Question about the Fontwork toolbar documentation

[rafaelhlima]

Hi all!

I am working on a Documentation bug about the Fontwork help page.
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=139469

Then I noticed that the Format - Text Box and Shape - Fontwork menu only
exists by default in Writer.
https://help.libreoffice.org/7.2/en-US/text/shared/01/05280000.html

However, on Impress and Draw, this option is not present in the menu. And
the help page clearly states that if the user wants to use it, he/she needs
to go to Options > Customize and manually insert it in the menu.
https://help.libreoffice.org/7.2/en-US/text/shared/01/05280000.html?&DbPAR=SHARED

So my question is: Is there a reason for this feature to have been removed
from the default Menubar in Impress and Draw? This feature is especially
useful in presentations and drawings, so I don't see why to not have this
feature in Impress/Draw and add a note to the help page about it.

I also noticed that the Draw Guide (version 6.4) and the Writer Guide (7.1)
focus mainly on the Fontwork gallery and do not describe the features in
the aforementioned help page.

I would appreciate it if anyone could provide some background on why these
decisions were made, so I can update the help pages.

Regards,
Rafael Lima

[Regina]

Hi Rafael,

So my question is: Is there a reason for this feature to have been removed
from the default Menubar in Impress and Draw?

As far as I remember it was removed from the Format menu in OOo2, when the Fontwork Gallery has been introduced.

  This feature is especially

useful in presentations and drawings, so I don't see why to not have this
feature in Impress/Draw and add a note to the help page about it.

It is especially useful to label connectors.

I also noticed that the Draw Guide (version 6.4) and the Writer Guide (7.1)
focus mainly on the Fontwork gallery and do not describe the features in
the aforementioned help page.

For a Writer Guide it is not really needed, but the Draw Guide should describe it.

I would appreciate it if anyone could provide some background on why these
decisions were made, so I can update the help pages.

I don't know, why this was done, and I see no good reason to make is so hard for the user to use it. I think the feature should be available in a menu in Draw/Impress.
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=94535

Only the name "Fontwork" is not suitable for the UI, because it is totally different from the "Fontwork Gallery". It would be better to use a name known from other applications, like "Text along path" or "Text on a path". "Other applications" are e.g. Inkscape, Gimp, Illustrator, CorelDraw.

The feature is not available in MS Office. Perhaps Sun has therefore hidden it?
And the feature is only usable in "extended" file format. But that is no reason to hide it. We have a lot of features, which are only usable in "extended" file format.

Kind regards
Regina

[rafaelhlima]

Hi Regina,

Thanks for your prompt response.

I agree with you that this feature shouldn't be hidden from users in LO
Impress/Draw. I'll open a bug report suggesting to enable it by default in
the Format Menu.

I also agree that it should have a different name: "Text along path" seems
a good idea.

If it becomes enabled by default, then the Draw Guide needs to be updated
to describe this feature.

Kind regards,
Rafael

[PeeWee]

Hello Rafael

I have my eyes on this Fontwork problem and will incorporate any changes when I know that it is all fixed.

Please keep me posted.

Regards
Peter Schofield
psauthor@gmail.com
Technical Writer, LO Documentation Team