Change width of comments column

[HotPotato]

The comments function of Libreoffice Writer has become increasingly important to my workflow. On my computer the comments are fixed at a width of about 2.5 cm. This has become a bit of a show stopper for me.

• This may be a bug since not all user’s seem to have this issue.
• OpenOffice also exhibits this behaviour.

This behaviour has been reported before by several people (here and elsewhere) but they have not received a satisfying response. Should this turn out to be a bug, or the comments field width is in fact fixed, this really needs to be added to the change request list and given a degree of priority since it is causing LibreOffice to lose users.

A meaningful work-around in the meantime would be handy (The default column width must be a defined parameter somewhere.)

Many thanks for any feedback.

My system: Windows 10 latest update. LibreOffice 6.1.4.2 (x64)

[HotPotato]

Since I originally started this thread, I am surprised that there has been no meaningful feedback from LO.

In a world where sharing documents has become increasingly important, adding comments and being able to manage and print them has become almost a core function. In lieu of no response on this I am seriously considering having to abandoning ship.

LO should take this seriously. Loss of my annual financial contribution will hardly hurt, but you can be sure that I am on the zeitgeist of general thinking among the user base. In a couple of years time LO will be poring over the data and wondering why the sudden downturn in their affairs.

[libreofficeASK]

I am frustrated by this just as much as you are. There is no solution to this currently. Also this is a general problem and not limited to windows. Seeing this on macOS as well.

Here is the open feature request in bugzilla:
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=97341

[johnanon]

I had the same problem - found this June 2016 answer:

You are right, unfortunately it is no more possible to resize the comment when created. We must create the comment then Right click▸Show Comment. We can then click the comment to resize it.
There is a bug report tdf#68695 for this.

[mikekaganski]

This is unrelated: OP asked about Writer.

[Lupp]

In Calc you can change the width by user code. The annotation is a species of genus Shape.

In Writer: no chance… There the annotations are a species of genus TextField. No Width property at all. Sizing and positioning is automatic.
(Annotations to nested text [Frames / TableCell] are often positioned badly if also annotations to BodyText are present.
@mikekaganski: Can TexField derivatives get something like .Size or .Postion at all?

[tombo22]

Open the document in Google Docs. They have a nice commenting bar that scrolls to keep the relevant comment next to the text and fully expanded.

I could not find a solution within LibreOffice Writer (Version: 6.4.3.2 Build ID: 1:6.4.3-0ubuntu0.20.04.1)
-Tom

[AvatarGG]

I agree, the way comments are displayed in LO writer is a real issue. I don’t think there a solution yet. The is a big open here but doesn’t seem like there is much activity on it which is a shame.

Yes one solution is to open the document with Google Docs, but hell, surely handling comments should be possible in LO itself, and many of us do not want to rely on bloody Google or on being connect to the internet to work on a document (when travelling for e.g.).

LO Online handle comments a bit better, but again not everyone has got an instance of this running and you also have to be connected to the internet.

I’m hoping this will get picked sooner rather than later by LO devs. Though I am not a programmer, I can’t contribute so I am no one to judge on what programmers want to spend their time onto

[ajlittoz]

This is no solution to the initial question. So to avoid making users think there is a fix, tranform your “non-answer” into a comment and delete your “answer”.

[alta88]

We know that a .ods file is really a form of zip archive, so any file within it can be inspected and changed. And a sheet is just an xml structure.

On linux, one can

1. Open the .ods file with Archive manager, or other such tool, or just unpack it.
2. Edit content.xml. Use a pretty xml formatter in your editor to make it more readable.
3. All comments are in the office:annotation tag. Or find your comment text.
4. Change the svg:width or svg:height or other properties.
5. Save the file. With an Archive manager, it will ask to update in place; confirm. Or else pack it up yourself.

Yes a UI would be much nicer.

[mariosv]

Could be easer saving it as ‘Flat XML ODF Spreadheet’ (*.fods), and editing it directly with any editor.

[Lupp]

No full unpack needed if you just open the zipped “archive” (.odt, .ods, …) file with an archiver software allowing for the needed settings.
I have my 7-Zip under “Open With” for odf and it allows me to open the wrapped-in files with notepad++ for editing. I can store back (packed) to the original file then.

[mariosv]

Sure, both can work.