LO Writer Insert Page Number function does not work

[MosheAriel]

I am revamping a safety document for my employer. I have copied the text from eCFR :: 29 CFR 1910.333 -- Selection and use of work practices., which covers safety issues for electrical work. From here I have to carefully link up the Cross-References within the document, and then personalize it with our company information. So I have set the heading numbers to match OSHA format for now. I am just starting on this process.

I have saved the document as it is in my Google Drive account and here’s the link to the doc: Electrical Safety Once More.odt - Google Drive.

When I place the cursor in the Footer, then go to Insert > Page Number and click - what appears in my Footer is: “Page Number”. But, strangely, when I do a Print Preview - lo and behold the page number appears. So I am baffled.

The same happens when again I place my cursor in the footer and I go to Insert > Field > More Fields > Document > Chapter > Chapter Name, Level 1 and click Enter - what appears in the Footer is: “Chapter”. And again when I go to Print Preview - the Chapter 1 Heading name appears in the Footer.

When I try to a Cross Reference within the document: "Note 3: Work on or near deenergized parts is covered by paragraph (b) of this section.: I place the cursor a space to the left of “(b)” and go to Insert > Cross Reference > Type: Headings > Refer Using: Chapter > and select that paragraph from the list on the right - what appears at the cursor is “__RefHeading___Toc12656__3438299199” But here’s the kicker - when I copy this text and paste it here it comes out right: “1.b”. And it shows correctly in Print Preview.

I know this has to be a simple fix, a setting or something, and I would greatly appreciate anyone’s help on getting this document working.

Thanks so much
Moshe.

[LeroyG]

Menu View - Field Names.

EDIT: Take note that the default shortcut key is Ctrl+F9, that may have been inadvertently pressed.

[ajlittoz]

@LeroyG gave you the solution to your immediate problem. Here are however a few suggestions to improve your document.

• Your first paragraph after 1.a is Default Paragraph Style instead of Text Body
• You used hyperlinks to cross-reference items instead of Insert>Cross-reference
  This has the effect of launching a web-browser to display the document on the ocfr.gov site while a cross-reference would jump inside the document itself. This can make a difference when the document is read on a device without internet access. Another advantage of cross-referencing vs. hyperlinks is you don’t need to manually write the cross-ref target, it is inserted for you thus guaranteeing the identity after an update.
• You duplicated numbering by configuring Tools>Chapter Numbering and manually typing the last component of the number
  Choose only one. Auto numbering is probably better.
  To get exactly the look of the original site, add () separators around the numbers and limit show sublevels to 1 on all levels in Tools>Chapter Numbering. Then when inserting cross-references select Number (full context) for Refer using instead of the Chapter which would insert only the last number due to the limitation to a single sublevel.

[MosheAriel]

Well I’ll be darned, I feel really silly now, and don’t know how I clicked that setting.

Much, much thanks @LeroyG. It is awesome to have this LO Q&A site with such great help.

Have a great day.

[MosheAriel]

Thank you so much, @ajlittoz for this detailed reply.

Yes, I have been doing a lot of experimenting, trying different formats and targets. It’s so important that I insert the right Cross-Reference, so I have left the original headings just as they came to be sure I do get it right. Then after that, I will delete the originals. I set up auto numbering format to approximate OSHA, but will change it to another format later. This is why I reference the Headings - they will change according to the headings format I set in the Master Doc. There will be 36 different safety programs when I am thru.

So this document is still in a very early stage of processing. This is why there are so many inconsistencies. It’s just that I was going along, processing it, and inadvertently hit that Field setting, and I thought I had ruined my document. What a relief it was just a setting.

As I go forward I’m probably going to have a lot of questions. So I am so thankful that you have kindly responded to this query. Hopefully I will be able to draw on your expertise again.

Have a great day.