[Solved] Am I dumb? Dictionary updates baffle me

[lmiglore]

After a dictionary "update" I can't get the spellchecker to function. Before I "updated" it worked fine. I've used the help functions but I don't seem to have any file/ext loaded. I'm probably d/ling and installing wrong but I can't figure out why. I download fine, click on the files, everything looks fine, but the document does not catch obvious misspellings and no autocheck. It used to do all that before I "fixed" it with an update.

[RoryOF]

The quick cure for this is to rename the OpenOffice user profile.

Details of the User Profile for various operating systems
are given in

v ... 74&t=12426

If you are using Windows close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter. Open File
Explorer. Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer
Address Bar and press Enter. Rename the "user" folder - "user.old" is a
good choice. Start OpenOffice.

This cures most spellcheck problems

[lmiglore]

I finally got around to trying the "fix." suggested. Wow! I've never seen a fix implement so fast and work as promised. Thanks a lot. We're really fortunate to have knowledgeable folks like you populate the web for folks like me. Thanks again!

Now if I could get the HP crowd to help with my All-in-one printer (M152nf) to scan but MS points their finger at HP and HP points back at MS. Oh well, your help was very appreciated.

[RoryOF]

Normally, all one has to do is download the dictionary update (for English, dict-en.oxt); double click on it, and in a few seconds your dictionary will be updated. All should then work correctly. Don't try and out-think the extension updater.

[lmiglore]

I see I have a new extension available already..... No chance. The English language doesn't change enough to "update" it so often.

Also, the instruction are not that clear, to me... If there was one clear path for each OS with one click life would be easier for us old farts. There seem to be many distractions on the page I'm directed to for the new extension..

But hey, what do I know. I know enough to leave well enough alone. Thanks again.

[RoryOF]

Can double click the *.oxt be clearer?

[RusselB]

While the English language itself may not change enough in a short period of time (I've noticed that the English dictionary updates seem to be monthly), sometimes the updates are not due to a change in the language, but a correction to a previous update/installation.
As an example, I remember once (different program) where the dictionary had "You'r" as correct, but "You're" as incorrect, when (as you probably realize), they should've been the other way around.

[lmiglore]

Well, I guess if the "Click on the *.oxt" was all there was on the page, but that's not the case. To the casual user (not a developer) it would be nice if the page only contained simple choices without multiple other offers. Clutter breeds confusion, especially for less talented users.

I see your point about corrections. I have noticed one or two.

[RusselB]

The file that you download should have the .oxt extension. In most (if not all) web browsers, you can quickly get to the folder where the file(s) have been downloaded by pressing Ctrl+j
This should bring up a list of the files that were downloaded in reverse order by date/time in regards to when the file was downloaded (ie: the most recent downloads should be at the top of the list)
It should be easy for you to see which .oxt file was the most recent one to download. Even if there are multiple .oxt files listed, the dictionary files all start with dict
NB: If you are using Internet Explorer, it has been known to silently rename .oxt files as .zip... If this is you situation then you will need to learn how to rename the .zip file to .oxt

[robleyd]

If you are referring to the download page for the extensions, it seems fairly straight forward to me. There is a list of the actual languages that have been updated - see the horizontal arrow in the image below - which allows you to determine whether in fact there has been a change to the flavour of English that you use. For instance, in the screenshot only the British version has been updated this year, so anyone using Aussie or South African or Canadian or US would not need to download the update.

Having made that decision, just look to the right for the button that says Download extension, click that and Bob's your uncle.