[Solved] Changing a Header

Discuss the word processor
Post Reply
Wathonian
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:57 pm

[Solved] Changing a Header

Post by Wathonian »

I have a multi-page document that has a Header, lines of text and a Footer consisting of the page number. I would then like to have an alphabetical Index with a different Header and with page numbers starting from 1.

Following some advice on the Forum, I know that if I insert a Manual Break at the very end of the last page of the main part of the document I can change the page number so that the Index starts at page 1. My problem is - how can I change the Header for the Index? All I have been able to do is to change the Header for the whole document.

Wathonian
Last edited by Wathonian on Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:20 pm, edited 3 times in total.
AOO 4.0.1/Win XP SP3, LO 3.6.4.3/Win 7, LO 4.2.8.2/Linux Mint 17
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Hagar Delest »

Footer is linked to the page style and header also. Therefore, if you managed to change the footer for the page number, it's the same for the header.
If no luck, upload a sample file so that we see what's wrong (see How to attach a document here).

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the edit button if your issue has been fixed.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
Wathonian
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:57 pm

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Wathonian »

Hagar,

I suspect that several settings are incorrect. Your detailed advice would be much appreciated.

I will attempt to upload an example file from which you will see that page 2 has become page 3 and I am unable to change anything in the index, specifically the header (I want two lines with 'Index' on the second) and the footer font (to be italic).

Grant
Attachments
ExampleHeadersProblem.odt
(17.64 KiB) Downloaded 103 times
AOO 4.0.1/Win XP SP3, LO 3.6.4.3/Win 7, LO 4.2.8.2/Linux Mint 17
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Hagar Delest »

OK, was not precise enough, sorry. You need to change the page style. Create a new one for your index and then the headers and footers will be different.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the edit button if your issue has been fixed.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
Wathonian
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:57 pm

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Wathonian »

Hagar,

I followed your advice and on a small scale example I have been able to change the headers and footers. More experimentation required but for now all is well.

Thank you for your help.

Grant
Last edited by Wathonian on Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
AOO 4.0.1/Win XP SP3, LO 3.6.4.3/Win 7, LO 4.2.8.2/Linux Mint 17
Wathonian
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:57 pm

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Wathonian »

Sorry, a supplementary question.

I can define a new Style for my Index (called MyIndex) but how do I save that for use in other documents? At the moment, if I open a new document and go to Styles, mine does not appear.

Grant
AOO 4.0.1/Win XP SP3, LO 3.6.4.3/Win 7, LO 4.2.8.2/Linux Mint 17
User avatar
Hagar Delest
Moderator
Posts: 32627
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Hagar Delest »

Create a default custom template. See: [Tutorial] Creating a new default template.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
Wathonian
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:57 pm

Re: Changing a Header

Post by Wathonian »

Hagar, thank you for your reply but I am still confused.

To repeat, I would like the document to have two distinct styles. The one we are discussing would be the second style, so:

I create a new document using a style (actually I use Default and tweak that) for the first section. I complete the entries - ten, twenty, fifty pages - and I now wish to create my Index with a different header and footer. How can I introduce a second, Custom, Template? Or should the the 'Custom Template' incorporate two different styles? If so, how? Do I create the first page with the first style and the second page with the second? What then happens in practice when I get to the bottom of the first page?

Sorry for all the questions but I would like to get this to work.

Grant
AOO 4.0.1/Win XP SP3, LO 3.6.4.3/Win 7, LO 4.2.8.2/Linux Mint 17
John_Ha
Volunteer
Posts: 9583
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:51 pm
Location: UK

Re: Changing a Header

Post by John_Ha »

Wathonian wrote:I have a multi-page document that has a Header, lines of text and a Footer consisting of the page number. I would then like to have an alphabetical Index with a different Header and with page numbers starting from 1.
Wathonian

I think your answer lies in the concept of changing the Page Style following a manual page break; and then resetting the page number to start at 1 after the break. See Help on Page numbers which gives a good explanation of how to do it, especially the critical "The new page number is an attribute of the first paragraph of the page"

If you are at given place in your document, Insert > Manual break. You have a dropdown box from which you can choose the Page Style to apply from here onwards. Some of the supplied styles include Index, Endnote, Footnote, or you can define your own.

I had a document with header and footer with page numbers. When I chose Index as the new style from here on, there were no headers and footers. I went Format > Page and added them. They were blank and I added a different header. When I added a Page number field it started from 1. See attached file.
page.png
Attachments
change page number.odt
(13.53 KiB) Downloaded 129 times
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.
Wathonian
Posts: 47
Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:57 pm

Re: Changing a Header [Solved]

Post by Wathonian »

John,

Thank you for that worked example. Following it, I have now got just what I was hoping to achieve.

Grant
AOO 4.0.1/Win XP SP3, LO 3.6.4.3/Win 7, LO 4.2.8.2/Linux Mint 17
Post Reply