Cannot change text background color in libreoffice writer 6.4.6.2

[bugbuster56]

my system is ubuntu 20.04
I have been google searching to find out how to change the background color for a block of text. I have found a number of older articles from this site which describe a process that does not work for me. In each case they state that I should click ob the “background” tab in order to change the text background color. I have tried with “formatting paragraph” and “format character” and in each case the resulting screen has many tabs and options, but there is no option labelled “background”.

How do I changed the background color of a string of highlited text in libreoffice writer 6.4.6.2 ?

Thanks.

[ajlittoz]

Wording for the feature changed in recent releases. What you are looking for is now in tab Area.

From your question, it is obvious you don’t use styles. I recommend you download and read the chapters about styles in the Writer Guide.

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[bugbuster56]

I have been reading about styles as suggested. I formatted a block of text and created my own custom styles. Now how do I use this custom style ? I selected some text and now I can’t find my custom style in any menu or list. What do I need to do to use my custom style ?

[ajlittoz]

A custom style appears in the toolbar menu once it has been used. To get it first time, open the side style pane (or F1). Find it in the list, double-click on it when the cursor is in the target paragraph.

[bugbuster56]

L am looking at the side style pane and my custom style does not show up anywhere. When I created my custom style there were no complaints/errors/warnings, so I am not sure what else to do.

[ajlittoz]

The side style pane has several views corresponding to the various categories. Be sure to click on the leftmost icon in the toolbar for paragraph styles. Check also the menu at bottom to select All Styles. You’ll learn later the usage of the other display modes.

[bugbuster56]

I just tried the method as described in chapter 9 of the libreoffice writer guide and created a simple character style. That seems to be working well. Now I can try more complex styles. thanks for your assistance.

[ajlittoz]

You didn’t tell it was a character style. Click on the second icon from left for character styles. Character styles are accessed only through the style side pane (F11, I made a typo above).