Editing hyperlinks

Tips and tricks

Switching between insert and overwrite mode

Counting the words in a selection

Printing, Faxing, Exporting, and Emailing

Choosing a layout method

Setting up basic page layout using styles

Inserting a page break without switching the style

Defining a different first page for a document

Changing page orientation within a document

Changing page margins

Using columns to define the page layout

Defining the number of columns on a page

Changing the number of columns for existing text

Using frames for page layout

Introduction

Creating frames

Moving, resizing, and changing frame attributes

Anchoring a frame

Linking frames

Using tables for page layout

Example: Creating sideheads using tables

Using sections for page layout

Introduction to sections

Creating sections

Using the Section page

Using the Columns page

Using the Indents page

Using the Footnotes/Endnotes page

Using the Background page

Saving a new section

Editing and deleting sections

Updating links

Creating headers and footers

Portrait headers on landscape pages

Numbering pages

Preliminaries: fields

Preliminaries: Inserting a header

Simple page numbering

Combining header text and page number

Changing the number format

Numbering the first page something other than 1

Numbering pages by chapter

Restarting page numbering

Problems with restarting page numbering

Numbering portrait and landscape pages

Introduction to Styles

What are styles?

Why use styles?

Style categories

Controlling printing

Using the Print dialog box

Selecting print options for a document

Selecting default print options

Printing in black and white on a color printer

Previewing pages before printing

Printing a brochure

Printing envelopes

Printing labels

Sending a fax

Sending a fax through the Print dialog box

Adding a Fax icon to the toolbar (advanced)

Exporting to PDF

Quick export to PDF

Controlling PDF content and quality

Exporting to other formats

E-mailing Writer documents

E-mailing a document to several recipients

See also

Digital signing of documents

Working with Styles

Introduction

The Styles and Formatting window

Style selection basics

Using Fill Format mode

New Style from Selection, Update Style, and Load Styles functions

Using the visible styles filters

Drag-and-drop a selection to create a style

Applying styles

Applying paragraph styles

Applying character styles

Applying frame styles

Applying page styles

Applying list styles

Modifying styles

Changing a style using the Style dialog box

Examples: Modifying paragraph styles

Using AutoUpdate

Creating custom paragraph styles: examples

Creating the Poem paragraph style

Creating the PoemHeading style

Sample poem

Changing the formatting of your styles

Final result

Copying and moving styles

Deleting styles

Defining a hierarchy of headings

Choosing paragraph styles for outline levels

Setting up heading numbering

Setting up the indentation of headings

Working with graphics

Creating custom (new) styles

The Style dialog box

The Organizer page

Understanding linked styles

Working with paragraph styles

Settings on the Indents & Spacing page

Settings on the Alignment page

Text flow options for paragraph styles

Font options for the paragraph style

Options for positioning text

Controlling tab stops

Using the Numbering page

Setting up a drop cap

Setting up paragraph background and borders

Working with conditional paragraph styles

Working with character styles

Why use character styles?

Creating a new character style

Migrating to character styles

Working with frame styles

How frame styles work

Planning the styles

Creating new frame styles

Working with page styles

Creating a new page style

The next style property

General settings for the page style

Background and Border pages

Header and Footer pages

Columns page

Footnote page

Example: A book chapter sequence of pages

Working with list styles

Defining the appearance of a nested list

Creating a new list style

Combining list and paragraph styles

Example: Creating a simple list style

Working with Tables

Adding images to a document

Inserting an image from a file

Inserting images from other sources

Modifying an image

Using the picture toolbar

Using the formatting toolbar and picture dialog

Cropping, resizing, rotating, and other settings

Cropping images

Resizing an image

Rotating a picture

Other settings

Deleting a picture

Using Writer’s drawing tools

Creating drawing objects

Set or change properties for drawing objects

Resizing a drawing object

Grouping drawing objects

Positioning graphics within the text

Arranging, anchoring, and aligning

Arranging graphics

Anchoring graphics

Aligning graphics

Wrapping text around graphics

Examples of wrapping

Adding captions to graphics

Adding captions automatically

Using the Caption dialog box

Overriding the default positioning of captions

Adding captions manually

Adding an image to the Gallery

Graphic file types supported

Working with Templates

Creating a table

Inserting a new table

Creating nested tables

Using AutoCorrect to create a table

Formatting table layout

Default parameters

Resizing and positioning the table

Resizing, positioning, and inserting rows and columns

Resizing rows and columns

Inserting rows and columns

Merging and splitting cells

Borders, backgrounds, and boundaries

Specifying table borders

Selecting background colors and graphics

Displaying or hiding table boundaries

Formatting the table text

Specifying text flow

Vertical alignment

Number formats

Rotating text in a table cell

Data entry and manipulation in tables - DRAFT

Moving between cells

Sorting data in a table

Using spreadsheet functions in a table

Additional table operations

Adding a caption

Cross‑referencing a table

Automatic formatting of tables

Creating a heading row in an existing table

Merging and splitting tables

Deleting a table

Copying a table

Moving a table

Using tables as a page layout tool

The Table menu and toolbar

Using Mail Merge

What is mail merge?

Using a template to create a document

Creating a template

Creating a template from a document

Creating a template using a wizard

Editing a template

Updating a document from a changed template

Adding templates with Extension Manager

Setting a default template

Setting a custom template as the default

Resetting Writer’s Default template as the default

Associating a document with a different template

Organizing templates

Creating a template folder

Deleting a template folder

Moving a template

Deleting a template

Importing a template

Exporting a template

Tables of Contents, Indexes, and Bibliographies

Creating the data source

Registering the data source

Creating a form letter

Printing mailing labels

Editing a saved file of mailing labels

Printing envelopes

Setting up envelopes for printing

Merging and printing the envelopes

Using the Mail Merge Wizard to create a form letter

Step 1: Select starting document

Step 2: Select document type

Step 3: Insert address block

Step 4: Create salutation

Step 5: Adjust layout

Step 6: Edit document and insert extra fields

Step 7: Personalize documents

Step 8: Save, print or send

Working with Master Documents

Tables of Contents

Creating a table of contents quickly

Customizing a table of contents

Using the Index/Table page

Using the Entries page

Using the Styles, Columns, and Background pages

Using the Styles page

Using the Columns page

Using the Background page

Maintaining a table of contents

Alphabetic indexes

Adding index entries

Creating an alphabetic index quickly

Customizing index entries

Example of using an index key

Customizing the appearance of an index

Maintaining an index

Viewing and editing existing index entries

Other types of indexes

Bibliographies

Creating a bibliographic database

Adding entries to the database

Maintaining entries in the database

Adding a reference (citation) into a document

Formating the bibliography

Defining the paragraph style for the bibliography

Updating and editing an existing bibliography

Working with Fields

Introduction to fields

Quick and easy field entry

Styles and master documents

Using the Navigator

Creating a master document

Splitting one document into a master document and subdocuments

Combining several documents into a master document

Starting with no existing documents

Recommended method for creating master documents

Step 1. Plan the project

Step 2. Create a template containing the required styles, fields, and other elements

Step 3. Create the master document and subdocuments from the same template

Step 4. Insert some information directly into the master document

Step 5. Insert the subdocuments into the master document

Step 6. Add a table of contents, bibliography, or index

Editing a master document

Changing the appearance of the document

Editing subdocuments

Cross-referencing between subdocuments

Preparing items as targets for cross-referencing

Inserting the cross-references

Creating one file from a master document and its subdocuments

Problem solving

Including a chapter reference in the header of the first page

Including landscape pages in a portrait-oriented master document

Anchoring pictures to a page

Using Forms in Writer

Alternatives to using forms in Writer

Using document properties to hold information that changes

Using other fields to hold information that changes

Using AutoText to insert often-used fields

Defining your own numbering sequences

Create a number range variable

Use AutoText to insert a number range field

Using automatic cross-references

Inserting cross-references

Available formats

Preparing items as targets for cross-referencing

Using fields in headers and footers

Using fields instead of outline numbering for appendix numbering

Tricks for working with fields

Keyboard shortcuts for fields

Fixing the contents of fields

Converting fields into text

Developing conditional content

Choose the types of conditional content to use

Plan your conditional content

Create the variable

Apply the condition to the content

Change the value of the variable

Using placeholder fields

Using input fields and input lists

Input field

Input list

Math Objects

Getting started

Creating a simple form

Create a document

Form toolbars

Design Mode

Insert form controls

Configure controls

Using the form

Form controls reference

Form Control toolbar

More Controls toolbar

Form Design toolbar

Example: a simple form

Create the document

Add form controls

Configure form controls

Finishing touches

Accessing data sources

Creating a database

Accessing an existing data source

Creating a form for data entry

Entering data into a form

Advanced form customization

Linking a macro to a form control

Read-only documents

Fine-tuning database access permissions

Form control formatting options

XForms

Customizing Writer

Entering a formula

The Selection window

Example 1: 5 × 4

Right-click menu

Markup

Greek characters

Example 2: π 3.14159

Customizations

Formula editor as a floating window

How can I make a formula bigger?

Formula layout

Brackets are your friends

Equations over more than one line

Common problem areas

How do I add limits to my sum/integral?

Brackets with matrices look ugly!

How do I make a derivative?

Numbering equations

Math commands - Reference

Unary / binary operators

Relational operators

Set operations

Functions

Operators

Attributes

Miscellaneous

Brackets

Formats

Characters – Greek

Characters – Special

Keyboard Shortcuts

Customizing menu content

Creating a new menu

Modifying existing menus

Adding a command to a menu

Modifying menu entries

Customizing toolbars

Creating a new toolbar

Adding a command to a toolbar

Choosing icons for toolbar commands

Assigning shortcut keys

Example: Assigning styles to shortcut keys

Example: Assigning macros to shortcut keys

Saving changes to a file

Loading a saved keyboard configuration

Resetting the shortcut keys

Assigning macros to events

Adding functionality with extensions

Using extensions