Yes I too am interested in this topic. Headers and footers are a major
OpenOffice weakness. I gave up and subscribed to the Microsoft Office online
service for Word but I'm willing to learn new OpenOffice tricks too.
Doug Hovelson
From: joel_ikenbe...@live.com
To: users@openoffice.apache.org
Subject: Transition to OpenOffice Writer
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 06:50:16 -0600
To Whom It May Concern:
I have been adjusting to OpenOffice Writer for a few weeks after losing my
Microsoft Word application, and I hope you can imagine how frustrated and
confused I am with this new software. As Microsoft Word is what I know, I
naturally approached Writer like I would Word. However, there are stark and
considerable differences between Writer and Word that I have inevitably
encountered. For example, there is apparently no vertical paragraph
alignment option in Writer, but there is in Word. As a writer, there are
many essential tools and options that I need from my word processor that I am
not finding or having trouble finding. I do refer to OpenOffice Wiki and the
Help Tool, however, there are many things the Wiki and the Help Tool do not
explain. For example, they do not explain how to apply a certain page-style.
I only stumbled across the fact that a page-style can only be applied by
inserting a manual page break.
I am struggling with how to format my documents to display various
page-numbers. I am a novelist and any guides I discover only pertain their
information to technical and business-style document formats. For example,
the guides on headers always go into great detail about customizing your
header and skip over the essential simple how-to-make a normal, average
everyday header that is not going to be viewed by a company CEO or graded by
a business education instructor. I am simply a writer writing a novel, and I
need my word processor to apply to me specifically.
Here is what I need to know how to do:
1. Format different page numbers- Title Page (no number)- Dedication Page (no
number)- Table of Contents (roman numerals)- Preface (roman numerals)-
Prologue through all chapters ( starting at page 1)- Acknowledgments
(continuing page numbers)- Appendices/Index (continuing page numbers)2.
Create a traditional Table of Contents (like in any other novel, no business
topics or sections and complete with a leader)3. Design headers to display
book name on one page, chapter title on the next, continuously4. Vertically
align a paragraph
Any information regarding these issues would be most certainly appreciated
and duly acknowledged. I am new to OpenOffice Writer, but I know I will be
just fine with it once I get my bearings. I also have another question
concerning file format and extensions. As a writer, I will have to eventually
electronically submit part or all of my manuscript to a Literary Agent and or
Publisher at some point and so the file extension will need to be in a format
usable by these organizations' software (most likely Word). Is the ODT file
format compatible with Word or do I need to save my documents under a
different format? This, above all else, is perhaps the most important
question because the others are useless without the file being able to
proceed. I thank you very much for your time, consideration, all manners of
things and especially for the development and availability of this software
to simple people like myself. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Joel S. Ikenberry