Fortunately OpenOffice has a powerful Extension system that allows you to extend the functionality of OpenOffice. One extension, Writer’s Tools, is intended for writers: Professional writers, students, any level. Typically OpenOffice extensions are as easy to install as a Firefox addon. In the case of Writer’s Tools, there are a few more steps involved. In this article you will see just how this is done so you too can enjoy the powerful additions offered by this extension.

Features

The Writer’s Tools extension includes the following features:

• Dictionary lookup
• Google translate
• Google map support
• Email and multi-format backup
• Remote backup
• Amazon S3 backup
• Timer
• Converter
• Bookmarks
• Word of the day
• Notebook

and more

Installing an Extension

Installing an extension in OpenOffice is simple. The first thing to do is to download the file. In some cases the file will be a single file with the extension .oxt, in which the Extension Manager will automatically open and install the file. In some cases (such as with Writer’s Tools) the downloaded file is a zip file that contains a few necessary pieces. In this case you would open the Extension Manager manually and install the file. Let’s see how it’s done. First download the Writer’s Tools file and then unzip the package.  Now open the Extension Manager.

Figure 1

To open the Extension Manager first open up OpenOffice Writer and then click on the Tools menu. Within the Tools menu you will see the Extension Manager entry which will open the Extension Manager window (see Figure 1).

Click on the Add button which will open up a window where you can navigate to the Writer’s Tools file you downloaded. The file you want to add is called WriterTools.oxt. When you open this file you will have to agree to a license to proceed.

Once you have the extension installed you will have to restart OpenOffice in order for the Writer’s Tools menu to show up in OpenOffice. You’re not done quite yet.

The database

Figure 2

Before you move on to install the database, you need to make sure you have OpenOffice.org Base installed. To do this go to your Add/Remove Software tool and search for “openoffice” (no quotes). In the listing you will see the Base entry. Mark that for installation and click Apply to install. After the installation is complete you are ready to move on.

There are a couple of tools in Writer’s Tools that require you to register database. Fortunately the Writer’s Tools creator has included the necessary database in the zip file. To register this database go to the Options Window (which can be accessed from the Tools menu) and then expand the OpenOffice.org Base entry (see Figure 2).

Once there click on the Databases entry and then click the New button and then the Browse button to locate the file WriterDB.odb and then OK to register this database.

Now that the database is registered you will have all of the Writer’s Tools available to you.

Final thoughts

If you do any writing, for work, for school, for pleasure – whatever – you need to try the Writer’s Tools extension. This tool will make your writing life much more efficient and enjoyable.

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Let’s say you have two columns of numbers and you want to add a third column based on the other two data. That third columns’ entry will depend upon the information in the first two. IF entry A is greater than B THEN C is X ELSE C is Y.

But how does one do this? It’s actually quite easy. Let’s start out with a more simple example and move on to a more complex example.

The first example will illustrate a basic IF/ELSE statement that uses only two columns of data. We’ll do a simple spreadsheet that deals with how many persons each employee will bring to a company picnic. To make things easy if the person enters “0″ that means they are not bringing a guest (the employee, however,  IS required to come) and if they enter “1″ that means they are which means that employee equals two attendees. The first column will represent the name of the employee and the second column is how many guests the employee will bring. The formula to enter into the third column would look like:

=IF(B1=1;2;1)

What this will do is enter a “2″ in the third cell is the employee is bringing a guest and a 1 if they are not.

Now let’s make this a bit more complex. For this example we’ll have three columns. The first column is a number that represents how many hours an employee worked. The second column will represent how many hours over 40 they worked. The third column will represent how much overtime pay they made. But let’s say you also have to account for zero hours worked. The formula for the second column would look like this:

=IF(A9<=40;0; IF(A9>40;(A9-40)))

For the third column let’s continue with this idea. Say if an employee worked over 5 hours of overtime they would gain an extra 100 dollar bonus in their check. So we’ll add a fourth column for bonuses. For simplicity’s sake all employees make $10.00 an hour. Overtime is standard time and a half pay. So the forumla for the third column would be a standard:

=SUM((40*10)+(B9*15))

And the formula for the fourth column would be:

=IF(B9>=5;100;0)

Now for the final total for employee salary a fifth column would be added that would look like:

=SUM(C9+D9)

Final Thoughts

The examples may be very simple but the idea can be applied to many instances. Using IF/ElSE statements in OpenOffice Calc can quickly take your spreadsheets to a much higher level of usability.

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I myself prefer to edit pages online, through the normal interface, but when I am using a Wiki for personal entries to jot down my thoughts for example, it’s better if I don’t have to think about formatting and other special syntax for MediWiki. This also enables newcomers to the Wiki world edit sites easily.

Sun Wiki Publisher supports many of MediaWiki’s features like headings, lists and so on, but I did have a problem with image handling. As long as you actually have the image online already its fine, but if you want to put in a new one it won’t happen. The official documentation contains this, but it also says “currently not supported”, so they probably will add this later on.

For me this extension will only become an option when it supports image uploading, since I find MediaWiki’s picture handling a bit weird and hard to get used to as is. Since this first official release is still just 0.9.3, they are probably adding new features by the boatload to get to 1.0, I expect that this extension will become much more usable in the near future.

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The beta can be downloaded and installed on computers that run Windows, Linux, Solaris or Mac OS X Intel Aqua. Localized versions are available as well and can be downloaded from the external mirrors that host all localized builds.

A Beta page lists all of the features that have already been implemented in the current Beta of Open Office 3. It divides the changes in New Core Features, like the import filter for Microsoft Office 2007 formats, Core Features that have been introduced in minor releases since the release of Open Office 2.0 and Features that have been released as extensions or complimentary tools.

The most immediately visible change to OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the new “Start Centre”, new fresh-looking icons, and a new zoom control in the status bar. A closer look shows that 3.0 has a myriad of new features. Notable Calc improvements include a new solver component; support for spreadsheet collaboration through workbook sharing; and an increase to 1024 columns per sheet. Writer has an improved notes feature and displays of multiple pages while editing. There are numerous Chart enhancements, and an improved crop feature in Draw and Impress.

Behind the scenes, OpenOffice.org 3.0 will support the upcoming OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.2 standard, and is capable of opening files created with MS-Office 2007 or MS-Office 2008 for Mac OS X (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc.). This is in addition to read and write support for the MS-Office binary file formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt, etc.).

OpenOffice.org 3.0 will be the first version to run on Mac OS X without X11, with the look and feel of any other Aqua application. It introduces partial VBA support to this platform. In addition, OpenOffice.org 3.0 integrates well with the Mac OS X accessibility APIs, and thus offers better accessibility support than many other Mac OS X applications.

The size of the download lies between 145 and 197 Megabytes depending on the operating system.

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For those who don´t know OpenOffice, its an Open Source office suit that has all the functionality of the Microsoft product (Microsoft Office). The best thing though is, that its totally free. Go to the OpenOffice website and download it for free. (link provided at the end of the article)

Lets take a look at the press release:

OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the productivity suite that individuals, governments, and corporations around the world have been expecting for the last two years. Easy to use and fluidly interoperable with every major office suite, OpenOffice.org 2.0 realizes the potential of open source. Besides a powerful new database module and advanced XML capabilities, OpenOffice.org natively supports the internationally standardised OpenDocument format, which several countries, as well as the U.S. state of Massachusetts, have established as the default for office documents. More than any other suite, OpenOffice.org 2.0 gives users around the globe the tools to be engaged and productive members of their society.

Available in 36 languages, with more on the way, and able to run natively on Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris, Mac OS X (X11) and several other platforms, OpenOffice.org banishes software segregation and isolation and dramatically levels the playing field. And, with its support for the OASIS Standard OpenDocument format, OpenOffice.org eliminates the fear of vendor lock in or format obsolescence. The OpenDocument format can be used by any office application, ensuring that documents can be viewed, edited and printed for generations to come. OpenOffice.org 2.0 is a breath of hope for small economies that can now have a local language office suite well adapted to their needs and to their economical possibilities, reducing their dependency on the interests of proprietary software vendors.

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