A new Writer Outline folding mode in LibreOffice

Jim Raykowski, one from LibreOffice developers, realized so much requested feature - Writer Outline folding mode. You should enable Experimental features in Tools ▸ Options ▸ LibreOffice ▸ Advanced dialog to see "Show outline content visibility button" checkbox in Tools ▸ Options ▸ LibreOffice Writer ▸ View dialog.

After checking it you'll can see a button with arrow near any selected heading in your document. Click on it to fold all text from the current heading to next heading. Right click on it to fold all text from current heading to next the same level heading with all its subheadings.

Look at videos created by Jim (I downloaded it from bug report) below for some explanation:

It will be available in next 7.1 release in early February 2021.

Thanks Jim for your great work!

Navigator imprevements by Jim Raykowski

Jim Raikowski, one from LibreOffice's developers, has made many very nice Navigator improvements for Writer and Calc.

- Navigator's categories are gray if they don't have any items. It works in Writer and in Calc Navigators.

- New items Go To, Edit, Delete, Rename were added for all objects context menu in Writer's Navigator (Headings, Tables, Frames, Images, etc.)

- New items Promote/Demote level and Promote/Demote chapter were added to Headings context menu in Writer's Navigator

- Added a new feature "Outline tracking" for Headings in Writer's Navigator. You'll can find it in Hedings context menu in the Navigator. It can be in three states: Default, Focus, Off. Try click by your mouse in several place in your big text document with many headings. You'll see that Headings in Navigator will be selected automatically according to text cursor position.

- It was replaced the navigation toolbox with the navigate by elements control. 

It all will be available in future LibreOffice 7 release in early August 2020. But you already can try it right now if you'll install a LibreOffice's daily build from https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/master/current.html.

Thanks Jim for your great work!

Charts in Writer documents

If you use LibreOffice Calc, then you know it can insert charts to sheet using some data from selected cell range (if not, then it's a pity). LibreOffice Writer allows to make the same. There are two variants for insertng charts into text document:

1 variant. You just use menu Insert->Chart or icon on toolbar. Will be insert a default chart:

Then you should customize your chart using tools on special toolbar (select type of chart, add legend, etc.). And in that case you should add your data in an internal table manually:

That dialog is very uncomfortable. If your data will be update, then you should be change data in that internal table in chart editing mode.

2 variant. You already have some table with your data in your Writer document. Click inside of your table and select Insert->Chart. It opens a chart wizard instead simple default chart! That wizard is the same as in Calc:

You can customize your chart as you want there. Note, there are already data range in the field on wizard's step two. And that data range is from your source table!

Possibly, you should change it! 

Note, a table name is default in that field (Table1). If you'll plan to have many charts from many tables in your text document, then give them unique names before creating of charts.

There is a bonus in using of variant 2. The chart will be autoupdate after changing a data in the table!

Attention! That autoupdate mechanism was changed in LibreOffice 5.3 for perfomance optimization. Unfortunately, now you should enter to chart edit mode and exit from it at once after changing of data in the table for updating of chart=( There is a bug about it and I hope someone fix it.

Note, a chart from table will be created above table! But after creating of chart you can move it into another place in your document. Link will be saved. 

Automatic row numbering in the Writer tables

Often we have a Writer table with some numbering in its first column. And when you delete some rows from the table, then you should to make your numbering in first column anew.

There is a beautiful method for that case special for you! After that you shouldn't re-create your numbering in the table.

Just make next steps:

1. Create a table in Writer

2. Select needed column or several cells in column

3. Press Toggle Numbered List icon on toolbar (or select some list style on the Sidebar)

4. Now you have AUTOMATIC numbering of table rows!

For example, you created a numbering for 10 rows. Try delete 5th and 6th row. Your numbering is updated automatic and you have numbering from 1 to 8. And if you insert two row between existing rows with numbering, then you'll get numbering from 1 to 10 automatic also.

You can disable that numbering using the same way as when you created it. Just select cells with numbering and press Toggle Numbered List icon.

The same Russian post is here.

Calculations inside of Writer tables

Possibly, not all people know it can to make calculations inside Writer tables like in the Calc. But there are only 25 functions for use inside Writer tables, but Calc has over 400 functions.

To start use functions inside Writer tables you should left click into cell and then press key F2 or "=" on keyboard, or use "Formula" icon on Table toolbar. It shows a Formula bar like in the Calc.

There are Cell address field, Functions drop-down list, Cancel button, Apply button, Formula field on that bar.

Note, links to cells in Writer tables look as <A1> or <B3>. Cell ranges look as <A1:A10> or <A1:D12>.

After the Formula bar appeared you can select functions from drop-down list or can write a formula manually inside the Formula field after equal sign at once.

You can make calculates not only inside one Writer table. You can use values from many tables inside one Writer document. Use link to cell with table name like <Table2.A1>.

Attention! If you made in your formula a link to cell from another table and then changed that table's name, then you'll see an error in the cell like "** Expression is faulty **"! So, you should rename all your tables before you start create formulas inside these tables.

MS Word allows calculations in its native table too. But there are some differences between MS Word and LO Writer in that case.

First - difference between functions sets:

LibreOffice Writer table`s functions	MS Word table`s functions
SUM	SUM
ROUND	ROUND
PERCENT	-
SQUARE ROOT	-
POWER	-
LIST SEPARATOR	-
EQUAL	-
NOT EQUAL	-
LESS THAN OR EQUAL	-
GREATER THAN OR EQUAL	-
LESS	-
GREATER	-
BOOLEAN OR	OR
BOOLEAN XOR	-
BOOLEAN AND	AND
BOOLEAN NOT	NOT
MEAN	AVERAGE
MINIMUM	MIN
MAXIMUM	MAX
SINE	-
COSINE	-
TANGENT	-
ARCSINE	-
ARCCOSINE	-
ARCTANGENT	-
COUNT (starting from 7.1)	COUNT
ABS (starting from 7.1)	ABS
-	DEFINED
-	FALSE
-	IF
-	INT
-	MOD
PRODUCT (starting from 7.1)	PRODUCT
SIGN (starting from 7.1)	SIGN
-	TRUE

Second - in the Writer you type a formula into Formula bar like in the Calc, but in the MS Word you type a formula into the different dialog window.

Third - you can click on cells in the Writer tables when you create a formula, but in the MS Word you can't make it

Fourth - Writer can automatically recalculate result of formula when you change source values, but MS Word can't.

ps: if there is a formula inside a Writer table, then you'll never know about it wihout tooltip! Cell with formula looks like any another cell without formula in the table=(

Footnotes and Endnotes in LibreOffice Writer

It's translation of my Russian post about Footnotes and Endnotes to English.

What's Footnote? Wiki says us next:

A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the text. Footnotes are notes at the foot of the page while endnotes are collected under a separate heading at the end of a chapter, volume, or entire work.

It looks in the text document so:

Note, the notes in the text are highlight by gray color. It made for help of users and will not be print on paper.

LibreOffice Writer can insert both types of notes: Footnotes and Endnotes.

On image above you see that footnotes places in bottom of page and endnotes places on latest page in the document. Page with endnotes is always latest page in the document. If you have last "empty" page in your document with even only one empty paragraph, then the endnotes page will be next page anyway.

Font size for footnotes and endnotes is smaller than basic font size in text body by default.

Use menu "Insert->Footnote and Endnote->Footnote" and "Insert->Footnote and Endnote->Endnote" to insert notes.

Notes have own options. You can find it in "Tools->Footnotes and Endnotes...". I think it needs to rename that item to something like "Foot/Endnotes settings".

The dialog has two tabs:

Here can set up numbering type, for Footnotes can to set up counting per page, per chapter or per document, can select paragraph ans symbol styles, etc.

Footnotes have else one place with some parameters. It's "Page style" dialog, "Footnote" tab:

Look at two options in Footnote area section. Its are responsible for footnotes area height on the page. If you select "Maximum footnote height" with small value and your footnote's text will be too long, then that text could be move to next page to its footnotes area. It may be unwanted. Also here you can customize Separator line between text body and footnotes area.
Next place with some parameters for notes is "Paragraph style" dialog for Footnote or Endnote. Select your Footnote (or Endnote), open Styles tab in the Sidebar, select Footnote (or Endnote) in the list of styles, right click and select "Modify":

Here you can change many options for text of footnotes.

Note, you can select any paragraph style for footnotes (or endnotes) text. Just for your convenience LibreOffice already has predefined styles. Footnote paragraph style is just style by default for footnotes.

Next thing that you'll want customize is note number view in the text body. Use options of Footnote (or Endnote) anchor symbol style. Find that style in the list of symbol styles in the Sidebar, right click on style name and select "Modify". Use "Font" and "Position" tabs in the dialog to customize view of note number.

Also Footnote text in bottom of the page has a number. If you want customize that number view, then use changing of "Footnote (or Endnote) characters" character style.

And, finally, there are pair of lifehacks for work with Footnotes and Endnotes in Writer text document.

First. Possibly you'll want to have two or more the same footnote number in the text body that will be link with only one footnote text in bottom of the page:

Make follow steps:

1. Insert first Footnote using menu "Insert->Footnote and Endnote->Footnote"

2. Second and all next the same number we'll be insert using dialog "Insert->Cross-reference...". In "Type" list select "Footnote", in "Insert reference to" list select "Reference, then press "Insert" button. You got link to the same footnote. But it looks like text body text. So...

3. Select your second footnote number in text body and apply to it "Footnote anchor" symbol style!

Second. Normally Endnotes place on latest page of the document. But there is a method for placing of Endnotes after end of text body at once.

1. Make sure you have all need Endnotes in the your document. 

2. Select all text using Ctrl+A.

3. Select menu "Insert->Section"

4. Go to Footnotes/Endnotes tab

5. Check "Collect at end of section" in Endnotes section

6. Press "Insert" button

Voila, we have Endnotes after text body at once.

New Table section was added to Writer Sidebar

Tamás Zolnai from Collabora added to Writer Sidebar new Table section. Now when you click inside a Writer table then you'll see in Sidebar new section with controls for handling of the table like "Add row", "Add column", etc.

It will be available in LibreOffice 6.4 that will be release in February 2020 year