LibreOffice formatting

[Blazeguard]

I am trying to "build" my own house rules document ala the Smoot House-Rules supplement and would like to include some supplements as appendixes within the document.

Here's my problem - I would like to put a heading at the top of the page (ie. Appendix A, etc) and then have the supplement start immediately below that. I have been fighting with this all yesterday and cannot figure it out. I can get the heading but when I try to insert the other document it automatically jumps to the next page so I'm left with a blank page with my heading at the top and the inserted supplement starting at the top of the next page. I will be the first to admit that I am not a word processer whiz but I have tried everything I can think of and nothing is working. I have figured out that the title block is a table but I can't even insert an extra row above the title as it only inserts the left part of the table and not a whole row.

This is really driving me nuts!
Can anyone help me out?

[SmootRK]

I think you play with the "sections" from the Insert Menu. to move things around.

[Blazeguard]

Yeah, I've been playing around with that but there seems to be an automatic page break or something at the top of the main title block that I can't seem to find or get rid of. And trying to copy and paste is a nightmare in itself.

[SmootRK]

Hit ctrl+F10 to show non-printing characters. That may help locate the issue.

[Solomoriah]

It's probably pretty easy, actually. After pasting in the text (and getting the unwanted page break), put the cursor at the beginning of the first line of the "new" page and press Backspace.

Then press Enter, just to break things up properly.

It will help you a lot if you learn to use styles to format paragraphs rather than manually formatting them. Text Body is the usual running text style I use, with SubHeading and MainHeading serving the appropriate purposes. There are special styles for monster stat blocks and hit point blocks also.

[SmootRK]

I agree with Solo. Especially if you are just learning OpenOffice, it would be a great time to get accustomed to using style for formatting. I come from a background of building stuff from the ground up, so styles do not come intuitively for me (but I try). Having a blank slate makes it a ideal time to learn those features for formatting, especially if you plan on doing a lot of community projects like BFRPG. Makes it easier to construct appropriately formatted documents that match the rest of the community.

[Blazeguard]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I do have a basic idea of styles but LibreOffice is just different enough from Word that it sure throws you for a loop. I did discover a few more "tricks" in my stumbling around so it will take some time but it will come.

As far as that phantom page break though, I still haven't cracked that one. I tried all your suggestions but for some reason it just doesn't like me.

[Solomoriah]

Upload a copy with the problem and I'll look at it.

[teluria]

is there a bfrpg style guide or template?

[Solomoriah]

There's no template as such; most start with an existing document of the same type (module, mini-module, or supplement) and edit it into shape. As for a style guide, start here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=403