OpenOffice guru sought

[Hitcher]

Techie question. Having recently uploaded the OpenOffice suite onto the new laptop, everything works except the spell checker. Is it looking for a dictionary it can't find? Is there something in the settings that I should have selected or may have selected erroneously?

Please don't tell me I have to buy MS Office. I have just dumped Thunderbird as the laptop's email client in preference for Windows Mail. Is my love affair with open-source products finally at an end?

[terbang]

Not sure about the spell checker on openoffice but thunderbird has lots of add ons that make it a good equivalent to MS office. Mind you I run Linux and am sort of welded to it. I use open office and it spell checks, but it may be the yank version. will check.

[mashman]

Don't know anything about OpenOffice, but usually with dictionaries they're set in the application options somewhere (usually using a Custom dictionaries button) and have the extension .dic (do a search for .dic files on your hard drive)... then again it could be completely different for OpenOffice... Failing that RTFM... or install MS Oriffice... :whistle:

[dhunt]

It may not come with the spell checker you prefer installed.

Try using the wizard
File->Wizards->install new dictionaries (Then follow the instructions)

[vifferman]

My son's a guru about stuff like this - I'll ask him and get back to you. (Might take a while, as he doesn't surface till around midday).

[martybabe]

Open your document - select all of the text and then Format > Character > then select the language of the new dictionary you installed.To fix the problem, you need to go to File > Wizards > Install New Dictionaries




Don't know if this helps but apparently it won't install a dictionary until you select a language. :niceone:

[scracha]

It doesn't have a spell checker for Kiwi Unglish so the easiest way is to go Tools, Options, Language Settings and select UK English (or that ghastly American excuse for English if you must).

[Hitcher]

It has English (New Zealand) in its selection of drop-down items. But you're saying that this is meaningless in terms of a dictionary?

[dhunt]

It has English (New Zealand) in its selection of drop-down items. But you're saying that this is meaningless in terms of a dictionary?
Yes - Unless you install the NZ dictionary (See my earlier post)

[Hitcher]

Yes - Unless you install the NZ dictionary (See my earlier post)

Roger that. I shall have a play this evening.

[WRT]

I can't believe Hitcher is asking for a dictionary. It's like Eistein asking for a calculator*.









Sorry, cant think of a famous Mathematician off the top of my head.

[Hitcher]

I can't believe Hitcher is asking for a dictionary. It's like Eistein asking for a calculator*.

It's not for me, you understand. It's for a friend...

[Hitcher]

Well, I've tried the wizard thingie, but still no result. What is the OpenOffice Quickstart of which they speak? I hate it when instructions are imprecise.

[scracha]

Dude, just change it to UK English. There's no difference apart from having a spell checker that works.

[dhunt]

Well, I've tried the wizard thingie, but still no result.
Umm what happened? Did you install the NZ dictionary? Maybe try closing OpenOffice and reopen it.



What is the OpenOffice Quickstart of which they speak? I hate it when instructions are imprecise.

It means OpenOffice loads quicker as part of it is already running.

[Hitcher]

It means OpenOffice loads quicker as part of it is already running.

I understand that. But how do I find that bit and make it happen? It would certainly be really nice to have a faster fire-up, as I am finding that Vista is particularly laggardly and turgid when it comes to launching applications. Firefox takes hours to load, and OpenOffice isn't much slicker.

[avgas]

old versions of open office did not have a spell checker at all. but i'm pretty sure the new ones do.
I'm prob going to install openoffice again soon as new MSOffice is just plain ugly

[xwhatsit]

LaTeX ftw! <tenchar>

[terbang]

On my version I already have two versions of English available for the spell checker. English English and American English (if there is such a thing).
I see that there are many more available. As for Thunderbird, there is an add on called lightning that tweaks it up quite nicely. OK on the Linux machine (my lappie) its all I need and it loads up really nice. There doesn´t seem to be anything that I can´t do that my Windows clunker can do. I have now relieved my home machine (XP) of MS Office and am happily using openoffice with no hindrance. One of the features I like about openoffice is the ability to export straight to a (as secure as you like) .PDF file.

[Hitcher]

I removed that latest version of Thunderbird from the laptop because it was incapable of sending emails without me providing some sort of password that appears to be known only to Thunderbird and not to the user. Fuck that. So I killed it.

However on my home desktop it runs seamlessly. Go figure.

[vindy500]

the quickstart thing is on the startbar, next to the clock

[terbang]

I removed that latest version of Thunderbird from the laptop because it was incapable of sending emails without me providing some sort of password that appears to be known only to Thunderbird and not to the user. Fuck that. So I killed it.

However on my home desktop it runs seamlessly. Go figure.

Seen that before, it wasn´t set up right. Either incoming or outgoing server address was wrong.

[Trudes]

I can't believe Hitcher is asking for a dictionary. It's like Eistein asking for a calculator*.









Sorry, cant think of a famous Mathematician off the top of my head.

I know, I'm shocked!! I guess we'll soon be seeing just how good Mr. Hitcher's spelling really is without the helpful spellchecker, eh!!!!:dodge:

[scracha]

I understand that. But how do I find that bit and make it happen? It would certainly be really nice to have a faster fire-up, as I am finding that Vista is particularly laggardly and turgid when it comes to launching applications. Firefox takes hours to load, and OpenOffice isn't much slicker.

Turgid eh....what websites are you visiting then :-)

Vista slow, check your installed RAM first. It needs at least 1.5GB to run semi-decently (1GB for home basic). You'll likely have a lot of $hite in your startup entries. For "noobs" (I hate that word) the startup control panel is your best bet. (Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools->Manage Startup Programs (on the left). Take out all the $hite, dont worry if you make a stuff up as you can put it back in later. What anti-malware software are you running? Disabling User Account Control does speed things up but it's not recommended.

[Winston001]

Turgid eh....what websites are you visiting then :-)

Vista slow, check your installed RAM first. It needs at least 1.5GB to run semi-decently (1GB for home basic).

You'll likely have a lot of $hite in your startup entries. For "noobs" (I hate that word) the startup control panel is your best bet. (Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools->Manage Startup Programs (on the left). Take out all the $hite, dont worry if you make a stuff up as you can put it back in later. What anti-malware software are you running? Disabling User Account Control does speed things up but it's not recommended.

Yeah Vista needs a lot of RAM - install more if you only have 1GB. I've stuck with XP Pro on my new toy.

OpenOffice is a slug to start, and I don't use it now after shagging some Word docs over our work network. :D But the Quickstart sounds like a good option.

If its a new lappie there shouldn't be too many items in Startup but check it anyway. I know a guy who only runs two items.....