When I have Standard Toolbar Alt+ shortcuts work for me (Calc, Writer v.6.4.4.2 x64). But when I choose Tabbed interface, shortcuts don’t work. How to turn on shortcuts in Tabbed toolbar?
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It has been 2 years since this discussion and I still find the odd beahvior on a fresh 7.4 install on Windows.
Alt+LETTER works for the menuBar but it does nothing to the tabBar.
Can someone confirm that in 2022 it is impossible to use the tabBar through the keyboard exclusively ?
I know that every user has a preferred workflow and practice. However, there is a recommended methodology in Writer sometimes called “professional document writing approach”. This method allows for highly “automated” self-adapting formatting. By “automated”, I mean document maintainability and dramatic change in layout and formatting are made easy and fast.
The method is based on styles. Not only paragraph styles, otherwise it has no advantage over the manual method, but also character, page, frame and list styles.
On the contrary, tabbed interface encourages direct formatting which is always the cause of many problems in formatting. Just look at the number of issues on this site. Unfortunately, tabbed interface must be offered in any document suite because M$ Office presented it as a supposed requirement to drive document formatting. In fact they had to because they never developed the notion of styles beyond a reduced form of paragraph style and all the rest must be done with direct formatting.
Tabbed interface in Writer is offered as a quick’n’dirty UI to facilitate transition from M$O to LO Writer, postponing the need to read the documentation and understand the differences between Word and Writer. Unfortunately again, many users never take the time to read this documentation and don’t realise that Writer is not Word. They then complain that such or such primitive doesn’t work like they’d like.
With the style method, you practically never need the toolbars. Your main tool is style application. The best thing you can do is configure your Writer copy to associate the styles you use most often with keyboard shortcuts. For the least frequent, the side style pane is sufficient.
I am no developer, but I think none will ever extend the tabbed interface to offer keyboard shortcuts.
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Thanks for the reply @ajlittoz
I am most concerned about being efficient on Calc.
By that I mean using the keyboard to 95 to 100% of the time while working on a spreadsheet. I want to switch for good and leave M$ behind but am just unable because I cannot perform basic tasks from the keyboard on Calc.
Maybe I am missing something? I went through the docs but found no mention about accessing the tabBar from the keyboard. If that is not the design intended, it is understandable.
That is the answer I am trying to get in this forum !
If that is the design choice, the user is left with the Alt+# shortcut to the menuBar, which I am willing to get used to as long as all the commands are accessible through that.
done. Would be nice if you also suggested a solution