I’d used Format > Columns to put my paragraphs into 2 columns down a page. I now want to reverse the process and find it doesn’t work. The only way to revert to 1 column is to pull the 2-column paragraph up to a 1-column line. However this is v. time-consuming. How do I do it for the whole document?
Note: I suspect the is because the 2-column text is all in ‘sections’, intersperse with 1-column headings.
You can delete all sections with 2-column text (it will not delete the text). Try in a copy first.
Delete how?
You should think over your document structure once you have fixed your present issue.
You are probably used to M$ Word where “sections” have not the same meaning as in LO Writer.
In Writer, the base layout is determined by a page style. You create as many page styles as you have different parts (needing a specific layout) in your document. You can set the number of columns in a page style and this “columning” will be valid only for this page style. I.e. every page style may have its own number of columns.
Sections are used to temporarily change the number of columns within a part, keeping all other settings of the page style, notably header and footer.
So in Writer, sections would be used much less frequently than in M$ Word.
A word of caution: the number of columns in a section will be effective within a column of the page style. What this means is you can’t get a page-wide 1-column section within a 2-column page. The effect of columns in page styles and sections is always cumulative. Therefore if you need a 1-column area within a 2-column page, either your page is 1-column with two 2-column sections (one before, one after the 1-column area) or you insert a 1-column text frame (not a text box!) at the appropriate location within your 2-column page style controlled part.
Thank you for the advice. I’ll ponder it.
I’ve ‘removed’ (not deleted) the sections, so can now get on. The reason I need to do this was that when formatted as an eBook, the sections were always put on a new page, separate from their heading.
Then it clearly shows that the section feature was not the right choice and perhaps you didn’t format correcctly your document (interaction between page and paragraph styles, maybe also anchor properties of various objects).
As ajlittoz already indicated, there are two ways to create multiple column layout.
The Format - Columns menu item will default to altering section columns if invoked within a section, and altering page style otherwise. You can change from default behavior inside the columns dialog.
Alas, the section and column settings cannot be part of a paragraph style, so you need to manually alternate between single column headings and multiple column content sections when that is what you need.
Note (as also already mentioned) that Word sections and Writer sections are somewhat different creatures, and Word does not support the concept of page styles (only changing page layout divided into sections). If your document has somehow visited Microsoft Word context (saved as Word doc, or edited in Word), it is highly likely that rogue sections and/or page styles have been created. Those can cause erratic behavior.
Ajlittoz lays your options out in proper detail. Note that frame content does not act on page context flow (only on word wrap where areas overlap), so I instead prefer the singe column page style with multiple column sections inserted.
I didn’t delve into pin-point details but I’ll add that text frames must not be used for headings. Frames are outside the main flow and they are not stored in the document in any particular order. This means, in case you insert headings in the frames and want to build a TOC, you end up with your headings in random order in the TOC.
A text frame in a 2-column page is handy for a full page illustration or comment text, but nothing else which could be related to the main text flow.