Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: Document Page Numbering Problems

At 13:57 05/12/2014 -0700, Joseph Schrock wrote:
> On Friday, December 5, 2014 12:38 PM, Brian Barker wrote:
> > At 10:03 05/12/2014 -0700, Joseph Schrock wrote:
> > > I'm using Libreoffice Writer now. I'd created a document in 
> > > Microsoft Word earlier. Then I got Libreoffice software, and when 
> > > I use my manuscript file to save as another file (in Libreoffice), 
> > > the page numbering screws up. When there are 3 digits in a page 
> > > number, it puts the first 2 digits on a line and the third digit 
> > > below that. That's messed up.
> >
> > Indeed it is! And since that is not the way that LibreOffice Writer 
> > behaves, the question is: why have you done it that way?
> >
> > > How can I correct this?
> >
> > That depends on exactly how you have contrived to create the 
> > problem. Microsoft Word has some fancy ways of formatting a page 
> > number in a header or footer, some of which will not even save in 
> > its older .doc file format. Have you perhaps used one of those? In 
> > any case, it seems likely that the space available for your page 
> > numbers is too small, so that the text flows naturally to another 
> > line when necessary. You may well find that simply reducing the 
> > font size of the page numbers will solve the problem. Alternatively 
> > you may be able to expand the frame, table cell, or whatever is 
> > restricting the text.
> >
> > In any case, it would be a matter of only a few moments to remove 
> > the existing page numbers (and perhaps the header or footer) and 
> > then re-create them using LibreOffice's own facilities.
>
> Thanks for your information. First, let me say that the reason I'm 
> doing it this way is that I'd been using an older computer in which 
> I had Windows XP. I bought a new computer and the technician 
> suggested using Libreoffice (free of charge) software for writing, 
> etc. Well, my old files were written in Microsoft Word. So, I now 
> wanted to use the Libreoffice Writer software to make changes in the 
> manuscripts. This was where I encountered the problem.

Sorry, but this doesn't answer my question. It was perfectly clear 
that you wanted to edit a Microsoft Word document in LibreOffice - 
the details don't matter. My point was that your problem was that you 
appeared to have used some obscure page number layout in Microsoft 
Word that was creating a problem for you unnecessarily. I know this 
because, much as I tried to reproduce your problem in a Microsoft 
Word document transferred to LibreOffice, I couldn't!

Incidentally, you may well have been able to transfer your existing 
licence for Microsoft Word to your new system anyway.

> So far as eliminating the footer (page numbers) is concerned, I'd 
> have no idea how to do this, ...

Whenever you use new software, surely it stands to reason that you 
will have no idea how to do many things? But finding out - through 
the help text, the documentation, web searches, asking for help, and 
so on - can be a matter of moments.

> ... but it now appears that it's a moot issue, because I got so fed 
> up with Libreoffice ...

Wow: that was fast!

> ... that I downloaded some fairly pricey Microsoft software that 
> I've already (as of this afternoon) started using. It works 
> beautifully -- smoothly, efficiently, and like a charm.

I suspect those are descriptions that many of the millions of users 
of LibreOffice will also attribute to that product. It's worth saying 
that you would have learned to use Microsoft Word over a period: 
no-one unfamiliar with it would find it "smooth and efficient" in an 
afternoon. And if you chose to transfer to LibreOffice (or any other 
product), you would certainly need to spend a little time getting 
used to it. Of course, trying to get one product to handle the 
results of another is probably an unfair test anyway - whichever way 
around. Perhaps you fell into the trap of expecting LibreOffice to be 
a clone of Microsoft Office with a very different price tag? Perhaps 
that's the idea the technician wanted to give.

> Thanks anyway for offering to help with the Libreoffice matter. No 
> better than I am in computer-land, I need some very efficient 
> software that assumes only minimal computer expertise. It looks as 
> if Microsoft is willing to provide that -- in the event that we're 
> willing to pay for it.

You say you had been using Microsoft Office, so you no doubt 
understand its ways. Your current experience, then, does not indicate 
that it "assumes only minimal expertise"; like any software, it 
assumes some expertise in using itself - which you clearly already 
have. Had you persevered beyond an afternoon, you could have 
transferred your skills fairly simply to LibreOffice.

Mind you, I should make clear that (unlike some other adherents of 
open source software) I'm happy for anyone to make his or her own 
choices of software, and I'm delighted that you are now happy with 
your "fairly pricey" solution.

Brian Barker  


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