Sunday, July 22, 2012

Add Extensions for LibreOffice

Lets make LibreOffice a little more useful.  We'll add a couple of Extensions.

The first one we are adding is Multisave.  Multisave allows you to save your LibreOffice Writer files to three formats at once.  The formats are Native, Microsoft Doc, and PDF.  You can save them in all three formats or just pick the ones you want.  Since I use MS Office at work this Extension makes the transfer process painless.

The second Extension is Writer2Epub.  This Extension lets you save you documents in the Epub format which you can read on your Android device with one of the many free Epub readers.  This is nice for putting files you need on your cell phone or tablet in a nice format for reading on the go.  Many of the free Epub readers have nice features like Auto Place Saving, Notes, and some can even read your files out loud.  My Epub (eBook) Reader of choice is FBREADER.  It's free and you can get a plug-in for it that does Text to Speech so it will read your books aloud.

Let's start by getting the Extension Files you'll need;

1.  Download the OXT file for Multisave.
2.  Download the OXT file for Writer2Epub.
3.  Remember where you put them you will need them in the next steps.

Now lets add the Extensions LibreOffice Writer;
Click here for Official Instruction

or

1.  Start LibreOffice Writer.
2.  Click on the TOOLS menu and select EXTENSION MANGER
3.  This will open the Extension Manger Window


4.  Click on ADD button which opens a File Selector Dialog Window.
5.  Navigate to the Extension File you just downloaded and select it. (.OXT file)
6.  You maybe asked to scroll through a License Agreement but just follow through the wizard.
7.  Once the install wizard is done close EXTENSION MANAGER and close WRITER.
8.  Restart WRITER and we're done.

Repeat the above process for both the Extension Files you downloaded.



To use the MULTISAVE Extension;

1.  Create a Document in WRITER (basically type something).
2.  Select FILE from the Writer Menu and you'll see a MULTISAVE option.
3.  Select MULTISAVE from the FILE menu and the following Save Window will popup.

4.  Pick the Save Location, Type in a File Name, and Check the Formats you want the file save as.
5.  Click the SAVE Button and your done!




To use the WRITER2EPUB Extension;

1.  Create a Document in WRITER (basically type something).
2.  Save the Document
3.  You should see a Green E at a weird angle in the Tool Bar's Upper Left side (there are 3 of them).
4.  Click on the Green E and you'll get a popup window that will allow you to give your Epub file a Title, Author, Keywords and other options.

5.  Once you fill out your Epubs information just click the OK Button to generate the Epub File.
NOTE:  If you do not have any images in your file or don't want a book cover image Check the NO COVER option on the upper right of the Epub Dialog.
6.  Done!

NOTE:  Sometimes WRITER2EPUB insists you save your file before conversion even though you've already done it.  Just re-save it and Click on the Green E again and it will work.


There are many more Extensions to explore and not just for WRITER.  If you want to browse for something you might need or want just go HERE and click on the EXTENSION link.