How do I set paragraph style in outline?

[tn_gal]

I have searched and thought I had found an older version of Writer that allowed the paragraph style to be assigned to the Outline level (1,2,3 etc), but I cannot find that feature in the latest version.

Currently, the outline works, but each new level is always the body text style. And, if I try to change the p-style to a different heading style, when I type the heading and hit enter, it breaks me out of the outline format!

Any help clearing my confusion is greatly appreciated!

Version: 7.6.4.1 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: e19e193f88cd6c0525a17fb7a176ed8e6a3e2aa1
CPU threads: 12; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 22621; UI render: Skia/Vulkan; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

Detailed:
What I want to do is create an outline.

1. Select an outline format. Let’s use the traditional:
   I. Level 1
   A. Level 2
   .i Level 3
   .ii etc.
2. I would like Level 1 to be Heading 1, Level 2 to be heading 2 etc.
3. If I do this as an outline, the outline is all the same paragraph format. If I put the cursor on the line I want to format, change to Heading 1, cursor to the end of the line and hit enter, instead of indenting to the appropriate indented spot, the cursor goes all the way back to the margin.
4. I am content to do this using headings instead of the Outline Format and had tried that initially. The problem with that is that I would like the last level at each branch in the tree to be the body text, properly indented slightly beyond the previous level. As some of these end branches will be level 4, some level 5 or 6, the indenting will be consistent with the body text formatting which is a set distance from the margin, not the previous level indent. I know I can use the paragraph indent, but this is cumbersome if you’re doing a very long outline and editing often where the level of the body text may change. While I can work around this, a more dynamic solution is desired. It seems that I should be able to lay out the outline format with paragraph styles so depending on the level, the heading will be sized accordingly. THEN, I would be required to manually change the last level in the branch to body text manually, without breaking the continued formatting of the outline with subsequent additional “bullet points.”
5. Also, it was suggested that I use the Tool/Heading Numbering item. This basic dialog window that pops up is what I was expecting to find for customizing the outline formats. So, I’m a bit confused what exactly this feature does. I tried it but it does not seem to be related to outline formatting?

Thanks again

[ajlittoz]

@tn_gal

I cannot find that feature in the latest version

Which latest version? Adoption of a new version proceed at different paces on different platforms. Consequently, edit your question (=modify it, don’t use a comment) to mention OS name and LO version. Perhaps also mentioning save format will help too.

@tn_gal

each new level is always the body text style

??? A paragraph style can be attached only to a single outline level. Perhaps, you’re not outlining your document but structure it with a numbered list (feature in which effectively all levels use the same paragraph style unless you use smart tricks, i.e. a common list style attached to several paragraph styles).

Please give details about your procedure.

Built-in outlining is done with Heading n family of paragraph styles. In the majority of cases (~99%), this is the simplest way to do it. You just customise the look of the styles to fit your taste.

Some parameters can only be set in Tools>Heading Numbering
(in 7.6.4+; wording different in lower versions; hence the importance of quoting the exact LO version).

Please describe as exactly as possible what you want to do. Default tools are already there and tweaking the factory-shipped configuration is only usedul in very special cases.

[tn_gal]

Thank you. I edited the OP as you suggested. I hope I covered everything you asked me about there and was clear? I find it difficult to describe so I really appreciate you taking the time to ask me for all the relevant info.

I’m just looking to save some steps with a tool/workflow that may or may not exist. At the moment, I’m leaning toward foregoing the outline formatting and using paragraph indenting. It’s not ideal, but unless there is some other feature I’m not aware of, it’s probably about as close to what I want as I can get.

[ajlittoz]

@tn_gal

Select an outline format. Let’s use the traditional:
I. Level 1
A. Level 2
.i Level 3
.ii etc.

Assigning a kind of numbering to each level is done with Tools>Heading Numbering, Numbering tab, Number: drop-down menu

@tn_gal

I would like Level 1 to be Heading 1, Level 2 to be heading 2 etc.

By default, Heading 1-10 are already attached to levels 1-10.

@tn_gal

If I do this as an outline, the outline is all the same paragraph format.

Do you mean the same “look” or the same paragraph style? The latter is not possible through Tools>Heading Numbering. The former results from messing with style configuration.
Please attach a sample file for better analysis.

@tn_gal

I am content to do this using headings instead of the Outline Format

Outline Format??? What do you mean? Have you mixed list formatting with headings? This creates a conflict from which it is hard to escape. Once again a sample file could help to understand what you did.

@tn_gal

I would like the last level at each branch in the tree to be the body text

By default, whenever you hit Enter at end of any Heading n, paragraph style automatically switched to Body Text. Unless you changed Heading n configuration.

@tn_gal

properly indented slightly beyond the previous level.

If I understand correctly the request, you want text below Heading 1 indented 1 unit; below Heading 2 2 units; below Heading n n units. In other words, you want to make left indent depend on the outline level. There is no built-in tool to do this. You have two methods to achieve your requirement:

• an unfriendly one: you create as many Body Text n as outline levels with adequate left indents
  You can chain these paragraph styles to Heading n for automatic switch when hitting Enter, but if you change the level of the preceding Heading n (several possible ways), you must manually apply another Body Text n.
• a semi-automatic one: you create a custom list style (this is another style category, different from the most common paragraph, character and page ones)
  This list style defines a bullet one where the bullet is a space character. The list style takes control of the indents of the paragraph upon which it is applied (paragraph style indent are then ignored, but I highly recommend you set them to 0 in the paragraph styles).
  If text at any level will be in a single paragraph style, you can associate the list style to the paragraph style so that you no longer need to apply the list style manually. If you have potentially several paragraph styles, apply the list style manually.
  You then promote your paragraph to the appropriate level by hitting n-1 times Tab at the very start of the paragraph. If you went too far, Shift+Tab.
  If you change the level of the preceding heading, you still need to adjust your text level for the indent by hitting Tab or Shift+Tab at head of the paragraphs.

@tn_gal

it was suggested that I use the Tool/Heading Numbering item. This basic dialog window that pops up is what I was expecting to find for customizing the outline formats. So, I’m a bit confused what exactly this feature does.

Tools>Heading Numbering does exactly what its name suggests: to deal with numbering appearance at each level. You can also define heading indents in the Customize tab.

If by “outline formatting”, you mean the kind of indenting for text below a heading, this is outside the target for Heading Numbering because text below a heading, properly tagged with paragraph styles Heading n, is not a heading.