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Thread ID: 105278	2009-11-25 15:59:00	The Great OpenOffice.org Help thread	Yorick (8120)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
833588	2009-11-25 15:59:00	As a result of of my survey thread I've had a few PMs asking about how-tos in OOo, so rather than keep it all secret I'll put up a few tips and tricks in here and answer any and all questions or problems that peeps may have. In particular things that are unique to OOo. If I can't answer them myself I'll find someone who can. So No.1: I'm a sucker for silly java games and Easter Eggs. Open Calc and put in the formula field =GAME("StarWars") (caps sensitive) Tomorrow: Extensions, getting and installing them and a list of my favorite "can't do without" Extensions	Yorick (8120)
833589	2009-11-26 02:15:00	OOo extensions rock, I'm never quite sure how we survived with out them before . Extensions came about because of the necessity to keep OOo's download size to a minimum, after all, the primary method for users obtaining OOo is via download and even at the minimum size it's still a 10 hour plus download on dialup even with a good download manager or torrent, so how to maintain a reasonable download size and add functionality? The Mozilla team had led the way with extensions and so it seemed the logical route to go down . I'm not sure we expected the community to grasp it with such fervour however! The result was developers now have three levels of hacking on OOo . First level of course is macros using OOo Basic and the top level is contributing patches to the core(not trivial given the size of the beast) Extensions then fitted in as a middle ground . So how to get them? The Extensions project ( . openoffice . org) maintains a repository (http://extensions . services . openoffice . org/" target="_blank">extensions . openoffice . org) maintains a repository (http:) of all the extensions where you can download or developers can upload new ones . You can get Dictionaries, clipart libraries, Template packs and all sorts of other very cool functionalities . Installing and running them is simplicity itself . First download the extension (I have a folder set aside specifically for my extensions so I can keep track of them), they generally have an . oxt or . zip file name extension . (You don't have to unpack the zip files, OOo runs them from inside the archive) . Go Tools>Extension manager and in the dialogue click "Get more extensions online . . . " That will open the repository in your favourite browser . Now you can search or browse among the hundreds of extensions . Note some are Operating System specific, so be sure to download the correct one, the PDF import extension is probably the best example of this, the windows and linux versions are different . Once you've downloaded go to the "Extension Manager" dialogue again and click "Add", navigate to the folder where you've downloaded to, select the extension you want to add and click open . Most are released under the GPL or LGPL, so there is a license dialogue to accept, click accept and you're done . Some require that you shut down OOo(including quickstarter) and relaunch, but most will be available to use immediately . OK now for my Extension Hit Parade, the top five in no particular order: AltSearch . ( . services . openoffice . org/project/AltSearch" target="_blank">extensions . services . openoffice . org) Really powerful search and replace dialogue for writer . NZ English Dictionary ( . services . openoffice . org/project/dict-en-nz-2008-12-03" target="_blank">extensions . services . openoffice . org) Naturally and equally naturally Maori Dictionary ( . services . openoffice . org/project/maori-papakupu" target="_blank">extensions . services . openoffice . org) PDF Import ( . services . openoffice . org/project/pdfimport" target="_blank">extensions . services . openoffice . org) over two million downloads so it can't be bad! Improving all the time so it pays to update regularly, absolute essential . Template Changer ( . services . openoffice . org/project/templatechanger" target="_blank">extensions . services . openoffice . org) AKA "the Sledgehammer" Any document you get from someone else that you need to edit comes with style baggage, like foreign fonts and weird formatting, this extension wipes all that and forces your template onto the document . VERY useful, more than you realise at first glance! Screenplay template ( . services . openoffice . org/project/A4Screenplay" target="_blank">extensions . services . openoffice . org) Simply because Peter Jackson is one day going to hire me to write his next epic based on my screenplay! :D OK OK I know that's six, but I never claimed I could count . :D	Yorick (8120)
833590	2009-11-26 03:24:00	Maori Dictionary, my wife will be keen for that with her Early Childhood courses requiring her to learn a significant amount of Maori :)	Chilling_Silence (9)
833591	2009-11-26 03:57:00	So No . 1: I'm a sucker for silly java games and Easter Eggs . Open Calc and put in the formula field =GAME("StarWars") (caps sensitive) I can recall when MS used to do that with excel . They stopped due to pressure/complaints about undeclared code from businesses as I recall .	the_bogan (9949)
833592	2009-11-26 16:23:00	I can recall when MS used to do that with excel. They stopped due to pressure/complaints about undeclared code from businesses as I recall. That is after all the advantage of OOo, the Source is open for inspection, it is ALL declared. As opposed to MSO which is all undeclared. It means that there could be bits of code performing functions that noone knows about that could suddenly cause a chaotic meltdown... How would you know, it's all very secret. With OOo however it's all open for inspection and in fact if you don't like it you can take it out yourself or have it taken out by someone else.	Yorick (8120)
833593	2009-11-27 03:49:00	PDF export has been an OOo feature since the beginning and in fact in terms of producing PDFs OOo is up there with Acrobat professional in terms of functionality. Most people know about the "One click Export" but the File "Export as PDF" dialogue gives you a whole raft of very cool functionality that uses the real grunt of Acrobat Reader. In particular PDF forms. These are very useful for NFP, clubs and so on for doing all sorts of things that require data input from the receiver, such as Subscriptions, booking forms and the like. Adding Data input fields to a PDF file starts by going to View>toolbars> Form Controls. There's a simple form example here (www.theingots.org.nz) that uses some of the basic fields. Tomorrow, who needs powerpoint...creating a PDF presentation that runs in Acrobat reader.	Yorick (8120)
833594	2009-12-08 06:06:00	PDF export has been an OOo feature since the beginning and in fact in terms of producing PDFs OOo is up there with Acrobat professional in terms of functionality. Most people know about the "One click Export" but the File "Export as PDF" dialogue gives you a whole raft of very cool functionality that uses the real grunt of Acrobat Reader. In particular PDF forms. These are very useful for NFP, clubs and so on for doing all sorts of things that require data input from the receiver, such as Subscriptions, booking forms and the like. Adding Data input fields to a PDF file starts by going to View>toolbars> Form Controls. There's a simple form example here (www.theingots.org.nz) that uses some of the basic fields. Tomorrow, who needs powerpoint...creating a PDF presentation that runs in Acrobat reader. So can it be done yet? Pretty much anything can be done tomorrow or next week or next year or not at all.	Sweep (90)
833595	2009-12-08 10:46:00	So can it be done yet? Pretty much anything can be done tomorrow or next week or next year or not at all . You're right of course, one shouldn't make promises that come back to bite one in the nether regions, but the great god of fiscal necessity and my daughters wedding took priority these last weeks! But now Sweep, seeing as how you asked so nicely . . . PDF presentations with OOo . One of the issues that can befall someone who, like me, does presentations on a regular basis is software/hardware incompatibility if you're forced to use someone else's equipment to do a presentation . Also sometimes you want to send a presentation to someone and you're not sure what, if any, presentation software they have on their computer . Not everyone has Impress/Powerpoint/Powerpoint reader on their computer . These days however it's a rare thing to find a computer without the ubiquitous Adobe Acrobat Reader . Acrobat shares one thing with the OOo, they both have open file formats that are ISO standards and consequently OOo has leveraged the power of that in it's PDF Export capabilities . We already discussed the Forms capabilities and so it is for presentations . Acrobat reader is a very good presentation programme and OOo Impress exports presentations to PDF so that they can be played in any machine with Acrobat Reader, the advantage of an open documented format means that fidelity is excellent . The procedure is simple, rather than using one click, use file>Export to PDF . That launches this dialog ( . org . nz/pub/PDFExport1 . png" target="_blank">theingots . org . nz) (Warning: Graphic, so you might want to "Open in new tab") This dialog can usually be left as default although some might want to save as a "Hybrid" for ease of editing later . The Hybrid option creates a document that is both PDF and ODF, that OOo can edit natively without the PDF import extension, very useful . Next when doing presentations I usually go to the "User Interface" Tab ( . org . nz/pub/PDFExport2 . png" target="_blank">theingots . org . nz) . This tab defines how it will be launched in Acrobat (For Linux users this works fine with Evince as well) As you can see, I set it to launch in Full Screen mode minus toolbars, menubars and window controls . Your personal preference, I like it this way for doing presentations because it's just one click after opening to be in presentation mode . Normally a popup will open asking if opening in full screen mode is OK, click OK and you're presenting . You will see it has a check mark for "Use Transitions Effects" I try to avoid this usually as different versions of readers seem to translate speed differently and I don't like them in any case, but personal preference again . For the purposes of this I've put a medium speed "Wipe right" transition in the Demo presentation linked at the bottom of this . At this point my Acrobat reader doesn't recognise continuous timed transitions but it may have changed in the Windows vers 10 which is a bit ahead of the Linux version which I haven't updated lately on my system . In the Security tab ( . org . nz/pub/PDFExport4 . png" target="_blank">theingots . org . nz)you can encrypt the presentation and set a password to play it as well as set permissions for editing and printing . Very handy if you have a sensitive presentation that may end up out there in the wild . Next time creating and managing templates in OOo and we start looking at the power of Styles using Stylist . Herewith the demo presentation ( . org . nz/pub/WhyOOo . pdf" target="_blank">theingots . org . nz) . (Caution: OOo Marketing spiel read carefully! ;) probably best to right click and download)	Yorick (8120)
833596	2009-12-08 22:35:00	Sticky this thread?	bob_doe_nz (92)
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