OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

The beginning of a big fat blog on where all the OpenOffice settings and configurations are stored

I got an excellent question today: where are the AutoFormats stored?

They're not per document, like styles, which is nice. However, they are per user/per machine.

In Windows, they're stored by default here.

documents and settings\username\Application Data\OpenOffice.org2\user\config\autotbl.fmt

On Linux it should be in a similar location relative to where the user data is stored.

General Default Location for Individual Customizations

In Windows, settings are often here.

Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\OpenOffice\user

Default Locations for Templates, AutoTexts, Backups, AutoCorrect, Gallery, Temporary Files, My Documents (default location for File > Open) and Graphics (default location for Insert > Picture > From File) -- and How to Change or Add Locations

You can check, and change, the location of AutoCorrection settings and AutoTexts, plus other items under Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths.

Click the picture to see a bigger version.

For each, to add or change paths, select the line and click Edit.  You'll see this window. If there are two or more you can delete paths that aren't the default path. Click Add to add additional paths.

Here's an overview from the online help about each category.

 

Type	Description
AutoCorrect	Contains the settings of the AutoCorrect dialog box.
AutoText	Your AutoTexts are stored in the specified folder.
My Documents	You can see this folder when you first call the Open or Save dialog.
AutoCorrect	This folder stores your own AutoCorrect texts.
AutoText	This folder stores your own AutoText texts.
Gallery	New Gallery themes are stored in this folder.
Graphics	This folder is displayed when you first call the dialog for opening or saving a graphic object.
Backups	Automatic backup copies of documents are stored here.
Templates	In this folder you can store your own templates.
Temporary files	This is where OpenOffice.org puts its temporary files.

 

Setting a Specific Location for a Category of AutoTexts
When you create AutoTexts under Edit > AutoText, you can add a category. Click Category, enter the name of the category, and select the location to store the file for this category from the dropdown list. The list comes from the paths set for AutoTexts under Tools > Options.

Click the graphic to see it bigger.

If you want to put this category in a different location, you can do it on the fly, kind of. Cancel out to the main AutoText window and click Path.  Then click Add to add a new path.

Now when you create a new AutoText category, you can select the new path from the dropdown list.

Go to that directory and you'll see a file with the category as its file name. You can copy this file to other computers, and point users to where the file is.

Locations for Customizations to Spellcheck

Look for the wordbook directory in the location under Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\OpenOffice\user (or the user directory on that computer) for customizations made to spellcheck.

Locations for Plugins

Look for the plugins  directory in the location under Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\OpenOffice\user (or the user directory on that computer). This folder contains the plugins that you installed in OpenOffice.org. OpenOffice.org recognizes the plug-ins installed in Netscape, Mozilla, or the Microsoft Internet Explorer, so you normally do not need to install plug-ins in this folder.

 

What's Coming

In the coming month I'm going to put together a big fat blog on configuration: how to make sure that a whole bunch of users can have the settings or values you specify for:

• styles/templates
• macros
• menus and toolbars
• colors
• and much more

Please leave a comment if there's a configuration location you'd like to know about or something you've picked up that would be useful. Thanks!

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A very important post for decision-makers considering OpenOffice

The most important thing to make sure you understand about a transition to OpenOffice.org is to run a good hard pilot program first.

But this is a very very close second.

The more tech-savvy you are, the more serious mistakes you can make in an OpenOffice.org transition.

It's very likely that you can't trust your own judgment. Not when it comes to evaluating how users will be able to make the transition.
Because the following, more or less, describes most IT directors or people in related positions who will evaluate and choose OpenOffice.org. And these attributes color how you consider other people's skillsets.

1. You are an experienced computer and find it inconceivable that people don't have at least basic computer skills.
2. You've used a dozen text editors and while you love vi and emacs, you don't really care which one you use. You have no emotional attachment to the current office suite.
3. You understand how office suites work. You have text, you format it; you have cells, you refer to them; they're all pretty much the same. When you learn a new office suite, you just transfer your existing knowledge to a new set of navigation.

If you run a 10-person geek-heavy startup company, all of these assumptions are fine.

If you run any non-software business, a city or county government, a volunteer organization, or anything else that is not a small techy company completely populated with intense techy people, then you probably don't really know your users' skill sets. If you don't take some time to triple-check your assumptions and realistically evaluate their skill sets, then formulate plans to address related issues, you're going to have some serious bumps when you transition to OpenOffice.org.

Note: This is not in any way meant to be condescending. People have all different skillsets, from computers to people skills to decouppage to athletics, and the person who is disinterested in, or struggles with, document margins is sometimes the one who knocks you out on the dance floor or gives the speech at the annual conference that has the salespeople on their feet, cheering. This blog is to help the people in charge of transitioning users to new software ensure that those users have the skills, confidence, training, etc. necessary to do their jobs.

How do I know this?
The usual ways. Observation. Reading posts and comments online.

And through my own experience when I started to do training. I had been a techwriter/course developer in high tech for 12 years when I started doing OpenOffice.org training. I used styles, I coded raw HTML, I'd used four operating systems, etc. I didn't think of myself as techy because I was usually surrounded by people who, for instance, had written the Java certification exam. But I was way more experienced in how to use office suites, especially word processing programs, than the folks I was training. So the class on how to use styles and master documents wasn't a great success. ;>  So I quickly backpedaled and refocused and rewrote the training materials to suit the audience, their experience, and what they needed.

Back to the main topic. First, let me emphasize this:

You can have a very successful transition to OpenOffice.org even if you have users with limited software skillsets.

You just need to work with your users as they are. And since you're very different from them, your unconscious assumptions are likely going to lead you astray.

Let's go back to the numbered list.

Issues Corresponding to the Three Assumptions, and How to Deal With Those Issues

1. You are a techy and you just don't understand how someone can not understand how things work. It's like being able to read, maybe, and not know how someone can look at a word and not sound it out.

Even if you field really basic questions from your users every day, they don't ask  you all the questions. And they just skip some of the questions they should be asking. Get a sense of what their skills really are. In a nonthreatening way, either send out a little questionnaire, have a short session where you put people through their paces on some basic skills, or just send out some of your non-threatening IT folks to observe people doing their jobs. You'll find that a lot of essentials, like being able to navigate a file system, are missing. A lot of people never learned to choose File > Open and go up or down a level to find a file.  Likewise, a lot of people never learned to right-click, they don't know how to do it and they don't know what a great way it is to figure out where a feature they need is.

You can offer people training (and of course having the authority to make it required means they'll come to it).  Possibly start with fundamentals of computers and go from there. You can do daylong sessions, CBT, little tips and tricks every Wednesday at lunch, give prizes to the department that does the most entries on the Internal Tips and Tricks FAQ, whatever. It's all doable. You just need to know what you're working with, and help people get the skills they lack and that can make them happier and more productive.

2. You have no idea how they really feel about transitioning. You think, what's the big deal? It's just another software program.

This is kind of related to #3, which I'll get to in a second. But hearing that they will be switching to an office suite they've never heard of (or even if they have heard of it) fills people with panic. Fear. Hostility, sometimes. It's fear of the unknown, fear of learning things they don't feel comfortable with, fear of losing skills and ability to do their job that they feel are tied to the software they use. All very normal and human and addressable but they are NOT the feelings you would have. 

How do you address fear and panic? Well, one very practical way that's kind of offtopic is to reassure them that any massive document conversion will be taken care of. Conversion is a big issue people panic about. Also, since it's partly fear of the unknown, show them the software. Have brief 15-minute presentations or CBTs where you run through the software and show just a couple features. Bold Italic Underline, and colored text one week. Send as PDF another week. Show a cool feature like the prefab graphics as a fun feature; people like graphics. Put a bunch of clip art in the Gallery and show that another week -- ditto.

Reassure them that you're not just going to slap it on their desks and make them use it without books or training.

Reassure them that there will be a transition period where they can work with it and learn it.

And for the people who are more angry and resistant than fearful -- well, that's a management issue, not a software issue. It's time for some tough love from the person's supervisor, with the appropriate proportions of carrot and stick for that person. (You need to have support for OOo from the top to make sure you can make this happen.)

This needs to be absolutely clear to everyone in your organization. If using a particular tool to do certain tasks in the person's job description, then that person has an obligation, both ethical and legal, to learn to use that tool to the best of their abilities. This applies to computers and whatever software is installed; hammers; backhoes; or whatever the tool is.

See the addendum at the end of this post for a suggested rough draft of the email from the CEO about the transition.

3. You see how similar OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office are. Going from choosing File > Page Setup to choosing  Format > Page Setup poses no problems for you.

But these are problems for users. Many people just concentrate on what menus and buttons to click to do their job; they don't generalize those skills so that they can easily reapply them in a new piece of software. They feel like they're starting over when they switch to a new word processor, even though the fundamental principles are the same.

This is why they panic at the idea of change. They think their ability to do their job is tied to their current office suite. They think if you take away MS Office or Word Perfect, they'll be no better than an intern off the street. Maybe they fear losing their job, or at least losing their self esteem at performing their job well.

So how do you deal with this? It's nothing terribly original, but when you realize that they aren't going to be able to generalize their skillsets to OpenOffice.org on their own, you can give them the resources they need to learn OOo.

DON'T JUST INSTALL OPENOFFICE.ORG ON THEIR COMPUTERS, THROW THEM A FEW CLUESHEETS, AND FIGURE YOU'RE DONE. This is a really good way to increase support calls by an order of magnitude, make people resent you and OpenOffice.org, and risk having the transition fail.

Essentially, switching some people from MS Office to OOo is like taking a macro and changing the name of the variables. Only the names have changed, but the macro is going to break.

• You have to make sure people know how to use the program before they have to start doing their jobs using the software. This might not involve a lot of training. If people do the same five tasks all day long, then find out what those tasks are, train them on those tasks, leave them documentation for how to do those tasks, and that could be all you need to do.
  
• If there are some tasks that are more difficult in OpenOffice.org than the other office suite, then try templates, styles, menu and toolbar modification, or consider just reassigning a few tasks to another person or group.
• Increase their confidence along with their skill sets. Show them something new and cool, like making a shortcut under Tools > AutoCorrect, Replace tab; or using the drawing tools under View > Toolbars > Drawing. When you make them feel good about their skills and the program, everyone wins.

As Weird as It Feels, You Have to Believe Things That Just Don't Seem to Make Sense (to you)

The key thing is, don't make assumptions about skills users have, even when they seem natural and easy -- to you. 

If you can use OpenOffice.org easily and if your 10-year-old son picked up Openoffice.org in about 15 minutes, that has no bearing on whether or not your users will be able to pick it up on their own in the same way.

It's tempting to believe that your users will be fine, since it's cheaper and easier to do a transition with techy users. It reminds me of the joke about the economist, the engineer, and the chemist who are stuck in a room with no doors or windows. The engineer and economist have various solutions, and the economist just says, "Let's assume that there's a door."  ;>

And I'm sure in some situations, some rare situations, I'm wrong. But in my experience, this is the case. Just be sure you know the real situation, the real users you're transitioning, and address them as they are.

And you, and they, will be fine.

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ADDENDUM: TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT EVERYONE IN THE ORGANIZATION WILL LEARN OPENOFFICE.ORG AND THAT MAKING A FUSS WILL NOT BRING BACK THE OLD OFFICE SUITE.

It's a good idea for someone with authority to send an email like this to all employees. A friendly but direct email from the CEO or whoever is appropriate stating something like this. Make it clear that there will be few or no  exceptions, there is no turning back, and that kicking up a fuss will not bring back the old office suite.

(This is all assuming that you did a good, thorough job of researching, testing, and piloting OpenOffice.org, ensuring that it is the right tool for the job.)

ACME  team members,

One of the essential attributes of a successful company is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and take advantage of new opportunities and tools. Based on the changing marketplace and emergence of new types of software, I and other members of the ACME team, decided to evaluate OpenOffice.org, a powerful and free open source office suite compatible with Microsoft Office.  OpenOffice.org has a text processing module like Word, a spreadsheet like Excel, a presentation tool like Powerpoint, as well as database capabilities and a drawing program. The programs look quite similar to Microsoft Office. To learn more, go to www.openoffice.org.

I have decided that ACME will switch to OpenOffice.org. OpenOffice.org is a good choice for ACME for many reasons, including its excellent feature set and the enormous amount of money we will save by not paying for Microsoft Office licenses.

The transition to OpenOffice.org will be phased, not immediate. We have begun the transition with a pilot program and will begin the official rollout on ________. The rollout will take approximately __________ and by __________, the company will be using OpenOffice.org as its official office suite.

I understand that making this change might seem alarming. Rest assured that the change will not be immediate. All employees will have the opportunity to use and learn OpenOffice.org for a minimum of ________ before being required to use it for work.  All employees will provided with information about the program to help you learn it, and the help desk will support it. You can also download and install OpenOffice.org at home if you would like to use it as your home office suite. I use it myself at home and am delighted with it.

The switch to OpenOffice.org applies to all employees.  (if there are exceptions add the following) The only exceptions are as follows:
- __________
- __________
- __________

To learn more about OpenOffice.org at ACME please go to:
- [create an internal faq site]
- [an internal site where you describe it a little more, including screen captures and videos of how OOo looks]

I am confident that all ACME employees have the ability to learn the new program and do their jobs with the same high quality of excellence that has made us so successful. Thank you for your participation in this transition.

Regards,


[name]

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Beware! Saving in Word format, and mail merges, don't mix.

Mail merges don't work if you're saving your OpenOffice document in Microsoft Word format.

Whether you're doing this manually, or doing it with the window under Tools > Options > Load/Save > General, saving in Word format will strip out the mail merge fields' connection to the database.

So you can save in .doc by default, but you need to save the mail merge documents, whether they're labels, envelopes, or other documents, in OpenOffice.org native .odt format.

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Making a Specific Template Come Up When You Create Any New Document, in OpenOffice.org Writer, Calc, Impress, or Draw

Anytime you can help users do something without actually have them do anything is great for them and great for you.

Templates are a great way to save time. Set up templates with the styles, graphics, etc. that people need, and they don't need to re-create them. (Or create them in the first place.)

However, getting users to use the templates is another step. For them, choosing File > New > Templates and Documents might not be something they'll want to do or remember to do every time.

What if one of the templates you've created is one that many or all users use all the time as the basis for new documents?   You can make it come up when users just choose File > New > [type of document] by setting it as the default template. I.e. the user uses the template but doesn't even need to select it.

First, create a new document and make it how you want it: create styles, apply styles, include canned text, whatever.

Choose File > Templates > Save. Select a category and name the template. Click OK.

Choose File > Templates > Organize.

Open the category your template is in, in the left side.

Right-click on the template and choose Set as Default Template.

Click Close. You're done! Choose File > New > [type of document] and you'll see the effect.

To switch back to the normal original boring blank document, repeat the steps but this time choose Reset Default Template > [type of document]

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Right-click to add a note in OpenOffice.org Calc

I understand that in Excel, you have the option to right-click and add a note to a cell.

For a long time, OpenOffice.org didn't have that option. You could choose Insert > Note, or you could add that function to a keyboard shortcut to avoid using the mouse. However, many people were used to the right-click.

Well, it's here. In 2.2 and possibly earlier versions, you can right-click in a cell and get the note option.

A box will appear; type the note.  The display, while you're typing, is kind of twitchy. However, the whole thing does get entered correctly.

When you move your mouse over the cell (you don't have to select the cell), the note displays.

Right-click on the cell to choose to delete or make other choices re the note.

To print notes, choose Format > Page, Sheet tab, and in the Print section in the middle, select Notes.

The notes are printed after the relevant sheet, with a cell reference.

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You make a grown man burn up in his own office ;>

I think Day 2 is funny. Along the lines of the "I'm thinkin' Arby's" ads.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/newday/default.mspx

Google's Doing PowerPoint

Looks like Google is heading toward the Powerpoint/Impress area.

http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070418/google_adds_presentation_to_its_apps_suit-id-103333.html

The Slow Death of Microsoft (or at least some wasting away)

Pretty much everything in the business world evolves and changes. The Detroit auto industry, for instance, has gone through some changes. A lot of phonograph companies are no longer in business.

And so even though it seems impossible to think that Microsoft would ever be less than its current massive size and influence, it will happen. Not only because of history but because of the reasons in this blog by Quentin Stafford-Fraser.

I'm sure Microsoft will evolve, diversify, maybe go more into games, etc. But they're not permanent the way they are now. Nothing is.

From the blog. This of course is not an issue specific to Microsoft, but an issue with standard big corporate software development in the current model.

The third, and most telling, nail in Microsoft’s coffin was highlighted for me in a talk given by a former Microsoft employee who had recently moved to Yahoo. I can’t remember his name, for which my apologies. But I remember very clearly what he said.

He had developed a new feature for Outlook/Exchange in 2004. It was a cool feature and was due to be incorporated in the next release, in 2007. But then it was deemed to be a little too aggressive to include it so quickly, so it was postponed until the following release, which will presumably be in 2009/10.  Six years after he finished it! When he moved to Yahoo, he would implement a new feature and it was not unusual for someone to ask, “Could this go live this afternoon?”

 

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Publisher Users: Making Postcards, Brochures, and Other Cool Stuff With OpenOffice Writer and Draw, and Existing Microsoft Templates (Repost)

Reposted April 2007 because this post doesn't show up in Technorati searches.

Update: See The Linux Box for more ready-made OpenOffice Impress templates.

One of the biggest losses people experience when switching to open source is the loss of all those cool templates. They are, as the song says, a hard habit to break.

The good news is, you usually don't have to break the habit. (Unless you've been using Publisher, unfortunately, and you can't open Publisher files in anything—not even Word.) Here's how to keep on using the same templates you know and love; find new ones, or create your own in Draw and Writer.

You Can Still Use Your Own Word Templates and Any Others You Can Find

Here's where you might really start to enjoy the value of OpenOffice.org's compatibility with Microsoft Office.
You can still use all those Microsoft Office templates you got with the software. (Assuming the license doesn't forbid it--just putting that in just in case. ;> ) In OpenOffice.org, just choose File > Open, go to Program Files\Microsoft Office\templates (or wherever) and find the one you want. 

You can also set up OpenOffice.org to just find those templates. See this blog on templates. Go to the end.

And you can google around for more. I googled for “postcard templates” and came to this nice site from HP. The templates are available not just in Publisher but in Word. Click the image to see it larger if you like.

http://www.hp.com/sbso/productivity/office/direct_marketing.html

Follow a few links, and you get here. Click the image to see it larger if you like.

http://www.hp.com/sbso/productivity/office/stocklayout/stocklayout_overview.html

 

I decided to download the postcard template and the brochure template. I clicked on each; here's what it looked like to choose the brochure template.

Once the files were downloaded, I just went to OpenOffice.org, chose File > Open,  and opened them in OpenOffice Writer. Here's what the postcard template looks like.

 

I modified it according to my own information; it was relatively easy. Here's what that looks like. Here's the file itself. Right-click on the link and choose to save link as.

So that's really all there is to it. Use your own  or find new ones. There are a zillion free templates out there, and you can use the Word format templates (or Powerpoint, or Excel) in OpenOffice.org. Just google for the free ones, or ask friends where they are.

Making Your Own Postcards, Brochures, etc. in Draw and Writer

Now, that's not all the fun. If you want to create a postcard yourself, let's say in Draw, you can go ahead and do that, too. Or a brochure, or anything with specific measurements.

(You can do this in Writer to; I'm just showing it in Draw since the previous section was all about Writer.)

You need to know three  things.
- Choose Format > Page and click the Page tab to set the overall page size and orientation.

- Use the drawing tools like the text box and shapes to create the borders of the items in the document. Choose View > Toolbars > Drawing to bring up that toolbar.

- Select any item, right-click, and choose Position and Size. In the window that appears, click the Position and Size tab. will let you specify that the border of the postcard box, for instance, is 4x6. Remember to mark or unmark the Keep Ratio checkbox depending on whether you want to change one measurement of the object or both.

 

So let's do an example.

 

I'm going to create another postcard template. So I choose File > New > Drawing to create a new Draw document. I choose Format > Page, click the Page tab, and set the page size and margins.  I'll need a document that's like the first one or the second one, depending on what I'm printing on.

Option 1: A document with no margins, 6 across by 8 high (for two 4x6 postcards), and portrait orientation

Option 2: A document with half-inch margins, 7 across by 9 high (for two 4x6 postcards with two half-inch margins around the outside),  and portrait orientation

Next, I create a box to show me where the content should go. I just click on the rectangle tool in the Drawing toolbar and draw the box. I don't want a fill in it so I make the fill Invisible.

I right-click on the border of the rectangle, choose Position and Size, and click on the Position and Size tab. I choose 6 wide by 4 high, and unmark the Keep Ratio checkbox.

I put the edge of the box against the edge of where the postcard paper will end.

At this point, I make a template of it, so I can get at it again. See this blog on templates. If you want my document to download and make into a template,  here it is. Right-click on the link and choose to save link as.

 

Now I just make one version of the postcard, the way I want it. I put the content in the box, keeping in mind I need a bit of space between the text and the edge of the paper.

 

I copy the postcard and paste it, and drag the pasted version down to the bottom end of the document.

 

And now I just delete the boxes.

 

That's all there is to it. A little bit of work to set up, but the template takes care of that; you only need to do it once.

 

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Adding Graphics, or Video, to the Gallery for Easier Access to Clip Art and Other Pictures

Note, August 20th: I just discovered a very simple way to add graphics from the Gallery to the background of your header or footer, page, or paragraph.

I would  say that a nice big gallery of clip art or other useful graphics is worth way more than a thousand words, if you're trying to convince your users to like OpenOffice.org. (Nothin' wrong with the program, but we know that change can be a pain.) Some users find it difficult to navigate a file system, which is what you need to do if you're using Insert > Picture > From File. And, frankly, dragging from a nice pane of graphics is easier.

When I go to a client site, there's always some resistance among users to doing the switch. However, people just love going through the gallery. The mood definitely changes when people see the graphics and start dragging pictures of cheese and armadillos and yellow school buses onto their documents.

To get a bunch of graphics, just google for free clip art and download it.  Here are a few options specifically for teachers.

Some clip art

http://clip-art.kaboose.com/index.html
http://school.discovery.com/clipart/new.html
http://www.teacherfiles.com/clip_art.htm  (BIG collection)

Free animations
http://register.freeze.com/download/index.aspx?sx=348413c5-d957-4f6c-bfe7-d91ca643ee6a

You might also consider the phenomenal Big Box of Art, vast amounts of clip art for not a lot of money.

So whether you want easier access to pictures or video, or good change management techniques, the gallery is a nice feature.

The locations of all the gallery graphics and other gallery info is stored in openoffice\share\gallery, in the .sdv files. Copy those files to other computers if you want them to have the same graphics, when you're done doing the configuration.

1. Click the Gallery icon or choose Tools > Gallery.

2. The gallery will appear.

3. Click New Theme.

4.  Click the General tab, and type the name of the theme that you want displayed in the Gallery.

5. Click the Files tab and click Find Files.

6. In the window that appears, go to the directory containing the graphics. The directory can contain subdirectories; all graphics in all subdirectories will be brought in for you to choose from. Click OK.

7. All the graphics in that directory and any subdirectories will be brought into the window.

8. To add only some, use Ctrl select or Shift select to select specific graphics. Select the Preview checkbox to see graphics. Then click Add.

To add all graphics, just click Add All.

9. A window will show the graphics being added.

10. Find more graphics and add them the same way, or just click OK. You'll see the graphics in the gallery. To add a graphic to a document, just drag it into the document.

If  you need to change the name or add files later, right-click on the theme and choose Properties. This will take you back to the same window.

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Creating Keyboard Shortcuts in OpenOffice, including Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts to Styles, a GREAT Feature

One of the complaints people have when switching from any software package to another is that the keyboard shortcuts that they're used to don't work anymore.

However, in OpenOffice.org you can set your keyboard shortcuts pretty much any way you want. You can even assign shortcut keys to styles. This means that:

• You can blow through formatting quickly without using the Styles and Formatting window
• You can set up styles, put them in the default template that your users use, then just give them all quick reference guides that might look like this:

         

        Text with hanging left indent   In WordPerfect was [whatever]  In OpenOffice Ctrl F4
        Heading indented from left and right   In WordPerfect was [whatever]  In OpenOffice Ctrl F6
        Back to normal text   In WordPerfect was [whatever]  In OpenOffice Ctrl Q

Assigning a Keyboard Shortcut to a Task

1. Create or open a document in the program where you want to apply the shortcut. You'll be able to choose that program, such as Writer, or all of OpenOffice.org, as the context in which the shortcut will work.

2. Choose Tools > Customize, Keyboard tab.

3. Select the program, such as Writer, or OpenOffice.org, at the top.

4. Use the Category and Function lists at the bottom to select the feature you want to assign a shortcut to. You have to be willing to spend some time looking but you'll eventually get a sense of where things are.

5. Find the keyboard shortcut, in the Shortcut Keys list in the top half of the window, that you want to assign. If it's already assigned to something, that's fine. Select the keyboard shortcut you want.

6. Click Modify. The shortcut will be assigned to the item.

7. If you want to remove a shortcut key from an item, select it in the Keys list and click Delete.

8. Click OK.

Assigning a Keyboard Shortcut to a Style

You might find it easier to just use a keyboard shortcut for styles, than to double-click them in the Styles and Formatting window. (Format > Styles and Formatting.)

To use a keyboard shortcut for a style, you do pretty much the same thing.

1. Create or open a document in the program where you want to apply the shortcut. You'll be able to choose that program, such as Writer, or all of OpenOffice.org, as the context in which the shortcut will work.

2. Choose Tools > Customize, Keyboard tab.

3. Select the program, such as Writer, or OpenOffice.org, at the top.

4. In the Category list, scroll to the bottom and select Styles. Expand the + next to it and select the category of style: Paragraph, Page, etc. Then in the Function list select the specific style. Select the shortcut you want from the Shortcut Keys list and click Modify.

5. Click OK.

Remember, the style has to be in the document where you use the shortcut key, otherwise of course it won't work.

Giving the Configurations You've Made to All Users

Shortcut keys are stored here in XP:

openofficedirectory\soffice.cfg\modules\swriter (or another module) \accelerator\en-us\default.xml

If you want everyone to have the same shortcuts, you can modify that file, then copy it to other machines or user directories. This is the directory on XP; different for Vista. (Grrr.....my impression of Vista is, OK, it's pretty because it looks like Mac, but I am sure sick of the blue screen of death.)

In Vista, it's

\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org2\user\config\soffice.cfg\
modules\swriter (or other module)\accelerator\en-US\current.xml

If you're having trouble finding the location, just make a change, then search your system for files that were recently modified, or contains a word in the change you made.

Here's what it looks like.

xlink:href=".uno:StyleApply?Style:string=HangingIndent&
FamilyName:string=ParagraphStyles" accel:shift="true" accel:mod1="true"/>

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One Way to Export Data From OpenOffice Base to a Spreadsheet

In OpenOffice.org 2.2 you can now export data in a reasonable manner. Here's one way in 2.4.

Here's another way you might try. It's almost identical to the (albeit invisible) import method.

1. Open your database .odb file.
2. Click the Tables icon.
3. Right-click on the name of the table to export. Choose Copy.
4. Go to a spreadsheet. Paste.

The data will appear.

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OpenOffice Template for Writer: Suppressing the Page Number on the First Page

Suppressing the page number on the first page of a document is, unfortunately, not available simply by selecting the Suppress First Page Number checkbox.

You can set up your own documents, using page styles, so that you nave no page number on the first page, but a page number on the second and subsequent pages.
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/12/merry_christmas.html

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/09/starting_page_n.html

But if you want a template already made, here are two.
No page number on first page, second page is numbered page 1

No page number on first page, second page is numbered page 2

Here's how to use them.

1. Right-click on each item to download it. Save each file to a location on your computer or a network drive you can access.

Note: You might want to just save the templates to the location already listed under Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths, Templates item. Then in step 3 choose Commands > Update instead of Commands > Import.

2. Then in OpenOffice.org Writer choose File > Templates > Organize.

3. If you saved the template to one of the existing template paths, choose Commands > Update instead and continue to step 4.

If you saved the template to another location, then select a category on the left side,  click and hold down on the Commands button and choose Import as shown.

Find the files where you downloaded them. To select both, select the first, then hold down Ctrl and select the second. Click Open.

4. The templates will appear. Click Close.

5.  If you want one of the templates to be what comes up when you choose File > New > Text document, then right-click on it and choose Set as Default Template. I strongly recommend customizing the default template, whether you use this one or another one.

6.  Click Close.

7. To access the templates, choose File > New > Templates and Documents. If necessary, click the Templates icon at the left, double-click the name of the category you put the templates in in step 3, and you'll see the templates. Select the one you want.

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Transitioning an Organization to OpenOffice.org: My Own Tips and Yours

This post is for IT managers or people in similar jobs, in charge of determining whether to switch to OpenOffice.org, and then planning and implementing the conversion.

Many problems with switching to OpenOffice.org aren't, at heart, caused by actual problems with the software.

There are hiccups, there are things you need to rethink, but bugs or lack of features in the software itself really aren't the issue most of the time. It's people, processes, perception, planning, and so on.
Many problems can be preempted or solved with strategic use of setup options in the software.

I'm going to keep this blog topic going, as I think of and have time to add more items. Please add your tips through comments.

• See also this post for more of a sequential planning-through-implementation checklist.
• See also this post for important information about how really can't trust your own judgment when determining what users need for the transition. The same post also contains a draft email of how the CEO should tell users in a direct but respectful manner that the transition is happening and no amount of complaining will do any good.

Technical Issues
Test, test, test. Before you even officially decide to switch, get a really solid representative sample of the current documents and processes that people complete with your current office suite software and database software (if you're going to be using Base) and make sure that everything essential works with OOo.

Users will tell you things that aren't true. In the test phase and during implementation, don't rely on users telling you that things don't work. Research it and make sure that it doesn't work; usually the item does work or is possible, just not in the way the user is used to.   For instance, to import content into a database, you just right-click in the table area of a database window and choose Paste. Not something that you would guess. With OpenOffice.org, most things are possible; many things are not obvious.

Mail merge is very different. You'll need to concentrate some effort on educating users on how to do this. It's not inherently difficult; it's just not very wizardy. Don't go live with OpenOffice.org before making sure that at least one person in every department knows how to do mail merges, including with envelopes and labels, cold.

Here are all blogs that I've filed in the mail merge category.

On a related note, consider using labels instead of envelopes. Unless your company pins its reputation on its ability to print addresses on envelopes, I'm pretty sure there isn't a business reason for using envelopes instead of labels. People will resist changing but, well, see the other sections of this blog for what to do about that.

Both envelopes and labels are certainly possible but envelopes have a few more tricky bits, especially because of how Word users are used to using them.

Here's the envelopes category of my blog.
Here's the labels category of my blog.

Publisher files aren't compatible with anything else.  This is Microsoft's fault, not OpenOffice.org. Your Publisher users will need to create new documents in Draw or Writer, depending on the type of document. You might want to keep one or two Publisher licenses around if this is a big issue. Consider creating a few commonly used templates for brochures, postcards, etc. to make the transition easier. You can make tri-fold brochures in Writer using frames.

There are a lot of very nice Writer and Word templates out there; just open the Word ones in Writer and you can generally use them as is.

You might introduce the more advanced users to Scribus.  Some former Publisher users absolutely love it.

See this blog, which talks about using OpenOffice.org instead of Publisher.

Suppressing the page number on the first page is far more complicated than it needs to be. You can train everyone, and/or you can create a template that has the first page number suppressed already.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/09/starting_page_n.html
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/12/merry_christmas.html

Change Management/Attitude
Understand what level of skills your users really have. It's often tough for an IT director to realize that many users have really core skills and aren't able to easily navigate up and down in an Open window; don't know to select first then format; don't know that there's a keyboard shortcut available instead of copying and pasting; etc.  Knowing your users' skill level will help you plan training.

This post covers this in more detail.

You MUST have the top brass on your side. This is essential, since you will get tremendous pushback from people who don't want to change. You will need a clear, definite message from the top telling people that this is happening and making a fuss won't bring their old office suite back. (This presumes that you did a good job in the initial evaluation and you turned up 90% of the issues, and know how to address them.)

See  this post  at the end for a draft email of how the CEO should tell users in a direct but respectful manner that the transition is happening and no amount of complaining will do any good.

Find the vocal people who don't like the software, and convert them. Show them the cool things they can do with the software. Tell them you value their experience with the previous software and would really appreciate their insight into how best to do tasks in the new software. Alternately, if they're a tough case, then it's time for their manager to get tough and tell them that using OpenOffice.org, and learning it, is now part of their job description.

Many people will tell you that things are so much easier in Word. This is not necessarily true. If you can, then politely ask the person telling you this to demonstrate the supposedly easier process in Word, preferably in front of a decision-maker or other higher-up. Also see above regarding users telling you that things don't work.

You might need to keep a few Excel licenses around if your financial people are addicted to macros or wield extraordinary power. This is OK.

There will be a period of unpleasantness. When you switch to OpenOffice.org, many of your users will be unhappy at first. Change is never popular, especially if you have WordPerfect users who have not had to change word processors since the 90s. You will need to tell a lot of people that yes, it is more complicated in OpenOffice.org to do X or Y, and that they'll just have to deal with it. Having support from higher-ups will help this go over, if not better, then at least with more effect. Remind people that their job descriptions do not include the right to use only Microsoft Office or WordPerfect, or at least that their job descriptions include the phrase "Other duties as assigned."

Make sure everyone knows that free doesn't mean bad. It's not easy to explain, but talk to users about how OpenOffice.org is not about making money; it's about people working together to get the features they need, and sharing them with others. Also, many people will think that your organization is just being cheap by refusing to spend money on software. You of course are trying to save money, at least that's a common goal, but reinforce that you now can spend money on things that are more important like benefits, smaller class sizes, or whatever is more important in your organization.

Specific Software Features to Use to Your Advantage
Don't teach them to fish if it's easier to give them reusable fish. Spend some time getting to know what you can do with templates and styles. Much of the formatting you can do is possible, but challenging for users who only have core skills. For instance, a common formatting feature is a left-hanging indent. Users might not be able to do this easily. Another item is text that is indented from both the left and right an inch or so. You could create styles with this formatting, call them OurOrg_HangingIndent and OurOrg_LeftRightIndent, for instance, and add them to a template that everyone can access. Here's a template with those two styles.

In particular, consider setting the default template for each user. Incorporate all styles that they might need, such as the ones I mentioned in the above paragraph, plus a page style that has no page number on the first page, and automatically uses a page number on the second page.

Customize menus and toolbars  Consider customizing the menus and toolbar. If you get a lot of calls from users looking for page setup under File > Page Setup, it might be easier for you to just add that option under the File menu rather than telling everyone several times that it's under the Format menu. Or create a new menu called Month-End Procedures that will open various windows users need to use for month-end procedures.

Along the same topic, consider removing some icons that might be confusing or lead users to try things you don't want them using. My 89-year-old father, not computer savvy, uses Calc to track financial information for taxes. I made it easier for him by taking off most of the icons.

Here's some info on how to customize toolbars and menus.

Create keyboard shortcuts for tasks and for styles  Set up keyboard shortcuts for people, or show them how to do it themselves. This will help especially with WordPerfect users who have memorized the keyboard shortcuts and find it difficult or slow to switch to a new program. If it takes three mouse clicks to get to the feature on the mouse, someone who's been getting there with Ctrl  G is going to be annoyed even though it really isn't that much work to do the menu selection. (Again, as I said at the beginning, it's not about the software causing problems.) So show them how to use Tools > Customize, Keyboard to set keyboard shortcuts. My blog on that topic is here.

Set up menu items to bring up templates or other documents. For instance, you might make a new menu called Personnel Department Templates and add items like Job Description Template, Org Chart Template, and so on. A blog on how to do this is forthcoming; I've got the macro but haven't fiddled with how to do it.

Add fun and convenience with the picture Gallery. Some users find it difficult to navigate a file system to find clip art or pictures to include in their documents. In addition, pictures are just fun and can help change attitudes surprisingly quickly. I highly recommend configuring the Gallery so that there are vast numbers of graphics available. Users can simply choose Tools > Gallery, select a category, then drag a picture into their document. My blog on adding graphics to the Gallery is here.

Show everyone PDF and the File > Send features. It's a very slick easy feature, people like it, and it's great for reducing issues you encounter when working with people who use Microsoft Office or other office suites.

Show advanced users the automatic TOC feature.  So many people still manually type their tables of contents. Agh! Just be sure that you've used the paragraph styles Heading1 through Heading 10 (or as detailed as you need, maybe Heading3) on the appropriate headings. Then Insert > Indexes and Tables > Indexes and Tables, and click OK. Bam, instant TOC .  You can also make a linked one and the links remain when you export to PDF. Any links that you create in any way in the OpenOffice.org document will remain when you export to PDF. Just be sure to choose File > Export as PDF, and in the first tab of the PDF options window, be sure that Tagged PDF is selected.

Here's the PDF/Publishing blog, including how to make the linked TOC. Advanced users or web people will love this.

Conversion Process
Test, pilot, rinse and repeat. You absolutely must do a long research process. Test documents. You might discover that several departments are using Quattro Pro and have documents created in the 80s. Be sure OpenOffice.org can open these and if it can't, then have a plan for outsourcing re-creating them. (Before you do that, be sure that these documents even need to be conveted in the first place.)  If your company uses an app that produces a spreadsheet or CSV file, be sure that OpenOffice.org can open it. Talk to every department and give them an exhaustive list of questions. Make sure they know that it is crucial they give you complete and accurate information.

Trust, but verify. With emphasis on the verify part.

Do one thing at a time. If you're switching to Linux, OpenOffice.org, Firefox, and Thunderbird, switch to one application at a time. Once everyone's solid, then switch your OS. (Thanks to Dave Richards of the City of Largo for this one.)

Create a plan, publish the plan, and stick to it. Give people a transition time when they can learn and start using OpenOffice.org, and a cutoff time when you take MS Office or WordPerfect off their machines. For you and your IT group, of course, you have a public cutoff date and an internal cutoff date maybe 1-4 months later, to give yourselves some flexibility.

 

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Creating PDF Online Help With OpenOffice Writer and Its PDF Feature

A friend emailed me asking about templates for creating online help like you usually get by pressing F1. I didn't know of any, though I suspect that if you found one in Word, it would work OK in Writer.

That got me thinking about the PDF function, though. You can use the built-in ability to link to different headings and fields, and the PDF output function, not to mention the easy automatic hotlinked table of contents feature, to make some very nice PDF online help. Heck, with a little hacking you could be single-sourcing your online help and manual documentation.

My main point here, though, is to provide a template with which anyone can easily start making online help.  So I've posted various tools.

• A semi-empty template you can start using immediately. Right-click on the link for this and choose to save it, rather than clicking on the link to open it.
• The same document containing sample text and detailed instructions, in document rather than template format.  Right-click on the link for this and choose to save it, rather than clicking on the link to open it.
• A PDF of the same document

Essentially, you just:

• Use the styles Heading1 on down on the headings of each of your help topics

• Use the Insert > Hyperlink feature or the Hyperlink icon to link to various points within your document. You can link to any text that has a heading style applied to it, to graphics, tables, bookmarks, etc.
• Update the TOC when you change anything, and it'll automatically show everything correctly.
• Choose File > Export as PDF when you're ready to produce.

And that's all.

 

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50 Open Source success stories in Business, Education, and Government

Success stories! If you're considering switching to any open source program, read on.

http://www.crmchump.org/2006/10/in_a_world_wher.html

Here's one story.

Golden also mentioned the implementation of SugarCRM Oregon Department of Human Services. The service provider needed a CRM put into place quickly, due to new HIPAA regulations in electronic billing. Believe it or not, Oregon DHS was sold on the idea when an IT engineer surfed the internet, found open-source SugarCRM, downloaded it onto a laptop and showed it around the department the next day. After “a couple of days” configuring, Oregon DHS went live with the system via the same laptop.

And get this, especially the end.

CRMBlog recently reported the story of the implementation over at Learning.com, a developer of online technology integration and assessment tools for public schools. Within six months of installing NetSuite, Learning.com had achieved results in acceleration of its business processes by a crazy 1500 percent and ultimately doubled business in 2005. And best of all, Learning.com reportedly required no extra personnel or personnel costs in making the switch.

Click here to read more.

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Statement by Chris Locke and Kathy Sierra Regarding the Recent Firestorm

Kathy Sierra and Chris Locke (aka Rageboy) have posted a coordinated  statement.

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/04/updatejoint_sta.html

http://www.rageboy.com/statements-sierra-locke.html 

Chris says, among other things:

"Misogyny is real -- and vile. Violence against women is wrong. It must not be tolerated. This issue should be explored and discussed, not swept under the rug, not rationalized away."

Thank you, Chris.

He appears not to acknowledge any responsibility for letting stand the horrifying posts about Kathy and others that, almost certainly, were made by someone with author privileges his blog. (It was a blog with several authors.)

From Kathy:
"However, Chris and I (and others) still strongly disagree about whether people who are respected and trusted in our industry (like the three of them) are giving tacit approval when they support (though ownership, authoring, and promoting) sites like meankids and unclebob."

Half a loaf, at any rate. And kudos to both of them for switching to talking (in person and on the phone), not flaming.

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Easy Version of OpenOffice.org -- Easier Ways to Do Everything

An alert user pointed out to me a great new feature.  It's the Easy Version of OpenOffice.org.

Just choose File > Use Easy Version. The interface will flicker a bit and you'll see a different set of menus. Among the benefits:
- An easy-to-follow wizard for importing and exporting from Base
- Reliable, simple envelope printing
- A checkbox for suppressing the page number on the first page
- And much more.

I feel so silly -- I've been blogging all this time to show how to do things in the standard version, when there was an easy version to use, all this time.

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