Changing page numbers from Arabic to Roman

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sansisto
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Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:21 pm

Changing page numbers from Arabic to Roman

Post by sansisto »

I’m trying to format a book. I’d like to put roman page numbers in the front matter and arabic page numbers in the body of the novel.

I looked in Help. This is what it says:

You want roman page numbers running i, ii, iii, iv, and so on.
1. Double-click directly before the page number field. You see the Edit Fields dialog.
2. Select a number format and click OK.

What does “before the page number field” mean? And why doesn’t it say in Help where I can find this “page number field”?

Along with a lot of other things I tried, from 8 o’clock in the evening until 4 o’clock in the morning, I tried clicking on Insert, Fields, and I see this:

# Page number


I tried clicking to the left of the number sign. I see no Edit Fields dialog. I just get an arabic number on the page.

How do I get a roman number?

Please don’t tell me to look at Help and that you’re not here to “spoon-feed” me answers, which was all the response I got the last time I asked for help on one of your help forums. I looked all over Help, very carefully, for 8 hours, and it didn’t help me.

Thank you.
OpenOffice 3.1 on windows Vista
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RoryOF
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Re: changing page numbers from arabic to roman

Post by RoryOF »

Use /View /Field Names and /View /Field Shading. Now right click cursor immediately in front of the shaded Page Number field. The two commands above will turn the display off again.

This tutorial will tell you about Page Numbering.
[Tutorial] Page numbering
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John_Ha
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Re: changing page numbers from arabic to roman

Post by John_Ha »

sansisto wrote:Please don’t tell me to look at Help and that you’re not here to “spoon-feed” me answers, which was all the response I got the last time I asked for help on one of your help forums. I looked all over Help, very carefully, for 8 hours, and it didn’t help me.
It's covered thoroughly in the Writer Manual - see Numbering pages in Chapter 4 - Formatting Pages

Be sure to do the example in the tutorial.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
Bill
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Re: changing page numbers from arabic to roman

Post by Bill »

sansisto wrote:...why doesn’t it say in Help where I can find this “page number field”?
You inserted the page number fields, so they will be where you inserted them. Read the first part of the page containing the instructions you quoted where it says "Insert - Fields - Page Number".
sansisto wrote:Along with a lot of other things I tried, from 8 o’clock in the evening until 4 o’clock in the morning, I tried clicking on Insert, Fields, and I see this:

# Page number


I tried clicking to the left of the number sign. I see no Edit Fields dialog.
The instructions say "double-click", not "click". However, I don't recommend changing the format using the Edit Fields dialog. The default setting is "As Page Style", so the format is picked up from the setting in the Page Style. Changing the setting in the Edit Fields dialog will change the number style of the number in the page number field, but if you have a TOC, the page numbers in the TOC would remain Roman because the TOC uses the setting in the Page Style, not the setting in Edit Fields.
sansisto wrote: I just get an arabic number on the page.

How do I get a roman number?
The easiest way is to change the setting in the Page Style. Right-click in the page and select "Page". On the Page Style dialog, select the Page tab and change the Format setting in the Layout settings section from "1, 2, 3, ..." to "i, ii, iii ...". Changing the number style this way will change the number style in both the page number fields and in a TOC.
AOO 4.1.14 on Ubuntu MATE 22.04
sansisto
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Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 5:21 pm

Re: Changing page numbers from Arabic to Roman

Post by sansisto »

I think it would help a lot of people if OO help writers, and the people on this forum, would keep in mind that people are looking for help because they don’t know what to do. Assuming that we know certain things does not help because if we knew those things we wouldn’t need your help.


You start by saying: Use View/Field names and View/Field shading.

What does that mean? I see View up on top of the screen. Should I click on that? And where should my cursor be when I’m clicking on that? Must I use both View/Field names and View/Field shading or must I choose one only? If I have to choose one, on what basis do I make my choice?

If I put my cursor on top of the manuscript page, as I do when I want to add a format, and click on View/Field names or View/Field shading, nothing happens.

Maybe I should put the cursor in the footer, since that’s where I have to put it when I put in a number, although why you didn’t bother to say that, I really don’t knkow.

Okay, now I have the word Page numbers in my footer.

Now you say: Right click cursor immediately in front of the shaded Page Number Field.

I think he means on the left side. So I right click there. I see 13 options. Which one should I choose? If I knew that, I don’t think I would have had to ask for your help.

The next thing you say is: The two commands above will turn the display off again.

Which two commands? What display? Why are you telling me how to turn the display off again without telling me how to change from arabic to roman numbers?

I looked for View in OO Help. It’s not there.

Well, it only took me about 20 minutes to get what I wanted, clicking on everything in sight.


I have been using computers for many years. I am an intelligent person and know how to use programs that are much more sophisticated than OO.

I find OO difficult to use because there are gaps in the steps given in OO Help and gaps in the help I get on your help forums.

And I find it offensive that your OO Help people think that I don’t know what roman (i ii iii) and arabic (1 2 3) numbers are.

I think you people need to get out more and spend some time with human beings and learn how to communicate.
OpenOffice 3.1 on windows Vista
John_Ha
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Re: Changing page numbers from Arabic to Roman

Post by John_Ha »

sansisto wrote:I find OO difficult to use because there are gaps in the steps given in OO Help and gaps in the help I get on your help forums.
Why do you expect someone to spoon feed you free, personal tuition when you haven't bothered to read the manual? All the terms are defined there.

My previous post said
It's covered thoroughly in the Writer Manual - see Numbering pages in Chapter 4 - Formatting Pages
Be sure to do the example in the tutorial.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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