In order to reproduce: [1] Create new text document and insert a bit of text. [2] Display formatting marks in order to observe the behaviour: Menu: View > Formatting Marks. [3] Insert a manual column break: Menu: Insert > Manual Break… > Select Column break > OK. A new paragraph is displayed! [4] Insert some more text in the second paragraph. [5] Insert another manual column break. A third paragraph is displayed! [6] Format page with 2 columns: Menu: Format > Page… > Columns > Select 2 columns > OK. Two pages with 2 columns are displayed. 2 manual column breaks are displayed, the first one at the beginning of the second column of the first page, the second one at the beginning of the first column of the second page. This means that at step 3 and 5 manual column breaks are added to the document, but they don't are displayed. It seemed that only a new paragraph is inserted. For a user this is not transparent especially if formatting marks are not displayed. Two solutions are possible: [A] In documents with only one column it should not be possible to insert manual column breaks. If a user tries to do that, a message should be displayed. It should inform the user, that it is not possible to insert a manual column break. Another possibility is to grey the option 'Manual Column Break” in the Insert Break dialogue. If a user changes the page format from more than one column to one column all manual column breaks should be converted to manual page breaks. A problem may occur if a document with one column and simultaneously with manual column breaks is opened. [B] In documents with only one column it should be allowed to insert manual column breaks. In this case a manual column break should cause a page break. Manual column breaks should be displayed as manual column breaks similar or equal like in step 6 at the top of the next page.
Bug occurs in version 3.3.0 and 6.0.5 (64 Bit, Win 10). Hence inherited from OOo. Furthermore added to meta bug 107836. Or is meta bug 118519 better?
I repro. Let's ask UX team what would be best. I could not find an existing report, open or closed, about this.
Thing is that column breaks are always shown as paragraph breaks and when there is only one columns it's confusing. As you write the inserted break is taken into account when you change the number of columns. You should also think about the opposite way, what happens to a true column break when the number is reduced. I disagree with A) as it bothers users and B) as it is a regression. What we could do is to color the three breaks slightly different. Right now I get a tiny "Manual Column Break" on top with non-printing chars on. Other than that I'd say WFM.
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #3) > Thing is that column breaks are always shown as paragraph breaks and when > there is only one columns it's confusing. As you write the inserted break is > taken into account when you change the number of columns. You should also > think about the opposite way, what happens to a true column break when the > number is reduced. If you reduce the number of columns to a number greater than 1, a manual column break causes a page break. But the break is still a column break and it's also displayed as column break. For me this is OK. If the new column number is 1, column breaks cause paragraph breaks. The column breaks still exist, but they are not displayed. For a user this is not transparent. The user may be surprised, if s/he changes the number of columns and a manual column break occurs at an unexpected position. > I disagree with A) as it bothers users and B) as it is a regression. What we > could do is to color the three breaks slightly different. Right now I get a > tiny "Manual Column Break" on top with non-printing chars on. Which three breaks do you mean? The three manual breaks (line; column; page) are already displayed different (Enter symbol; tiny line: "Manual Column Break"; dashed line between pages). So for me there is no reason to change the display these breaks. > Other than that I'd say WFM. Still a bug for me.
We discussed the topic in the design meeting. My idea with colored break symbols was premature as color must not be the primary indicator because of accessibility. And actually we have indicators for the different breaks, the user just have to learn where to look for. And last but not least we believe that suppressing unusual workflows (disable the column break in ione-col pages) is not a good solution. So putting all together the verdict is WFM.