I’m picking up an inquiry from seven years ago about formatting the footnote number display in the footnote. Rosie153 said it cannot be done, and that seems still to be true. Comonpilgrim asked whether this should be reported as a bug.
In my view, it definitely should be. Many publishers expect the footnote display number in the footnote to be superscripted, just as the footnote call in the text is. Writer would be much more useful if it conformed (or at least made conformity possible) to that practice.
With reference to Changing footnote numbering font in footnote, a lot can change in 7 years including the positioning of controls.
The reverse question was asked in 2013, Footnotes: How to get NOT superscripted numbers in the footnote area? although the solution then was different to now. It looks as if superscripted footnote numbers in the footnote area have been possible for a long time.
Except they are not, and I can’t figure out how to change them. Writer does not allow highlighting the number, so the user cannot reformat it.
The footnote number is internally generated (like a list item number) and it can’t be selected to avoid messing it up (just the same as a list number).
A note has several meta data attached to it, the most important (and most visible) is the note number. This note number is inserted twice: as the note anchor in main text, as the note label preceding note contents.
The style machinery allows to separately format the note anchor, note label and note contents:
- note contents is a paragraph styled Footnote or Endnote depending on the type
Though you can direct format the note contents because it is user data, it is much wiser (and powerful) to play with the aforementioned paragraph style. - note anchor is assigned character style Footnote Anchor or Endnote Anchor
You can also direct format it but this not a good idea. - note label is assigned character style Footnote Characters or Endnote Characters
You can change its appearance only by customising the aforementioned character style.
You can also assign other styles by reconfiguring Tools>Footnotes & Endnotes.
Styles are at the core of Writer. You should learn how to use them. Start with the Writer Guide.
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You have solved my problem, and I am very grateful. The solution for me is just a bit more complicated than your suggestion, but you put me on the right track. Changing Footnote Characters to be superscripted works, but it also makes the body of the footnote superscripted, so what I’ve done is to set Footnote Characters to inherit the style of Footnote Anchor. Then I wrote a macro that inserts a new footnote in the text where the cursor is and then “unsuperscripts” the body of the footnote, beginning at the cursor that appears in the footnote after the footnote number.
It was actually a lot easier to do than to explain in writing, but it works, and I never would have gotten to it without your patience and help.
If your note contents is also superscript, you have applied Footnote Characters to it. Select the note text and apply No Character Style (or Default Character Style in pre-7.3 releases). To be sure, also Format>Clear Direct Formatting or Ctrl+M.
Check also your macro if formatting is done with it. You might have not closed the range of Footnote Characters. Beware of macros. It is very easy to create problems with them. As the note feature works, there is no need for contorted formatting. It should be correct from the start once you have customised the styles.
Sorry, I assumed you would have looked at @TXDon answer and applied it.
Mine was just a side comment that the quoted answer was probably wrong at the time.
In the Character Style section of the Styles deck in the Sidebar, right click on Footnote Characters. Go to the Position tab. In the Position area, select Superscript. Make any other changes you want. Click Apply to see if the changes are what you want. If not, play with the settings until you get what you’re looking for. Click OK.
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