The Bullets and Numbering bar contains functions to modify the structure of numbered paragraphs, including changing the order of paragraphs and defining different paragraph levels.

Status Bar

The Status Bar contains information about the current document and offers various buttons with special functions.

Language

Displays the language for the selected text. Click to open a menu where you can choose another language for the selected text or for the current paragraph. Choose None to exclude the text from spellchecking and hyphenation. Choose More to open a dialog with more options.

Digital Signature

See also Digital Signatures.

Zoom & View Layout

Three controls on the Writer Status Bar allow to change the zoom and view layout of your text documents.

The View Layout icons show from left to right: Single column mode. View mode with pages side by side. Book mode with two pages as in an open book.

Drag the Zoom slider to the left to show more pages, drag to the right to zoom into a page and show a smaller area of the page.

Page Preview

The Page Preview Bar appears when you view the current document in the page preview mode.

Rulers

Rulers display the dimensions of the page, and the position of tabs, indents, borders and columns. You can modify all of these on the rulers using the mouse.

By double-clicking on the ruler, you can open the Paragraph dialog and assign direct paragraph formatting for the current paragraph or all selected paragraphs.

Formula Bar

The Formula Bar allows you to create and insert calculations into a text document. To activate the Formula Bar, press F2.

Frame Bar

When a frame is selected, the Frame Bar provides the most important functions for formatting and positioning the frame.

Wrap Off

You can also choose this setting on the Wrap tab page.

Wrap On

This icon represents the Page Wrap option on the Wrap tab page.

Wrap Through

You can also define this setting on the Wrap tab page.

Background Color

Frame Properties

OLE-Object Bar

The OLE-Object bar appears when objects are selected, and contains the most important functions for formatting and positioning objects.

No Wrap

You can also choose this setting on the Wrap tab page.

Wrap

This icon corresponds to the Page Wrap option on the Wrap tab page.

Wrap Through

You can also achieve the same effect through the Wrap tab page.

Object Properties

Text Object Bar

Contains formatting commands for text that is contained in a draw object. The Text Object bar appears when you double-click inside a draw object.

Here you can define the indents, spacing, alignment and line spacing for the paragraph currently selected.

$[officename] Writer Features

$[officename] Writer lets you design and produce text documents that can include graphics, tables, or charts. You can then save the documents in a variety of formats, including the standardized OpenDocument format (ODF), Microsoft Word .doc format, or HTML. And you can easily export your document to the Portable Document Format (PDF).

Writing

$[officename] Writer lets you create both basic documents, such as memos, faxes, letters , resumes and merge documents, as well as long and complex or multi-part documents, complete with bibliographies, reference tables and indexes.

$[officename] Writer also includes such useful features as a spellchecker, a thesaurus, AutoCorrect, and hyphenation as well as a variety of templates for almost every purpose. You can also create your own templates using the wizards.

Designing and Structuring

$[officename] offers a wide variety of options to design documents. Use the Styles and Formatting window to create, assign and modify styles for paragraphs, individual characters, frames and pages. In addition, the Navigator helps you to quickly move around inside your documents, lets you look at your document in an outline view, and keeps track of the objects that you have inserted into your document.

You can also create various indexes and tables in text documents. You can define the structure and appearance of the indexes and tables according to your individual needs. Live hyperlinks and bookmarks let you jump directly to the corresponding items in the text.

Desktop Publishing with $[officename] Writer

$[officename] Writer contains numerous desktop publishing and drawing tools to assist you in creating professionally styled documents, such as brochures, newsletters and invitations. You can format your documents with multi-column layouts, text frames, graphics, tables, and other objects.

Calculations

Text documents in $[officename] have an integrated calculation function that helps you execute sophisticated calculations or logical links. You can easily create a table in a text document in order to perform calculations.

Creating Drawings

The $[officename] Writer drawing tool lets you create drawings, graphics, legends, and other types of drawings directly in text documents.

Inserting Graphics

You can insert pictures with different formats into a text document, including graphics with a JPG or GIF format. In addition, the Gallery provides a collection of clipart graphics, and the Fontwork Gallery creates stunning font effects.

Flexible Application Interface

The program interface is designed so that you can configure it according to your preferences, including customizing icons and menus. You can position various program windows, such as the Styles and Formatting window or the Navigator as floating windows anywhere on the screen. You can also dock some windows to the edge of the workspace.

Drag&Drop

The drag-and-drop feature enables you to work quickly and efficiently with text documents in $[officename]. For example, you can drag-and-drop objects, such as graphics from the Gallery, from one location to another in the same document, or between open $[officename] documents.

Help Functions

You can use the Help system as a complete reference for $[officename] applications, including instructions for simple and complex tasks.