Unable to set page numbering correctly with LR page styles

[jw149]

Unable to set page numbering as required using page styles
Chapter has L/R page style with each referring to the other
headers and footers created
footer central page number added via insert > page number while cursor in footer

use master to assemble document accepting
“Would you like to change the document, and update all links
to get the most recent data?”

scroll shortly to chapter to see
first two pages have no line numbers
subsequent pages line numbers jumping up in 2’s but style inspector confirms LR pages honoured
now load chapter source via Navigator
see page numbering is correct
Create PDF will show same page numbering problem a assembled master

Now I do not understand how to proceed as what I have is unsatisfactory
Any comments gratefully received
Some understanding and a solution would be great.

Version: 24.8.4.2 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: bb3cfa12c7b1bf994ecc5649a80400d06cd71002
CPU threads: 12; OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 X86_64 (6.1 build 7601); UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: en-GB (en_GB); UI: en-GB
Calc: CL threaded

hoping to upload master+chapter
VSIH3_masterodm.odm (24.2 KB)
VSIH3_masterodm.pdf (304.9 KB)
VSIH3_masterodm8.odt (395.3 KB)

[fpy]

@jw149

chapter

an example on a smaller .odt with your .odm ?

[ajlittoz]

First thing first: read thoroughly the Writer Guide chapters related to styles and especially the page style one.

Second, when working with a “complex” or sophisticated document, like one with master + subs and left/right page variants, always select Book mode view.

Had you done that, you’d have immediately noticed that every other page is a skipped “blank page” inserted by Writer to obey page parity, i.e. VSIH3-L which is a left page. This style is erroneously configured with itself as its next style. Consequently, when your left page overflows, another left page is allocated, leaving a blank page. The page number is correctly incremented by 2.

Globally, your document is a formatting mess. Your whole text is Default Paragraph Style with empty paragraphs to achieve vertical spacing.

The number of page styles is “astronomic”. So many page styles don’t make sense. It looks like you’re trying to format every page individually (with badly configured styles!), suggesting you’ll manually insert page breaks and handling yourself pages. If your document is page-oriented (instead of flow-oriented like a book), you selected the wrong tool: go for destop publishing applications (DTP) like Scribus.

You also have strange frame styles whose usage I could not guess.

And there are also mysterious sections (mysterious because they contain dummy text hiding their intended usage and origin).

Apparently, your document will be longer than 3 pages. It is then mandatory to work with styles and absolutely avoid direct formatting. If you don’t follow these two rules, your job will be nightmarish. So, I repeat what I wrote at start: stop working on your book and learn how to use “professionally” Writer. This will not be lost time. On the contrary, you’ll be more effective and efficient after reading and spending some time experimenting.

[jw149]

I did read the writer guide and it told me to use styles and headers if I wanted to have different headers with each chapter. You did not answer any of my concerns or questions with suggestions or help, instead I got bile . I came here for help and encouragement, but I got you, and no help at all.

[fpy]

@jw149

the writer guide

interesting to see the page numbering still bouncing after these years

maybe a bit of follow up would have helped then to consolidate the basis :

Page numbering issue in footers after chapters marked TOC with ctrl-1

Did you work with built-in help only? On the LO site, you can download the Writer Guide which is oriented towards Writer usage (describing dialogs and menu commands) and gives an introductory course about styles. You can also download Bruce Byfield’s Designing with LO which puts a strong emphasis on style benefits. Not trivial at all. I assume you have some deadline with your book and can wait until you fully master Writer. Therefore, I suggest you insert your image (at the right location) wi…

[ajlittoz]

@jw149

it told me to use styles and headers

This is indeed the way to go but your documents show absolutely no use of primary styles, i.e. paragraph and character. Your text is direct formatted.

I don’t understand the logic behind your numerous VSIH3-xxL/R page styles. It is possible you created one per chapter. This is overkill and not user-friendly. Writer allows to do better with only two page styles for all your chapters. If your header(s) echo(es) chapter heading, you can repeat the chapter heading with Insert>Field>More Fields, Document tab, Type Heading, Format Heading contents, level 1 provided your chapter headings are systematically styled Heading 1.

I highly recommend you train yourself on small scratch documents before tackling your book.

You chose the master + sub-documents approach without mastering the style consistency issue in this context. The styles must be consistent, if not identical, across all documents. The best way to achieve this is to base all documents, including the master, on the same template containing all your styles. Alas, this is yet another advanced feature of Writer.

If you look at the definition of VSIH3-8L/R, you see they are configured for alternation in the sub-document, but VSIH3-8L does not alternate in the master. When you display the master, styles defined in the master are used for rendering.

If you book does not exceed ~500 pages, don’t bother with master+subs. Any decent current computer will accept such a size.

Once again, use basic features in Writer until you meet a real obstacle. Sophisticated features do solve some problems but they come with a price: understanding how they work, knowing when to use them, accepting the performance penalty. And, as always, exercise yourself on dummy documents to get familiarity with the pros and cons, and the associated workflow.