Assigning OpenOffice or StarOffice Styles With the Keyboard

I occasionally mention, in class, that you can apply styles with the keyboard too. However, I'm a menu user by nature so I usually forget to emphasize it enough. Here are the steps for setting up styles so you can apply them with a keyboard shortcut.

1. Choose Tools > Customize.
2. Select the Keyboard tab.
3. Select the shortcut key to assign from the list of shortcut keys.
4. Select Style from the Category list.
   Scroll down to the Styles entry and click the + sign to show the style types of OOo.
5. Select the style to assign from the Function list.
6. Click OK.

Comments

[JohnH]

My version of OOo does not have [Keyboard] as a tab under [Tools]>[Customize]. As of yet I have not found it under any other tabs.

OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 (openoffice.org-core 1:2.4.1-lubuntu2, Mon Jun 30 10:45:22 UTC 2008)

[JohnH]

My apology. I did not have a document open so I did not get the tabs.
With a document open I get the Keyboard tab, now your whole post makes sense and works.

[Mike]

I've just started using openoffice and my first document is one where I am highlighting various texts with three styles I have in a word document. What I want to do is assign a shortcut key to "RED", "BLUE", "GREEN" styles. But they don't appear in the list of styles and there is no shortcut from the styles menu for "create shortcut" - do I have to go back to word?

[Mike]

OK, I was wrong .... it appears they were in the list of paragraph styles!