Advanced User Guide for Writer

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

A Guide for Technical Writers, Professional Writers, and Power Users

Copyright
This document is Copyright 2010 by its contributors as listed below. You may distribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either the GNU General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), version 3 or later, or the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), version 3.0 or later. All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.

Contributors
Daniel Friedman Nour Chatila Robert Zorko

Feedback
Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to: Daniel Friedman: daniel.friedman42@gmail.com Nour Chatila: nourchatila@gmail.com Robert Zorko: robert.zorko@gmail.com

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank everyone from the LibreOffice documentation team for your comments, reviews, and assistance. In particular, we would like to thank: Ron Faile Gabriel Gurley David Nelson Jeff Prater Gary Schnabl Jean Hollis Weber

Disclaimer
This guide has been developed as a class project. Because of size constraints, it does not cover every operation that a technical writer may have to accomplish with LibreOffice Writer. We have tried to point readers to relevant websites and help files to help supplement the material. We hope that this guide will be a useful contribution to the LibreOffice community, and that future contributors will help complete the sections we have not covered, and will maintain this guide up to date.

Publication date and software version

Published November 16, 2010. Based on LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3.

Table of Contents
Section 1: Introducing LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers........................................6 Who This Guide is for................................................................................................. 6 Where to Get the Beta............................................................................................... 7 Installation Assistance............................................................................................... 7 Section 2: Supported File Formats, Compatibility, and Exporting Files to PDF...........8 Fully Supported Formats........................................................................................... 8 Compatibility with Older OpenDocument Formats....................................................8 Compatibility with Microsoft Office Formats.............................................................8 Exporting Files as PDF.............................................................................................. 9 Changing the Default File Format............................................................................. 9 Section 3: Working with Styles.................................................................................... 10 Finding Styles.......................................................................................................... 10 Selecting Styles from the Applied Styles Menu...................................................10 Accessing the Styles and Formatting Window.....................................................10 Viewing Styles by Type........................................................................................ 11 Setting View Filters for Styles............................................................................. 12 Applying Styles........................................................................................................ 12 Applying Paragraph Styles................................................................................... 12 Applying Character Styles................................................................................... 13 Applying Frame Styles......................................................................................... 14 Applying Page Styles........................................................................................... 14 Modifying Styles...................................................................................................... 14 Using the Paragraph Style Box............................................................................ 14 Updating Styles from a Selection........................................................................15 Using AutoUpdate (Paragraph and Frame Styles Only)......................................15 Section 4: Working with Tables and Graphics.............................................................16 Working with Tables................................................................................................ 16 Inserting a Table.................................................................................................. 16 Customizing Table Borders and Shading.............................................................16 Merging, Adding, and Deleting Cells...................................................................17 Working with Graphics............................................................................................ 17 Importing Graphics Directly into a Document.....................................................17 Using Anchors to Position Graphics.........................................................................17 Anchoring a Graphic to a Character, Paragraph, or Page...................................18 Anchoring a Graphic to a Frame..........................................................................18 Adding a Caption................................................................................................. 18 Section 5: Working with Headers, Footers, Page Numbering, and Page Orientation. 19 Working with Headers and Footers.........................................................................19 Inserting a Header or Footer............................................................................... 19 Deleting a Header or Footer................................................................................ 19
LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers 3

Formatting Headers and Footers.........................................................................19 Inserting Page Numbers into Headers and Footers............................................19 Working with Page Numbering................................................................................ 20 Restarting Page Numbering Between Sections...................................................20 Changing Page Orientation...................................................................................... 20 Change all Pages to Landscape or Portrait.........................................................20 Section 6: Working with Table of Contents and Indexes.............................................21 Creating a Table of Contents...................................................................................21 Creating an Alphabetical Index...............................................................................21 Updating a Table of Contents or Index....................................................................21 Creating a Index Marker...................................................................................... 21 Section 7: Working with Editing Tools, Record Changes, and Version Control..........22 Accessing the Spelling and Grammar Checker........................................................22 Creating a User-Defined Dictionary.....................................................................22 Accessing Find & Replace....................................................................................... 23 Using Find and Replace Based on Styles.............................................................23 Working with Record (Track) Changes....................................................................23 Accepting or Rejecting Changes..........................................................................23 Showing/Hiding Changes..................................................................................... 24 Adding Comments................................................................................................ 24 Deleting Comments.............................................................................................. 24 Showing/Hiding Comments................................................................................. 24 Using Document Comparison..............................................................................24 Accessing Version Management.............................................................................. 25 Saving a New Version of Your Document............................................................25 The Versions Dialog Box...................................................................................... 25 Section 8: File Locks and Password Protection...........................................................26 Working with File Locks.......................................................................................... 26 Saving Files with Password Protection....................................................................26 Password Locking a Document............................................................................ 26 Index............................................................................................................................ 27 Bibliography................................................................................................................. 29

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

List of Figures
Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure 1: Applied Styles menu in Formatting toolbar...........................................................10 2: Applied Styles menu in the Frames toolbar...........................................................10 3: Styles and Formatting window.............................................................................. 11 4: Style type icons in the Styles and Formatting window..........................................11 5: View filter in the Styles and Formatting window. .................................................12 6: Page styles in the status bar.................................................................................. 14 7: Paragraph Style dialog box................................................................................... 15 8: Table toolbar......................................................................................................... 16 9: New Dictionary dialog box in Language Settings.................................................22 10: Delete comment under the comment menu........................................................24 11: Versions dialog box............................................................................................. 25

Section 1: Introducing LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

LibreOffice Productivity Suite is a set of personal productivity applications developed and published by The Document Foundation, that is a free, open-source alternative to proprietary office products. LibreOffice is compatible with other major office suites and available on a variety of platforms1. It is developed by a community of volunteers who contribute their time and skills to improving and supporting the software. If you would like to volunteer to help make LibreOffice even better, go to: http://www.documentfoundation.org/contribution/. This document is a user guide to LibreOffice Writer intended for technical and professional writers. It describes how to access the features of the software that are most important to technical writers. Basic procedures, illustrations, and scenarios are used to help navigate the interface. Scenarios demonstrate typical operations that a technical writer may need to perform with LibreOffice Writer. They are meant to guide the user to the parts of the interface where they can perform specific tasks, but where a detailed description of all possible variations for that type of operation would be too long. The following is an example of a scenario used in this guide:

Bob loves using LibreOffice, but his boss and all his co-workers use Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office has limited support for OpenDocument format. How can Bob change his default save format to Office's .doc to more efficiently interact with his co-workers?

Who This Guide is for

This guide assumes that users are experienced using word-processing software, and it is best suited to first-time users of LibreOffice Writer who are familiar with using advanced features in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org, or other word-processing applications. This guide does not cover basic operations such as saving and loading files or applying character formats. For instructions on basic operations or further help with any of the topics covered, please consult the main LibreOffice User Guides located at: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation or consult the help system. The help system can be accessed by going to Help > LibreOffice Help or pressing F1.
Some help files may not have been updated from the OpenOffice.org help files. We have tried to do our best to test the information used in this guide, and to provide you with the most-accurate information possible.

Note

LibreOffice User Guide: Introducing LibreOffice, p. 5

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Where to Get the Beta

Caution The beta contains errors, and is not intended for production use. We have
tried to document common errors, and to provide appropriate warnings to procedures that risk triggering them.

LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 2 is available at: http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/. For Windows and Mac OS/X, the beta is available as a self-extracting installer. The beta is provided to Linux users in .deb and .rpm files available in 32-bit and-64 bit versions. Source code is also available as a tarball (tar.gz) archive 2.
The Windows version is an international version, but the Mac OS/X and Linux versions are English only3. Mac OS/X and Linux users can download language packs at: http://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/testing/3.3.0-beta2/ You may notice display errors such as misplaced characters and

Note

Caution disappearing text. They are caused by some fonts with pair kerning

enabled. These do not affect the content of your files, but they do appear in print. You can disable pair kerning by selecting Format > Character > Position and unchecking Pair Kerning4.

Installation Assistance
Installation instructions for the various supported operating systems are available at: http://download.LibreOffice/common/instructions.html. Users requiring further assistance with installation or other issues can subscribe to the user support mailing list, and e-mail their questions to users@libreoffice.org. (To subscribe to the list, send an empty e-mail to users+subscribe@libreoffice.org, and then follow the instructions that will be mailed back to you.)

2 3 4

http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/ http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/ http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34752&start=0

Section 1: Introducing LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Section 2: Supported File Formats, Compatibility, and Exporting Files to PDF

By default, LibreOffice Writer saves documents to the OpenDocument (.odt) file format5. LibreOffice can open and save files in a large number of formats. The following section details which file formats are supported partially or fully in LibreOffice Writer. It also provides instructions for changing the default file format and exporting files to PDF.

Fully Supported Formats OpenDocument Text6 (.odt); OpenDocument Text Template (.ott); OpenDocument Master Document (.odm); Rich Text Format (.rtf); HTML Document (.html); HTML Document Template (.oth); LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org Extension (.oxt). Compatibility with Older OpenDocument Formats
For compatibility, LibreOffice Writer can open and save documents in older OpenDocument formats7. It has support for the following OpenDocument versions:

ODF 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.2 Extended; OpenOffice.org 1.0 Text Document (.sxw); OpenOffice.org 1.0 Text Document Template (.stw).

Compatibility with Microsoft Office Formats8

LibreOffice Writer can open and save files in Microsoft's Office Open XML Document format (.docx), but .docx files saved with Writer may contain formatting errors when opened in Microsoft Word. Writer can open and save files in Microsoft Word Document format (.doc). Writer can save files in formats compatible with older versions of Microsoft Word including 6.0, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, and XP. LibreOffice suite can open (but not save) files created with the following of Microsoft's Office Open XML formats: .docm, .pptx, and .xslx. LibreOffice does not support all of the features of Microsoft Office. While opening Microsoft Word documents in LibreOffice Writer does not affect the content of your documents, some formatting features may appear incorrectly. The help file About Converting Microsoft Office Documents has more information on which features are not supported.

Note

5 6

Help File (F1): XML Formats. Documents in OpenDocument file format (.odt) are stored as compressed zip archives that contain XML files. For more information on this see the section XML File Structure in the help file XML Formats. Help File: XML Formats. Help File: About Converting Microsoft Office Documents.

7 8

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Exporting Files as PDF

LibreOffice Writer can save files to Portable Document Format (PDF) version 1.4 9. To save a file to PDF: 1) Select File > Export as PDF. The PDF Options dialog box appears, which allows you to set your preferences for the PDF file. For a detailed description of the PDF Options dialog see the help file Export as PDF. 2) Click Export to save your file as a PDF.

Changing the Default File Format

Bob loves using LibreOffice, but his boss and all his co-workers use Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office has limited support for OpenDocument format. How can Bob change his default saving format to Office's .doc, so that he can interact more efficiently with his co-workers? 1) Select Tools > Options. 2) In the menu on the left, select Load/Save > General. 3) From the Always save as drop-down menu, select Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP. 4) Click OK.

Help File: Export as PDF.

Section 2: Supported File Formats, Compatibility, and Exporting Files to PDF

Section 3: Working with Styles

Writer is a great tool for working with styles in a document. In addition to the standard paragraph and character styles available in other common word processors, Writer includes frame, page, and list styles.

Finding Styles
There are two methods to find styles:

You can select styles from the Applied Styles menu. You can display the Styles and Formatting window and choose styles from there.

Selecting Styles from the Applied Styles Menu

This method provides quick access to a list of paragraph styles applied in the document. 1) Click on the Applied Styles drop-down menu in the Formatting toolbar.

Figure 1: Applied Styles menu in Formatting toolbar.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 2 )

Note

The Applied Styles menu can display other types of styles depending on what type of object you select in the document. If you were to select a graphic, for example, the Applied Styles menu would display frame styles in the Frames toolbar instead of the Formatting toolbar.

Figure 2: Applied Styles menu in the Frames toolbar.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

Accessing the Styles and Formatting Window

The Styles and Formatting window displays a list of all styles. There are several methods for opening this window:

Either click on the Styles and Formatting icon toolbar; or select Format > Styles and Formatting; or press F11.

in the Formatting

The Styles and Formatting window contains all styles, categorized by type. When you initially open the window, it lists paragraph styles.

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LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Figure 3: Styles and Formatting window.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

Tip

The Styles and Formatting window can be docked by dragging it to the left or right-hand sides of the document window.

Viewing Styles by Type

The Styles and Formatting window sorts styles according to their type. Click one of the first five icons in the window. There is one icon for each type of style, as shown in Figure 3. When selected, an icon displays a list of styles below it.

1 2 3 4 5

Paragraph Styles Character Styles Frame Styles Page Styles List Styles

Figure 4: Style type icons in the Styles and Formatting window.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

Paragraph and character styles function similar to those in other word processors. Paragraph styles control a paragraph's text alignment, tab stops, line spacing, borders, and character formats. Character styles control such attributes as font, font size, color, italics, and boldfacing. Frame styles control such attributes as borders, backgrounds, columns, and text wrapping. Page styles control such things as margins, headers and footers, borders, and backgrounds. List styles control the alignment, list characters, and fonts of numbered or bulleted lists10.

10 LibreOffice Writer Guide: Introduction to Styles, p. 5. Section 3: Working with Styles 11

Setting View Filters for Styles

The view filter refines which styles are visible in the Styles and Formatting window. To change your view filter options: 1) Click the drop-down menu at the bottom of the window. A list of filter options appears.

Figure 5: View filter in the Styles and Formatting window.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

2) Click your desired selection to view styles in that category. For example, Applied Styles shows styles that have already been used in the document, while Custom Styles shows any styles that someone has added to the document.

Applying Styles
Applying Paragraph Styles
There are three methods for applying paragraph styles:

You can select styles from the Applied Styles menu. You can open the Styles and Formatting window, and choose styles from the window. You can use the Format Paintbrush function.

From the Applied Styles Menu 1) Select a paragraph by highlighting it or clicking anywhere inside it. 2) Select a style from the Applied Styles menu in the Formatting toolbar. The formatting changes to the selected style. From the Styles and Formatting Window There are two ways to apply paragraph styles in the Styles and Formatting window. The first method is the easiest way to apply paragraph styles.

1) Select a paragraph by highlighting it or clicking anywhere inside it.

Tip

You can highlight several paragraphs at once.

2) Double-click a style in the Styles and Formatting window. The formatting changes to the selected style. The second method is effective for applying styles to several paragraphs at once. 1) Select a style in the Styles and Formatting window.
12 LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

2) Find and click the Fill Format Mode icon in the Styles and Formatting window. The mouse cursor changes to a paint bucket. This allows you to apply the selected style. 3) To apply the selected style, click inside any paragraph, or highlight one or more paragraphs. 4) Click when you are done applying the style.

Using the Format Paintbrush Function The Format Paintbrush function allows you to a select a paragraph and apply its style to another paragraph.

1) Select a paragraph by clicking anywhere inside it. 2) Click the Format Paintbrush icon in the standard toolbar. The mouse cursor changes to a paint bucket. This allows you to apply the style of the selected paragraph. 3) Click inside any paragraph to apply the style. The mouse cursor returns to normal after the style has been applied once.

Applying Character Styles

From the Styles and Formatting Window Character styles are applied through the Styles and Formatting window, using one of two methods. The first is the easiest way to apply character styles.

1) Select a block of text by highlighting it. 2) Double-click a style in the Styles and Formatting window. The formatting changes to the selected style. The second method is effective for quickly applying a character style to several parts of a document. 1) Select a style in the Styles and Formatting window. 2) Find and click the Fill Format Mode icon in the Styles and Formatting window. The mouse cursor changes to a paint bucket. You can now apply the selected style. 3) Apply the selected style by highlighting a block of text. 4) Click when you are done applying the style.

Applying Default Formatting There are two ways to remove an applied character style from a block of text:

Highlight the text, then right-click and select Default Formatting.

Default Formatting may not work properly with LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 211. Later releases will resolve this issue.

Caution

11 http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/libreoffice-bugs/2010-November/000653.html Section 3: Working with Styles 13

Highlight the text, then double-click the default character style in the Styles and Formatting window.

Applying Frame Styles

Frame styles are applied through the Styles and Formatting window, similarly to paragraph and character styles.
From the Styles and Formatting Window 1) Select a frame. 2) Double-click a style in the Styles and Formatting window. The formatting changes to the selected style.

Applying Page Styles

There are two methods for applying page styles:

You can select a style from the status bar menu. You can use the Styles and Formatting window.

From the Status Bar Menu The status bar, which is at the bottom of the document window, identifies which page style is currently applied.

Figure 6: Page styles in the status bar.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 2 )

1) Right-click the page style in the status bar. 2) Select a style from the menu. The page formatting changes to the selected style.
From the Styles and Formatting Window 1) Select a page, by clicking anywhere inside it. 2) Double-click on a style in the Styles and Formatting window. The formatting changes to the selected style.

Modifying Styles
There are three ways to modify an existing style in a document:

You can use the Paragraph Style dialog box. You can update a style, based on the current selection. You can activate the AutoUpdate function (this works for paragraph and frame styles only).

Using the Paragraph Style Box

This method works for altering any type of style. 1) Right-click a style in the Styles and Formatting window, and select Modify from the menu. The Paragraph Style dialog box appears, which contains all the possible formats for a particular style.

14

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Figure 7: Paragraph Style dialog box.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

Updating Styles from a Selection

This method works for modifying any type of style. 1) Edit the formatting of an object (paragraph, character, frame or page). 2) Select the object by highlighting it or clicking anywhere inside it. 3) Click the New Style from Selection icon from the Styles and Formatting window, and select Update Style. The style is updated based on the changes made to the selection. This method works for every type of style.

Using AutoUpdate (Paragraph and Frame Styles Only)

AutoUpdate automatically updates paragraph and frame styles when you manually make changes to the styling of the paragraph in which the insertion point is currently positioned. 1) Right-click a style in the Styles and Formatting window, and select Modify. The Styles dialog box opens. 2) Select the Organizer tab in the Styles dialog box. 3) Put a checkmark in the AutoUpdate checkbox. 4) Click the OK button in the dialog box. To deactivate AutoUpdate, simply follow the above steps, but uncheck the AutoUpdate checkbox in step 3.

Section 3: Working with Styles

15

Section 4: Working with Tables and Graphics

Working with Tables
Tables can be added and manipulated via the Table toolbar, shown below. The Table toolbar displays automatically whenever you create a new table or click inside an existing table. To show the Table toolbar:

Select View > Toolbars > Table.

Figure 8: Table toolbar.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Create Table Line Style Border Color Borders Background Color Merge Cells Split Cells 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Optimize Top Alignment Center Alignment Bottom Alignment Add Row Add Column Delete Row 15 16 17 18 19 Delete Column AutoFormat Table Properties Column Sort Sum

Inserting a Table
1) Select Table > Insert Table, or press Ctrl+F12. 2) Set the size of the table via the Insert Table dialog box. In the Options section of the Insert Table dialog box, you can set and customize a table heading, toggle borders on or off, disable table splitting across pages, and access the AutoFormatting options. For more information on configuring table options, see the help file Convert Text to Table. 3) Click OK.

Customizing Table Borders and Shading

Susan is compiling a table of specifications for her employer's product. Her company's style guidelines for tables require that the first row of the table should have vertical and horizontal borders but the rest of of the table should have and a 40% gray background, while the rest the table should no shading, vertical borders separating the columns, and the have no shading, should have vertical borders separating horizontal and vertical outer borders.and vertical outer borders. columns, and should have horizontal How can she accomplish this? 1) Highlight the top row of the table. 2) Click on the Background Color icon in the Table toolbar, and select Gray 40% from the color options. 3) Highlight the rest of the table.
16 LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

4) Select Table > Table Properties. The Table Format dialog box opens. 5) From the Borders tab, click the Set Outside Border Only icon . 6) In the User-defined section, click in the middle of the table until the center vertical line is dotted. 7) Click OK.

Merging, Adding, and Deleting Cells

Merge Cells Merges cells together in a table. Add Row or Add Column Adds a row or column to a table. Delete Row or Delete Column Deletes a row or column in a table.

Working with Graphics

Writer allows you to import graphics into your document in two ways. You can either import a graphic file directly into your document, or you can import a link (or reference) to the file.

Importing Graphics Directly into a Document

1) Select Insert > Picture > From File. The Insert picture dialog box opens. 2) Use the file browser to locate and select the desired file. Before you import your file, you can apply a style to it, by using the Style dropdown menu at the bottom of the Insert picture dialog box. 3) Click Open.
By Link (Reference) Check to import graphics by inserting a link (or reference) to the file.

Caution Graphics inserted via a link will be updated every time the document is

updated or loaded12. Changing the file names or directories of image files will cause the images not to appear in documents that link to them.

Using Anchors to Position Graphics

Using anchors, you can set the placement of an image so that it will remain in its proper position, even if you make further changes to the document 13. Writer supports the following types of anchors:
12 Help File: Inserting, Editing, Saving Bitmaps. 13 Help File: Positioning Objects.

Section 4: Working with Tables and Graphics

17

As Character: allows you to place images in between characters in your text. To Character: anchors the selected item to a character in the text14. To Paragraph: anchors the selected item to stay attached to a paragraph in the text. To Page: anchors the selected item to a fixed location on the current page, so that it will not move regardless of any changes made to the document. To Frame: places the item inside a frame. For more information on frames, see the help file Inserting, Editing, and Linking Text Frames.

Anchoring a Graphic to a Character, Paragraph, or Page

1) Right-click inside the graphic and select Anchor, and then select an anchor option: To Character, To Paragraph, or To Page. The anchor icon appears at the location where your graphic is anchored. To change its direction: drag the image to a location, ensure the anchor is attached to the correct location, and then drop the image into position.

Anchoring a Graphic to a Frame

Anchoring a graphic to a frame allows you to build styles that automatically add borders or other formatting features to your images. There are two ways to anchor a graphic to a frame.

You can apply a frame style to your image from the Styles and Formatting window. You can right-click inside the graphic and select Anchor > To Frame. You may now adjust the position of your image by moving the frame. The image inherits formatting settings from the frame, such as text wrapping and borders.

Adding a Caption

Caution There is a known bug when working with captions in Writer15. Adding a
caption to an image may cause Writer to crash. Be careful to save your files before adding captions.

1) Right-click inside a graphic, and select Caption. 2) In the Caption dialog, enter the caption text into the Caption field. 3) Set your preferences for the caption, then click OK. For more information on captions, see the help file Caption.

14 Help File: Positioning Objects.

15 http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/ 18 LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Section 5: Working with Headers, Footers, Page Numbering, and Page Orientation
A header is an area at the top margin of a page, and a footer is an area at the bottom margin of a page. A header or footer is a good place to put information such as, page number, document title, chapter title, author name, date, and a logo or other graphic. The content of a header or footer will be displayed or printed with a consistent presentation from page to page.

Working with Headers and Footers

Inserting a Header or Footer
1) Select Insert > Header or Footer, then select Default for a standard empty header or footer, or select another page style from the sub-menu. For more information on working with page styles, see the help file Creating and Applying Page Styles.

Deleting a Header or Footer

There are two ways to delete a header or footer. You can: 1) Select Insert > Header or Footer, then select the header or footer you wish to delete. 2) Click Yes to confirm. Or, you can: 1) Select Format > Page. The Page Style dialog box opens. 2) Select the Header or Footer tab. 3) Un-check Header on or Footer on. 4) Click Yes to confirm, and then Click OK.

Formatting Headers and Footers

You can customize the header or footer, by formatting text, margins, spacing, height, border, or background. 1) Select Format > Page. The Page Style dialog box opens. 2) 3) 4) 5) Select the Header or Footer tab. Check Header on or Footer on. Set your preferences for the header or footer. Click OK. For more information on headers and footers, see the help files Header and Footer.

Inserting Page Numbers into Headers and Footers

1) Click inside the header or footer. 2) Select Insert > Fields > Page Number.

Section 5: Working with Headers, Footers, Page Numbering, and Page Orientation

19

Working with Page Numbering

Restarting Page Numbering Between Sections
Often, you will want to restart page numbering within a document. For example, you may want to restart the page numbering of pages that come after the table of contents; or, in documents with multiple chapters, you may want to restart the page numbering each time there is a change of chapter. There are two ways to restart page numbering. You can: 1) Click at the position where you would like to begin a new page. 2) Select Format > Paragraph. The Paragraph dialog box opens. 3) In the Text Flow tab, check the Insert checkbox. 4) Put a checkmark in the With Page Style checkbox, and choose a page style from the drop-down menu. 5) Select the page position, setting it to Before or After. 6) Select the page number that you wish to start from. 7) Click OK. Alternatively, you can: 1) Click at the position where you would like to begin a new page. 2) Select Insert > Manual Break. The Insert Break dialog box opens. 3) Select Page Break. 4) From the Style drop-down menu, select a page style. 5) Put a checkmark in the Change page number checkbox, and select the page number that you want to start from. 6) Click OK.

Changing Page Orientation

Writer makes it easy to change the document page orientation. By default, the page orientation is set to portrait. But, sometimes, within the same document, you will want to have some pages with portrait orientation and some pages with landscape orientation.

Change all Pages to Landscape or Portrait

1) Select Format > Page. The Page Style dialog box opens. 2) From the Page tab, select Portrait or Landscape. 3) Click OK. For more information on working with page orientation, see the help file Changing Page Orientation.

20

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Section 6: Working with Table of Contents and Indexes

Writer is a great tool for creating table of contents, and for inserting customdesigned indexes in a document, with alphabetical sorting of the terms and topics included.

Creating a Table of Contents

1) Select Insert > Indexes and Tables > Indexes and Tables. The Insert Index/Table dialog box opens. 2) From the Index/Table tab, select Table of Contents under the Type dropdown menu. You can customize the table of contents to be generated per document or per chapter. You can also create one from an outline, style, or index marker. 3) Click OK. For more information on tables of contents see the help file Tables of Contents.

Creating an Alphabetical Index

You can create an index for a block of text. 1) Select Insert > Indexes and Tables > Indexes and Tables. The Insert Index/Table dialog box opens. 2) From the Index/Table tab, select Alphabetical Index from the Text dropdown menu. 3) Click OK. For more information on Indexes, see the help file Indexes.

Updating a Table of Contents or Index

There are two methods to update a table of contents or an index:

You can right-click anywhere in the table or index, and select Update Index/Table. Or, you can select Tools > Update > All Indexes and Tables.

Creating a Index Marker

1) Select a block of text by highlighting it or simply clicking anywhere inside it. 2) Select Insert > Indexes and Tables > Entry. The selected word appears in the Entry field as your index marker name. You can edit the index marker name by changing the name in the Entry field. 3) Click Insert, then click Close.

Section 6: Working with Table of Contents and Indexes

21

Section 7: Working with Editing Tools, Record Changes, and Version Control
Writer contains a number of features that help users work collaboratively on documents. These features include a spelling and grammar checker, a find-andreplace tool, document version control, file locks, and a document changes-tracking feature.

Accessing the Spelling and Grammar Checker

Writer marks spelling errors with red underlining, and marks grammatical errors with blue underlining. To access the Spelling and Grammar checker: 1) Select Tools > Spelling and Grammar, or press F7. The Spelling and Grammar dialog box displays. In addition to the normal Change and Ignore options, the Spelling and Grammar dialog box allows you to set the language used for spelling for the particular document you are working on: you choose the language via the Text Language drop-down menu. You can also use the Options menu to set your default preferences for spelling, grammar, and custom dictionaries, for each new document you create.

Creating a User-Defined Dictionary

The spelling and grammar checker works with a number of pre-installed dictionaries, and can also work with user-created dictionaries. To create a new dictionary: 1) Select Tools > Options. The Options dialog box opens. 2) Select Language Settings > Writing Aids. 3) In the User-defined dictionaries section, select New. The New Dictionary dialog box opens.

Figure 9: New Dictionary dialog box in Language Settings.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

4) Enter the name of your custom dictionary. Selecting a language from the Language drop-down menu prevents that dictionary from being used with documents from other languages. Selecting [All] allows that dictionary to be used regardless of the current language settings for a document16. Selecting Exceptions (-) allows you to create a dictionary that will mark words that you would like to avoid using in your documents 17.
16 Help File: Writing Aids. 17 Help File: Writing Aids. 22 LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

5) Click OK to save your user-defined dictionary. You may now add words to your dictionary by using the Add drop-down menu in the Spelling and Grammar dialog.

Accessing Find & Replace

Find & Replace in Writer allows you to quickly locate specific words, phrases, or text in a document, and then automatically replace them with new content. To access Find & Replace: 1) Select Edit > Find & Replace, or press Ctrl+F. The Find & Replace dialog box opens.

Using Find and Replace Based on Styles

Bob's manager tells him that the template for the documents he has been working on has changed. The Heading 1 style is now being used for the title, so section headings need a Heading 2 style. Is there an easy and quick way Bob can do this? 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) From the Find & Replace dialog box, click on the More Options button. Check Search for Styles. In the Search for drop-down menu, select Heading 1. In the Replace with drop-down menu, select Heading 2. Click the Replace All button. All text with a Heading 1 style changes to a Heading 2 style and is highlighted.

Working with Record (Track) Changes

Writer can record changes made to a document including text additions, deletions, alterations, or formatting changes18. To begin recording changes to a document: 1) Select Edit > Changes > Record. After you begin recording changes, Writer will mark up any changes to your document. To change the mark-up formatting, select Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Changes.
Your comments and changes are labeled with your user-name. To change your user-name, select Tools > Options > LibreOffice > User Data and enter your name in the First/Last name/Initials field.

Tip

Accepting or Rejecting Changes

1) Select Edit > Changes > Accept or Reject. The Accept or Reject Changes dialog box appears. The List tab shows changes made to your document by all authors. The Filter tab allows you to show only comments, or to filter the changes shown on the List tab (by author, date, or type of change). 2) In the List tab, double-click the change you would like to accept or reject.
18 Help File: Recording Changes. Section 7: Working with Editing Tools, Record Changes, and Version Control 23

Your document view jumps to the selected change. 3) Press the Accept or Reject button. Based on your selection, the change is either made to the document or deleted. Writer automatically highlights and jumps to the next change. You can also accept or reject all changes to your document, by selecting Accept All or Reject All.

Showing/Hiding Changes
When changes are hidden, Writer shows the original version of the document before any changes were made. To switch between showing and hiding changes: 1) Select Edit > Changes > Show.

Adding Comments
1) Click where you want to insert a comment. 2) Select Insert > Comment, or Ctrl+Alt+N. 3) Type your comment, then click anywhere inside the document to continue editing.

Deleting Comments
1) Click the arrow on the right side of the comment and select Delete Comment.

Figure 10: Delete comment under the comment menu.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

Showing/Hiding Comments
1) Select View > Comments.

Using Document Comparison

With document comparison, you can look at two versions of a document, and Writer will highlight and list the differences between versions. To compare two documents: 1) Open your original document. 2) Select Edit > Compare Document. The Insert dialog box opens. 3) Select the new version of the document from the file browser. 4) Click Insert. The document looks as if the changes between versions were made with Record Changes. The Accept or Reject Changes dialog box also displays, with a list of all changes between versions.

24

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Accessing Version Management

With version management, you can save multiple versions of a document in the same file19. You can also compare two different versions of a document, and set Writer to automatically save a new version of your document when closing the file.

Saving a New Version of Your Document

1) Select File > Versions. The Versions dialog box opens. 2) Click the Save New Version button. The Insert Version comment dialog box displays, in which you can attach a comment to the new version of the document. 3) Click OK to confirm. Your new version should appear in the Existing versions list. To set Writer to automatically save a new version when you close the file or exit the program, check Always save a version on closing, next to the Save New Version button.

The Versions Dialog Box

Figure 11: Versions dialog box.

(LibreOffice 3.3 Beta Release 3)

Open

Opens the selected version in a new window.

Delete Deletes the selected version. Compare Compares differences between the version that is currently open and the selected version. A list of changes between document versions displays in the Accept or Reject Changes dialog box.

19 Help File: Versions. Section 7: Working with Editing Tools, Record Changes, and Version Control 25

Section 8: File Locks and Password Protection

Working with File Locks
When working with a file in Writer, a lock file is generated. This file prevents two users from opening a file at the same time. Lock files appear as hidden files in the same folder as the original file. An example of a lock file for the file Example.odt would be named: .~lock.Example.odt# When a user opens files that are already open on another user's computer, the Document in Use dialog box opens, reporting that the file is locked for editing by the first user. From this dialog box, you can open a copy of the document in read-only mode, or you can open a copy for editing (after working on the document, you will have to save it under another name). File locks are automatically deleted when the document is closed.

Note

If a file lock associated with a file on which you were the last person to work is not automatically deleted, you can ignore the file lock by pressing the Open button in the Document in Use dialog box.

Saving Files with Password Protection

Writer allows you to save a file with a password. This option is only available for files saved in OpenDocument formats or the older OpenOffice.org 1.x formats 20.

Password Locking a Document

Caution Writer uses encryption to password protect files. For this reason,

documents protected with a password cannot be opened without the correct password. Therefore, take care to remember your passwords.

1) Select File > Save As. The Save As dialog box opens. 2) Put a checkmark beside the Save with Password checkbox. The Set Password dialog box opens. If you select More Options, you can set a password to protect the document from being edited (this is a password in addition to the main password). If this editing password is not entered, the file can only be opened in read-only mode. 3) Type the password you would like to use for your file, in the Enter password to open field, and then re-type it in the Confirm password field, to confirm that you entered it correctly. 4) Click OK. The next time that the file is opened, a dialog box displays, prompting the user to enter the password to access the file.

20 LibreOffice User Guide: Introducing LibreOffice, p. 20. 26 LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

Index
A Accept or Reject Changes Dialog...............23 Anchors.......................................................... As Character..........................................18 To Character..........................................18 To Frame................................................18 To Page..................................................18 To Paragraph..........................................18 Applied Styles Menu...................................10 AutoUpdate................................................14 C Caption.......................................................18 Caption Dialog............................................18 Comments...................................................24 Compatibility.................................................. Microsoft Office........................................8 Older Open Document Formats...............8 Supported Formats..................................8 D Default Save Format....................................... Changing.................................................. 9 Default Save Format................................8 Document Comparison...............................24 Document in Use Dialog.............................26 Downloading LibreOffice............................. 7 E Editing........................................................22 Extension Files.............................................8 F File Formats................................................... .doc...........................................................8 .docm........................................................8 .docx.........................................................8 .html.........................................................8 .odm.........................................................8 .odt...........................................................8 .oth...........................................................8 .ott............................................................8 .oxt...........................................................8 .pdf...........................................................9 .pptx.........................................................8 .rtf............................................................8 .stw...........................................................8 .sxw..........................................................8 .xslx..........................................................8 File Locks...................................................26 Find............................................................23 Find & Replace............................................... Accessing...............................................23 Styles......................................................23 Find & Replace Dialog................................23 Format Paintbrush......................................13 G Graphics......................................................... Adding a Caption....................................18
Import by Link........................................17 Import by Reference..............................17 Importing...............................................17

H Headers and Footers...................................... Deleting..................................................19 Formatting.............................................19 Inserting.................................................19 Inserting Page Numbers........................19 HTML Document..........................................8 HTML Document Template..........................8 I Insert Picture Dialog..................................17 Insert Table Dialog.....................................16 Installation...................................................7 L Language Packs............................................7 O OpenDocument Master Document...............8 OpenDocument Text.....................................8 OpenDocument Text Template.....................8 P Page Numbering............................................. Inserting into Headers and Footers.......19 Restarting...............................................20 Page Orientation.........................................20 Paragraph Style Dialog...............................14 Password Protection...................................26 PDF Options Dialog......................................9 R Record Changes............................................. Accepting or Rejecting Changes............23 Adding Comments..................................24 Deleting Comments................................24 Document Comparison...........................24 Showing and Hiding Comments.............24 Showing or Hiding Changes...................24 Starting..................................................23 Rich Text Format..........................................8 S Saving Files to PDF......................................9 Set Password Dialog...................................26 Spelling and Grammar................................... Accessing...............................................22 User-Defined Dictionary.........................22 Spelling and Grammar Dialog....................22 Styles.............................................................. Applying.................................................12 AutoUpdate............................................15 Character Styles.....................................13 Frame Styles..........................................14 Modifying...............................................14 Page Styles.............................................14 Paragraph Styles....................................12 Updating................................................15

Index

27

View Filters............................................12 Styles and Formatting Window.. . .10, 12, 14, 15, 18 T Tables............................................................. AutoFormatting......................................16 Borders and Shading..............................16 Inserting.................................................16 Merge Cells............................................17

Table Toolbar.........................................16 Track Changes............................................23 U User Data...................................................23 User-name..................................................23 V Version Management..................................25 Versions Dialog...........................................25

28

LibreOffice 3.3 for Technical Writers

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The Document Foundation. LibreOffice Productivity Suite. http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/. November 14, 2010. The Document Foundation. LibreOffice Writer. http://www.documentfoundation.org. Vers. 3.2.99.2. October 12, 2010. The Document Foundation. Positioning Object. LibreOffice Help. LibreOffice Writer. The Document Foundation. Vers. 3.2.99.2. October 12, 2010. The Document Foundation. Recording Changes. LibreOffice Help. LibreOffice Writer. The Document Foundation. Vers. 3.2.99.2. October 12, 2010. The Document Foundation. The Document Foundation Wiki. November 11, 2010. http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation The Document Foundation. November 13, 2010. The Document Foundation. The Libreoffice-bugs Archives. http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/libreoffice-bugs/. November 14, 2010. The Document Foundation. Unable to add caption to tables and images. Bug #31365. http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/libreoffice-bugs/2010 November/000638.html. November 3, 2010. The Document Foundation. Writing Aids. LibreOffice Help. LibreOffice Writer. The Document Foundation. Vers. 3.2.99.2. October 12, 2010.
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