Getting back to the Start screen

users
#1

Is it possible to have a button on my toolbar that will bring back to start
screen?

David

#2

If by "start screen" you mean you mean all program windows minimized so the
desktop is shown just as it appears after logging on to the computer then
yes it would be possible.

It would require a macro that talks to Windows (if that's what you're
using) and tells it to minimize all open windows.

The same thing can be done without writing a macro. Press the "Windows
key"+D key combination and all windows are minimized. Press it again and
the windows are all restored. "Windows key" is the key next to the space
bar with the small flag on it. The key combination will work even if you're
not using LO.

A LO macro to do this would have to send the "Windows key"+D command to
Windows. That's something I don't know how to do. Hopefully the keyboard
combination I've mentioned would be sufficient for your needs.

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
maybe one in
Tools - Customise
then in the pop-up dialogue maybe around
Toolbars - Add
Somewhere in the list of buttons/functionality might be soemthing
interesting

Sorry i don't know the exact right one! or even if it exists
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

Hi :slight_smile:
I was wondering if the David meant the splash screen you get when
LIbreOffice is open but no documents are showing.

In many OSes if you click on the 'button' that appears on the task-bar /
launcher / whatever then that kinda minimises LibreOffice and gets back to
the desktop. If you are Mac or a Gnu&Linux then you can switch to a
different "workspace".

If David meant the "Start Screen" on Windows 8 then i haven't a clue.

It's all a bit unclear which OS and which "start screen"
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#5

I'm sorry guys, I hadn't thought that there would be any confusion.

What I am talking about is the start screen that appears when I start LO,
the one with a graphic representation of recently opened files and access to
templates and creating new documents etc. I tend to use a few files
regularly and find the graphics much easier to select than filenames in the
open dialog or getting to the templates dialog.

Some may differ but surely the option should be there? So much effort has
gone into the start screen and yet it is only available when LO opens the
first time.

Regards
David

#6

Then you may find this useful:
o Click on the down-arrow at the right end of the Standard toolbar.
o Select Visible Buttons >.
o Tick Load URL.

The additional toolbar item will accumulate recently used file names and give you a quick route to your few regularly used files. Note that you will need to activate this item separately in the separate components Writer, Calc, and so on if desired.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

#7

This suggestion doesn't display the LO start screen you're referring to,
however it does provide a button to access recently used files.

In all my LO applications there is a button very close to the left end of
the toolbar that looks like an open folder. Immediately to the right of
that button is a small down arrow.

Clicking that arrow opens a list of recently used files.

The list shows *all* recently used LO files. In other words it doesn't
filter the list to display only Writer files or only Calc files if that's
what I'm currently using.

The "Folder" button and adjacent arrow are there by default, I didn't add
it. So presumably it is there for you as well. Hovering the mouse over the
folder or adjacent down arrow activates both and displays the message "Open
(Ctrl+O)"

#8

Hi :slight_smile:
Grrr, pressed the send button instead of delete! Sorry!

Hi :slight_smile:
I only get that down-arrow / chevrons when i un-fullscreen lIbreOffice and
make it small enough that not all the items on the toolbar are visible.

That url / search-box, with it's drop-down is really neat! I like it a
lot! :slight_smile: But it's a lot like the list in the

File - "Recent Documents"

and not at all like the graphics in the all-new splash screen we get when
we start LibreOffice. It might be worth posting a "feature request" to see
if the url-bar thing could be modified to make it more consistent with the
splash-screen or if it could be an option for it or if the splash-screen
could be accessed some other way.

Tbh i never pay much attention to the splash screen on programs. Hmm, it's
not really a splash screen at all is it? That appears earlier. I think
you are right calling it the "start up screen".
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#9

Thanks for your responses. I think that LO is missing a trick on not having
the possibility of accessing their start screen.

David

#10

Hi :slight_smile:
+1
I agree. It is more of an issue now the start screen is so much nicer
looking and more useful. Posting a feature-request through the bug-report
system would be fantastic. Ideally with someone who feels fairly strongly
about it rather than someone good at coding. David, are you up for it?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#11

Hi Tom

I've been on to bugzilla and logged this as an enhancement.

TomD wrote

David, are you up for it?

Makes the process sound like the start of Bilbo Baggins' epic adventure. I'm
big enough and old enough to take a bucket of **** from a haughty expert if
that's what you mean!

Regards
David

#12

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahh, it's more of a sit&wait rather than a glamorous adventure. I think
the US forces call it a "hurry up and wait". So now you've posted the
request it's best to just get on with other things and use work-arounds.

The devs aren't all that bad! Don't worry about buckets of anything. It's
more that when nothing happens for 6 months or 2 years and suddenly a
message appears that you have some vague hope of being able to remember
what it was about and maybe give them a response within a few weeks (within
days or even just hours is better but not really expected)

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#13

Thanks Tom. Actually it got an 'interested' comment from a dev within a
couple of hours. My comments were slightly tongue-in-cheek and I wasn't
necessarily suggesting that LO devs would be off-hand. Since moving to Linux
however I've found that bug handling sites can be belittling places for a
beginner, some forums likewise (yes, you, Mint on both counts). I haven't
honestly found LO forums anything other than helpful; wish I had something
to contribute back.

Regards
David

#14

​Tom, David, if I open a document in Writer, and it is the only such
document open in LO, and then close it with the *lower* of the two crosses
displayed at the far right, ​the LO start screen is displayed
automatically. The problem is that this behaviour is not entirely intuitive
; for example, if I first open a new empty document and then retrieve the
one which I'd like to edit by clicking the «Archive» icon in the toolbar,
that lower cross is no longer displayed with the document, and the latter
must now be closed by clicking the upper cross, which is the only one shown
on the screen - and which takes me back to the preceding, empty, document
(after which I can return to the LO start screen by clicking the lower
cross, which is now displayed). However, if I start from the LO start
screen and retrieve a recently used document by clicking its miniature
there, then both crosses *are* displayed with the document and closing it
by clicking the lower one returns me to the start screen. I suspect users
would find a lower cross which is always displayed and always closes the
document displayed and takes one back to the LO start screen, while the
upper cross is reserved for closing LO as a whole, more intuitive and
user-friendly....

Henri

#15

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks :))) That initial bite of interest might have been just the QA team
making sure the report is ready for the main devs. However it has been
known to get a devs interest that quickly = it really depends a lot on luck
(unless it's a security issue).
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#16

David, *,

The enhancement of returning to the Start Center at any point is actually a
reasonable idea.

But, always helpful if we post the link to the bug or enhancement request
entered in Bugzilla, that way all can follow along and comment there.

So that is fdo#77590 <https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=77590>
for this enhancement.

As noted by Cor on the enhancement request, as the last open document is
closed (without exiting LibreOffice)--the start screen (correctly known as
the Start Center) will reappear.

The Start Center evolved from the merging of the "Recent Documents menu"
(available in all frames) and the "Thumbnail views" of the Template manager
(on the Start Center, or from File -> Templates, or with <Ctrl><Shift>+n).

Enhancements to the the Recent Documents list are being tracked in
fdo#61174 <https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=61174>

Enhancements to the Start Center (merge of Recent Documents list with
Thumbnail views) in fdo#61914
<https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=61914> .

#17

Hi :slight_smile:
I agree with this too.

I think it is probably a different issue from the subject of this thread
though, at least as far as the devs probably see it. So it probably could
do with a separate feature-request. Perhaps put a link from each report to
the other to keep them close?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: