How to write Mongolian-Uighur script (traditional vertical Mongolian) in LibreOffice writer

[henri2]

I’d like to write in Mongolian-Uighur script, i.e. the traditional vertical script (like this : “ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ ᠪᠠᠶᠢᠨ ᠠ ᠤᠤ?”). I added the “vertical text” icon through the menu Tools → Customize… → Toolbars. Clicking on it enables me to insert a text box, where my writing is vertical, but there are several issues:

1. the main one is that at the bottom of the line a new line is added to the left! and not to the right of the previous one.
2. When I insert a Latin character, this character is turned, which is reasonable for a full word, a fortiori for a longer text, but not for a mathematical variable.
3. I can’t insert any image or formula object inside such a text box, as I can when there is no text box, through the “Insert” menu.

I use LibreOffice Writer 28.8.4.2. on Fedora Linux workstation 41. Is it possible to write in Mongolian-Uighur script with LibreOffice writer?

[ajlittoz]

The flaw in your procedure is to use Text Boxes. These are Drawing Objects, i.e. shapes which can be labelled. In a Text Box, only the label (or text) is visible by default because the shape has no border.

Text boxes are not intended to host formatted sophisticated text. They are only “rudimentary” decorations. Use the standard Writer text feature. As mentioned by @Regina you need to configure your page style(s).

But the options for vertical text are hidden until you enable in Tools>Options, Languages & Locales>General the Uighur script in **Default Languages for Documents`, Complex text layout (ticked), Uyghur from drop-down menu.

[Regina]

In Writer in the page style in tab “Page” set the text direction to “left-to-right (vertical)”. The same is available for a frame in Writer, for the case that you will only write some text in vertical script, but keep the page itself in “left-to-right (horizontal)”.

[henri2]

You’re wonderful! That’s better than most paid support I know. Thank you very much to you and to ajlittoz for his useful explanation. I can add an equation into the frame, but there are at least 2 flaws yet (I continue my previous numbering):

4. I can’t turn the equation, and if there is some mongolian-uyghur in it, it appears horizontally (see files here enclosed). Strangely enough, if I double-click on the equation, most of the time the editing section opens at the bottom of the screen (see screenshot P3) but sometimes the equation frame properties opens (It seems that the equation also is a frame. Screenshot P2): there, there are “text direction” options, but they have no effect. If, instead, I right-click on that equation, I get properties with no “text direction” options (picture P4).

5. If I move the equation to the right with my mouse, it moves to the left! and vice versa. Since I can’t see exactly where the equation will land, I’ve typically to try several times to get the position I desire.

Шарай_Мянгат_with_frame.odt (34.1 KB)