Where are the templates?

Using them, Making them, Finding them
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johncraw
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Where are the templates?

Post by johncraw »

I am trying to create a document from an OO template, but cannot find them.
If I go under File-New-Templates and Documents I only see a few Presentation templates.
If I go under File-Wizards and select any entry, no wizard starts. I think it is because the templates cannot be found. According to Help " OpenOffice.org comes with sample templates for personal or business letters, which you can customize to your own needs with the help of the wizard."
I installed the entire OO package (OOo_2.3.1_Win32Intel_install_wJRE_en-US.exe). Can anyone point me to where these templates are?
Thanks in advance
John Crawford
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by Hagar Delest »

In the 2.4 version, I think there are more templates than in previous versions.

If the wizards don't work, you should check that a Java environment has been detected by OOo. Go to Tools>Options>OOo>Java, wait a while until OOo has scanned the system and make sure a version has the checkmark.

Thanks to add '[Solved]' at beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.
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foxcole
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by foxcole »

Hagar de l'Est wrote:In the 2.4 version, I think there are more templates than in previous versions.
Not in my installation. :?

This thread lists some links to template collections. I'd check out the last one first. templates for cover letters
Cheers!
---Fox

OOo 3.2.0 Portable, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Safway
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by Safway »

The online documentation is wrong. In Star Office there are quite a few templates, but in OpenOffice.org, there are only very few (as you determined). The OpenOffice.org documentation is shared with Star Office.

Here is one of the many places you can download additional templates for OpenOffice and Star Office:
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project
and most specifically
http://extensions.services.openoffice.o ... my/term/36
If someone posts a fix for your question, then please post a quick thank you and then go to your first post, use the edit button to add [Solved] as the first word of the title so other people can rely on the fix as well.
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johncraw
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by johncraw »

Hagar de l'Est wrote: If the wizards don't work, you should check that a Java environment has been detected by OOo. Go to Tools>Options>OOo>Java, wait a while until OOo has scanned the system and make sure a version has the checkmark.
Now I am confused. I checked in Java, and "Use a Java runtime environment" was not checked. So I checked it, and tried to add. I had a number of jres folders. According to the documentation:
Add a path to the root folder of a JRE on your computer. I tried that and it does not seem to add it. Here is the confusing part. Apparently most Base functions require the jre. I have been using Base, and have found no problems. Also, if I open Base there is no jre listed there either (I don't think that is a problem since I think that the options are the same for all the apps). The version of OO that I installed, included the jre, and I remember it being installed without error.
It seems from the other replies that OO is currently lacking in templates. It is frustrating that you first look to the documentation to answer questions, and the documentation is not accurate.
John Crawford
This is an update to the above.
I went into Impress and opened the wizard. It opened with no problems. So if jre is needed it is found. There are just no templates that the system can find that are for anything but Inpress. However......
in the OpenOffiice.org 2.3/share/template/en_us/present/ are the 2 impress templates.
in the OpenOffiice.org 2.3/share/template/en_us/wizard/letter/en_us folder there are 10 *.ott writer templates. I can open them and they are templates. There are also fax (8) agenda(20)reports(30), and styles (19). So they are there how do I get the program to recognize them?
John
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by Hagar Delest »

Sorry, I had an old extension (for templates) that had remained in my profile. So I confirm there are very few templates by default.
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Safway
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by Safway »

"It is frustrating that you first look to the documentation to answer questions, and the documentation is not accurate."
I understand. The documentation is supposed to be accurate but with humans sometimes things slip by. It helps to have people identify it when it did slip by. Have you posted this as an issue for the developers to fix? Here is the address to do so:
http://qa.openoffice.org/

"There are just no templates that the system can find that are for anything but Inpress."
Correct, to get more templates, then download them. If you notify the developers of your issue, then they can correct the mistake.

"in the OpenOffiice.org 2.3/share/template/en_us/present/ are the 2 impress templates.
in the OpenOffiice.org 2.3/share/template/en_us/wizard/letter/en_us folder there are 10 *.ott writer templates. I can open them and they are templates. There are also fax (8) agenda(20)reports(30), and styles (19)."
Cool, you really have been doing your part in looking into this. Kudos! I'll spend more effort to help you. These writer templates are normally used by the wizard via the pull-down menu File | Wizards | Letter, etc. Notice the ". . ./wizard/. . ." in the directory path. These are the templates that come natively with OpenOffice.org as part of the package and I'll refer to these as system templates.

"So they are there how do I get the program to recognize them?"
OK, you can add your own PERSONAL templates for just you to use or you can add SYSTEM templates for all users on your network/system to use. Here is how you organize (not utilize) your templates with the graphical interface:
-either- File | Templates | Organize
-or- File | New | Templates and Documents | Organize
If you trust the online documentation any more :-) you can find a lot of information about this in help under "templates;organizing"

To utilize your templates, use File | New | Templates and Documents | etc.

To use your templates WITH DIALOGS, use File | Wizards | etc.

To add SYSTEM templates for all users, copy them into the . . ./OpenOffiice.org 2.3/share/template subdirectories.
If someone posts a fix for your question, then please post a quick thank you and then go to your first post, use the edit button to add [Solved] as the first word of the title so other people can rely on the fix as well.
LibreOffice 3.3.3 on Fedora
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foxcole
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Re: Where are the templates?

Post by foxcole »

johncraw wrote:I checked in Java, and "Use a Java runtime environment" was not checked. So I checked it, and tried to add. I had a number of jres folders. According to the documentation:
Add a path to the root folder of a JRE on your computer. I tried that and it does not seem to add it.
Are the JREs listed in the Java options? That window can take a long time to populate, especially if you have several JRE versions on the computer. The problem is, you have no way of knowing when it's done searching your system, and you have no way of seeing that it is searching your system for JREs.

I happen to know I have several, so I wait until they're discovered; they all populate the window at once. Only then is it possible to add a new JRE; however, you most likely won't have to. All you have to do is ensure that a radio button is turned on beside one of them, because this for some reason doesn't happen by default.

So you might want to give it another shot, even if you were able to use the wizard.
Cheers!
---Fox

OOo 3.2.0 Portable, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
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