Adjust Settings
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Adjust Settings

Change between page view modes

Full screen

If you wish to work with a document without having the object bar, toolbar, menu bar or scrollbars displayed, use Full screen mode. In this mode, the document will be displayed as it will be printed.

  • Switch off the ruler using View->Ruler. If you wish to see the ruler in full screen mode, leave this step out.

  • View->Full screen or press Shift-Ctrl-J (Hold down both the Shift and Ctrl keys and press J.)

To return to normal viewing:

  1. Press the Full screen on/off icon or press Shift-Ctrl-J .

  2. Switch on the ruler using View->Ruler if necessary.

Page preview

An alternative method of viewing the document as it will appear in printed form is to use Page preview.

  • File->Page preview.

    The default display is two pages side by side as on the following screen.

In Page preview mode, a context sensitive toolbar is displayed.

If you let the cursor hover over the icons, a bubble will be displayed indicating the function of each.

  1. Press the button on the toolbar to return to normal mode.

  2. To navigate through the document in Page preview mode, click one of the navigation icons.

    The navigation icons are . These represent previous page, next page, start of document and end of document.

  3. Select the number of pages you wish to view using .

    The first icon selects two pages side by side while the second allows the display of multiple pages.

  4. To enter full screen mode, press .

[Note] Note

You cannot edit a document in Page preview mode, but you can print it by clicking on the print icon, .

Use magnification/zoom tools

In Page preview mode, you can change the magnification of the display, by clicking on the zoom icons or changing the zoom factor on the toolbar, .

To change the zoom in Normal mode:

  1. View->Zoom.

  2. Set the zoom factor or select Variable and enter a % value.

  3. Click OK.

Display, hide built-in toolbars

To view or hide toolbars:

  1. View->Toolbars

    This will display a list of toolbars. The toolbars that are ticked are those that are currently displayed. Each of the options in the submenu functions as a toggle.

  2. To display a hidden toolbar or hide a displayed toolbar, click the appropriate item.

[Note] Note

A toggle is a menu item or icon that reverses the current status. For example, if the Function bar is displayed, View->Toolbars->Function Bar will hide it. One the other hand, if it is hidden then the same sequence will cause it to be displayed.

Display, hide non-printing characters

When you Press Enter to mark the end of a paragraph or Tab to jump to a new tab position, Writer marks these with a special character. These characters are usually hidden and do not print when you print the document. They can be thought of as control characters.

It is often useful to display non-printing characters, particularly when it is not clear why the document is displaying in a particular format. To do so:

  • View->Nonprinting characters or press Ctrl+F10.

    This function acts as a toggle, so it is also used to hide the display of non-printing characters.

    The following screen shows how the above paragraphs appear on screen when this function is active.

Modify basic options/preferences in the application: user name, default directory / folder to open, save documents

When you start Writer, it makes certain assumptions as to who is creating the documents, where you wish to save documents, the language you wish to use. These are the default conditions.

The basic options are set using:

  • Tools->Options

This will display the Options dialogue. Since OpenOffice.org is a highly integrated application, many of the options will apply to all the programs in the suite while others are more specific. Which type of option is found in which section is clear from their names.

User data

When Writer creates a document, it stores the name of the creator of the document. It also stores other information along with this. To set the default user name:

  1. Tools->Options

  2. Click the + symbol next to OpenOffice.org to expand the options.

  3. Click User data.

  4. Fill in which ever options you wish.

  5. Click OK.

File locations

When you open or save a file, Writer will use the location you set in Options as a starting point. This will be the path that will be displayed in the Open and Save as dialogues.

To set the default file locations:

  1. Tools->Options

  2. Click the + symbol next to OpenOffice.org to expand the options.

  3. Click Paths.

    This will display the default paths Writer will use for a wide range of options. The following screen shows the display when you are using Linux.

    The following screen shows the display under Windows.

  4. Double click My documents.

  5. Navigate to the desired directory / folder in the usual way.

  6. Click Select when done.

[Note] Terminology

The terms directory and folder can be used interchangeably. Linux prefers the term directory whereas Windows prefers the term folder.

Customising OpenOffice.org for local conditions

  1. Tools->Options

  2. Expand language settings and click on Languages.

    The dialogue allows you to define the Default currency and Default language.

  3. Adjust the settings as required and click OK.

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