Re: [libreoffice-users] Help with libre

David M. Pelly wrote:
> Hello Libre office Foundation,

Just for information, most people on this mailing list are other users 
helping each other out, so you may get several replies with different 
ideas. Most of us aren't associated with LibreOffice in any official 
sense, just trying to help others out ;o)

> I am using Libre office on  Windows XP.
>
> Firefox is my preferred browser.
>
> I am not a techie.

...

> The present problem is:
>
> Some how,  ( I think it is when I open or start up my computer,) I get a pop up that there is a 
> Libre office update.
>
>
>
> So I  click  to get the update.
>
> I get a webpage with two green buttons:
>
> Without
>   going back there to that site to see what it actually exactly  says,
> because I forget what they are exactly, but what ever they are, they are
>   confusing, especially to a non techie, non geek.
>
> I think one button says it  is a  downloader or installer.
>
> The other is something else. ( It does not say, update software.)

When I click to open the webpage with the updates, the two download 
options I see are labelled "Main installer" and "LibreOffice built-in 
help". Is that what you see? The first is the main program, the second 
provides the LibreOffice Help, available from the "Help" menu, which is 
optional.

> That appears to mean that I need to use two functions.
>
> One to download an installer first.
>
> Then
>   another one is required  to download the actual update software to the
> installer, so the installer can install the software in my   Libre
> office program.

If you want to update both the main program and the built-in help, you 
need to download and run both installers. But to just update the main 
program you only need the first. As with any downloaded software, you do 
need to run the installer after downloading it.

> It does not say that, but it seems to imply that.
>
> (Your
>   products assume ( and take for granted)  that the user knows almost as
> much as the actual designers and program developers. )
>
>
>
> Now I landed up clicking on some buttons, and there was no windows telling me what was happening.
>
> As far as I thought at the time, I  did not get the update. I was ticked off.

That sounds like the behaviour of recent versions of Firefox - rather 
than a separate window showing the download progress, it just shows a 
green arrow at the right-hand end of the toolbar, with a narrow bar just 
below indicating how far through the download it is. You can click that 
green arrow to see the list of files you've downloaded, and open/run 
them (you need to run the installer after downloading it).

...

> So I went back to my work on my Libre office program.
>
> And I still see the green something in the upper right hand corner.
>
>   I click on it and it says there are updates for Libre.
>
> So therefore I thought  I did not get the updates.

Perhaps you just downloaded the installer, and didn't run it to actually 
install the update. Or maybe the update failed for some reason (were 
there any error messages when running the installer?)

> So I click on it and a window pops up and says that I have the 4.0.4.2 version.
>
> I think that is the new update version. (Maybe I am wrong.)

Does it not also tell you that the latest available version is? By 
coincidence, 4.0.4.2 is the same version I currently use, and when I 
clicking the update button in LibreOffice it says:
  LibreOffice 4.1.4 is available.

  The installed version is LibreOffice 4.0.4.2.

So there is a newer version available (which I haven't bothered to 
install yet).

...

> I just thought of another problem/ suggestion:
>
> Why don't you include an "undo"  feature on the  "right click"  window?
>
> That should be common sense.

I'm not a developer, but just a guess... looking at the options which 
/are/ in the right-click (context) menu, they're all things which would 
affect the document at the point you clicked. Undo wouldn't - it would 
affect wherever the last change was. Why would you need undo on the 
right-click menu anyway? It's under the Edit menu, or you can use the 
keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z.

> Another one:
>
> Some
>   how when I was doing a lot of work on libre office,  I landed up with
> some solid lines running across my page, which I cannot delete or
> remove?
>
> Why?
>
> How can I remove them?

That sounds like a border applied to the paragraph either above or below 
the line. Assuming that's what's happened, to get rid of it:
- Right-click in the paragraph immediately above the line
- Click the "Paragraph..." option from the context menu
- Click the "Borders" tab
- Click the far-left square of the row just below the "Line arrangement" 
label to get rid of all the borders
- Click OK
If that didn't work, try the same again but starting with right-click on 
the paragraph immediately /below/ the line.

As for how it got there, I'm guessing you typed a line containing 
nothing but several "-" or "*" followed by Enter (some other characters 
may have a similar effect). This is a feature to make it quick to insert 
these borders when you want them. Personally I don't find it very 
helpful; if I type several dashes on a line it's usually because I want 
several dashes on a line, not a border! To disable that option to stop 
it happening:
- Click the "Tools" menu, the "AutoCorrect Options..."
- Click the "Options" tab
- Look down the list for "Apply border", and if there's a tick next to 
it click the tick to clear the box
- Click OK

> Another suggestion:
>
> When
>   I am getting to the maximum data capacity of the  libre window I am
> working in,  you should have an indicator pop up that tells the user
> that  that  particular widow is reaching  it's maximum capacity  and  telling the user to begin a 
> new document.

I'm not sure about that one. I've never reaches any limit, but then I 
don't work on particularly large documents. What type of document is 
this (e.g. Writer, or Calc, etc.)? What happens when you do reach this 
limit? Someone else on this mailing list might have suggestions on 
handling large documents...

> And
>   also have  a clearly visible button for the user to send "suggestions
> for improvements"  or to report problems with libre office?

It's probably worth discussing on this mailing list first, as it may be 
that the suggestion is already included but not quite where you 
expected, or that someone can help you solve the problem you're having.

If you do need to report a suggestion (enhancement) or problem (bug), 
under the "Help" menu is an option to "Send feedback...". That opens a 
web page with a few feedback options, two of which are "Create a bug 
report" (for reporting problems with the software, or the web site) and 
"File an enhancement request" (for suggesting improvements). Both 
options take you to a page about submitting bugs, which I can see is 
slightly confusing - the same system is used for keeping track of both 
bugs and enhancement requests. Perhaps a feature request to make that 
clearer is in order ;o)

> I hope I have explained my self sufficiently well, so  that you understand what I mean.

I hope I've understood correctly. I've left out a few bits I couldn't 
answer, but others may be able to help there.

> And I am sure there are other problems that I do not know of or don't remember.

If you do come across any others, you know where to come - just send 
another email to users@global.libreoffice.org describing the problem 
you're having, and hopefully someone here can help.

> David Pelly
>
> Canada

Mark.

--
To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscribe@global.libreoffice.org
Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/
Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/
All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted