THIS IS A TEST INSTANCE. ALL YOUR CHANGES WILL BE LOST!!!!
Proposed changes in content and organisation
The existing Getting Started with OpenOffice.org user guide was originally intended to be no longer than 200 pages, but it is now closer to 400 pages and includes some material that IMO isn't needed by new users.
I would like to make some major changes, by cutting out some chapters and making them into standalone guides, dropping some material that is covered in other books and IMO not needed in this one, slightly reorganising what's left, and adding some pointers to the other books and documents. Details below. The main goal is to improve the book's usefulness for new users; decreasing the page count is a secondary goal.
- Remove Chapter 8 (Getting Started with Base) and make it a standalone document. It is 52 pages long (longer than the Math Guide) and I think would be more useful to beginning Base users if it's standalone. Also, I think the vast majority of new OOo users will NOT be using Base.
- Remove Chapter 9 (Getting Started with Math) because it duplicates the first part of the Math Guide and is therefore not needed here.
- Remove most of Chapter 12 (Creating Web Pages) because the info is given in the guides for Writer, Impress, etc and is really little more than an export function; it could be mentioned briefly in the chapter on Printing, Exporting etc. Info on hyperlinks needs to be put somewhere else; I don't have a specific suggestion on this, but it didn't really fit in this chapter anyway, since it's relevant to more than web page creation.
- Combine Chapter 2 (Setting up OOo) and Chapter 14 (Customizing) and leave the result at the end of the book. This is similar to the way the topics are handled in the other books.
- Drop Appendix A (Keyboard Shortcuts) and put a brief mention in Chapter 1 with a pointer to the Help.
- Remove Chapter 13 (Macros) and make it a stand-alone document.
That's the major changes. I have a few other changes to suggest in various chapters. In total the reorganisation should cut the page count down below 300 pages and make the book more useful for the majority of new users.
Current Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introducing OpenOffice.org
What is OpenOffice.org?
The advantages of OpenOffice.org
Minimum requirements
How to get the software
How to install the software
Extensions and add-ons
How to get help
Starting OpenOffice.org
Parts of the main window
What are all these things called?
Starting a new document
Opening an existing document
Saving a document
Renaming and deleting files
Using the Open and Save As dialogs
Using the Navigator
Undoing and redoing changes
Closing a document
Closing OpenOffice.org
Using OpenOffice.org on a Mac
Chapter 2 Setting up OpenOffice.org
Choosing options for all of OOo
Choosing options for loading and saving documents
Choosing language settings
Choosing Internet options
Controlling OOo’s AutoCorrect functions
Chapter 3 Using Styles and Templates
What is a template?
What are styles?
Applying styles
Modifying styles
Creating new (custom) styles
Copying and moving styles
Deleting styles
Using a template to create a document
Creating a template
Editing a template
Adding templates using the Extension Manager
Setting a default template
Associating a document with a different template
Organizing templates
Examples of style use
Chapter 4 Getting Started with Writer
What is Writer?
The Writer interface
Changing document views
Moving quickly through a document
Working with documents
Working with text
Formatting text
Formatting pages
Adding comments to a document
Creating a table of contents
Creating indexes and bibliographies
Working with graphics
Printing
Using mail merge
Tracking changes to a document
Using fields
Linking to another part of a document
Using master documents
Creating fill-in forms
Chapter 5 Getting Started with Calc
What is Calc?
Spreadsheets, sheets and cells
Parts of the main Calc window
Opening and saving CSV files
Navigating within spreadsheets
Selecting items in a sheet or spreadsheet
Working with columns and rows
Working with sheets
Viewing Calc
Entering data using the keyboard
Speeding up data entry
Sharing content between sheets
Validating cell contents
Editing data
Formatting data
Autoformatting cells and sheets
Formatting spreadsheets using themes
Using conditional formatting
Hiding and showing data
Sorting records
Printing
Chapter 6 Getting Started with Impress
What is Impress?
Starting Impress
Parts of the main Impress window
Workspace views
Creating a new presentation
Formatting a presentation
Adding and formatting text
Adding pictures, tables, charts and media
Working with slide masters and styles
Adding comments to a presentation
Setting up the slide show
Running the slide show
Chapter 7 Getting Started with Draw
What is Draw?
The Draw workspace
Choosing and defining colors
Positioning objects with snap functions
Positioning objects with guiding lines
The basic drawing shapes
Drawing geometric shapes
Selection modes
Selecting objects
Moving and dynamically adjusting an object’s size
Editing objects
Using styles
Special effects
Combining multiple objects
Aids for positioning objects
Inserting and editing pictures
Working with 3D objects
Exporting graphics
Adding comments to a drawing
Chapter 8 Getting Started with Base
Introduction
Planning a database
Creating a new database
Creating database tables
Defining relationships
Creating a database form
Accessing other data sources
Using data sources in OpenOffice.org
Entering data in a form
Creating queries
Creating reports
Chapter 9 Getting Started with Math
What is Math?
Entering a formula
Customizations
Formula layout
Numbering equations
Chapter 10 Printing, Exporting, and E‑mailing
Introduction
Quick printing
Controlling printing
Exporting to PDF
Exporting to other formats
E-mailing documents
Digital signing of documents
Removing personal data
Chapter 11 Graphics, the Gallery, and Fontwork
Introduction
Adding images to a document
Modifying and positioning graphics
Managing the OpenOffice.org Gallery
Creating an image map
Using OOo’s drawing tools
Using Fontwork
Chapter 12 Creating Web Pages
Introduction
Relative and absolute hyperlinks
Creating hyperlinks
Saving Writer documents as web pages
Creating web pages using a Wizard
Saving Calc spreadsheets as web pages
Saving Impress presentations as web pages
Saving Draw documents as web pages
Chapter 13 Getting Started with Macros
Your first macros
Creating a macro
Sometimes the macro recorder fails
Macro organization
How to run a macro
Extensions
Writing macros without the recorder
Finding more information
Chapter 14 Customizing OpenOffice.org
Introduction
Customizing menu content
Customizing toolbars
Assigning shortcut keys
Assigning macros to events
Adding functionality with extensions
Appendix A Keyboard Shortcuts
Introduction
General keyboard shortcuts
Defining keyboard shortcuts
Further reading
Appendix B Open Source, Open Standards, OpenDocument
Introduction
A short history of OpenOffice.org
The OpenOffice.org community
How is OpenOffice.org licensed?
What is “open source”?
What are “open standards”?
What is OpenDocument?
Frequently asked questions
File formats OOo can open
File formats OOo can save to
Exporting to other formats
Index
Proposed Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introducing OpenOffice.org
What is OpenOffice.org?
The advantages of OpenOffice.org
Minimum requirements
How to get the software
How to install the software
Extensions and add-ons
How to get help
Starting OpenOffice.org
Parts of the main window
What are all these things called?
Starting a new document
Using a template to create a document
Opening an existing document
Saving a document
Renaming and deleting files
Using the Open and Save As dialogs
Using the Navigator
Undoing and redoing changes
Creating hyperlinks
Closing a document
Closing OpenOffice.org
Accessibility features
Using OOo without a mouse
Using OpenOffice.org on a Mac
Chapter 2 Using Styles and Templates
What are styles and templates? Why use them?
Examples of style use
Applying styles
Managing styles: create, modify
Creating a template
Editing a template
Setting a default template
Chapter 3 Getting Started with Writer
What is Writer?
The Writer interface
Changing document views
Moving quickly through a document
Working with documents
Working with text
Formatting text
Formatting pages
Adding comments to a document
Creating a table of contents
Creating indexes and bibliographies
Working with graphics
Printing
Using mail merge
Tracking changes to a document
Using fields
Linking to another part of a document
Using master documents
Creating fill-in forms
Chapter 4 Getting Started with Calc
What is Calc?
Spreadsheets, sheets and cells
Parts of the main Calc window
Opening and saving CSV files
Navigating within spreadsheets
Selecting items in a sheet or spreadsheet
Working with columns and rows
Working with sheets
Viewing Calc
Entering data using the keyboard
Speeding up data entry
Sharing content between sheets
Validating cell contents
Editing data
Formatting data
Autoformatting cells and sheets
Formatting spreadsheets using themes
Using conditional formatting
Hiding and showing data
Sorting records
Printing
Chapter 5 Getting Started with Impress
What is Impress?
Starting Impress
Parts of the main Impress window
Workspace views
Creating a new presentation
Formatting a presentation
Adding and formatting text
Adding pictures, tables, charts and media
Working with slide masters and styles
Adding comments to a presentation
Setting up the slide show
Running the slide show
Chapter 6 Getting Started with Draw
What is Draw?
The Draw workspace
Choosing and defining colors
Positioning objects with snap functions
Positioning objects with guiding lines
The basic drawing shapes
Drawing geometric shapes
Selection modes
Selecting objects
Moving and dynamically adjusting an object’s size
Editing objects
Using styles
Special effects
Combining multiple objects
Aids for positioning objects
Inserting and editing pictures
Working with 3D objects
Exporting graphics
Adding comments to a drawing
Chapter 7 Printing, Exporting, and E‑mailing
Introduction
Quick printing
Controlling printing
Exporting to PDF
Exporting to other formats
E-mailing documents
Digital signing of documents
Removing personal data
Chapter 8 Graphics, the Gallery, and Fontwork
Introduction
Adding images to a document
Modifying and positioning graphics
Managing the OpenOffice.org Gallery
Creating an image map
Using OOo’s drawing tools
Using Fontwork
Chapter 9 Setting up and Customizing OpenOffice.org
Introduction
Choosing options for all of OOo
Choosing options for loading and saving documents
Choosing language settings
Choosing Internet options
Controlling OOo’s AutoCorrect functions
Customizing menu content
Customizing toolbars
Assigning shortcut keys
Assigning macros to events
Adding functionality with extensions
Appendix Open Source, Open Standards, OpenDocument
Introduction
A short history of OpenOffice.org
The OpenOffice.org community
How is OpenOffice.org licensed?
What is “open source”?
What are “open standards”?
What is OpenDocument?
Frequently asked questions
File formats OOo can open
File formats OOo can save to
Exporting to other formats
Index
Two standalone documents to be created from removed chapters:
*Getting Started with Base
*Getting Started with Macros
1 Comment
Wanda Phillips
I would like to see installation and configuration topics together either in a chapter or document. That would involve moving these sections into Chapter 9 and maybe making it an appendix or a separate book. Like the configuration (or customization) topics in Chapter 9, these are not a common set of procedures in the day-to-day use of the software.
Minimum Hardware & Software Requirements
Downloading the Software
Installing the Software
Extensions and Add-ons
It shifts Chapter 1 to an overview of the product and the core set of skills users need for performing the tasks, achieving the goals, presented the the subsequent chapters.
Wanda
Wanda