5 Links to enhance your OpenOffice.org Experience

On July 19, 2010, in Extensions, Useful Tools, by stephanie
2

The following links should be useful if you wish to extend the functionality of your OpenOffice install.

  • To install OO.o 3.2.1 version under Ubuntu, Muktware has these instructions…  Read More »
  • Solveig Haugland comes to the rescue with OpenOffice.org clipart – It’s nice to be able to just pull clip art from within the program. Some users find it difficult to navigate a file system, which is what you need to do if you’re using Insert > Picture > From File. And, frankly, dragging from a nice pane of graphics is easier. Read More »
  • There are proofreading tools / grammar checkers for OpenOffice.org. A few that you may want to look at include these suggestions from Raphael Mudge. Read More »
  • Adding fonts to OpenOffice is done by adding them to your operating system. This how-to looks at adding fonts to Windows and Mac, which will become available in your OpenOffice installation when you restart the application. Read More »
  • Adding MySQL to OpenOffice Base is easy using the MySQL Connector Extension for OpenOffice. Read More »

Have a great Monday!

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10 Reasons why you should use OpenOffice.org

On July 15, 2010, in Beginners, OpenOffice, by stephanie
0
  1. It’s Free. That in itself could be enough for most people. You can download it free from www.openoffice.org
  2. Free updates and versions. Major and minor updates, upgrades and versions are also free. Gotta love that!
  3. OpenOffice can run on older machines. This means that you don’t necessarily to upgrade your computer in order to run an up-to-date office productivity program. If your office has older computers, this is also useful for your company
  4. OpenOffice looks familiar. From MS Office 2003 to MS Office 2007 there was a change in the way that it looked and felt, with a new ‘ribbon’ interface. Some users, even advanced users, really struggle with this new format. Even quite a few of the keyboard shortcuts that we are used to didn’t work any more. OpenOffice can be an alternative to avoid these transition problems and maintain productivity.
  5. Small file sizes. OpenOffice files tend to be smaller than MS Office files with similar content. This can be quite useful when sending emails or saving disk space.
  6. It makes nice web pages. OpenOffice makes cleaner html (code) for webpages. While most people who are expert in web production will not use either MS Word or Writer, for basic pages, Writer is a good, clean editor.

    html - OpenOffice vs MS Office - Click on the image for a larger version

  7. Consistent interface between different platforms. If you use an iMac at work and a PC at home, it’s good to know that your OpenOffice interface will look almost identical, and the files will transfer quite readily. One of the earliest complaints for Mac users were that they have a different interface with MS Office, and almost feel ‘left behind’.
  8. Export to PDF button. Yes, with the latest versions of MS Office, you can now ‘Save As…’ PDF, but nothing beats the PDF button that old school OpenOffice users know and love. Export to PDF with a single click. “Look Ma, no menus!”

    Love the PDF button!

  9. Compatibility. With Windows, Mac & Linux. If you’re interested in a free Operating System (OS) alternative instead of Windows, try Ubuntu (it’s like Linux for beginners), and it comes with OpenOffice.
  10. Support. While MS Office has support and a company to stand behind it, if most users are honest they will realise that they have probably rarely, if ever, called Microsoft for help. In most cases, users turn to the web, which is exactly where the support for OpenOffice lies – in a free, open-armed Open-Source loving community. :-)

    http://www.oooforum.org/

    http://www.oooforum.org/

While I’m a little biased, I’m not blind to the faults and shortcomings of OpenOffice. Stay tuned for that evaluation so that you have a full picture before you decide to fork out your hard-earned cash.
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Changing Units of Measure in OpenOffice [inches to cm]

On June 30, 2010, in General, Impress, OpenOffice Calc, Writer, by stephanie
5

Living in a metric society, it is much more convenient to have OpenOffice talking to me in metric measurements, rather than in empirical measurements.

So I had fiddled with locals and other such measurements, however this did not seem to change the values presented when I clicked on Format –> Page.

To do this, I followed the steps below:

  1. Open OpenOffice Writer
  2. Click on Tools –> Options
  3. Click on the + sign next to OpenOffice.org Writer (expanding the menu)
  4. Click on General
  5. Change the measurement unit from inches to cm
  6. Click on OK
  7. Restart OpenOffice

I found that changing the measurement setting in OpenOffice Writer also updated the measurement setting in Calc as well. If you find out that this is not the case, please advise in the comments.

Update based on the comment below.

It seems that Impress is not updated, so you need to do this separately.

Again – follow the steps below.

  1. Open OpenOffice
  2. Click on Tools –> Options
  3. Click on the + sign next to OpenOffice.org Impress (expanding the menu)
  4. Click on General
  5. Change the measurement unit from inches to cm
  6. Click on OK
  7. Restart OpenOffice

See the image below for clarification – and thanks for the query! Happy to assist!

Change unit of measurement for Impress

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New Users, Get Orientation for OpenOffice [Newbie School]

On June 16, 2010, in Beginners, Easy, General, by stephanie
0

For those that are new to OpenOffice, slide on over to World Label.com for OpenOffice Orientation. We’ve even picked up some tricks ourselves!

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OpenOffice 3.2: Sizzling!!! [OpenOffice is Sexy]

On June 16, 2010, in OpenOffice, by stephanie
0

I’m a geek, so I think the new look for OpenOffice is HOT!

Loving it!

Download the latest version at OpenOffice.org

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Edit Background Images in OpenOffice Writer [Wrap -> In Background]

On June 2, 2010, in Beginners, Writer, by stephanie
0

As the title of this post suggests, it’s quite easy to put an image in the background of a document.

Right mouse click on the image, and select Wrap –> In Background.

Wrap images in OpenOffice

However, I was stumped when I was trying to access and manipulate the file after I had sent it to the back.

Thanks to Solveig Haugland who reminded me that you just need to right mouse button click on the image in the background (aim for between the text) for a menu to appear, and you can then grab the corners and resize or even delete as necessary!

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OpenOffice Manual – Guide for Impress [Presentation Powerpoint Guide]

On May 4, 2010, in Beginners, Impress, OpenOffice, Useful Tools, by stephanie
0

Following on from last week’s post, OpenOffice also has a Guide for Impress.

Download the 292-page guide for OpenOffice Impress from Scribd.

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Changing the Default Size of your Document [OpenOffice Writer]

On April 26, 2010, in Beginners, Templates, Writer, by stephanie
0

Living outside of the US means that I use A4 paper. OpenOffice Writer documents usually default to Letter sized paper.

To change the size of your paper to A4, use the steps below. If you want to change the default paper size, then perform the steps below and keep reading further.

Changing the page size of your document

First, open a new Writer document.

Then from the Format menu, select ‘Page’.

Then from the Paper Format section, change the letter to A4 as per the following.

Select OK, and your page will be resized!

Easy! But who wants to do this every time they open a new document?

Change the default page size of your documents

From the previous section, you should now have a document that is A4-sized.

Modify any other settings that you want saved in your default template as well. For example, I like Arial font as the default instead of Times New Roman, so I have changed that.

Now, from the File menu, choose Templates -> Save.

You will then see the Templates box. Give your template a name, and select a category (like My Templates).

Now choose File -> Templates -> Organize

In the Categories list, double-click on the ‘My Templates’ folder.

Right-click on the template you want to use and choose Set as Default Template from the menu.

Click the Close button.

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How do I search with a Wildcard in OpenOffice? [Ctrl-F]

On March 30, 2010, in FAQ, General, Intermediate, Miscellaneous, OpenOffice, by stephanie
0

Recently I was asked about wildcard searches in OpenOffice – MS Office allows this through the use of Ctrl-F and using the asterisk sign to replace any values inbetween.

Eg. To find http://google.com,http://gmail.com, http://gdoc.com), in MS office is ctrl+f, then type in the words “http://g*.com”.

Wildcard searches in OpenOffice

For OpenOffice it is very similar.

To find http://google.com,http://gmail.com, http://gdoc.com), hit Ctrl+F, then type in the words “http://g.*.com”.

Not that instead of using just the asterisk, you now use a full-stop (aka period), and asterisk.

.*

This will find any number of wildcard characters between the letters that you have entered.

If you are searching for just one wildcard character, you use the full-stop (period) only.

Eg. Ctrl-F and enter in “o.en” will find open and oven, but not othen.

If you wish to find 2 wildcard characters, then use two full-stops (periods).

eg. Ctrl-F and enter in “en..y” will find entry and enjoy, but not enoy.

I hope this helps!

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