Taming OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org (OOo) is a suite of programs for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases and drawings. It is free to download, use and distribute. It is available in many languages and runs on Linux, Mac, Windows, Solaris, and other operating systems.

A good introduction is What is OpenOffice.org? (PDF).

Books on OpenOffice.org

The Friends of OpenDocument Inc. has made available through Lulu.com printed versions of four books about OOo2.x written by the OOoAuthors group:

Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 2.x (Fourth edition, May 2008)
OpenOffice.org 2.x Impress Guide (First edition, May 2007)
OpenOffice.org 2.x Writer Guide (Third edition, February 2007)
OpenOffice.org 2.x Draw Guide (Second edition, April 2008)
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Migration Guide (First edition, May 2006)

These books are also available as free downloadable PDFs from the OOo Documentation Project’s website, where you can also find chapters from unfinished books on Calc and Impress.

Setup guides and user guides are available from the OOo Documentation Project.

Many other books are available from other sources. See this page and the books section of the Support page at OpenOffice.org.

Download OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org is available from http://www.openoffice.org/. Take it for a test drive. If you like it, keep it! No license fees or other charges.

An early look at OOo 3.0

Thanks to OpenOffice.org Ninja for a summary (with screenshots) of planned features in OOo3.0, due out in September this year. I’ve been too busy to download the alpha “Developer Snapshot” myself, so I very much appreciated this summary. I see some exciting things there!

What’s on this site?

Some of the material on this site may be out of date. Some of it was originally written for OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 and has not been updated for OOo 2.x. Some details have changed, but the general information is still relevant. I am updating the pages as I find time.

A collection of news items formerly on this page.

General

Tips and tricks for setting up and using OpenOffice.org.
Includes a collection of links to information on extensions to OOo.

Writer

My comments, tips and tricks for using the word processing component, Writer, are here, along with pointers to articles written by other people.

Calc

I don’t use spreadsheets much, so the section on Calc, the spreadsheet component of OOo, mostly contains pointers to articles written by other people.

Impress

I do create presentations occasionally, so I’ helped write the Impress Guide at OOoAuthors. I’ve started a section on Impress but there’s not much there yet except some pointers to articles written by other people.

Draw

I’m using Draw (OOo’s vector drawing component) more than I used to, but I have not had time to put any tips on this website. Like the sections on Calc and Impress, the section on Draw is mostly pointers to articles written by other people.

Base

Another “coming soon” section of the website, currently featuring pointers to others’ work.

Other resources

Things I wish I had written

I highly recommend two blogs, which are full of great explanations, hints, and tips on using OpenOffice.org:
Solveig Haugland’s blog
Bruce Byfield’s blog

I am adding links to specific articles by Solveig and Bruce from other sections of this website under the relevant component of OOo.

Dmaths

Dmaths is an add-on to OpenOffice.org. It extends the formula (equation) editor component of OOo and provides a new toolbar. It is free (under the GPL licence) and available for Linux, Windows and MacOSX. English, French or German versions are available.

From the Dmaths website: “You can trace curves (including parametrics and polars), do statistics, insert diagrams. Dmaths contains many useful autotexts for the quick insertion of mathematical expressions, and a large gallery of geometric objects.”

I have not tried this, but it looks quite interesting. It’s been around for awhile (now in version 3.0).

Labels in OpenDocument format for OOo Writer

WorldLabel.com, a maker of labels for envelopes, jewel cases, and other purposes, has released a package of more than 50 label templates in OpenDocument format for OpenOffice.org Writer. The labels represent most of WorldLabel.com’s standard prepress stock. Click here for labels on A4 size paper as used in Europe and Asia. Templates for OOo Draw are also available. The complete collection of all labels can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/ooolabels.
License: General Public License

Book on OpenDocument

OpenDocument is the native format for OpenOffice.org 2.0 files. OASIS OpenDocument Essentials by J. David Eisenberg introduces you to the XML that serves as an internal format for office applications. This book is also available in HTML and PDF from the author’s website.

Miscellaneous

Download OpenOffice.org - official download site
OOo Community Forum - user assistance for OOo
OOo Documentation Project - read how-tos, FAQs, user guides
OOo wiki - Documentation Project area
OOo Support page - Links to user support resources
OOo Knowledgebase - collection of questions and answers that users can query
OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas - from Solveig Haugland
OOoAuthors - development site for user guides, how-tos and FAQs