[Solved] Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links

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JLoren
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[Solved] Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links

Post by JLoren »

Hello,

I'm almost at the end of writing a book. It started off on Google drive because I'm co-authoring with someone else, and that seemed to be the easiest way to collaborate. Trying to get it downloaded as an ODT has been frustrating, to say the least, and trust me when I say, I will never use Google docs again.... But after several weeks worth of trying one thing and then another, I finally separated the content into five separate sections and got it to download as an ODT that way. I then combined all five parts together into one OpenOffice document. The ToC is working fine, and all the headings are showing up properly within the document as actual headings to which the ToC links. Even all the footnotes are there and working just fine. However, the headings are not showing up on navigation, which is a huge problem, because I am having problems with some of the in-document links, and I can't fix them because the headings aren't showing up in navigation. In other words, some words in the document that I have linked to a particular heading work just fine, but most others do not. That's expected, I'm sure, since I had to combine five separate documents into one. So I have tried editing the links that do not work, but since none of the headings are showing up in navigation, I can't add those in-document links. Within navigation, all of those headings are showing up as "bookmarks" and there are lots of them. But, of course, those bookmarks don't show up when I go to edit the link; and even if they did, they are letters and numbers and not actual words that tell me what, exactly, I'm linking to. When I am trying to edit the link, and I click on the arrow beside "headings," all that shows up is "Sign in to continue to Docs." I have no idea what that means.... Sign in to what? Where?

Bottom line, the headings are not showing up in navigation, and I can't edit the in-document links.

I am sure that having to combine five separate documents into one is throwing everything off, but there was absolutely no other way to get my Google document into ODT. I tried them all.... Any suggestions or help on how to get my headings to show up in navigation is appreciated. It may be time-consuming to edit each in-document link, but it sure will be even more time consuming to rewrite the entire 350 page book.

Thanks,
Loren
Last edited by JLoren on Tue Aug 01, 2017 11:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
OpenOffice 4.1.3 on MacOSX 10.10.5
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RoryOF
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Re: Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links Within the Docum

Post by RoryOF »

If each heading is showing up in a Table of Contents, that is a good sign. Are these Headings formated in one of the built-in Heading styles (Heading 1 .. 10)? If they are, and there are many, it may take a few minutes after opening the file for them to appear in the Navigator. If, to the left of the Headings entry in the Navigator there is a little symbol - on my computer a black triangle, but may differ on yours - clicking on this should drop down the list of lines formated using the Headings styles. Right clicking on this Headings entry should bring up "Outline level", which will allow you restrict the Heading levels displayed.
 Edit: Remember you can hyperlink your Table of Contents for quick movement about the document. This may not be ideal, but may be an interim workaround. If you find the Style of a non working heading, you can use Find and Replace to change that to a hyperlinking style. 
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
JLoren
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Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:46 pm

Re: Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links Within the Docum

Post by JLoren »

Hi RoryOF,

Yes, I did think of that and checked the entire document to make sure the headings are formatted in the built-in headings styles of Headings 1-10. They are. The document has been opened since yesterday, and the headings are not showing up in navigator. There is no little arrow to the left of the "Headings" in navigator. I have tried right-clicking on "Heading" and changing things up, but nothing seems to be working so far. :(

Edit: The ToC is linked to each heading, so those links are are working fine. It's the hyperlinks within the document that aren't working. For example, if I have the word "Bubble Gum" that I want to link to a particular spot in the document, I'm unable to, because the headings aren't showing up either in navigation, or when I want to add a hyperlink.
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RoryOF
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Re: Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links Within the Docum

Post by RoryOF »

In some cases the equivalent of the little arrow to left of Headings in Navigator is a boxed + sign. Also (I've just checked), double clicking on the Heading line in Navigator will cause it to open just as effectively as clicking on the arrow/+.

I'm taking one of your problems at a time.
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acknak
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Re: Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links Within the Docum

Post by acknak »

In order to appear in the Navigator, the headings must also be connected to a document outline level. Typically, this is configured in Tools > Outline Numbering ...
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RoryOF
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Re: Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links Within the Docum

Post by RoryOF »

Also: might some or all of the text be in OpenOffice Sections, which are Write protected? Try /Format /Sections. If you get a display of Section 1... etc, or names, then select each section and uncheck the "Protected" box under "Write Protection" on that window.
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JLoren
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Re: Headings, Navigation, and Editing Links Within the Docum

Post by JLoren »

AHHH!!!! THANK YOU ACKNAK!!! IT'S WORKING! YOU'RE A FREAKING GENIUS!

Sorry for the hollering... lol :P
OpenOffice 4.1.3 on MacOSX 10.10.5
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