Check document properties before saving
Libreoffice automatically applies properties to each document you save, such as your name and how long you’ve spent editing it. To review, edit or add to these properties before saving, open Libreoffice Writer or Calc, select the Tools menu, then Options (or just use the Alt+f12 keyboard shortcut). Expand the Load/save option in the left sidebar, then select General. Under the Save heading on the right, tick the box labelled ‘Edit document properties before saving’, then click OK.
When you next save a document, the
Spot trends using ‘sparklines’
Excel is loaded with fancy charts, graphs and other ways to visualise data in a spreadsheet. Sometimes, however, it’s best to keep things simple. In our spreadsheet, we’ve got the bank balances of various accounts over a three-month period. Using Excel’s Sparklines tool, we can get a visual representation of how each one is fairing, without inserting a large chart.
First, select all the data you want in the Sparklines tool (in our example, we’ve selected cells with account figures). Next, hover your mouse over the selection and click the chart icon that appears in the bottom-right corner 1 . In the box that appears, select the Sparklines tab, then Line. In the column to the right of your data you’ll now see trend lines for each row in your selection. In our case, these show how each account has fluctuated 2 . These lines fill the cells they’re in, so to make them bigger you simply need to increase the size and width of your cells.
Properties window will appear. You can then move through the tabs, editing or removing the various properties as you see fit. To remove your name, select the General tab, untick ‘Apply user data’ at the bottom (see screenshot right), then click Reset Properties. This resets all properties in the General tab, but doesn’t affect those in the other tabs. In the ‘Custom properties’ tab, you can add extra properties, such as a document reference number or who it was checked by – just click Add Property, then fill the Name, Type and Value boxes accordingly.
Note that the Properties window will only appear the first time you save a
Add signature lines to your documents
When you’re printing a document or spreadsheet that needs to be signed off (such as an expenses form for purchases made for a local club), Libreoffice helps by letting you indicate where the form should be signed and by whom.
Whether you’re using Writer or Calc, open the Insert menu, then click ‘Signature Line…’. In the window that opens, type the name of the person who should sign the document, their title and email address (these are all optional fields), then click OK.
A large ‘X’ along with a line to sign on will now appear in your document. If you added details of the person who needs to sign it, these will also appear here (see screenshot below). You can then drag this signature box to wherever you want it on your document or spreadsheet. You can now repeat this process, adding as many signature lines as you need. document or spreadsheet. To change the properties on subsequent saves, open the File menu, then click Properties.
Customise your online Outlook toolbar
When you double-click an email in Microsoft’s online version of Outlook ( www.outlook.com – you’ll need a free Microsoft account to log in), the window that opens has three shortcut buttons at the top-right: Reply, Reply All and Forward. To add shortcuts for tools you use often, click the Settings button (cog icon, top-right corner), then ‘View all Outlook settings’ (bottom-right).
Next, select the Email tab, then ‘Customise actions’. Scroll to the ‘Message surface’ section, then choose from the available shortcuts. We’ve added ‘Show in immersive reader’ to ours, which lets us view emails in a distraction- free window and, by clicking the play button, even have them read out loud. As you add shortcuts, the preview window shows how they will look when reading emails (see screenshot below). Once you’ve made your changes, click the Save button, then close the Settings window.