Problem with the page numbering in Writer

English
#1

When I try to begin the page numbering on the fourth page of a document (by clicking on the first paragraph and next on insert, then manual break, page break, and selecting the style for the page, checking the box for change page number, and then typing the desired page number in the box below it), all the text on the fourth page just moves down, no numbering is done. And when I click on the footer and try to insert a number it just starts at number four, not one. How do start the numbering on page four?

OS: Windows 10
LO: 7.5.4.2 version (X86_64)
Save format: odt

#2

Please, at this stage of the question (no answer nor comment yet), edit it (= modify it, don’t add a comment) to improve it. General information; OS name, LO version, save format.
Then specific information: have you ticked the checkbox in front of the page number entry box? Without this, the number is ignored.

For optimum diagnosis, attach a sample file.

#3

Where is this page number entry box?

#4

When you Insert>More Breaks>Page Break, the Change page number box is enabled after you have force a Page Style. Keeping it to [None] (= no change in page style) does not enable the possibility to change page number.

Since you said you entered a page number, I assume you did check the box. If this is not the case, attach a screenshot of the dialog you used to insert the manual page break.

#5

I ticked that checkbox, but the text just moves down or the same number appears on all the pages.

#6

Attach a sample file so that I can have a look.

#7

The Format Paragraph dialog window allows you to restart page numbering on a page. It doesn’t insert a page number, or enable a header or footer where you can enter that page number. You still have to modify the page style for that page, enable the header or footer, or both, then use Insert - Page Number (a field, not a literal value like 4).

Second point: apparently, the header was already enabled for the page style that you selected to use for page 4, so the switch to that page style forces the text area down to make space for the header. Writer is different from MS Word here: in Writer the page margins surround all text, including headers and footers, while in Word, headers and footers sit in the page margins.

#8

I edited the fields and typed in -3 in the offset bar, from page four. It seems to have worked.

#9

That’s the wrong approach. You use the offset only when you want to reference another page. If you want the page numbering to start on the fourth page of your document, and want the numbering to start at 1, you enter 1 in the box, then you enter a page number field in the footer of page 4 and all will be well.

1 Like
#10

Really? The fourth page, which should be page one, have the right number and the next page have number two and so on.

This video does the same thing: LibreOffice writer - Start Page Numbers from Page 2 Different Page - YouTube

#12

See Page offset higher than the number of pages yields empty fields - #2 by RGB-es for why offsets are not a good idea for this. In your case, it works.

#13

Thanks for the advices.

#14

This is one of the worst videos about Writer.

First, author should have enabled all the visual clues (menu View) for the video to be really informative and demonstrative. Second, author direct formats everything instead of using styles. Styles are the distinctive feature which give Writer its power and versatility. Last, author does not understand at all the concept behind “page offset” (I admit this is not explained in the official documentation). An offset changes a reference. Then within this reference, a function or field retrieves its data.

In the case of page number fields, the sequence of operation is the following:

  1. get designated page (current page if not specified or 0; some previous page if negative; some subsequent page if positive)
  2. retrieve number of target page

Your offset may be such that the target page may be before the first page or beyond the last page. The page does not exist and consequently there is no page number. Then the page number field returns “void”. The offset is a special function intended for references like “next page” or “previous page” with more possibilities. It is in no way a means to change a page number. A page number can only be forced in a special manual page break or in text flow properties of some paragraph style.

Don’t trust YouTube videos, even less those dubbed “tutorials”. You’d better ask here where you reach reliable LO experts.

1 Like
#15

But it somehow worked this time, at least for now. Feel like it should be easier to just change a desired numbering sequence.

#16

It worked because the references “previous” page always existed since you started in the fourth page. Then you had (absolute) pages 1, 2 and 3 before it. And I guess these first pages had their own page style different from the one for pages 4+.

Changing the desired starting numbering sequence is very easy: it is done in the page break configuration (either Insert>… or paragraph style text flow, e.g. to restart every chapter at 1). This is where the property is defined. What you did in the field is changing the use of it. This means you can insert several page number field in the same page and they each have their independent life, showing the number of a different page. On the contrary, what you configure in the page break modifies the sequence counter for the pages.

And if you’re meany, you can also play the offset game on a modified page number to reference yet another page in the sequence! But, beware, you can be lost very quickly because the offset counts allocated pages, it does no arithmetic on the sequence number and you can therefore reference a page under a different sequence number with different properties. The displayed number would not be the one you expect.

IMHO, offset is a very advanced feature. Don’t be fooled by the fact you get what you expect 90% of the time. The last 10% are really upsetting.

#17

As an aside, take any printed book and note that the title page is included in the page numbering, even if it doesn’t have a page number on it. It’s a page! So it needs to have a number, just so that if you ever print it and manage to mislay the title page, people will see from the page numbering that there is a page missing.

#18

I appreciate the informative explanations. A visual medium could possibly make a problem’s solution more comprehensible, especially when you deal with things you don’t use that much.

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