How can I, or can Writer, properly display footnotes and endnotes in a document imported from MS Word (docx)? I try it and the footnotes and endnotes are collected in about the correct places, but are displayed very badly.

Instead of seeing a superscript notation of either type, I see what looks like an html reference both in the text and at the point of the footnote or endnote. I can provide the original Word file if that helps troubleshooting the problem.

I have copied and attached a single page of the manuscript in its original MS Word form. This page has a footnote and endnote in the first line. You should see an asterisk and the number 1. The footnote appears at the bottom of the page and the endnote appears near the center of the page because Word puts it there when there is only a single page in the document, which there is because that is all I copied.

I have also attached an ODT file of just the line containing the original reference in ODT format. It shows the raw normally hidden reference (the “field” in Word speak). I hope all this makes sense to you.

page example 1.docx

page fragment for test 1.odt

(edited by ajlittoz to demangle the download links)

I can provide the original Word file

It will definitely help. Reduce it to 2-3 pages max. To attach, edit your question (you can’t attach easily to comments) and use the paper clip tool.

Upvoted the question to enable @johnames to attach files.

The paperclip icon should now be visible above the edit pane when you edit your question.

Your document looks “normal” here.

A few remarks:

  • If you see what you call “HTML reference”, have a look at View>Field Names. If the box is checked, you have a “technical” view on your document. Unmark the box and you revert to “content”.

  • Endnotes are laid out in their dedicated page (controlled by page style Endnote). Therefore Writer add a page break before the first note. This may differ from Word. What definitely differs is Word has no page style.

  • You can customise globally your notes by adjusting paragraph styles Endnote and Footnote separately. In particular, you can change indent and first line indent so that the number appears left of paragraph left vertical boundary.

  • Your document is very clumsily formatted with buttons and keyboard shortcuts. There is only a single paragraph style used throughout with variants applied manually (this is called direct formatting). You’ll have a hard time tuning your formatting when you’re at the proff-reading step.

Learn how to use styles, this will simplify your life and automate many aspects of authoring.

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!

In case you need clarification, edit your question (not an answer) or comment the relevant answer.

Thank you for your advice. I will look for the View Field Names command. I do, though, think I used styles extensively. I will resubmit a question if I can’t figure out why it looks like I didn’t. John

Well, I sincerely appreciate your trying to help me use Writer. I just don’t think I am able to efficiently use the question system. I wanted to switch from MS Office to Libre, but it doesn’t seem worth the learning curve effort. I’ll just have to update MS Office and get on with my work. Thanks again for trying, John Ames

Don’t be afraid to switch. The most difficult step is psychological: you must accept to consider that both suites are based on different principles. For having worked professionally with both, I find Writer is much easier, more versatile, better organised and more fit for automation than Word. Perhaps, I have now a strong bias towards LO.

If you quit us, please delete your “non answer” for site cleanliness.

This is not an answer. I am doing this only because I don’t see how to re-post an edited question. Please explain along with your comments on my edited question and the 2 attached files. thank you for your patience. John Ames

What do you mean “re-post”? You can always edit a question an unlimited number of times, just as you did to attach the files.

“Edited question”? Do you want to change the title? There is a different specific edit link at the end of the title.