Comments on: How to set Open Office Writer language and font settings for good?

Question: How to set Open Office Writer language and font settings for good?

sudasana — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:47:16 -0800

How do I keep language settings and fonts consistent in Open Office Writer (2.3.1)?

I'm tearing out my hair over Open Office. I use the Writer program (presently 2.3.1) for my work, and there are two problems that I've been unable to solve.

1) How do I set the default spell check language for documents and not have it reset when I create a new file? Right now I have to manually set this to English (USA) each time I create a new document.

2) How do I set the default font for different languages? I often type documents in Chinese and English, but Writer keeps using a nasty font for inputting Chinese and I have to change it manually every time.

Please offer some advice, these things are really killing me during finals season.

By: oddman

oddman — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:08:46 -0800

You need to make a new default template.

First open a new Writer file and make the changes that you want. (You seem to know that the default fonts are changed in the "Options" menu item.) You can also change your margins, line spacing, etc.

Then save the file as an ".ott" pick a name like "sudasana basic.ott"

Then open the File:Templates:Organize menu item. "Sudasana basic.ott should already be listed under the "my templates" folder. If not you can import from the "commands" drop down (select "my folders" first).

Once you see the ott file right-click on it and choose "Set as default template."

You should be all set. I tested this with the Western fonts (I don't have Eastern font support set-up), but it should work for the eastern.

This should also work with the dictionary problem (btw, do you mean you have to set the default language in general? I don't see how to change the dictionary itself.)

By: filmgeek

filmgeek — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:17:28 -0800

This is advice - I have open office on my system, but I don't use it.

Why not create a blank for English and Chinese set up the way you like....save it...and dupe that file (and open the duplicate) for when you want a new document of either type. It's how we used to handle templates...before there were templates.