Module 5 – Tips and tricks
Tips to assist you with OpenOffice.org Writer 2.3 and Microsoft Word 2003.
File management
Same filename with different extension
We recommend that you do not include files with the same filename (even if they have a different extension) in the same directory.
Source (src) folder
The ICE system will not render files, add them to the HTML navigation or export them with the Web and CD content if they are located in a folder named src. It will however, place those files under version control in the repository.
Media folder
Files included in the media folder (including sub-folders but not src folders) will not be added to the navigation. They can be linked to and will be exported with the Web and CD content.
Including RTF files
RTF (Rich Text Format) files can be included with ICE content. The Organizer will recognize the file and include it in the left-hand navigation displaying the filename inside square brackets. Via the Organizer, edit the Title for display and hide if required. The file will not render to HTML.
Formatting
Use ICE custom styles
ICE toolbar (Writer and Word) – Apply styles using the ICE toolbar with the click of a button or keyboard shortcuts.
Keyboard shortcuts – Click the Help button on the ICE toolbar to access a list of keyboard shortcuts which are triggered with <Esc>.
ICE styles menu
Writer – Attach paragraph and character styles from the custom Styles menu.
Word – Attach paragraph and character styles from the custom Styles toolbar menu.
Multiple selection to apply a style
Apply a Paragraph style – Hold down <Ctrl>. Select multiple paragraphs then apply a Paragraph style.
Apply a Character style – Hold down <Ctrl>. Select multiple sections within a paragraph/s then apply a Character style.
Select a word, sentence or paragraph with mouse clicks
Mouse clicks can be used instead of dragging the cursor across a word, sentence or paragraph for selection.
Writer
Word
2 clicks
Sentence
3 clicks
Paragraph
4 clicks
Word
Word
2 clicks
Paragraph
3 clicks
Copy and paste keyboard shortcut
Copy – Select the data then <Ctrl> + <C>.
Paste – Place the cursor then <Ctrl> + <V>.
Default formatting
Remove extra formatting that has been attached to a style. For example, remove bold or italic. Select the text (or place the cursor in a word) then:
ICE toolbar – Click the Default formatting
icon.Keyboard with Writer and Word – <Esc>, <E>.
Keyboard with Writer – <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <Spacebar>.
Keyboard with Word – <Ctrl> + <Spacebar>.
Writer menu – From the Menu, select Format > Default Formatting.
Word ICE styles menu – From the Menu, select Default Paragraph Font.
Word menu – From the Menu, select Format > Styles and Formatting. From the top of the styles list, select Clear Formatting.
Pagination control
Pagination is the control of how the content flows in a document (where pages break). Word-processors insert automatic page breaks as pages fill up, but this can be controlled by changing paragraph settings or inserting a page break.
We recommend changing paragraph settings as the first option before considering manual page breaks. See the Pagination section in 3.7.2 and 4.7.2 Formatting.
Create an En Dash
Use an En Dash where appropriate. For example, between page numbers (pp. 16–32) and in the file properties. See Appendix 1 – Symbols in Writer and Appendix 2 – Symbols in Word for instructions.
Create a non-breaking space
Use a non-breaking space where appropriate. For example, to keep characters together so they don’t break at the end of a line (pp. 16 or section 3.4.4). See Appendix 1 – Symbols in Writer and Appendix 2 – Symbols in Word for instructions.
View text (page) boundaries in Word
To view the text (page) boundaries in Word use the following process.
From the Menu, select Tools > Options > View tab. From the Print and Web Layout options section, select the Text boundaries option then click the OK button.
Format paintbrush and format painter
Use the Format paintbrush (Writer) or Format painter (Word) on the Standard toolbar to copy formatting from a text selection or object/graphic and apply the formatting to another text selection or object/graphic. See Writer or Word’s Help for further details.
Writer
Select the text or object formatting to be copied.
From the Standard toolbar, click the Format paintbrush
icon. The cursor changes to a paint bucket.To apply formatting to more than one selection, double-click the Format paintbrush icon. After applying all of the formatting, click the icon again.
Select or click the text or object to apply the formatting.
To exclude paragraph formatting, hold down <Ctrl> when you click. To exclude character formatting, hold down <Ctrl> + <Shift> when you click.
Word
Select the text or graphic formatting to be copied.
From the Standard toolbar, click the Format painter
icon. The cursor changes to a paintbrush.To apply formatting to more than one selection, double-click the Format painter icon. After applying all of the formatting, click the icon again.
Click the text or graphic that you want to format.
Repeat/redo last action
A keyboard shortcut can be used to repeat the last action. This is helpful when formatting content, similar to the Format paintbrush and painter.
Writer – Currently this function is inoperable (<Ctrl> + <Y>).
Word – Apply the ICE style to a paragraph or selected text. Click in a paragraph or select text then press <F4> or <Ctrl> + <Y>.
Quotes
Smart (curly) quotes can be turned on when required.
Writer – From the Menu, select Tools > AutoCorrect > Custom Quotes tab. Select the Replace checkboxes for single and double quotes then click the OK button.
Word – From the Menu, select Tools > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type tab. Make your selections then click the OK button.
Automatic superscript removal
ICE has a style to apply to text to be formatted as superscript. It is recommended to turn off the AutoCorrect option in Writer and Word.
Writer – From the Menu, select Tools > AutoCorrect > Options tab. Deselect both checkboxes for Replace 1st... with 1^st... then click the OK button.
Word – From the Menu, select Tools > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type tab. Deselect the checkbox for Ordinals (1st) with superscript then click the OK button.
Change case
To avoid retyping and possible mistakes, use the default word-processor functions to change case.
Keyboard with Word – Select the text then <Shift> + <F3>. Toggle options with extra selections of <F3>. For all capitals use <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <A>.
Writer menu – Select the text. From the Menu, select Format > Change Case. Select either Uppercase or Lowercase.
Word menu – Select the text. From the Menu, select Format > Change Case > Select the option then click the OK button.
File properties and header updates
Left and right headers in the ICE templates contain fields. The fields include the information inserted in the Title and Subject properties. From the Menu, select File > Properties. The Title field is also used by the ICE for the web titles.
Writer – Changes to the property fields are automatically reflected in the headers after an OK out of the dialog box.
Word – Changes to the property fields are not automatically reflected in the headers after an OK out of the dialog box. The view needs to be refreshed (e.g. change page view, then return to the required view). From the Menu, select View > Web Layout then View > Print Layout or use the view icons to the left of the horizontal scroll bar.
Turn off field code display
The headers contain Fields that relate to the document properties (Title and Subject). If the field code display is turned on, the field code will display instead of the property. Use the following process to turn off the display of field codes.
Writer – From the Menu, select Tools > Options. From the left-hand pane, select OpenOffice.org Writer (expand if necessary) then select View. From the right-hand pane, Display section, deselect the Field codes option then click the OK button.
Word – From the Menu, select Tools > Options > View tab. From the Show section, deselect the Field codes option then click the OK button.
Window docking
Use the following process to dock or undock a window (e.g. Styles and formatting or Navigator) in Writer or NeoOffice.
Writer – Windows
Press <Ctrl> then double-click on a gray area on the window.
Alternatively, press <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <F10>.
NeoOffice – Mac
> then double-click on a gray area on the window. Hyperlinks
Long hyperlink
When a hyperlink is very long, a horizontal scroll bar will display in the HTML view. In the Word or Writer document, include a soft return (<Shift> + <Enter>) in the hyperlink near the end of each row in a logical location.
Lists
Restart list numbering from 1
Writer – Right click on the first item then select Restart Numbering or click the Restart Numbering
icon on the Bullets and Numbering toolbar.Word – Right click on the first item then select Restart Numbering.
List bullet or number not displaying
Writer – Apply the bulleted list or numbered list style. If the bullet or number does not display, click the relevant Bullets On/Off or Numbering On/Off button on the ICE toobar.
Spacing after last list item
Spacing after list styles is defined as 5.95pt (Word) and .21cm (Writer). This is half the amount defined for a p style. If a paragraph style follows a list, provide extra spacing after the last list item by inserting a soft return (<Shift> + <Enter>).
Mac related
Using GIF file format on a Mac
Resized GIFs on the Mac are not supported in ICE. Try saving/exporting problem images to JPG format.
Activation of X11
Activate X11 prior to opening OpenOffice.org. A white icon with a X will be on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. This will activate the <Alt> key which can be used for menu keyboard shortcuts.
Pictures
Display alternate text on pictures in a browser
Alternate text on pictures in Word are not converting through ICE at this stage. In preparation for this to be rectified the alternate text can be included.
Writer – From the Menu, select Format > Picture. From the Options tab, Names section, insert a description in the Name text box then click the OK button.
Word – From the Menu, select Format > Picture. From the Web tab, insert a description then click the OK button.
Picture links in Writer
When inserting a picture in Writer, ensure the Link option is not selected. To check if there are any linked pictures in the document, from the Menu, select Edit > Links. (The Links option will only be visible if there are linked pictures in the document.). If there are linked pictures, unlink them.
If you receive an ICE error which tells you to restart OpenOffice.org, check if you have linked images.
Using PNG file format
Resizing of interlaced PNG files is not supported. If an interlaced PNG is used/required, the actual size of the image is displayed in ICE and not the resized version in the document.
Picture anchor default
Set the most used option for anchoring pictures when inserted.
Writer – Not able to find an option to change the default anchor from Paragraph.
Word – It is possible to change the default option.
From the Menu, select Tools > Options > Edit tab.
From the Editing options, Insert/paste pictures as section, select an option (e.g. In line with text).
Tables
Left-hand table border and content
If the left-hand table border or content is outside the left-hand page boundary, the border and content will not display in the HTML.
Remove default Writer styles in a table
When a Writer table is inserted, it includes Writer’s default styles. Select the table then apply the ICE p style to remove the default styles. Add content and continue applying relevant ICE styles.
Table border size
Writer – The table border size defaults to 0.05 pt. For print documents this may be a bit faint. You may prefer 0.50 pt for table borders. Place cursor inside the table, then from the Menu, select Table > Table Properties > Border tab. Change the line style to 0.50 pt then click the OK button.
Word – The table border size may be remembered from last use. For print documents, 1/4 pt may be a bit faint. You may prefer 1/2 pt for table borders. Place cursor inside the table, then from the Menu, select Table > Table Properties > Table tab > Borders and Shading button. Change the Width to 1/2 pt then click the OK button.
Turn off number recognition option in tables
Writer – The Number recognition option in tables may be activated. Have you had the following happen to you?
Type a number and it moves to the right of the cell as number format.
Type a date (e.g. 29 June 2008) and it changes to a number format (e.g. 29/06/08).
To avoid these occurrences, turn off the Number recognition option for Writer tables.
From the Menu, select Tools > Options.
From the left-hand column, expand the OpenOffice.org Writer option.
From the Input in tables section, deselect Number recognition then click the OK button.
Equal sign as first character in Writer table cell
When an equal sign (=) is the first character in a cell it triggers the formula toolbar to open.
To avoid this occurring, type a space before typing the equal sign then remove the space.
Numbering table rows
Do not use list styles to number rows, as the list will break and rows will all start at 1 when converted to HTML. Insert a column and manually type the number for each row.
Table span
Writer – If a table width needs to be relative (as a percentage), don’t set the alignment to automatic (e.g. select Left instead of Automatic). (If a table width is 100% relative with automatic alignment, the table will span 100%. When the document is changed, Writer reverts the table width to cm.)
Place cursor inside the table, then from the Menu, select Table > Table Properties. Select the Table tab.
Force table to next page
Manipulating tables to split on rows etc. works better in Writer than Word. Forcing page breaks is not the best option in most cases. To assist with moving a table to the next page, try the following processes.
Writer – Place cursor inside the table then from the Menu, select Table > Select > Table. From the Menu, select Table > Table Properties. From the Text Flow tab, select the Keep with next paragraph option then click the OK button.
Word – Place cursor inside the table then from the Menu, select Table > Select > Table. From the Menu, select Format > Paragraph. From the Line and Page Breaks tab, select the Keep with next option then click the OK button.