Varying amounts of space between last line of text and footnote separator

[lesliek]

I’m using v 7.2.7.2. I’m writing a paper in odt format with footnotes. On some pages, the last line of the text almost touches the footnote separator. On others, it’s miles away. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the last line of the text is the last line of a paragraph or is a line in the middle of a paragraph. I still get the random amount of space.

I haven’t had this problem with other odt documents I’ve created, though I don’t remember in which version of LibreOffice they were created.

Is there some setting I should be changing to make sure that there’s the least acceptable amount of space between the last line of the text and the footnote separator? I did go to page style, default page style, footnote, but, to my limited understanding, there’s nothing on that tab that’s relevant.

Thanks,

Leslie

[ajlittoz]

Can’t tell without a sample file. You may have configured some paragraphs in “no-split” mode . Checking for this depends on your work habit: direct formatting or style application. Note that direct formatting, though seeming easier or more “intuitive” (because this is the way Word has conditioned its users for ages), is the main source of formatting problems. Direct formatting is “invisibly” sticky: once you have set it, it is very difficult to tell if such or such attribute is enabled and therefore difficult to disable it.

Please, attach a sample file to your question (by editing it, not adding another comment). Mention also your OS (there are subtle differences between platforms) and save format (though it will become apparent with the sample file; remember that only native .odt guarantees compliance with specification).

PS: the uploading tool icon is the one looking like a mail basket with an up-arrow.

[lesliek]

Thank you for your reply, which I’ve just seen.
My OS is Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS.
My save format is odt.
I’ll now attempt to attach to this reply the very file that’s giving me the problem.
Thanks again,
Leslie

Later: Just got the message that the file exceeds 4MB, so can’t be uploaded, but my computer says it’s only 1.1MB. Sorry to be so ignorant, but I can’t understand why that would happen. Maybe I’ll try to cut and paste just a couple of pages into a new document and send that.
test.odt (26.4 KB)
Yet later: OK, I cut and pasted the first two pages into a new document. The two pages look like the first two pages of the original document so far as blank space is concerned, but I notice that the page number at the top of page 2 in the original document hasn’t been carried over to the test document. Whether the cutting and pasting worked other changes, I can’t say.
Thank you,
Leslie

[EarnestAl]

On the face of it, the effect comes from Widow and Orphan control in Format > Paragraph > Text Flow. A single line at the end of one page with the rest of the paragraph on the following page is an orphan; a single line at the start of a page with the rest of the paragraph on the preceding page is a widow.

The text is written in sentences separated by paragraph marks. This has a very high probability of generating orphans and widows. There must be a reason for this as the footnotes are written in proper paragraphs. If it is intentional then you had better turn off Widow and Orphan control, otherwise combine related sentences into paragraphs.

All the text is is Default Paragraph style which should not be used in a document but rather it is a style from which other styles are derived. The style for the body of the document should be Text Body. One advantage of using Text Body style is that you won’t need the empty paragraphs as you can adjust the space between paragraphs. The introductory paragraph could have a style of its own based on Text Body but centered

The headings are also Default Paragraph. If you create a proper Heading (e.g. press Ctrl+1 for Heading 1) using one of the Heading styles at the beginning of your document then when you start typing the subsequent paragraphs will be Text Body. More importantly, a Table of Contents can be created with little effort if Heading styles are used. In this case you could start with Title which is centered and won’t appear unnecessarily in a TOC.

[ajlittoz]

Addition to @EarnestAl’s explanation

Your notes are “large”: they are made of numerous paragraphs. Writer tries as much as possible to keep a note on the same page as its anchor in text. In your case you have a complex interference between this layout feature, orphan/widow control and page overflow detection.

Obviously, there is ample space for the last lines of the last paragraph in the first page. But, this would call for note 2 to be set on the first page. This would borrow space from the text area (at least a couple of lines for the first paragraph of note 2, the rest being flushed on next page). But then, the note area would overlay the bottom of the text area.

As already mentioned by EarnestAl, the fact you use Writer as a mechanical typewriter creates many opportunities for unexpected behaviour or bad-looking formatting. As an example, you vertically space your lengthy notes with empty paragraphs. This makes these notes “breathe” but different notes have no spacing between them. A much better solution would be to customise paragraph style Footnote to give it vertical spacing. Thus, you no longer need your empty paragraphs and different notes are also spaced.

You should learn styling. Read the Writer Guide for an introduction.

Regarding the missing page number, I assume you copied text from your original file into the sample. It happens that you somehow forced the first page to be page-styled First Page. This style automatically switches to Default Page Style at bottom of page. Header and footer are properties of page styles. They are not copied when you select text as they are not part of the text but “side attributes”.

[lesliek]

Thank you to both EarnestAl and ajlittoz for your replies.

I created a copy of my paper and worked on it. I went to Format,
Paragraph, Text Flow and unticked both widow and orphan control. That
got rid of all of the empty space of which I was complaining between the
end of the text on a page and the footnote separator. I’ll now go
through the copy document word by word to make sure the text is exactly
as I want it.

I know you’ll both think me ungrateful for not going further than
solving my immediate problem, but I’m a bit overwhelmed by all that I’d
have to learn in order to follow your suggestions. That’d be time that
takes me away from writing my papers.

Yes, it’s true that I just use Writer as a mechanical typewriter, but
what would you expect? I’m seventy-seven! Apart from the fact that I can
now edit documents easily, that’s the only advance on a mechanical
typewriter I want.

Thanks again and best wishes,

Leslie