hi,
i’m starting to use LO and am loving the paragraph formatting. However, I am a bit surprised that when i make a bulleted list by pressing the button for that in the toolbar or by entering * , that this does not result in a new paragraph style, like “default bulleted list”. I cannot find how to change the default settings for these bulleted lists.
I know I can select the text and give it a separate style (eg List 1), but I’m looking to apply a new style to the default lists. Is there a way to make LO writer works such that when I press the bulleted list icon in the toolbar or do * that it enters a bulleted list using a paragraph style, e.g. List 1? Or do i always have to change that manually for each list that I make?
Rik
am on Kubuntu 22.04
LO 7.3.6.2
Lists are “composite objects” made of a paragraph style and a list style.
The paragraph style is responsible for the general appearance of the text while the list style defines the type of the bullet/number and the indentation of every level (because lists in Writer are always multi-level, i.e. items can be nested).
The button in the toolbar adds the bullet/number properties to any paragraph as a direct formatting. In addition to all the problems caused by direct formatting, the “default” list formatting has been heavily tweaked so that it can be applied to many independent lists. This causes a big hassle when you try to modify an existing list.
The best way to achieve your goal is to define a dedicated paragraph style. Built-in List 1 is a good candidate for bullet list customisation. You associate it with a list style in the Outline & List tab so that such a paragraph is automatically “decorated” with a bullet or number.
Changing manually paragraph style is tedious. You can create a shortcut to your dedicated list style with Tools>Customize. To return to Text Body, type Ctrl+0.
thanks this is v helpful. I’ll make my lists this way from now on.
Besides creating a keyboard shortcut for my dedicated list, is there any way to add a button to the toolbar with this new dedicated list shortcut?
No, you can’t add user-defined buttons in the toolbar. With Tools>Customize, you can add or remove built-in buttons.
However, I don’t recommend the use of toolbars buttons and their keyboard shortcuts for formatting because you’ll too easily end up with direct formatting. Instead, learn how to use styles. For speed typing, you can assign them keyboard shortcuts so that you never leave (or only exceptionally) your keyboard for the mouse.
Hi,
thanks for the responses. To me, it seems more logical that the toolbar button for a list + the list that is generated when you type “* + space” would generate a list that is the composite object of the current paragraph style and List 1 of the list styles. Is there a reason that instead they both are direct formatting? If there is not a reason, I will submit a feature enhancement request for this to be changed.
These AutoCorrect transformations are quick’n’dirty courtesy poor surrogates to more rigorous formatting. And since that can be activated over already styled data, the only “logical” layer for their action is the direct formatting layer.
You wish that the button or AutoCorrect would apply List 1 list style. But, starting with the 7.x series, there is no longer any List 1 list style because this name was not descriptive enough. Now you have Bullet <something> and Numbering <something>, with the “<something>” better suggesting the numbering type. Also, why should an implicit action be associated with a particular list style and not another one? Remember “a man’s constant is another man’s variable”. The sensible choice is Format>Bullets & Numbering.
If you want a list item with minimal gestural procedure, tune some paragraph style and associate it with a list style. Assign a keyboard shortcut to the paragraph style. Then, when you start typing your list item, press the keyboard shortcut to style your current paragraph as a list item. After you have typed your list items, press Ctrl+0 (zero) to revert to Text Body.
hi,
well the reason for associating the implicit action of pressing the bullets icon or typing “*+space” with the list style “Bullet default”, is so that people can change the default settings. For those who don’t want to change it, nothing will change and stay the same. But for those who do want to change the default settings, it becomes possible to change the default setting.