Hi, I’m writing a BA thesis in which I’m using different page styles, in this sequence:
Title page = First Page, no page numbers
TOC = no page numbers
Default Page Style = the body of the thesis, WITH page number
Appendix, etc. = no page numbers
I’ve taken care so that in the Page styles, the “Next style” setting is appropriate, so that First page is followed by TOC and then by Default Page Style, etc.
So now I went to the first page, double-clicked on “First Page” style, then, went to page 2, the first TOC page, clicked on the TOC style, I’ve created, and so forth.
OK, so this works great for page 1 (title) and 2 (TOC) but page 3 (TOC) is strangely formatted as “Main Page”. When I click on this page and try to format it as TOC, it turns out as being formatted as an appendix page (as by the value in the bottom line of Writer) AND page 2 is suddenly formatted as “main page” and the title page as TOC.
Please help, this is seriously delaying my degree!
I’ve taken care so that in the Page styles, the “Next style” setting is appropriate, so that First page is followed by TOC and then by Default Page Style, etc.
You are using a very powerful and useful feature, but it should be used only where appropriate.
The Next style should only be used where there is a natural sequence of styles - e.g., “first page of a chapter” followed by “the rest of the chapter”; or “left page” followed by “right page” followed by “left page” (and so on). The important property of this sequence is that the text freely flows from one page (with its style) to another page (with its respective next style) when needed (when more text added).
Title page is in fact not a part of the natural sequence, it is a special page that is only used once. What follows it is often changed (one may decide to put preface there; or ToC; or then change their mind and put a page with dedications…). It is often possible to include it to a sequence of pages - but you will never have a text flow from this page to the next, and you will always use a page break after it.
ToC is another case where you do not have a natural flow of the text from this page to the next page with a different style (of “normal” kind). You will always have some (initially unknown) number of ToC pages, and you will have a specific point (where the ToC ends, possibly with a small following free text) where you need a hard page break, after which you will want another page style.
These cases should not be defined using the Next style feature, and instead, the style must be explicitly assigned to the paragraphs which start the related text portion (either as direct paragraph property, or using paragraph styles for respective titles).
In your case, you made ToC to change to “normal” style automatically - which only gives you a single ToC-styled page, which is not what you need.
Thank you, Mike.
Can I disable “Next style”?
Just make next style to point to itself - so that the next style doesn’t change automatically.
Thank you, Mike, that was very helpful.