Insert one column section at beginning of two columns document

[paolobenve]

In writer, I have a 2 columns document, and I want to insert a one-column section at its top

I tried putting the cursor at the 1st char and hitting alt-enter or alt-enter, but the only thing I get is a page break

If I use Insert-section and I specify 1 column, I get a new 1-column section inside the 2-columns one

The only thing I can imagine is:

• change the 2-col section to 1-col
• insert a new 1-col section at beginning
• change the second section to 2-col

but this was I loose the 2-columns formatting, and I don’t want that

How can I do?

[Regina]

That is not possible. If you have set two columns in the page style, then you cannot overwrite it in normal text flow.

Therefore work the other way round and set the page to 1 column and every time you need 2 columns, insert a section and make it a 2 column kind. The attached document TwoColumnText.odt shows how it looks.

You might think, that you can use a frame to fake a one-column area. But that will not work. The chapter numbering in the frame is independent of the numbering in the text. And the text will flow inside the columns as if the frame does not exist. See end of the attached document, why it does not work.