Bullet type won't stick in .doc format

[rlauriston]

I create a Writer document from scratch using the New Document template, apply List 1 to some bullet lists, save as Word 97 .doc (for compatibility with co-workers), close it.

When I re-open the document, the List1 tags have been changed to WW8Num2, and the bullets have changed from normal round bullets to some faceted triangle thing. The WW8Num1 style has also been added to the document. Neither WW8Num1 nor WW8Num2 were in the List Files list originally.

I can't get rid of the triangle bullets. If I modify the WW8Num2 style to use normal round bullets, it changes back the next time I open the document.

What's the deal here?

OO 3.3.0.

[Hagar Delest]

OOo is not a MS Word replacement. If you've to use .doc, stick to MS Office.
Welcome to the vendor lock-in policy. That's why it's important to use standards like ODF.

[rlauriston]

If OO didn't support .doc, I couldn't use it. There's nothing about .doc that demands that buggy behavior.

[RoryOF]

You might try OpenOffice v 3.3, but, as Hagar says, if MSOffice compatibility is essential, use that instead.

[Bill]

Another problem with the font used for the bullets being changed to "Wingdings" when saving in DOC format. In the List1 style, the bullet font is OpenSymbol. Try changing the font in the List 1 style to Tahoma.

This also happens when the bullet button on the toolbar is used. See: Re: [Solved] Problem with Bullets

[MadDocA]

So I was having this problem and found the following solution on TechGirlGeek's blog

Bullets in OpenOffice on the Mac
Submitted by techgirlgeek on Sun, 2011-04-24 15:08

When I open an Open Office document that was saved as a Word document I noticed, instead of the nice bullet points I expected to see, I see this funny looking character that looks more like a box with a spider in it. If you've seen this same behavior here's a way to work around this annoying situation.

Use the Font Replacement Table, located in the OpenOffice.org -> Preferences ->Fonts:
Enable "Apply replacement table", select "Symbol" in the lefthand FONT drop down, select "OpenSymbol" in the righthand "Replace with" dropdown. Press the checkmark to the right to add the substitution to the table. Then check the Always box so this character mapping will always be available in the future.

Once this is set up, opening and saving in MSWord format preserves the bullet characters in both directions.

It has worked for me!!!

[exchaoordo]

This seems to solve the problem. I cannot be sure that when MSWord actually opens the file it is the same, but I hope so. I've "ported" techgirlgeek's solution for OO in Windows:
Tools->Options->OpenOffice.org->Fonts.
Enable "Apply replacement table", select "Symbol" in the lefthand FONT drop down, select "OpenSymbol" in the righthand "Replace with" dropdown. Press the checkmark to the right to add the substitution to the table. Then check the Always box so this character mapping will always be available in the future.

[rrlerner]

Thank you.