Getting the most out of LibreOffice (Writer)

LibreOffice (LO) is the state of the art free replacement for Microsoft Office.

At the time I write this, LO is currently in V5.2 which is very powerful.

There are still some issues with Microsoft's extensions: .docx, .xlsx and .ppsx.

This happens because they are proprietary formats and it is hard to have access to their data dictionaries.

This "tutorial" should also work with Apache OpenOffice.

For the best free Office experience it is important having:

LibreOffice
Download it from: https://www.libreoffice.org

Quickstarter enabled
It is always a faster opening of LO by automatically loading the libraries while Windows is entering the desktop.

Tools > Options > Memory > tick "Load LibreOffice during system start-up"

Java
Make sure you have Java 8+.

'''If you are running LO 64-bit, you will require Java 64-bit. The same for 32-bit.'''

Download the latest Java from: http://www.java.com

To enable Java in LO:

Tools > Options > Advanced > select to use Java

LanguageTool
It is the best grammar checker around.

LanguageTool requires Java to work.

Download it from: https://languagetool.org

Then install the .OXT in LO.

After it is installed, close Writer and the Quickstarter icon in the tray icon area.

Then, rerun Writer.

If you notice it isn't checking the grammar, click the "Check Grammar" button or press F7.

Dictionaries
The following dictionaries are the most important ones:


 * 1) English
 * 2) French
 * 3) German
 * 4) Spanish
 * 5) Portuguese

They can be selected during the installation setup.

The Portuguese default dictionary is the postreform.

You can download the prereform from: http://natura.di.uminho.pt/wiki/doku.php?id=dicionarios:main

The dictionaries are updated regularly as new versions of LO come out, so there is no need to download them manually.

The exception should be the Portuguese prereform.