Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Using them, Making them, Finding them
Post Reply
DocHolliday2006
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:58 pm

Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by DocHolliday2006 »

I've written an ebook, spent a lot of time creating citations, etc, but would now like to jazz up the look and design.

I've found some templates for ebooks, but how can I add them to my file without messing all my formatting up, losing citations, etc?
Open Office 3.1.1
Snow Leopard
User avatar
acknak
Moderator
Posts: 22756
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:25 am
Location: USA:NJ:E3

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by acknak »

Probably not--at least not in the way you want ("Make my document look like this template." is what I'm guessing).

You can import styles from a template, but unless you have a) consistently used styles to format your book, and b) used the same style names as defined in the template, then importing the styles won't have any effect.

I guess, if I were in your shoes, I would study how the template is set up, then--for the styles I wanted to use--adjust the style names in the book document to match the template, then import the styles from the template, and finally, clean up whatever mess it made. I would expect to do some clean up that would require a good understanding of how styles work.

You can always experiment and see what happens. As long as you work on a copy, you can't lose anything.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
DocHolliday2006
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:58 pm

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by DocHolliday2006 »

What if I created a new document and added a template, and then pasted my finished book into it? Would that be doable, or would it be a mess? I want to avoid redoing all 80+ citations.
Open Office 3.1.1
Snow Leopard
User avatar
acknak
Moderator
Posts: 22756
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:25 am
Location: USA:NJ:E3

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by acknak »

Yes, that should work the same as Insert > File, I would think.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
User avatar
RGB
Posts: 1456
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:34 am

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by RGB »

There are two types of people: those who believe that there are two types of people and those who do not.

openSUSE Leap with KDE Plasma / LibreOffice
User avatar
acknak
Moderator
Posts: 22756
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:25 am
Location: USA:NJ:E3

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by acknak »

Thanks, RGB, I meant to mention that!

Just be aware: as far as I know, the template changer extension only sets a link from a document to a template. When the document is opened, OOo can follow the link to find the template and check whether it has been modified. If the template has changed, the user will be offered a chance to update the document from the newer template. The update copies styles from the template into the document.

That can be useful if you have documents created from a template that gets updated, but it's not quite the same as "applying a template" to a document.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
Jaaaarne
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 2:59 am

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by Jaaaarne »

Not to create another topic, I'm posting here since the problem is somewhat similar.

There is a user template set to be default which is used when I create a new document in Writer. The name of the template is stated in the saved document's info card (I don't really know how it is called in English since I use a localized version).

But if I try to create a new document not from inside the Writer, but via a contextual menu (right-click anywhere in any folder and get a contextual menu which allows me to create different kinds of files supported on my system), choosing a "Create an -> OpenDocument text document" gives me a file that is not based on any Writer template. There is no template's name in the file's card and the default font in this new document differs from the default font set for Writer in the program's settings (I suppose it's the system default font).

The question is, can I assign a default Writer template to such file? Is it at all a normal behaviour for the program to create a template-less files via system contextual menu?
OOo 3.2.X on Ms Windows XP
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: Can I Apply A Template To An Already Made File?

Post by Hagar Delest »

For document made from the Explorer (right click), see: [Solved] Changing default lang for docs made from Explorer. The same fix should be applicable I think (if your soffice.odt file is made based on your template.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
Post Reply