Sections are driving me nuts

users
#1

I have LO 3.5.7.2 on Xubuntu 12.04. I am creating a document that has
18 pages of front matter, after which I want to start page numbering (I
don't need numbers on the front matter). I want page 19 to be numbered
page 1.

Something seems to have happened between the last version of LO that I
used and this one. Now there are always a default footer and header that
appear when I mouse over them.

Page 21 starts with "Chapter 1" centered at the top of the page. I
placed the cursor in front of it and entered a section. However, doing
so added a line break so that "Chapter 1" is now on the second line. If
I delete the line break apparently it deletes the section marker. I'm
not sure of this, however, because I can't find a way to make section
markers visible. It might still be there, because if I try to insert a
section it shows Section 1 and assumes I want to label the new one
Section 2.

And assuming I can figure out how to enter a section without an added
line feed, or that my section is still there, how can I create a footer
that exists only in that section? And how do I enter a page number in
the footer with a -18 offset, because I already tried that and it won't
accept a negative number?

I tried the Help but it didn't explain any of these things. E.g., for
page number offset it just says "enter the number for the offset" - not
a word about negative numbers.

#2

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 15:50:11 -0700
John Jason Jordan <johnxj@comcast.net> dijo:

I have LO 3.5.7.2 on Xubuntu 12.04. I am creating a document that has
18 pages of front matter, after which I want to start page numbering (I
don't need numbers on the front matter). I want page 19 to be numbered
page 1.

OK, I figured out that the footer is turned on in the page style.
That's cool, because I want a left and right page style anyway. I
modified the default left and right page styles to turn on the footer.

Then I applied the right page style to page 19 and the left page style
to page 20, after which I noticed that Writer had thoughtfully applied
right and left page styles to all the remaining pages in the document.
Cool.

Unfortunately, Writer also applied right and left page styles to the
first 18 pages also, so they now have the footer on them as well. I
don't want the footer on the first 18 pages. So I applied Default page
style to the first page, after which I noted that Writer had
thoughtfully applied default to page 2, and 3, and 4 ... and continuing
to the end of the document. No! I want only pages 1 - 18 to have the
Default page style. So I went to page 19 and reapplied right page, and
to page 20 and applied left page, and again Writer applied them to the
first 18 pages as well.

After some poking around I discovered that is controlled by the
Organizer tab, where you stipulate the following style. Unfortunately,
the selection is a drop-down that contains only the styles that
currently exist. You must choose one of them. There is no "None of the
above" option. Whatever you select, as soon as you apply that page
style to a page the style specified in the Organizer for the next page
will automatically be applied to the end of the document.

What this boils down to is that all the pages in your document must
always be the same style.

Should I just give up on Writer for this project?

#3

try to insert page break at the end of "page 18" through the "insert -> manual break -> page break" from the menu bar  and let us know what happens. while inserting the page break, select the desired page style and start it with page no 1.

regards,

Dr Soumalya Ray <drsoumalya-ray@yahoo.co.in>
MBBS,MD(PGT-C.Medicine),Ex-HP(Medicine)

#4

Page 21 starts with "Chapter 1" centered at the top of the page. I placed the cursor in front of it and entered a section. However, doing so added a line break so that "Chapter 1" is now on the second line. If I delete the line break apparently it deletes the section marker. I'm not sure of this, however, because I can't find a way to make section
markers visible. It might still be there, because if I try to insert a section it shows Section 1 and assumes I want to label the new one Section 2.

I hesitate to say it, but I think you may be guilty of Microsoft-Word-think. What Word calls sections are actually section breaks, and you are speaking as if you are expecting Writer to behave similarly. But in Writer, sections do not break up the material but contain it. If you want your later pages to be in a section, you should select all that material before inserting the section - which will then contain that material. The earlier material would not be in a section, but the later material would. But sections are probably not what you need here.

And assuming I can figure out how to enter a section without an added line feed, or that my section is still there, how can I create a footer that exists only in that section?

Footers are a property of page styles, so its these you should be looking at.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

#5

OK, I figured out that the footer is turned on in the page style. That's cool, because I want a left and right page style anyway. I modified the default left and right page styles to turn on the footer.

Then I applied the right page style to page 19 and the left page style to page 20, after which I noticed that Writer had thoughtfully applied right and left page styles to all the remaining pages in the document. Cool.

The Left Page page style has Right Page set as its Next Style - and vice versa.

Unfortunately, Writer also applied right and left page styles to the first 18 pages also, so they now have the footer on them as well. I don't want the footer on the first 18 pages. So I applied Default page style to the first page, after which I noted that Writer had thoughtfully applied default to page 2, and 3, and 4 ... and continuing to the end of the document. No! I want only pages 1 - 18 to have the Default page style. So I went to page 19 and reapplied right page, and to page 20 and applied left page, and again Writer applied them to the first 18 pages as well.

That's right: page styles flow from one page to the next except in two circumstances. You have discovered one already: Left Page and Right Page automatically alternate because of their Next Styles (I think). But the other thing you need here is an indicator of where you want Default to end and Left and Right to start. You do this with a manual page break.

You probably have a page break at the end of page 18 already. If so, remove this. Put the cursor at the end of the page 18 material and go to Insert | Manual Break... . Under Type, select "Page break", under Style select "Right Page" from the drop-down menu (page 19 will be a recto), tick "Change page number", and ensure the bottom thumb wheel reads "1". Click OK. Voilà!

What this boils down to is that all the pages in your document must always be the same style.

Not so: page styles change either naturally where one style flows into another on the next page (as your existing Left and Right), or else possibly at a manual page break.

Should I just give up on Writer for this project?

No. Writer does this very efficiently.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker