Please don't assume everyone has set up styles while setting up each document. I know styles are supposed to be the best way to set up Writer documents. I gather that styles are also supposed to be the best way to set up Draw documents. However, there are some practical problems: I have had trouble with styles, like autoformatting, scrambling text. For example, if I'm editing a document where other users have applied list styles in Word, the list styles scramble the list, scramble any numbering, and sometimes crash LibreOffice. I doubt my experiences are unusual. Sometimes we need to work without styles. Sometimes we don't know that there are styles, apart from basic line styles and object styles. At least with my window prefs, select and edit tools are obvious in LibreOffice Writer and LibreOffice Draw, where styles are hidden away in each. If styles are supposed to be a standard way to use documents, then I think it's going to be necessary, first, to let users strip away styles, second, to help users repair paragraphs and lists scrambled by styles, and third, to help users add styles to existing documents. I think, in Draw, I'd need to be able to select all objects with certain formatting, certain size ranges, etc., regardless of their parent groups, to be able to set up styles. I'd need to be able to select individual objects and switch them from one style to another. I'd need to be able to set color-style independently of function-style.
All valid, but styles are *always* present in some form as the alternative "direct formatting" is applied over the defined default style(s) for the ODF object type. Remove that "direct formatting" and you are back to default style(s). "Stripping" away style(s), just reduces everything to defaults. And as noted that can really visually mangle composition. Also remember that internally we decompose an ODF archive into internal representations--so moving into and out of a LibreOffice module has its own set of issues in correctly composing the display, print jobs, exported formats and even the ODF archive. Point is there is no one simple thing to be adjusted--its hard.
MarjaE: did you name this as [META]? What issues should be collected to this metabug?
Yes. Because people had been suggesting styles as a solution to other prroblems. But of course, I'm not sure how to add styles to anything, or whether it would solve those problems. No, I can't point to other bugs just yet.
Closing, as this is not how metabugs work.
Then how the frak am I supposed to report this bug???
I had labelled this [META] because I am trying to address a recurring issue, where "you should use styles" is the standard solution to many other bugs, but (a) requires some way to add styles to actually solve anything in existing documents without styles and (b) requires some way to strip styles to actually solve anything in existing documents with defective styles. Apparently that's not when users are supposed to label things [META]. Regardless, it is a bug, it does screw things up. Reopened as new.
(In reply to MarjaE from comment #6) > Apparently that's not when users are supposed to label things [META]. See here for meta bugs: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/Tracking_Bugs
@MarjaE, Hmm, I really don't see anything here now, or coming of this to be a valid UX enhancement. Might I suggest you actually read the manuals. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications specifically the "Using Styles and Templates" chapter. https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/images/f/fa/GS5103-StylesAndTemplates.pdf Once you have a grasp of how Styles and Templates are structured and used in LibreOffice and ODF, then you are most welcome to pursue this with individual submissions of well reasoned enhancments and specific bugs in handling Styles. Until then this does not appear at all helpful--to UX design or Development. Sorry, but Resolving Invalid.
> Might I suggest you actually read the manuals. > https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications > specifically the "Using Styles and Templates" chapter. I can't make heads or tails of the "explanations" in the manuals. > Once you have a grasp of how Styles and Templates are structured and used in LibreOffice and ODF, then you are most welcome to pursue this with individual submissions of well reasoned enhancments and specific bugs in handling Styles. And how am I supposed to get a grasp of this? All my experiences of styles have been of trying to keep the accused things from scrambiling my documents and crashing LibreOffice.
(In reply to MarjaE from comment #9) > > Might I suggest you actually read the manuals. > > > https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications > > > specifically the "Using Styles and Templates" chapter. > > I can't make heads or tails of the "explanations" in the manuals. > > > Once you have a grasp of how Styles and Templates are structured and used in LibreOffice and ODF, then you are most welcome to pursue this with individual submissions of well reasoned enhancments and specific bugs in handling Styles. > > And how am I supposed to get a grasp of this? > > All my experiences of styles have been of trying to keep the accused things > from scrambiling my documents and crashing LibreOffice. Confirming that RESOLVED INVALID is the correct resolution here. If not the user guides, then the ASK site or the forums, or even the source code and ODF standard--the documentation and user assistance is out there to be had. Simply put, user support and training doesn't belong here in the Bugzilla.
I recommend this: http://designingwithlibreoffice.com/ You can read it for free or buy a physical copy.