Re: Eliminating page numbers in the front matter of a novel

[Brian Barker <b....@btinternet.com>]

At 15:51 08/05/2014 -0500, Pete McQueeny wrote:
>... I'm having an issue with formatting. I want to have NO headers 
>or footers of any kind on the title page, dedication, table of 
>contents and foreword.

Good: that's easy.

>I would like the first page of each story to have a page number, but 
>no header.

Actually, if you want a page number there you do want a header (or 
footer) - just a different header that contains different material 
from your headers elsewhere.

>All other pages, I would like page numbers and a header that is 
>different on the right and left pages. I have read several forum 
>posts about page styles, and I know that what I want is possible. 
>But the posts I have read either use examples that do not pertain to 
>what I am trying to do, or are written in an esoteric language that 
>I find hard to follow. I need the kindergarten explanation.

I'm not sure I can do that! Have you read the documentation - in 
particular chapters 6 and 7 of the Writer Guide? (Start at 
https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation .)

>How do I tell the page style of the page my cursor is on?

o Go to Format | Styles and Formatting (or click the Styles and 
Formatting button in the Formatting toolbar or press F11).
o Click the Page Styles button in the toolbar.
o Put the cursor into the relevant page and see the style name highlighted.

>How do I change the page style of the page my cursor is on?

o As above; then double-click the new style name.

>How can I make the title page, dedication, etc. a different page 
>style than the chapters themselves, and how can I make the chapter 
>title pages a different style than the remaining pages?

There are two ways to change page styles between pages, and you will 
need both in order to achieve what you want.

o When you insert a manual page break, you can set the page style for 
the following page(s) in the Insert Break dialogue. It's important to 
realise that you need to set the change of style there: it is no good 
just changing the style of subsequent pages afterwards, as that will 
make additional changes you don't want. (This may be the nub of your 
current problem.) This technique is appropriate when there is a 
natural break between material on the relevant pages, so you will 
need to use it between your front matter and the first story as well 
as between each story and the next.

o Sometimes, you need the page style to change naturally as the text 
flows from one page to another, so you will not have an explicit page 
break and the above technique will not work. In this case, you need 
to set an appropriate Next Style in the first style definition: this 
will then apply automatically to the next page. You will need to use 
this technique between the first and second pages of each story as 
well as (probably) between all subsequent pages, so as to alternate 
your left and right headers.

>I am terribly confused and frustrated, ...

Please don't be.

>... and I feel like I'm not smart enough to figure this out.

I doubt that.

I think you need (at least) four page styles:
o Front matter, after which there will be a manual page break with a 
style change.
o First page of each story, which will have its Next Style set to a 
general style.
o Remaining left pages of each story, with Next Style set to the 
right page style.
o Remaining right pages of each story, with Next Style set to the 
left page style.

You might be able to get away with only one style for the remaining 
pages, and set it up in such a way that any differences required 
between left and right pages are alternated automatically. But I 
don't see how in this case you can have different header content in 
the two cases (as you ask). I may be wrong!

As you evidently realise, headers and footers are a property of page 
styles. Once you have all your page styles set up, it is a simple 
matter to turn them on or off in each style and to adjust their 
contents as desired.

I can see one complication. If you allow your stories to start on 
either a recto (right-hand page) or a verso (left-hand page), you may 
need two versions of your page style for the first page, so that 
their Next Styles can be separately the left and right versions of 
your general style. But you may prefer - as many publishers would - 
to start each story always on a recto, which would require only one 
first page style, with the left page style as its Next Style.

But - perhaps despite appearances - I'm not an expert on all this, 
and others may be able to improve on my scheme or description.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker


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