Hello folks,
I have a quick question. I am currently working on a timeline in Libre Office.
Unfortunately, because I did not find a proper program that would suit my need, I am forced to do it manually (btw, do you know handy add-on for libre that generates a timeline for you?).
The copy and paste of single items such as lines and frames is very time consuming, do you know how I can select several items at once?
Thank you!
(edited by ajlittoz to show the images)
A timeline can be structured in many many ways. You need to describe what you want to achieve. Doing it with lines and frames (hoping that you didn’t use text boxes which is the worst choice) is certainly not the best option.
From the screenshots, you seem to have two paragraph types: a date + title (red border) and a “comment” (blue border). Both can be implemented with dedicated paragraph styles.
Is there any reason for “events” to be on left or right or the center line? This requires twice as many paragraph styles and probably calls for a table.
Will your document also contain “ordinary” text with headings, paragraphs, TOC, … If not, you may have a try with Draw, the drawing component, which also handles styles for shapes. If your time line is not simply linear but also has bifurcations, Draw might be a better tool.
If your time line is not simply linear but also has bifurcations, Draw might be a better tool.
I fully agree. Especially since you can define a custom page/slide size of 6 x 6 m in Draw
Coming back to your question of how to select several objects at once in Writer. Assuming they are anchored to paragraph, character or as character (Not to page), then you can select their anchor points, which in your picture might be empty paragraphs. You can then cut and paste them in another place and they should retain their relative positioning.
I am inclined to agree that Draw or Calc are likely to work better.
Hello folks, thank you for your comments, at the end I decided to go for an easier method.
I just exchanged the bulletpoints with flags and later I will just draw a very long line.[link text]
This should give the impression of a timeline.
You’ll have a hard time if your line has to span several pages (this is impossible). The same effect can be obtained with a carefully designed left side border on all paragraphs. Be specially cautious on alignment if you want to give the illusion of a single line. Requires a special design in your paragraph styles.
