Created attachment 151183 [details]
Test file with added custom page style

OK,

So I know one way to make that work.
Use of a custom page style for the send index page.

In the attached file, which is the test file with the style added, created a custom page style named 'Index More, based on the 'Index' page style and with the next page style setting set to 'Index'.

Updated the 'First Page' style to use 'Index More' as the next page style and apply the update. 

If you needed more than 2 index pages it would require a second custom style, but as far as I know that is by design. In which case this could be changed to not a bug, you think?

Hi Drew,

Thanks for your support. 

After a long time of trying and searching I successfully could implement your workaround, thanks. 

I needed to read the locally installed online help for LO Writer to find out which exact icon I have to click in menu View => Styles in order to create a new, custom page style (I did not notice the horizontal icon line at the top of the "Styles and Formatting" window, instead I used the vertical icon line in this window, which did not let me implement your workaround). 

Before I could apply this new, custom page style (I called it "Index_2") as the next page style for the "Index" style I had to deactivate the write-protection for the TOC in my document. Having defined the new, custom page style (with the "Default" page style as the next page style, and page numbers deactivated) as the next page style for the page style "Index" I had to activate the write-protection for the index in my document again.

This workaround is much too complicated, although it works. I guess the LO developers have a different opinion on this, but one cannot expext that every LO user is a power user. An unexperienced and also a normal user would not be able to implement this workaround without spending a lot of his or her time and with the possibility that he or she will give up because he or she fails to find out an implement this workaround. 

And if he or she did not fail, i.e. he or she successfully implemented this workaorund, will he or she remember this workaround the next time he or she gets confronted again with the issue that is subject of this bug report?

Due to this it is my opinion that it would be better if the page style "index" would get definied by default within LO writer for an endless amount of pages which contain an index.

Regards,

Jens

I had a look at your document, and it just works as expected: Page style "Index" has "Default Style" as next style. So just change next style to "Index" and add a new page break with style "Default Style" after yout TOC.

=> RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(In reply to Dieter Praas from comment #3)
> I had a look at your document, and it just works as expected: Page style
> "Index" has "Default Style" as next style. So just change next style to
> "Index" and add a new page break with style "Default Style" after yout TOC.
> 
> => RESOLVED WORKSFORME

Hi Dieter,

OK, that's quite easy, one only has to deactivate the write-protection of the TOC. How about updating the LO Help, i.e. how about inserting in it a How-to about how to resolve this specific issue for the users? 

Regards,

Jens

(In reply to Jens Radloff from comment #4)
> How about updating the LO Help, i.e. how about inserting in it a
> How-to about how to resolve this specific issue for the users? 

AFAIK this is just the normal use of page styles. Please add the link to the part of LO Help you are thinking of.

(In reply to Dieter Praas from comment #5)
 
> AFAIK this is just the normal use of page styles. 
> Please add the link to the
> part of LO Help you are thinking of.

I do not know where to put such an How-to into the current online LO help system because I have an installed German LO help system which opens locally installed German help files in a web browser, so only local URL's are displayed in this webbrowser. I am using LO in version 6.1.2.0. 

If I search for the LO online help, then I get transferrred to:

https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/de/text/shared/05/new_help.html?&DbPAR=WRITER&System=UNIX

, which is the German version, but not the English one. If I replace the string "de" with "en" in this URL I can open:

https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/swriter/main0000.html

, but this online LO Help does not contain any articles about page numbers in LO writer, and it refers to LO in version 6.2.

So I cannot give you an exact position in the LO help system where to put this How-to.

But my suggestion for the title of such an How-to article is: 

"Page numbers - Supressing page numbers in a table of contents with more than one page" 

- i.e. as a first level document in the help system, which is displayed if one searches for "page number" in the help system.

I guess that the English help system is the basis for the help systems in all other languages, so first the English version of a new or modified article in the help system is written, and then it gets translated into all other languages.

I just noticed that Dieter`s solution proposal returns the following result:

1. The first page of the TOC shows no page number, which is correct. It is assigned the page style "Index".

2. The second page of the TOC shows no page number, which is correct. It is assigned the page style "Index".

3. All other pages following the second page of the TOC do not show any page numbers, which is not desired. These pages are all assigned the page style "Index".

If I now assign the second page of the TOC to the page style "Default", then the page number gets displayed on the second page of the TOC, which is not desired.

Thus Drew's solution proposal has to be executed to resolve the issue in this bug report. Drew's solution proposal is more advanced than Dieter's solution proposal, so at least a How-to for Drew's solution should be written, in my opinion.

Jens, if you think there is  lack of documentation within LO Help it would be the best to open a new bug report.

Dieter, can't I just reassign this bug report to the component "Documentation" and put the status of this bug report to "New"?

(In reply to Jens Radloff from comment #9)
> Dieter, can't I just reassign this bug report to the component
> "Documentation" and put the status of this bug report to "New"?

Well, I was just now looking through the 6.0 Writer Guide to see if the sections on Page Styles, Advanced Style usage, or Index creation covers this.

I don't see anything off hand. Everything you would need to know to figure out what to do is there but it isn't laid out as a Step 1, Step 2 type entry.

Perhaps it should be mentioned in the Guide, either in the Advanced Styles section of the Indexing section.

Last time this the question of using Bugzilla to track change requests for the Documentation the decision I took a way was that it would only be used for changes to the online help system and not the Guides. 

Let me double check on that and if using bugzilla for this makes sense I'll come back and change it here.

(In reply to Drew Jensen from comment #10)
> Last time this the question of using Bugzilla to track change requests for
> the Documentation the decision I took a way was that it would only be used
> for changes to the online help system and not the Guides. 

I think you're right, but I assume, that LO Help influences the rework of the Guides.

(In reply to Jens Radloff from comment #9)
> Dieter, can't I just reassign this bug report to the component
> "Documentation" and put the status of this bug report to "New"?

That's also possible, but I think it's easier for users to start reading with the actual topic and not with the discussion behind.

(In reply to Dieter Praas from comment #12)
> (In reply to Jens Radloff from comment #9)
> > Dieter, can't I just reassign this bug report to the component
> > "Documentation" and put the status of this bug report to "New"?
> 
> That's also possible, but I think it's easier for users to start reading
> with the actual topic and not with the discussion behind.

Drew wrote in comment #10:

> Let me double check on that and if using bugzilla 
> for this makes sense I'll come back and change it here.

I guess it would be better to wait for Drew's decision on this.

After talking with Olivier;
Set to new, Documentation as RFE, change summary, assigned to myself for a brief tutorial (odt) and then into the html based help system in due course.

Thanks, Drew.

I would put this new How-to into the help section which refers to page numbers, but not into the section referring to page styles. 

Because when the user is confronted with this issue, he or she is not asking him- or herself "What do I have to do with page styles to resolve this problem?", but with the question "How do I suppress the page numbers in my TOC on TOC page 2, 3 and so on?". 

So he or she would first look into the help system using the search term "page number".

Solution to this issue is given in comment #3 by Dieter.

Proper management of page styles solves the issue.

Tip: to change the page style from "Index" to "Default", format the first heading paragraph adding a page break in the Text Flow tab with "Default paragraph Style" in "With Paragraph Style".

Tip 2: Format the TOC page style with proper age break in the Index Heading style

=> Worksforme