Survival Guide for the forum

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Welcome to the OpenOffice.org User Community Forum.

Please read these basic rules, they will help us help you.

Try a search first more
Try entering one or two words in the search box (upper right corner) or google "<your keywords> site:services.openoffice.org".
Think of all the time that you'll save if your answer is already out there!

This is not a customer service more
We're here to try and help, not to take your complaints.

Tell us what OS you're using more
OOo runs on Windows, Macs, Linux and more. Tell us which one you're using.

Give your message a good title (and other tips) more
The gist of your question should be clear from the title. "Page Numbering" is better than "I need help".

Tell us when your issue is SOLVED more
Add "[Solved]" to the title of your thread so we know you have a solution.

One issue per thread more
Stick to one clear question and you'll get a faster answer.

No flames Post within our Policies and Terms of Use
If you can't think of something constructive to say, say nothing. Only a fool argues with a fool.

What all those thread icons mean ? more
Description of the icons used in the forum.

Tips for a better description of the problem more
Don't just say you've a problem, describe it as precisely as possible so we can investigate right away.

About the links in posts and signatures more
Active links are allowed as soon as they are related to an OOo/WP question.

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Other users may already have had the same issue you're experiencing, so perhaps your answer is already available. So why not have a search before posting. Either use our search (there is also a dedicated search box at the top right of the page), or if you want your search to include all OpenOffice.org services including our Wiki why not google "<your keywords> site:services.OpenOffice.org". If you want to search a single native language forum: "<your keywords> site:user.services.openoffice.org/XX/forum" where XX is the language locale (en, es, hu, fr, ja, nl, vi, zh, ...).

Think about how others might have phrased the question. Use specific keywords; you can always try again broadening the search range if you get no suitable matches.

In your post, indicate that you've run a search before eventually posting, it will prevent you to get a link to this very rule ! Please understand the ones who help and who see again and again the same questions.

See also that thread: How to ask a question on the forum.

Here are some useful places to search also :
- OOo Issue Tracker, where you'll find reported bugs
- The wiki documentation (most user guides online here)
- The whole documentation portal (links to user guides as PDF, How-Tos, ...)
- The other OOo forum.
For those who wonder the differences between this forum and oooforum, see these threads: Why a new forum ? and Crossposting between forums.

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This is a user to user forum, not a source of paid support. There are no customer service people or software developers here. We are here to help each other use OOo effectively, not to take your complaints.

You may discuss problems or suggestions here, just be aware that this is all unofficial. If you want to report a bug or suggestion to the developers, please do it on the Issue Tracker, see that thread : [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.

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Please be sure we know what operating system (OS) and version, and what OpenOffice.org (OOo) version you are using (especially for Linux users : it can be the distribution version or the official one downloaded from the OOo web site). This basic information is often necessary to answer the question, and will help you get an answer faster.

The forum registration will collect this information and use it as your "signature" that appears underneath all your posts.. Don't forget to update the signature information when you upgrade to keep it accurate. Use the "User Control Panel" link (top left).

Also write it again in your posts (especially if you test something for someone else) so that in the future we know the context since your configuration may have changed meanwhile.

The real version number can be found in the Help>About OOo dialog, the first line in small characters indicates the full release (can be 2.4.1 with a splash screen indicating 2.4 for example, because #.#.1 are sub-versions for bug fixes). Note that you can have more details like build number by holding CTRL key and hitting S, D and T in a row.

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Give explicit titles to your threads : avoid "Urgent help needed" or just "Help !!". They don't give any clue to what the problem is. If you're posting here, of course that' because you need some help. Use keywords to show the users who scan the forum index an idea about what they'll find in your post. Keywords may ring a bell and improve the response time.

Please, no CAPS. Else, it means that you're shouting and it's a quiet place here.

This is an English speaking forum. So please don't post in your native language: first you'll get much less replies, second the thread indexes will become messy, third searches may give threads that other users won't be able to understand.

But we've neighbors on the server (note the locale code change in the address):
- The Hungarian forum......http://user.services.openoffice.org/hu/forum/index.php
- The French forum..........http://user.services.openoffice.org/fr/forum/index.php
- The Japanese forum......http://user.services.openoffice.org/ja/forum/index.php
- The Spanish forum........http://user.services.openoffice.org/es/forum/index.php
- The Dutch forum............http://user.services.openoffice.org/nl/forum/index.php
- The Vietnamese forum...http://user.services.openoffice.org/vi/forum/index.php
- The Chinese forum........http://user.services.openoffice.org/zh/forum/index.php
- The Polish forum..........http://user.services.openoffice.org/pl/forum/index.php

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When your issue has been fixed, please edit the title of your first post and add the [Solved] tag at the beginning. This will appear in the forum index, so other users can spot the threads where they can find an answer to their issue, and volunteers will know that those threads do not need further attention.
The thread title is the title of the first post in the thread. To edit that post, click the button "EDIT" top right of the post. You can only edit the posts that belong to you of course.

Top right of the first post.

Topic icons when editing the post Topic_icons.png (2.34 KiB) Viewed 51064 times

You can also add an icon so that the thread is graphically tagged in the index list.
-> your problem has been fixed
-> known issue in the Issue Tracker (users will be able to vote for it)
-> mostly used by moderators to tag a borderline thread.
When posting your question, please leave that alone to avoid disturbing the thread index with flames and radioactive tags. Even if you need urgent help.

Bottom left area of the window.

And if you don't get any answer?
If you're the author of the thread (i.e. first post), you can bump the thread (without replying your own issue) with the button at bottom. This way, the thread will be put back to the top of the New Topics display - as if a reply had been made. Note that you can do that only once and after a period of inactivity on that thread (currently 10 days).

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Avoid posting several questions in the same post if they are not tightly related. The discussion will be difficult to follow afterwards because multiple answers will be posted sometimes without saying to what issue it is related.

Don't hijack the thread of other users: if you're not absolutely sure that the issue is the same, don't post in an existing thread. The problems may be different as would be the solutions.

No multi- or cross-posting. It leads to several discussions and a waste of time because several identical answers may be posted by different users. If a question is related to 2 components, put the thread where it fits the best and leave a note (use red bold font), a moderator can create a link in the other forum pointing to your thread.

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We ask you to respect other users who have taken time to contribute to topics even if you don't agree with their comments. You may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour or poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack.

The forum is for discussing and resolving issues in a constructive and open way. The administrators and moderators will intervene on posts which do not conform to our Policies and Terms of Use, for example in cases of obscene, pornographic, defamatory and racist comments, flaming and trolling. Offending posts or the topics that contain them may be locked and the offending content removed.

If you feel that someone else's post is in breach of these guidelines then use the report button (see top right icons of the post header); we ask you not to flame this situation by counter posting. If you feel that you post has been unfairly moderated then you may state your position by emailing the forum administrators. The forum moderators and administrator will consider such input, but in all cases their collective decision on content is final.

Downloading files attached here or on a third party web site is at your own risk. Any upload of malicious files will lead to a definitive ban of the forum.

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Two general points
- Red icons are unread items, blue/grey are read.
- A star on any topic means you have posted in it

Thread icons:
- Announcement
- Sticky topic
- Read topic
- Unread topic
- Read topic that you have posted in
- Unread topic that you have posted in
- Hot topic (animated icon)
- Locked topic
- Moved topic

Forum icons:
- Forum with subforums (which have been read)
- Forum with subforums (which are unread)
- Link forum

Decorations:
- Attachment
- Go to last post in the topic
- Go to last unread post in the topic
- Subforum read
- Subforum unread

User-selected decorations:
See that section

From: http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=587802

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• Do you remember anything special before the issue appeared ?
  
  OS upgrade, application installation, firewall/antivirus update, ...
• Does the problem happen with a number of different files or only one (or a few) specifically? Does it happen only with new files? Only with pre-existing files? Only with files of a particular format?
  
• An example is worth a thousand words. If the problem is complicated to describe, take a screenshot or create a copy that you can post here so others can see what you're seeing.
  
  For screenshots, use the .png format and crop the pic to show only what is to be seen.
  For file samples, remove all sensitive data (replace text by dummy text), just keep the few pages/paragraphs needed.
  See How to attach a document here.
  
• Have you tried to investigate the root cause ? Have you noticed anything from your tries ?
• Does the problem involve another program such as Word, or another piece of equipment such as a printer? Include that software version or model number (if possible).
• For each option you use or look at, spell out exactly how to get to that option (for example, File> Save As, or Tools> Options> OpenOffice.org Writer> Appearances>).
• OOo is based on styles. How have you applied your formatting ? Beware that using the toolbar buttons applies a Direct formatting that overrides the styles.

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In order to avoid commercial links that could make users believe that commercial applications have been approved by this forum, a strict policy is applied regarding links. There are 3 places where URLs can be used:

• In post content
  The URL must be directly related to the content and to a valid forum issue. If a topic is about a distro then quoting the home site for the distro, etc. makes sense.
  Use of wikipedia and other reference quotes is accepted.
  A zero tolerance to non-related references will be applied. This includes blatant product plugging.
  
  
• In the profile website reference
  The forum will be configured so that this field will only be available to active users only. Quite everything accepted here (as long as it isn't a sex or spam site), e.g. company URLs and personal blogs or webpages. Note that this URL is only visible in the users details.
  
  
• In the signature block
  URLs only available to active users. Other OOo/WP related URLs and personal blogs or webpages accepted.
  Use of company URLs in signatures: tolerated for active users as long as it is clear that the primary purpose for posting is OOo related.
  Image not allowed to keep the forum readability.