On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 15:57, Daniel Bauer wrote:
The problem remains that in the selection list (above the text window, below the menu) still appear all predefined styles, not only my own. This is where I'd have to search in the endless list. I found no way to alter the contents of that list.
That list is simply a "quick list" and TBH, not useful for any real documentation development. Press F11 and open the Styles window, and filter the results. Set it to Custom Styles or Applied Styles. I'd suggest not even trying to use the quick dropdown list at all.
As nearly all useful names are in use by the predefined styles, I cannot give good names to my own ones, or I'd have to name them like "0_my_title1" thus making the list even longer...
You can modify the existing styles, reusing the predefined names.
To make it worse, when clicking "more..." the styles window changes from "user defined styles" to "automatic".
For real serious style use... as I mentioned, don't use the quick menu... it's only "quick" for simple stuff. beyond that it becomes more trouble to use than it's worth.
If I'd simply ignore the said list and just use the separate styles window, first I have one more window open (or a larger window/smaller working space if docked), and second I have to double-click on a style to apply it.
So I'm still faster just making something "bold" or font-size n than using the styles. Using styles for me just multipicates the amount of clicks. Opening an existing document, changing the contents and "save as" is more comfortable than "open with template...".
That may be faster in a small document, but it's a nightmare if you want to change some aspect - but since you are familiar with styles, you're already aware of that. I hate working on a doc that has hard formatting... they make my job a LOT more difficult. but... for a simple letter... or a quick one page doc that is only temporary (ie info only, not something that will persist over multiple edits), I do the same.. hard format and be done with it.
Must say that I don't use writer very professionally; some letters, some small publications, some bills.
I use OOo for my job, and at home. Once the custom styles are defined how you want them to be, and you set the Styles window "correctly" it's actually very useful. I've worked on professional documents in the 2000 page range with Writer... with 100% custom styles. I agree the defaults are poorly defined (just make a test doc and apply the various predefined Heading styles in order... and you will see what I mean), and a major pain if you're trying to sort through them as your main Styles view... a huge long list of styles that is difficult to filter if you're using the All Styles view. Step around that to the Custom Styles or Applied Styles view, and it's OK.
I just wonder why OpenOffice is not capable to present a styles tool where the user decides what and how he wants to use it
I've had this exact discussion with the OOo devs a few times (most of them sit down the hall or in the 2 floors below my office). There are various answers... and my interpretation of the answers comes down to... legacy (it's been like that forever), lack of developer time to "fix" it, and it's useful for new users. Each excuse is easily countered... the real reason I think though, is lack of developer resources... at least from the Sun and now Oracle side. There are loads of "why" questions with OOo... like why can't you style tables... why are the predefined styles so bad, and so difficult to work with etc etc. :-P Like any software, once you work around the idiosyncrasies, it does the job. :-) C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org