Description: As it stands now, it is impossible to have a two column text body, and a one column footnote layout at the same time. To make things worse, the two column footnote layout is horrendous, trying to fill in the first column to the max instead of evenly spacing out all footnote text between the two columns. Therefore I want to propose... 1) making it possible to change the layout of the footnotes independently from the text body And/or 2) making it possible to get the footnote text to evenly fill out the columns it is in. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Set page style with two columns Actual Results: the footnotes get set in two columns too Expected Results: Some option to change the footnote layout apart from the main text body Reproducible: Always User Profile Reset: No Additional Info: Version: 7.3.7.2 / LibreOffice Community Build ID: 30(Build:2) CPU threads: 12; OS: Linux 6.12; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3 Ubuntu package version: 1:7.3.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.10 Calc: threaded
Please attach a sample file, reduce the size as much as possible without private information. BTW 7.3 is an old version.
Created attachment 201016 [details] Sample file It's the Pop_OS! system version, I'll also try to check with the flatpak version but I got it it wasn't possible in any version at all. As you can see in the file, the footnotes do not line up (unless coincidentally). because they want to keep as much with the column where the reference is made as in as possible. A way to line them out evenly and/or putting them in a one column layout separate from the text body would make for a better layout. I will try to test if MS Word has a similar functionality too.
I tested with MS Word and despite LibreOffice having more flexibility in layouts, MS Word automatically evens out the footnotes when in two column page style. I'm now downloading the flatpak v.25.2.3.2 of LibreOffice and will check there for thoroughness.
I tested it in LibreOffice v.25.2.3.2 and it also does not contain any of the requested features. I used an entirely new document and did the lay-out manually again.
I fully support this request. It should be possible to choose the column count for the footnote area in a page style independently from the column count of main text. This could also solve partly bug 163706 and also bug 108546.
Thanks for your support. From what I can find here on bugzilla, footnote formatting limitations tend to get reported once in a while. I'm sad to say that because of one small thing I'll probably be forced to use MS Word for now when working on typesetting. I hope that I'll be able to use LibreOffice professionally very soon. Footnote formatting is important for both academics and professional typewriters. For those wondering if there is a workaround in the meantime: yes there is, kind of. It involves using sections on each page to put the main text body in. This will make the document laggy and can mess up the footnote appearance too (especially with many and/or long footnotes). This should do the trick for small projects however, just mind the footnote lenght.