How to properly set up Tabbed View

[FritzM]

If I switch to Tabbed View (v 6.4.7.2), I don’t get to see the clean look that is used by The Document Foundation for promotional purposes, ie the look similar to the Ribbon View in Office. I have a terribly cluttered space that is super busy, consists of multiple bars and doesn’t look anything like a Ribbon. This is NOT about customizing individual formatting bars, it is NOT about switching to tabbed view, it is all about achieving the Ribbon look in first place.

Is there a resource eg a step-by-step video that explains how to get there?

[ajlittoz]

This is not the answer you expect.

Writer tries to promote formalized approach to text formatting through styles. Once you have set up your style set (paragraph and character mainly, page comes in addition frequently), all you need to format consistently and very reliably is to select a style from the paragraph style menu or a character one from the side stylepane set on character style view.

Tabbed view displays nearly all formatting tools in a cluttered toolbar and encourages direct formatting (because Word has no other alternative) which leads to messy inconsistent and surely not “semantic” formatting and to a real nightmare when you want to quickly alter the global appearance of your document (i.e. it not a “local” formatting fix but a general task to completely change the document according to a charting convention).

Tabbed view has been offered to ease transition for Word old-timers but you should really consider switching to styles.

[EarnestAl]

I am not sure what look you refer to as you didn’t give a link or image. There is a tabbed view and tabbed compact view. In both you can also have the menu showing or not showing, just click the leftmost, green button to toggle menubar.

The easiest way to change the user interface is to use the menu. For Tabbed, click the menubar button to show the menu, click View > User Interface > Tabbed as below

For Tabbed Compact, click the menubar button to show the menu, click View > User Interface > Tabbed Compact as below.

There are other options under User Interface and maybe Grouped Compact is what you mean. In that case the Menu is a drop down on the right of the bar, although most functions can be had from the down arrows on the main bar including View > Menubar. For Grouped Compact, click the menubar button to show the menu, click View > User Interface > Grouped Compact as below.

Cheers, Al

2020-11-22 Edit

ajlittoz is absolutely right about Styles, they make life much easier in use and if formatting changes are needed later. You may be using them already and want minimise the unnecessary stuff in your toolbars. In my version of LO there are 9 options for User Interface, I suggest you try them all and then choose one. Before you hide the menubar, use the View menu to try them out, note that the User interface menu can be a submenu on the right of the screen too. Cheers, Al

[FritzM]

First off, thanks a lot. Would have loved to add an image but couldn’t find the option. Even now, I can add an image as part of a “proposed solution” but not as part of my response. Copy/Paste doesn’t work

Your interface looks super clean, mine is complete cluttered.

Now added an image to my original question