First Page Header different from following pages' headers

I have Right and Left page styles and I would like the first page to have a different header and footer. I deselected “Same content on first page” on the header and footer (of the Right Page page style), and the interface seems to confirm that I did that. The problem is that every page has the first page footer!

For reference, here are the first three “Right Page” footers (with page numbers visible):

First Right Page

Second Right Page

Third Right Page

I’m fairly new to LibreOffice Writer (and WYSIWYG word processing in general), and very new to governing the document by “styles”. Please let me know if there’s any other information I can provide that might make this easier to diagnose. Thank you!

My document: Alfred, Lord Tennyson.odt

The contents of the document are in the public domain, so let me know if it would be helpful to share the document in its entirety.

I have Right and Left page styles

Does it mean you have used the styles named Left Page and Right Page? In this case, you have alternation between both styles: R L R L … which means the right page is always the first page of its style sequence and you get what you see.

Trying to get (blank) L R L R … must be done either with a single page style or with three. If you confirm your present procedure, I’ll give you the correct procedure.

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 it would be helpful to share the document in its entirety.

Yes, do that. Around 8 pages could be helpful.

you have used the styles named Left Page and Right Page? … alternation between both styles: R L R L…

Yes and yes.

right page is always the first page of its style sequence

Ah, I see. That makes sense.

Trying to get (blank) L R L R … must be done either with a single page style or with three.

The only thing I want blank is the footer (and header) on the first “Right Page” style. Does “single page style” mean don’t alternate R L R L? Thank you for your help and patience.

There are two ways for independent left/right header/footer plus first page header/footer.

The poor man’s approach

With this first method, you only need one page style. Usually, document structure is quite simple and Default Style will do.

Open Default Style page style either through the style side-pane (F11 but for MacOS) or, when in a page with Default Style, Format>Page.

Go to the Header tab and enable Header on, then uncheck both Same content on … check boxes.

Do the same in the Footer tab.

You can now set your three separate headers on footers.

#The full-control method

You prepare three page styles: one for the first page, one for left pages and one for right pages.

Left Page and Right Page can be used, just as First Page for the first.

In the Page tab, set layout as Only left and Only right as appropriate (in fact, this is not really necessary for left and right page style, but may be needed for first page to force it to start on a right page). Note you can have fancy margins not related to each other.

After having recorded your styles (necessary only for custom styles to make sure they exist for the following step), go to Organizer tab and set the Next style drop-down menu:

  • for the first page style, select Left Page
  • for the left page style, select Right Page
  • for the right page, select Left Page

This is how you cause page style alternation.

Remarks

The “recipe” given above is rather recommended for a “logical” group of pages, like a chapter. In your case, your first page is a TOC, which IMHO is not part of the subsequent poems. You should layout your TOC in its own page style. Then your poems need only two page styles (no use for First Page unless you want something special on the “real” first poem page.

You inserted a manual page break at head of the first poem title. This a bad idea because the first one becomes special. Should you reorder the bits, you may forget this manual break and get at-first unexpected results.

You have an empty Subtitle paragraph after you TOC. You could change Text Flow in the style definition to add automatically a page break after it with a switch to either First Page (in case your TOC has its own style) or Right Page page style.

You use Subtitle to introduce the poem. Subtitle style is intended for use in the cover page of a book, after a Title paragraph. You had to fiddle with TOC settings to add this style to the collection managed by the TOC engine. Why not use Heading 1 (and Heading 2 instead of your own Subsubtitle)? You can customise the style as you like. If you fear some numbering, remember that Heading n are not numbered until you enable it in Tools>Chapter Numbering.

Near the end, you have spaced strophes with empty paragraphs, which is always a bad idea. You already know the trick because you have created a stanza last line but didn’t use it there. The parts of this long poem could be automatically numbered either with a list or with Heading 3 (it is possible to number only one level) and Heading 3 could also be prevented from going into the TOC.

Keep on learning, you’re on the right track.

To show the community your question has been answered, click the ✓ next to the correct answer, and “upvote” by clicking on the ^ arrow of any helpful answers. These are the mechanisms for communicating the quality of the Q&A on this site. Thanks!

Full-control sounds like the right method to me! It’s working beautifully.

…a manual page break…an empty Subtitle paragraph…

I inserted a manual break (CTRL+), and this is what came out. This seems better than having an empty paragraph with a style (say “newpage”) that has Text Flow with a page break leading to Right Page. The problem is: if the TOC grows to two pages, it should lead to Left Page! If I keep what I did, I can let the page styles flow naturally.

I think s/with e but didn't use it therepty/with empty paragraphs/ maybe? As you noted, I have stanza last line. I wanted to get the larger layout correct before finishing the styling.

Thank you for suggesting SubtitleHeading 2 or whatever. That will be better.

You are clearly a master. I bow to you.

You’re welcome.

Thanks for pointing out the typos. I’ve edited my answer but there is no new element in it.

To cope with the variable-sized TOC, create left and right pages styles for it. Your doc then has structure TOC-R, TOC-L, TOC-R, R, L, R, L … with alternation in both style families. You switch from one family to the other one with a manual break forcing to R. Whether you use a “first” page style in the family is a personal choice: it depends only on your decision to make the first page of the part different (no reason for the TOC, but possible for the “poems”).

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The only thing I want blank is the footer (and header) on the first “Right Page” style.

What I did:

  • First paragraph of page 2 (Crossing the bar): Paragraph properties (Format Menu) > Breaks > Added With Page Style :: Left page
  • F11 Page Styles > checked applied page styles (left page, right page)
  • Got to page 1 (mouse cursor or CTRL+POS1) > applied Default Page Style (double click; All Styles)
  • Right click on Default Page Style > altered properties (margins)

See attached document. The procedure follows @ajlittoz ’ pieces of advice.

AlfredLordTennysonFirstPageDifferent.odt

For further advice recommended: http://openoffice-uni.org/
and diverse manuals for LibreWriter, e.g. Getting Started Guide | LibreOffice Documentation - Your documentation for LibreOffice

“First paragraph of page 2 …” You’re suggesting making an ad-hoc Paragraph properties change here (as opposed to a “pure” style setting)? The first problem with hard-coding the Left page style like that is that the TOC can (and will) grow to two pages, and I’ll have to touch it again. (And if it grows to three pages, more fiddling.)

Your solution works. Thank you!