[Issue] How to remove the space between pages and frame?

[openallhours]

Hi all

I'm trying out OpenOffice after being a long term user of MS Office XP... I've only given it a brief whirl so far, and on the whole I really like it. There are a couple of things that I cannot figure out though....

1. The space between pages really bugs me. In MS you could simply click on the space between pages and it would disappear. Not so on OO. This thread explains exactly what I mean:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=43824

The two solutions don't cut it for me unfortunately. But that was back in 2011 and I'm hoping things might have changed since. So does anyone know if this is achievable please?

2. Also, is possible to get rid of the grey box that surrounds the whole of the text on each page?

Hopefully I can get these things sorted and be another step away from MS

Many thanks

Max

[Hagar Delest]

For 2, see: [Solved] Border lines: how to remove?

No change for 1.

[openallhours]

Great to get #2 solved, thanks for that.

But what a shame about #1. It could be a deal breaker for me, which is unfortunate as so far I like it in all other respects. Out of interest, is this a common dislike? Does it come up often? It seems such a basic function and so it seems odd to me that it is not possible. Any plans to implement it in the future do you know (I'm guessing not seeing as people were asking for it 8 years ago! But you never know...)

Many thanks for the help.

[Hagar Delest]

Issue 96887 did not get a lot of votes, so it doesn't seem to be a priority for users.
You can however register and add a comment to revive it.

[openallhours]

With pleasure!

How do I find it please?

[robleyd]

In the link you posted in your original question: scroll down to the last post, from Hagar, and follow the link there.

[openallhours]

Oops - sorry. I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out. Well, I've just tried to add my tuppence to the request. It seems I have to set up another account in order to do so? Is that correct? Is my forum account not enough?

[robleyd]

Yes, you do need a separate login there and no, it is in no way related to the forum login.

[openallhours]

OK, thanks for the help. Much appreciated.

[John_Ha]

I'm trying out OpenOffice after being a long term user of MS Office XP... I've only given it a brief whirl so far, and on the whole I really like it. There are a couple of things that I cannot figure out though....

As a new user you will find much useful information in the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials, the up to date Writer guide and the Writer Manual. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

When a pop-up window opens, click the Help button for extensive help on that function - it is often more comprehensive than the manual.

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for why you should always work in and save files as .odt and see [Tutorial] Some useful hints on using images for a discussion on how best to handle images in Writer.

If your problem is solved please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

[openallhours]

Thanks for the tips John. I'm quite a "light" user tbh and so a lot of the functions will either be irrelevant to me and/or are similar enough/the same as MS. So I won't need to dig too deep, but handy to know what to do should that change. In terms of file format, I have been wondering what is best and will therefore take a look at that link. Cheers for that.

With regards your other point, I'm not sure whether my problem is solved or not! It is solved in so much as the function is not available and I now know that. But it is not solved in the sense that I would like it to be available! So what would you suggest???

Having said all of that, in all honesty the page break problem is going to be enough of an issue for me to look at other word processors unfortunately. Shame, cos other than that I was quite enjoying it.

Ta

[RoryOF]

You can select, in /Format /Page or /Format /Styles and Formatting : 4th icon from left for Page Styles, to set the page length to 300 cm, using a User page style. This will give you the page break you find obtrusive typically every 10,000 words or so.

But, to be frank, if you are going to use OpenOffice, you should get used to it as it is, rather than be wishing to change it into an MS Office clone.

[openallhours]

I think voicing one preference for something that is available in MS and not in AOO is hardly wishing for a clone!

That being said, in so many ways it is a clone isn't it? I'm sure there are plenty of differences. But if I sat my elderly-silver-technophobic-type-one-word-per-minute parents in front of AOO they would get by (having only ever used MS in the past). And that's because there are so many similarities, at least on the face of it. Was that all purely accidental?

[Hagar Delest]

I've tagged the topic as an Issue since it's clearly an enhancement request logged in bugzilla.

[openallhours]

Thanks Hagar, although I'm not entirely sure what that means! It sounds good though Would you mind explaining in a dumbed down way f possible please?

Many thanks

[robleyd]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_ ... ment#Issue

[openallhours]

Aha - right, I see. Thanks

So what happens next then? Is it now something that will be looked at? Or is it something that others have to want to see happen (and vote on) before it will be considered?

Thanks to all for the help.

[RoryOF]

OpenOffice developers tend to fix problems that impinge on them; I doubt that this will be high priority. As I suggested before, we use the tool of OpenOffice as it is and do our work with it, rather than try to change it to something else.

[openallhours]

Fair enough, especially if I am the only person it bothers! Back to cruddy old MS then I guess. it might sound pedantic but I really can't work with those huge gaps between pages. It does my head in.

I guess this is the wrong place to ask for other recommendations for word processing SW???

[RoryOF]

Change your page length to 300 cm as I suggested before, or switch to /View /Web layout.

[robleyd]

The post we pointed to unfortunately didn't have a link to the actual Bugzilla issue page for the issue referenced , which is at https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=96887 - you can register/login and vote on that if you wish

Looking at that, it seems it was originally reported in 2008 and the last activity was also in 2008, so it seems it may not be seen as a high priority. There seem to be other similar requests in the Open bug list which you might wish to support also.

[openallhours]

Thanks for the suggestions RoryOF, but I am not keen on either I'm afraid. Web layout looks horrible to my mind. And changing the page length is all well and good for within AOO, but if I need to open it in another WP - or if I need to print it - I think it could present a whole new set of difficulties.

robleyd - thanks for that link. OK, I'll add my support to that (better late than never, even if it was 10 years ago!) and look out for others and add my support/vote to any others I find. What would be the best way to find these other ones please?

Cheers to all

[RoryOF]

Am I right in thinking that this is a request to implement what used be called "Normal view" in MS Word?. I recollect that when I switched from MS Word to StarOffice (precursor to OpenOffice) in 2007/8 it took me a little while to get used to the page oriented display; concentration on the text content rather than on its layout was the solution.

I agree about Web layout. Changing the page length for editing and back for printing is a trivial matter, done in seconds. However, it is your document and you must use what seems best to you

[robleyd]

Two options would be:
1) follow the Show other links from the page I linked above and search for page using your browser search - I assume you know how to do that, usually Ctrl+F;
2) use the Bugzilla search box at the top of the page

Issue 8006 seems to be another that is relevant.

[John_Ha]

You need to be a bit inventive

1 Try View > Web layout. It has no pages but loses page layout.

2 Say you are using A4 pages (297mm high) with a 20 mm top / bottom margin. Set up some identical Page Styles where the page is 257mm high, with 0mm top / bottom margins. These new pages will display without the gaps and, as the text area is identical to the real page text area, the page layout will be the identical. You will need to take account of header and footer spaces. When you are ready to print, swap back to the original Page Styles.

If your problem is solved please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

[hubert lambert]

Hello,

Just for information : this feature is available in LibreOffice (since release 5.4 at least).
Regards.