Yes I too am interested in this topic. Headers and footers are a major
OpenOffice weakness. I gave up and subscribed to the Microsoft Office online
service for Word but I'm willing to learn new OpenOffice tricks too.
Doug Hovelson
> From: joel_ikenbe...@live.com
> To: users@openoffice.apache.org
> Subject: Transition to OpenOffice Writer
> Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 06:50:16 -0600
>
>
> To Whom It May Concern:
> I have been adjusting to OpenOffice Writer for a few weeks after losing my
> Microsoft Word application, and I hope you can imagine how frustrated and
> confused I am with this new software. As Microsoft Word is what I know, I
> naturally approached Writer like I would Word. However, there are stark and
> considerable differences between Writer and Word that I have inevitably
> encountered. For example, there is apparently no "vertical paragraph
> alignment" option in Writer, but there is in Word. As a writer, there are
> many essential tools and options that I need from my word processor that I am
> not finding or having trouble finding. I do refer to OpenOffice Wiki and the
> Help Tool, however, there are many things the Wiki and the Help Tool do not
> explain. For example, they do not explain how to apply a certain page-style.
> I only stumbled across the fact that a page-style can only be applied by
> inserting a manual page break.
> I am struggling with how to format my documents to display various
> page-numbers. I am a novelist and any guides I discover only pertain their
> information to technical and business-style document formats. For example,
> the guides on "headers" always go into great detail about customizing your
> header and skip over the essential "simple" how-to-make a normal, average
> everyday header that is not going to be viewed by a company CEO or graded by
> a business education instructor. I am simply a writer writing a novel, and I
> need my word processor to apply to me specifically.
> Here is what I need to know how to do:
> 1. Format different page numbers- Title Page (no number)- Dedication Page (no
> number)- Table of Contents (roman numerals)- Preface (roman numerals)-
> Prologue through all chapters ( starting at page 1)- Acknowledgments
> (continuing page numbers)- Appendices/Index (continuing page numbers)2.
> Create a traditional Table of Contents (like in any other novel, no business
> topics or sections and complete with a leader)3. Design headers to display
> book name on one page, chapter title on the next, continuously4. Vertically
> align a paragraph
> Any information regarding these issues would be most certainly appreciated
> and duly acknowledged. I am new to OpenOffice Writer, but I know I will be
> just fine with it once I get my bearings. I also have another question
> concerning file format and extensions. As a writer, I will have to eventually
> electronically submit part or all of my manuscript to a Literary Agent and or
> Publisher at some point and so the file extension will need to be in a format
> usable by these organizations' software (most likely Word). Is the ODT file
> format compatible with Word or do I need to save my documents under a
> different format? This, above all else, is perhaps the most important
> question because the others are useless without the file being able to
> proceed. I thank you very much for your time, consideration, all manners of
> things and especially for the development and availability of this software
> to simple people like myself. Thank you.
> Sincerely,
> Joel S. Ikenberry
