Formatting some text as two columns forces fillowing one column onto a new page

[johnmastell]

I start with a document with text all in one column. I need some text in the middle of the document to be two columns. I select it and choose Insert → Insert Section, setting the section options for two columns (no other changes to section settings are made). When I click the Insert button, the selected text is formatted as two columns as desired. However, the following, one column text is forced onto a new page despite there being plenty of room on the previous page for the text.

Writer is inserting a soft page break at the first one column text paragraph after the two column text. (I saved a version of the file in fodt and used a text editor to see what was going on: I found “text:soft-page-break/” there.) I have tried fiddling with text flow options for this paragraph and for the last paragraph of the two column text to see if I can get rid of the soft page break, with no luck. (There is no way to directly deleted a soft page break, unlike a hard page break.)

How do I get rid of the soft page break?

Attached are two files: Example1_1Section1Column.odt is the document with text all in one column. Example2_2Sections1-2-1Columns.odt is the document after some text has been formatted to two columns, clearing showing the problem.

I have also tried to format using Format → Columns instead of Insert → Insert Section, but the same behavior occurs.

I am using Default Page Style for my page styles. I am using paragraph styles, not direct formatting.

Example1_1Section1Column.odt (734.9 KB)
Example2_2Sections1-2-1Columns.odt (735.1 KB)

[ajlittoz]

There is something very weird with your section: it does not behave as expected (you have enabled Evenly distribute … but it is ineffective and you added a manual column break to compensate. However this didn’t achieve the effect of reflowing the section: the first column still extends to the bottom of the page.

When I add an empty Body Text paragraph below last line in section, your section magically normalises. I can suppress your manual column break without adverse effect.

Usually, that kind of mishap is caused by clumsy combination of Keep with next paragraph across styles, but this is not the case here.

Obviously my extra Text Body paragraph breaks some attribute sequence but I could not determine which.

Remark: your style name strategy is not optimal. You include in the names a description of the visual effect. This will sooner or later hit you. It is much better to adopt a name related to the value or significance of text (both for paragraph and character styles). The set of typographical variations is limited. The same attribute can be used for several purposes (e.g. italic for emphasis, foreign names, irony, trademarks, …). When you are in the look tuning step, you may want to change the look of only only of these purposes. With a style like aItalic, you are doomed to review each occurrence to apply a new style. This is not really different from direct formatting.

PS: here Fedora 43 with KDE Plasma desktop, LO 25.8.4.2

[johnmastell]

Please do not comment on style conventions that have no relevance to the question. I have used styles for decades, first with MS Word, and have a naming convention that works for me, and you comments on how I am doomed are incorrect, condescending, and verging on insulting.

[bantoniof]

Edit section
Click on Options button
Select Columns tab
Untick Evenly distribute contents to all columns

[johnmastell]

Makes no sense since I want the columns to be even, but it works and still ends up with even columns. Thanks.

[ajlittoz]

@johnmastell

but it works

How can you tell it works? This parameter is already set in your sample document but is not effective unless I add an empty Body Text paragraph (to suppress the spurious page break).

Something is hidden in your paragraph style configuration but I could not find what.

EDIT:
I think I found a clue. Keep with next paragraph in Heading 5 CE OB Ital Tight seems to create the mess. I understand it is necessary to create atomic “blocks” with a date, a source and a destination. In principle OB Entry 1 Tight (without Keep with next …) should end the block. I could not find what prevents it and extends the space requirement to end of page.

By the way, avoid to distort heading hierarchy. There is no reason to leave “holes” between levels. Also you have outline level direct formatting on the bordered paragraphs in the section for levels 4 and 5 whereas the paragraph styles are attached to 1 and 2. And I see you even wiped out Tools>Heading Numbering. Don’t do this. It betrays insufficient introspection on your need for paragraph styles, document structure and argumentation semantics, paving the way for future issues.

[johnmastell]

I am removing this as a solution because I have found it does not always work. (The examples I provided are limited excepts to show the problem and not the full work.) The columns reflow at even or uneven in unpredictable ways based on edits to the content near but not in the columns’ text. The “Evenly distribute” option sometimes seems to work as a toggle, so just turning it off does not always solve the problem. If I can find new examples that show this, I will upload them.

[johnmastell]

Heading hierachy is not distorted; the examples were a reduced version of the actual large document to show the problem without including too much extraneous material.