Coming from MS Word, I am trying to understand how headers and margins operate in Writer. If I want to have a header that uses the full width of a page and extends to the top of the page, does that mean I have to set all the top, left, and right margins to zero?
Page geometry is radically different in M$ Word and LO Writer.
In Word, the margins define the main contents area for the text of the document. “Decorations”, like header and footer, are external to this contents are. Conceptually, they reside inside the margins (top and bottom).
In Writer, margins remove an area from usable space. Margins are no-print area where nothing can be set (advanced users can however use this area under special circumstances). Once margins are removed, the remaining surface is shared between header, footer and main text.
In other words, you don’t measure margins the same because their usage is not the same.
In Writer, page geometry is configured in a page style.
You start by defining your white margins (white because nothing will normally go there).
If you want a header or a footer, you must enable it. Its area will be removed from what is defined by the margins. A header (or footer) is schematically a rectangle. Its height is usually self-adapting to contents but can be set to a fixed height. Its width initially extends from page left margin to right margin but you can add extra space at left or right. Distance between the header and main text is also configurable.
It all depends on what you call “full width of a page”. If you mean the width between left and right margins, you have nothing to do. Your header is as wide as your main text by default.
But if you really want to extend from left edge of the sheet to right edge, you’ll create problems to your text. You must first set left and right margins to zero to allow your header to reach paper edges. Then to give “margins” to your text, you must add indents to the applied paragraph styles. In case, all your indents are identical, set them in Default Paragraph Style and they will be propagated to all other styles.
This is easier. Set top margin to zero. The header will be located at top of page, separated from your main text by some white space (to be adjusted in the page style).
But your request is rather pointless. If your document is always displayed on screen, there is no real advantage to cut down the top margin as this will not improve the look. On the contrary, it may confuse you by giving a weird appearance to page separations. If you intend to print, be aware that most printers, in particular consumer-grade and low-end ones, have a mechanical constraint on minimal margins (all four sides) to allow for paper driving. Therefore, if you set your margins to zero, your print will be clipped to these minimal margins.
Thanks for your prompt reply. I understand that you think my request is pointless but there is method to my madness! I have to send manuscripts to an approval body and they require the left and right margins to be one inch minimum. Corporate stuff, like logos, are designed to make use of some of that one inch real estate. So I don’t necessarily need to go right to the edge but I would like to allow the header, and the footer, extend into that space.
Logos are not text! An image is hosted in a frame (more exactly, it is a frame by itself). A frame is made to escape the usual constraints inside which you compose text.
So, if the only elements to set inside the margins are logos (or image), anchor them where they belong (i.e. to the header paragraph if they are repeated on every page) and configure the frame style to position the logo in the margin (more generally, anywhere in the page).
Give a more formal description of your “header” and I’ll give you more targeted hints on how to achieve your layout.
Writer is extremely powerful. Most occasional visitors of this style ask about confirmation of an implementation idea they have designed limited by their knowledge of Writer features. Instead, even if it looks stupid, describe the final result in layout terms, not what you have already done without success. It is easier to point you in the right direction than trying to fix a faulty design.