AOO 3.4 release notes(1) show that Impress and Draw will have changes on its default values so I'm wondering if it is possible to change some defaults on Writer too...
== Context sensitive toolbars == Context sensitive toolbars are a really useful feature but new users tend to not like them because by default they appear on not so useful places... like on top of the table you are trying to edit. IMHO, anchoring by default those toolbars on the bottom of the window will give better user experience. == Autocorrect options == There are several autocorrect options that create confusion among new (and not so new) users. If you scan the community forums you will see many people asking how to deactivate autonumbering, how to delete strange lines that appear after the user typed some dashes or why the paragraph style changed after they hit Enter twice (that one happens, to increase the confusion, only when you are using Predefined as paragraph style...). After answering lots of question on different OOo boards for several years now, I firmly believe that the following option under Tools → AutoCorrect options → Options tab should be *disabled* by default: - Apply numbering - symbol - Apply border - Apply Styles - Replace Custom Styles - Replace bullets with - Combine single line paragraphs if length greater than (I also disable "url recognition" and "automatic *bold* and _underline_"... but that's just me ;) ). == Word Completion == Another useful feature that annoys users because of a bad default. By default the suggestion is presented "in-line". This have a serious problem if you are editing text in the middle of a paragraph: the text will jump every time a new suggestion is presented and that's really annoying when you are near the line edge because the word you are typing will jump to the next line before its time... in fact, if you do not accept the suggestion there is a possibility that the word will return to the previous line. This continuous jumping to and fro is not pleasant. Checking under Tools → AutoCorrect Options → Word Completion tab the option "Show as a tip" provides a far better user experience and make it more clear that this is a suggestion and not something imposed by Writer. == Toolbar buttons == Do we need a Zoom button when we have a nice Zoom toolbar bottom right on the window? Does "normal people" use data sources enough to justify a toolbar button by default? Of course that's an important option for many people but people who use advanced option like databases will for sure be able to add a button if they need it so why the option is there by default? --------------- These are the most important items, I think. Of course there are other places where defaults can be changed: for example the bibliographic index that under "Article" do not show the magazine name... What do you think? Cheers Ricardo (1) https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OOOUSERS/AOO+3.4+Release+Notes
