Hi ccasteyde,

thanks for using and suporting OpenOffice...

Do you think of a mode in which you can see the structure of the
document (Headings,...)??
If you do: This is what the Navigator is designed for...
Please have a little look to the help pages...

reassigned to mci

No, this is not what I mean. 
The 'plan mode' (sorry, I do not the exact 
english term) is a display mode in which 
the document window contains all headings 
and in which the user can type the structure 
of its document. The contents of the paragraphs 
are not shown (nearly as code folding in good 
programmer's editor) but is still there. 
 
It's really convenient to lay out the document 
(ie : to make the document "plan") and to get 
the general ideas that must be detailed after, 
or to reorganize the document (not only 
by changing the title levels, but by moving them 
for instance - which moves also all the hidden 
text that belongs to that section). 
 
The navigator doesn't help much there, since 
it can only change the title levels, not move them 
around in the document, and neither introduce new 
sections. In fact, it's useless (and by the way, 
changing the title level doesn't work either, 
a level 2 title transformed in a level 1 title 
cannot be changed back to a level 2 title if 
there is another level 2 title after it). 
 
See how MS Word and Amipro use this mode, it's 
quite difficult to tell how it works. I'll post 
a MS Word screenshot tomorrow if I don't forget. 
 
CC 
 

reassigned to bh

@ bh:  Maybe you know what submitter wants/means...

Created attachment 11535 [details]
sample of plan mode in Impress

Well, I do not have Word here and I cannot do the screenshot. 
However, I noticed OO Impress does have what I would like 
to use with Writer. 
 
This is the view mode in which the frames are shown 
in text mode only. Each title level is shown with 
different bold and text size, and I can hide the lower 
levels and show them. If I could access this mode within 
writer (and to hide / show paragraphs, subsections, sections, 
etc. as in Impress), this would be the mode I tried to describe. 
 
I append an Impress screenshot to show what I mean. 
Sorry, the program UI is french (and I forgot to deactivate 
the speller). I draw the main tools for this mode, 
which seems to already exist in OpenOffice (but that I couldn't 
get in Writer). The navigator aims at doing that, but it is only 
a toolbar, and it isn't possible to hide some levels with it 
(not working for me at least), nor to simplify the document view 
(suppress all formatting attributes and show only the content). 
 
CC 

Well, as I explained my feature request while registering for OO 2.0, I   
thought I was more precise this time to explain what I mean.   
  
The navigator gives effectively a way to restructure the document, by moving  
sections of the document up and down and by changing eventually the title  
level (and recursively moving what is in the section/chapter). But to be as  
usefull as the way Word does this, it should let the user make drags and  
drops, and it should be possible to do the same thing without having to open  
another window (ie: while typing the document itself).  
  
The plan mode works as is. For instance, let's have a document with the  
following structure:  
Chapter1  
   SectionA 
     Para-a 
     Para-b 
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
 
Suppose you want to move SectionA to Chapter2. You can do that with the 
navigator. But suppose it is easier to: 
1. Fold the whole section (this implies a section folding functionnality, as 
in several programming text editors, once again): 
 
Chapter1  
   +SectionA 
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
 
2. Drag and drop the Section A to the Chapter2: 
Chapter1  
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
   +SectionA 
 
And now, if you want to change SectionA to Chapter level, simply do the 
following: 
1. Place the caret just at the top of Section A: 
Chapter1  
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
   +|SectionA 
 
2. Press MAJ+TAB: 
Chapter1  
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
+|ChapterA 
 
And now, if you want to transform Chapter1 in section, but leave SectionB at 
the level "Section". Do the following: 
1. Do not fold the Chapter1 (to not apply the following command to the chapter 
and its sections): 
|Chapter1  
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
+ChapterA 
 
2. Press TAB: 
   |Section1  
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
+ChapterA 
 
3. Type a new title for the Chapter1, since the sections are out of a chapter: 
Chapter1 
   |Section1  
   SectionB 
     Para-c 
Chapter2 
+ChapterA 
 
Why is this easier than using the navigator? I never used an external tool. I 
kept in the editing Window, and could change my document structure just in 
time, while I was editing it. 
 
The navigator let you restructure the document once you typed it, while Word  
let you type and restructure in same time, without being compelled to any  
external tool. 
 
This is a usability problem (there are several problems with modeless dialog 
boxes by the way, for instance:  
- find/next is easier to do with Find First command followed by F3 shortcut  
(find next), as many programming text editors do, with the possibility to hide  
or even close the find dialog box ;  
- revision marks are easier to see, accept and refuse with a toolbar and by  
showing them in a side bar, as in recent Words, rather than opening a modeless  
dialog box that always hides some parts of the document ;  
- same remarks for comment review ;  
- and of course for text restructuration. 
).  
 
Please note that the Navigator is a great tool too, because when you have 
FINISHED your document, it is coherent to have a tool to do the specific task 
of reorganizing. 
 
I just noticed, while explaining the behaviour of this editing mode, that the 
chapter/section/subsection folding is a must have and is sufficient to remove 
the need of the navigator in many cases. I also just noticed that the 
navigator doesn't work when you change a section's level and it is auto 
numbered: the numbering is wrong after. I'll fill another feature request and 
a bug. 
 
Hope I was more precise this time... 

To grep the issues easier via "requirements" I put the issues currently lying on
my owner to the owner "requirements". 

Writer is WYSIWYG