Bug 159279

Summary: Starting with a defined page number -- error in directions in Help
Product: LibreOffice Reporter: j.a.swami
Component: DocumentationAssignee: Not Assigned <libreoffice-bugs>
Status: REOPENED ---    
Severity: normal CC: olivier.hallot
Priority: medium    
Version: 7.6.4.1 release   
Hardware: All   
OS: All   
Whiteboard: target:24.8.0
Crash report or crash signature: Regression By:
Attachments: Highlighted text on page 2 of this document tells the error & what the Help text shoudl say

Description j.a.swami 2024-01-19 03:48:53 UTC 
Created attachment 192052 [details]
Highlighted text on page 2 of this document tells the error & what the Help text shoudl say

As reported here -- 

https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/how-do-i-begin-page-numbers-on-page-2-in-writer/3330/2

--the Help file in Writer gives erroneous directions for starting with a defined page number. 

The attached file, in the highlighted text on page 2, tells the error and supplies the correct instructions.

By the way: Users looking for how to begin with a defined page number are likely to look under "Footers" or "Headers" (and not find what they're looking for). Having links in those places would help.
Comment 1 Mike Kaganski 2024-01-19 04:38:06 UTC 
This is incorrect. As your attachment correctly quotes, the help page starts with:

> ... You are writing a text document that should start with page number 12.

So this help page takes a *specific* case as an example, to provide an unambiguous and simple situation. In *that* situation, when the document *starts* with that page 12, the description is completely correct. It is a next step - to extend it to an arbitrary situation, when you do not *start* the document with a specific page number, but do it in a middle point.
Comment 2 Mike Kaganski 2024-01-19 04:43:27 UTC 
Olivier: the idea to add links e.g. to https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/swriter/guide/footer_pagenumber.html looks nice.
Comment 3 j.a.swami 2024-02-05 09:23:23 UTC 
You're right, Mike. The directions are perfect as they are. If I want to have page 1 blank and page 2 say "2," the method given will do it. 

But there seems to be confusion about what is meant by "Starting with a defined page number."

On the help page in question, one user writes: "I would like to number my pages but I would like to start on page 2 but have it be numbered as page 1 for my thesis. How do I do this?"

That's what I was trying to achieve as well (as were several other users who've left comments on the page). If I'm not wrong, the directions given won't accomplish that. 

So perhaps what's needed is two sets of directions for the two different tasks.
Comment 4 j.a.swami 2024-02-05 09:42:28 UTC 
I don't know if it's presumptuous of me to reopen this. I just wanted to add a comment in such a way that it gets seen.
Comment 5 Commit Notification 2024-05-14 10:44:46 UTC 
Olivier Hallot committed a patch related to this issue.
It has been pushed to "master":

https://git.libreoffice.org/help/commit/fa4dcadb1517c66282f5fc33bf5e42a6cb305609

tdf#159279 On page numbering