Setting up OpenOffice.org
… to suit the way I work
My list of features I turn off or on when I install OOo on a new machine, and other setup tricks.
Almost every OOo automated feature is loved by some people and hated by others. Fortunately, most of the automated features can easily be turned on or off by users. The trick is finding where they are all hidden. I’m a person who generally hates these features, so I keep a list of them handy for use whenever I install OOo on another machine.
In addition, I have a list of other things to do to set up a new installation to suit my requirements and way of working.
Here is my setup list. Please let me know if you have other items you particularly find useful to do or turn on or off. (Thanks to Daniel Carrera and Paul Miller for additions to my original list.)
| To turn this on/off… | Go here… |
| Word completion | Tools > AutoCorrect/AutoFormat > Word Completion |
| Autocorrect typing | Tools > AutoCorrect/AutoFormat > Options |
| Number recognition | Tools > Options > Text Documents > Table (affects Calc spreadsheets as well as Writer documents) |
| Help Agent | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > General |
| Tooltips | Help > Tips and/or Extended Tips |
| Quickstarter | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Memory |
| Printing sets modified status | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > General |
| View all menu items (not just those active for cursor location) | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > View |
| Font history | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > View |
| URLs -> hyperlinks | Tools > AutoCorrect/AutoFormat > Options |
| Curly quotes | Tools > AutoCorrect/AutoFormat > Custom Quotes |
| Spellcheck options (including getting rid of the wavy underline) | Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing Aids |
| Automatically create a backup copy | Tools > Options > Load/Save > General |
| Automatically save, but don’t prompt to save | Tools > Options > Load/Save > General |
| Hide icons in menus | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > View |
| Use system font for user interface | Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Accessibility |
| Default table attributes (headings and borders) | Tools > Options > Text Documents > Table |
| Show paragraph markers and tabs | Tools > Options > Text Documents > Formatting Aids |
| Configure the Function bar | Right-click > Customize |
| In Draw, show Option bar | View > Toolbars > Option bar |
| Copy custom AutoCorrect items from previous installation | Copy AutoCorrect file to (install)\share\autocorr\acorxxxx.dat Note: xxxx is a 4-digit number than varies with the language |
