[Upstream] [hardy] RFE: Options dialogue for inserting "Page Number" field

[Aaron Whitehouse]

It would be great if when one clicked Insert > Field > Page Number they were given a little dialogue box with the common variations in page numbering styles.

These would include what page you wanted the numbers to start on and what number you wanted them to start at.

Some examples that show when this would be useful are:
- I often have to produce Court documents that are not supposed to have (or do not usually have) numbers on the first page. I believe it is possible to start the numbers on page 2 (starting at 2) but I couldn't remember how, find how in the help or get anyone to answer my support request on it. It would be much more intuitive if it asked you; if you don't want anything unusual then it only adds one extra click per document.

- I often have a title and contents page in my documents. I want to start the numbering on the third page with the number "1". This is quite possible able to be done, but it is not at all intuitive from the current method of adding page numbers.

I am on a fully updated Dapper Beta. Please ask for any clarifications.

[Aaron Whitehouse (aaron-whitehouse)]

I just thought about this further and it occurred to me that fields are not necessarily in the header/footer. If the user was entering a page number in-text then the requested behaviour would not be a good idea. This leads to two options that I can think of:
- present the options dialogue as described above only if the user is currently within a header or footer; or
- add a new menu item to the insert menu of "page numbers" (that displays the dialogue) while leaving the "field" option alone. This may well be more in line with the expectation of users as a lot seem to find the "field" method an unusual way to add page numbering to their document.

[Duncan Lithgow (duncan-lithgow)]

Could someone with an OOo bug account please send this upstream?

[Chris Cheney (ccheney)]

I believe what you want is already available or at least is in Ubuntu 7.10 OpenOffice 2.3.0. If you Insert -> Field -> Page Number then double click on the page number it brings up a configuration dialog box. Please let me know if this solves your problem.

Thanks,

Chris Cheney

[russell beam (rbbts)]

I am using ubuntu 7.2 and oo 2.3. I need to have page numbers in the footer for all pages except page 1. I have tried this forty ways from Sunday and cannot get it to work by following the help instructions. I get either all pages numbered in order, or page one has 2 on it and two has 3 on it, etc. The last page is not numbered either and it should be. Why must this be so difficult? At this point, I must turn on page numbering for all pages and then use white out on page 1 which is unacceptable in many situations. Please help. What am I doing wrong?

[Chris Cheney (ccheney)]

The footer is associated with the page's page style. So use the "First Page" page style for your first page (the rest will be "default" page style) and add a footer to your document and add page number to page 2 ("default" page style) and set the offset for the page number to "-1". Please let me know if this solves your problem.

Thanks,

Chris Cheney

[Aaron Whitehouse (aaron-whitehouse)]

Sorry that it has taken me so long to reply.

If I am typing a document and click insert > field > page number, I end up with a 1 in the middle of my sentence. I am then expected to realise that, like most people, I want it at the bottom right corner of my screen instead of in the middle of my sentence. I click Insert > Footer and end up in the footer. I then have to change the alignment to right and then Insert > Field > page number. If I want the numbering to start at a different number or on a different page, I have to double click the number or change the page style. I mean, really... is that intuitive? I've bookmarked this page in case I want to start numbering on page 2, because I wouldn't be able to figure it out on my own.

Most people wouldn't need to insert page numbering more than once in a document, so a dialogue box would hardly slow people down. I am not suggesting removing "Page Number" from the insert field menu.

I am suggesting adding an Insert > Page Number, which pops up a dialogue that allows you to select:
* where you want the number (top or bottom, left, middle or right);
* what number you want it to start at;
* which page you would like the number to start at;
* the page number style (which as Chris correctly points out is already available with a double-click);
* other things that I have forgotten.

[Björn Michaelsen (bjoern-michaelsen)]

[This is an automated message.]
There are no new official OpenOffice.org releases in Ubuntu packaging anymore => Won't Fix

If the problem persists, please mark this bug as "also affects project Libreoffice" or "also affects distribution Libreoffice (Ubuntu)" if that has not happened already.

Please leave references to upstream OpenOffice.org bugs in place to allow cross pollination.