Ping Gary S: Your edited copy of 0210WG34

Hi Jean,

On the same page, you have deleted information about downloading and
installing the Template Changer extension, without explanation. Is
this extension now shipped as part of a standard LO installation (as
some other extensions are)? I could find no evidence of that, but I
may have missed it. I have installed so many extensions at various
times that I no longer am sure which were self-installed and which
come with the program.

Just butting in here, but no, the Template Changer is not installed by default in current versions of LibO.

Alex

Then, I suppose having not deleted everything from an earlier installation might "preinstall" an extension anew on a reinstallation?

Gary

Hi Gary,

Then, I suppose having not deleted everything from an earlier
installation might "preinstall" an extension anew on a reinstallation?

Yes, if you already had it, then in all likelihood, it was taken up in your existing configuration files when you upgraded LibO. However, this doesn't always work correctly with some extensions.

Alex

One way to handle this is to employ a note at the start of that subsection that directs the user to check the accompanying screenshot and see if those submenuitems are already included in the UI. Then, a user who has them would not need to do anything further for the first two steps of that 5-step procedure.

And Jean, did you update that one outdated version 3.3 screenshot in Chapter 10 to version 3.4? If not, maybe you could do so in order to keep the same appearance for that graphic.

Gary

Hi :slight_smile:
You can get rid of all extensions, settings, configurations, galleries,
templates and all by just re-naming your user-profile. In LobreOffice look
in

Tools - Options - LibreOffice/General - Paths

and look for the folders "... libreoffice/3/user ...". If you rename the
"3" to todays date in reverse date order (eg for me, today it would be
"2011-10-24") then it's easier to keep track of which profile back-up is the
most recent. LibreOffice is forced to generate an entirely new profile
which sets LibreOffice "back to factory defaults". You can then choose to
copy&paste some stuff back in from your previous profile to regain parts or
all of what you lost by doing so.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Would I be correct in assuming that the factory-default template is actually now embedded within the software--sans any file--for version 3.4.x? I noticed that the former version 3.3.x command no longer exists (according to my way of thinking...) for reverting to the factory-default template--the LO analog of the normal.docm file in MS Word 2007 or later, which is now built into LO, no?

Gary

Hi :slight_smile:
It's just that renaming the old one or deleting it forces LO to create new fresh folders and files. Renaming the entire profile is a bit of a sledge-hammer approach, roughly equivalent to what most people expect from a re-install of the program, but it also works for sub-folders within the profile.

It's worth trying out the renaming and keep the lower-level folder open so that you can see the new "3" folder being created just by opening LO.

Often when people have problems with LO they can pin-point it to a specific file or sub-sub-folder within the user-profile and then simply revert to the factory default for that.

It works the same way in most other OpenSource programs.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

My question was intended to ascertain if the version 3.3 command to restore the factory default template is still available. I did not notice its availability (no such version 3.3.x command in the UI __in my version 3.4.x). So, what is the version 3.4.x manner for doing that?

Gary

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahh, i dunno. I didn't know there was a command (other than my sledge-hammer approach).
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

DUH! It is right out of the rebranded OOoAuthors Chapter 10, Working with Templates, now available at a LO docs outlet near you... Surely you must have seen it.

Check out the reversion to the factory default template in LO and see what you come up with for version 3.4.3.

Gary

Would I be correct in assuming that the factory-default template is actually
now embedded within the software--sans any file--for version 3.4.x? I
noticed that the former version 3.3.x command no longer exists (according to
my way of thinking...) for reverting to the factory-default template--the LO
analog of the normal.docm file in MS Word 2007 or later, which is now built
into LO, no?

As far as I know, the "factory set default" has always been embedded
within the software (OpenOffice.org and now LibreOffice). It was never
a separate file that users could access.

Be that as it may, the Reset Default Template – Text Document command
*does* exist, as I described in the first paragraph of my note that
started this thread, copied below:

... that command does exist
as it always has, but it does not appear until and unless some other
template (of the user's choice) has been previously set as the default
(over-riding the default shipped with LO).

--Jean

I have now revised Getting Started Chapter 3, Using Styles and
Templates, accepting Hazel's edits and making further edits based on
Gary's review of Writer Guide Chapter 10, Working with Templates, as
well as adding a brief section on printing a list of the styles
defined in a template or document. That topic has been on my list of
enhancements for some time. The revised file is in the Getting Started

Proofing folder.

Today I intend to revise WG Ch10 in a similar manner. Gary has
indicated that he may be making further edits to WG Ch10; those can be
taken into the "official" copy of that chapter when they are
available.

Thanks to both Hazel and Gary for their work. I hope to see more
people getting involved.

--Jean

The Getting Started guide should contain subsections as to that extensions, etc. would not necessarily need to be reinstalled after updating LO from one version to another. A case in point is my not having to reinstall the Template Changer. And, if there are other things that maybe not be needed to be redone after an update or reinstallation, mention of those should also be included in GS.

And then in Chapter 10 of the WG, a note can be made to that effect for that subsection. IOW, the first two steps of that 5-step procedure may likely not be needed if the Template Changer was already installed in an earlier version of OOo/LO--as noted in my own case.

Gary

Gary Schnabl wrote:

The Getting Started guide should contain subsections as to that extensions,
etc. would not necessarily need to be reinstalled after updating LO from one
version to another. A case in point is my not having to reinstall the
Template Changer. And, if there are other things that maybe not be needed to
be redone after an update or reinstallation, mention of those should also be
included in GS.

Yes, agreed. I'll add something, probably to the chapter on
Customizing unless a better place suggests itself.

It's this kind of feedback that helps us improve the books, albeit
slowly. Thanks!

And then in Chapter 10 of the WG, a note can be made to that effect for that
subsection. IOW, the first two steps of that 5-step procedure may likely not
be needed if the Template Changer was already installed in an earlier
version of OOo/LO--as noted in my own case.

I've revised that section in both GS Ch3 (uploaded earlier today to
Alfresco) and WG Ch10, which I'll be uploading after I've finished the
revisions later today.

My revision was more general, because someone might have installed
that extension in a new (clean) install of LO, but before reading this
chapter. Of course, my revision of that section can probably be
further improved.

Another thing... CNET mentioned that 90% of LO installations were for Windows users. Many users of MS Word are aware that Word employs a normal.docm file for its default template and the means how to regenerate it. Mention in LO/OOo docs should advise users that there is no factory default template file, but that those factory defaults are embedded within the software implementation.

Gary

Another excellent point. Thanks, Gary. I've amended the chapters. -- Jean