[plug] How to change default document under Open Office 2.0

[Gavin Chester]

On Tue, 2006-09-12 at 19:30 +0800, dbuddrige at wasp.net.au wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I am running Open Office 2.0.  The really annoying thing about it at 
> the moment, is that new Text Documents default to US Letter.  Does 
> anyone know how to change the configuration so that it defaults to A4?  
> I am also trying to change the default margin sizes.  I have been 
> hunting around under Tools->Options but to no avail.
> 
> thanks heaps guys
> 
> David Buddrige. 8-)

(rant/) Yes, it's part of that insidious American cultural imperialism
that sees them forcing their differences on the rest of the world ;-)
(/rant)

The way out of this problem is to go to <Format><Page>.  You will find
page size, orientation, margins, etc there.  While it appears as if
those options are just for the current document, you have the chance to
save your changes as the 'default' template once you have reconfigured
settings to suit your need.  Henceforth all new documents will carry
_your_ 'default' settings when using that default text file template.  

Quoting from the OO.o help file:
-------------------------
Changing the Default Template
The default template contains the default formatting information for new
text documents. If you want, you can create a new template and use it as
the default template.

     1. Create a document and the content and formatting styles that you
        want.
     2. Choose File - Templates - Save.
     3. In the New Template box, type a name for the new template.
     4. In the Categories list, select "Default", and then click OK.
     5. Choose File - Templates - Organise.
     6. In the category list, double-click the "Default" folder.
     7. Right-click the template that you created, and choose Set as
        Default template.
     8. Click Close.
        
To reset the default template:
     1. Choose File - Templates - Organise.
     2. Right-click a folder in the category list, choose Reset Default
        Template - Text Document.
     3. Click Close.
------------------------

So there you have it.  Help was not that far away, after all ;-)

Gavin