Change The Default Styles for All New Documents

[AutoNow]

Hi, I've been trying to figure this out for months.

I have attached an image for what I am trying to do. I just want to change the styles that occur whenever a format like "Heading" or "Heading3" or
"Default" is used.

So when I create a new document I want to select my text, select the appropriate heading from the drop down list, and then it displays whatever text I have highlighted with my mouse int eh predetermined heading style.

The default styles that are set bug the crap out of me and it's such a hassle to have to change every single factor for every single line.

The most confusing thing to me is how to use the templates organizer. I cant seem to identify the rhyme or reason to it, I've been fiddling with it trying to make y saved styles become a style template which I can assign as the default template, but only thing I've managed to do is make entire documents load as though the whole document was the template with word and all preloaded.
I don't want to preload words in my new documents, I just want to preload styles for the header drop-down formatting.

[RoryOF]

These instructions in the tutorial seem to be very clear and straightforward

If you want every new document to have user-defined settings, you must create a new template and set it as default.

Create a new document, add or modify styles, and change other settings as you desire.
From the File menu, choose Templates -> Save.
Give the template a name.
Select a category in the Categories list (for example, My Templates).
Click OK to save the template.
Choose File -> Templates -> Organize.
In the Categories list, double-click on the My Templates folder.
Right-click on the template you want to use and choose Set as Default Template from the menu.
Click the Close button.

What part of them do you not understand?

[AutoNow]

What tutorial, I've ever heard of such a thing. Does My resources were Googling, and hoping the program was self-explanatory by design. The Open Office website make it clear that such a thing exists.

The Instructions you've copied seem to make perfect sense and I will try them out tomorrow. Thanks for the information.

Would you mind providing a link to where ever this tutorial is so that in the future I can refrain from bothering you by asking about how to use non-intuitive functionality?

[RoryOF]

A good range of helpful tutorials is on the Forum site . I point you to the main entry at
OpenOffice Tutorials

Some general tutorials are immediately below this; in your case, I suggest you follow the Writer thread below the above entry for detailed Writer-specific information.

Come back to us if you have further problems.

[esperantisto]

Template Changer (won’t work with LO, fine with AOO).

[acknak]

... but only thing I've managed to do is make entire documents load as though the whole document was the template with word and all preloaded. ...

That is exactly what a "template" is in OO: a document that is loaded to start a new document.

The only thing that's different about a template document is that OO loads it without a title and prompts for a new file name when you save it.

A template may have content in it (it's just a regular document) but it doesn't have to.

Since settings and styles are saved inside documents, loading a document can provide a whole set of styles; based on their names, some of those styles will be used by default: "Default", "Heading", "Heading 1", "Text Body", ...

The only function I use in the template organizer dialog window is importing templates (copying/registering a template file into OO's template list). You don't have to do this (a template is jsut a document; you can FIle > Open it) but it's convenient to start a document by picking from the list, and documents started this way are linked to their template so if you open the document after
the template gets changed, you get a prompt to update the document: styles in the template will update the styles in the document.

You can use the template organizer to move/copy styles between documents, but it seems there are lots of glitches with that and I don't use it much.

[Bill]

The most confusing thing to me is how to use the templates organizer. I cant seem to identify the rhyme or reason to it, I've been fiddling with it trying to make y saved styles become a style template which I can assign as the default template, but only thing I've managed to do is make entire documents load as though the whole document was the template with word and all preloaded.
I don't want to preload words in my new documents, I just want to preload styles for the header drop-down formatting.

You don't have to have any words in your templates, only the modified styles. You can open a new blank document, modify the styles, then save the blank document as a template. If you set this template as the default, then NEW documents will have the modified styles.

[Punungwe]

RoryOF you are answering the wrong question all together.

The issue is us Wordiots want to save a single style to the default template of the currently open document without ever leaving the comfort of the 'style organiser' dialog box. That is what we are used to.

We definitely know how to create a completely new document and make it a template but that is not what this thread is asking about. It is not about creating a new template from start. We know how to do that. And believe me we are more tech-savvy than the average CEO's PA who is ultimately the target market for products like AOOo.

These instructions in the tutorial seem to be very clear and straightforward

If you want every new document to have user-defined settings, you must create a new template and set it as default.

Create a new document, add or modify styles, and change other settings as you desire.
From the File menu, choose Templates -> Save.
Give the template a name.
Select a category in the Categories list (for example, My Templates).
Click OK to save the template.
Choose File -> Templates -> Organize.
In the Categories list, double-click on the My Templates folder.
Right-click on the template you want to use and choose Set as Default Template from the menu.
Click the Close button.

What part of them do you not understand?

[Punungwe]

The most confusing thing to me is how to use the templates organizer. I cant seem to identify the rhyme or reason to it, I've been fiddling with it trying to make y saved styles become a style template which I can assign as the default template, but only thing I've managed to do is make entire documents load as though the whole document was the template with word and all preloaded.
I don't want to preload words in my new documents, I just want to preload styles for the header drop-down formatting.

You don't have to have any words in your templates, only the modified styles. You can open a new blank document, modify the styles, then save the blank document as a template. If you set this template as the default, then NEW documents will have the modified styles.

The issue is not creating new template.

Let's say I am working on Fancy Report.odt create from Report.ott or even from the default template. In the process I creating all sorts of fancy styles on the fly. Most of these I will never use again, but then I decide that Style 1 is rather nice and I want to use it in other documents in future. I do not want to close my current document, open the template and recreate the style from scratch and then save the template.

I want to be able to, from the comfort of the Paragraph Style dialog box, click on a button Make Style Default and that single style is made available in the template I used to create the document I am currently working on, or in the global default template.

A bonus would be the ability to move styles between documents without even having to modify the templates.

Take for example my current scenario. Two days ago I created a document (an incident report for a support call) and in it a created a style called Code, Courier New font with grey background.

Today I want modify a report that I created two weeks ago (before I even thought of the Code style). I now want to use the Code style in this the report I am modifying. I can create it again, but it would much more convenient if I could simply copy the style from the document I created two days ago. This is possible using Style Organiser in MS Word.

Is it possible in AOOo Writer?

[acknak]

You can move/copy styles between any documents using File > Templates > Organize. That dialog window will work with registered templates by default, but you can also work with any open document, template or not.

Use the document lists to navigate to the template or documents you want to work with. Double-click to expand and drill down to individual styles. Move/copy the styles by drag/drop with the mouse.

Note: This is the direct, most accessible way to manage styles between documents, but in my experience it has a lot of problems (bugs). Maybe try it first but if you find a problem just move to another approach.

You can copy styles by copy/paste some content between documents. The limitation is that you can't change a style that already exists in the target document.

You can load styles using the Styles & Formatting window (F11). The limitation here is that you can't work with individual styles, only classes of styles.

I want to be able to, from the comfort of the Paragraph Style dialog box, click on a button Make Style Default ...

That would be nice, and (I believe) there is a long-standing open request for it, but it's not possible. You have to manually add the style to the appropriate template document.

[Bill]

I want to be able to, from the comfort of the Paragraph Style dialog box, click on a button Make Style Default and that single style is made available in the template I used to create the document I am currently working on, or in the global default template.

AOO doesn't work that way. If you want to use the MS Word procedure, then you should use MS Word. When using AOO, if you want to change the template, you edit the template, not the document. When you subsequently open the document, you will be asked if you want to update the styles in the document. AOO doesn't have a global default template.

[Jhabar]

Hi - sorry if this covers old ground but the Organize Template options in 4.1.0 seem to have changed very much for the worse compared to previous iterations. Why would anyone want to change something which worked so well and was simple to understand?
The ability to compose a template and import it into the template organise area is still there but setting it as your default template seems not to be available anymore, or if it is, its too well hidden. Clicking on 'Commands produces a drop down wind with but two options - Printer Settings . . and Update. Similarly, right clicking on the newly imported template produces the same two options. So I'm at a loss to understand how to implement this once simple procedure and set a default template? Is this now somehow reclassified as a Style operation?

[Jhabar]

First I'd like to thank the whole Apache team for their great work, and not least the moderaters of these discussions. Its an inevitable part of the developement process that sometimes things don't always work as they either should or have done in previous implementations.
Second I've found a quick fix for the templates issuse of Aoo 4.1.0
I
went to File Hippo and downloaded version 4.0.0, which has no template issues. I'll keep a watching brief and when the template issues are resolved I'll update.
Until then I wish everyone involved a very Merry Xmas

Bien Veto Diamonde Werken Ya whol

[Bill]

Clicking on 'Commands produces a drop down wind with but two options - Printer Settings . . and Update. Similarly, right clicking on the newly imported template produces the same two options.

It still works the same for me with AOO 4.1.0 on Windows 8.1. When I select a template and click the Commands button, there seven options, "Delete", "Edit", "Import Template...", "Export Template...", "Printer Settings", "Update", and "Set as Default Template". Did you try resetting your user profile?

[acknak]

Yep, works fine for me as well.

Can you give us a link to the template you're having trouble with? Or attach a copy of it here?