Template Manager LibreOffice

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This page demonstrates all the features of the Template Manager for versions 5.2 and later.

Many Linux distros come with older versions of LibreOffice, version 5.1 or older.

Some of the features in Template Manager of those versions have carried over to the latest versions.

This page will point out the features that are in version 5.1 that have been carried over to the updated version, and the differences between the old and the current versions.

To open the manager:

1. Click the File menu
2. Highlight the Templates sub-menu
3. Click Manage Templates

The drop-down menus across the top of the Template Manager (or Templates) are used to help you choose from different templates for different purposes. The search field helps you find templates by keywords.

The first drop-down menu allows you to see templates based on the type of document.

• Documents: These are templates that can be opened with Writer.
• Spreadsheets: These are templates that can be opened with Calc.
• Presentations: These are templates that can be opened with Impress.
• Drawings: These are templates that can be opened with Draw.

The second drop-down menu is for other categories.

It has those that are included with the installation. These can be renamed, and new categories can be added to the list.

Adding and renaming will be covered in the next section.

Here are the categories that come with the installations:

• All Categories
• My Templates
• Business Correspondence
• Imported_Templates
• Other Business Documents
• Personal Correspondence and Documents
• Presentation Backgrounds
• Presentations
• styles

For both these drop-down menus, simply click on one of them then click an item in the list.

In the search field, start typing text and corresponding templates will appear. The drop-down menus can be used with the search field.

If you type in a keyword that makes certain templates appear, you can filter those templates further by choosing the type of document and/or a category from the drop-down menus. You also can use the filters, then type terms in the search fields.

In version 5.1, you need to click the magnifying glass icon to make the search field appear.

Perhaps the categories in the second drop-down menu are not to your liking. The names of the installed categories don’t have useful names, or you need new categories.

There is an icon in the bottom, left of the window that has several choices for categories. In some operating systems, it is two bars with two circles. In others, it is a gear.

Clicking it reveals the following choices:

• New Category
• Rename Category
• Delete Category
• Refresh

New Category
Clicking this item opens a window, where you can type in a name of a new category. After typing the desired category name, click the OK button.

The new category will appear in the bottom of the second drop-down menu. The newest category appears at the bottom of the list.

Rename Category
The first step is to choose the category you want to rename in the second drop-down menu. For example, if you wanted to change Business Correspondence, select it in the menu.

Then click the bottom, left menu, and click the Rename Category. A window will appear with Business Correspondence in the text box.

Click the text and type a new name. Then click the OK button.

Delete Category
Click the icon in the bottom, left of the window. Then click Delete Category. This opens a Delete Category window.

In the window, click the name of the category you want to delete. You can only click one at a time. Then click the OK button.

A dialog appears asking: Do you you want to delete the selected folders? Click the Yes button.

Refresh
Clicking this button updates any changes to the template manager without closing and reopening it. This is useful if templates have been edited and were stored in an external drive or a directory connected to the Internet.

Now that you have the categories you want, you can add and organize the templates the way you want them. The next two sections cover this.

In version 5.1, the gear drop-down menu has a Refresh item. It also has a Sort by name item.

There is an icon of the world in the bottom, left of the window. Click it and it will launch this Website in your computer’s default browser.

This Website has many templates and allows you to search through them and download them. It also contains extensions that enhance LibreOffice.

Click the Templates tab, if it is not already selected. Use the Search field at the top, right of the Website or click one of the categories in the right column to find a desired template.

Click on the desired selection to go to the page for that template. Then click the link to download it.

You will need to Import the Template next. This is covered in the Exporting and Importing templates section.

There are two icons to at the bottom, right of the window: Export and Import.

Export
This allows you to place a template in one of your directories. It could be a local folder such as Documents, a connected USB drive, or a folder that is connected to the Internet, such as Dropbox.

First select the template you want to export. You can select multiple templates, but they need to be visible at the same time, so they will be in the same category.

Selecting multiple templates
To select templates that are next to each other, click the desired template that is on the highest row and is the farthest template to the left. Hold down the Shift key. Then move the cursor to the template to the right of it. Then click the left mouse button.

To select templates that are not next to each other, click one of the desired templates. Then hold down the Ctrl button (Cmd key on Mac keyboard). Then click the other desired templates one by one.

Next click the Export icon. This either will open the open window for the operating system, or it will open a Set Path window. Both have the same function to access the different directories in or connected to your computer.

Mac launches an open window. Fedora and Windows have Select Path window.

Set Path or Open window
Either an Open or Set Path window lists directories and sub-directories. These include local folders, connected USB drives and SD cards, and directories connected to the Internet, such as Google Drive.

Select the desired directory. Double click a directory or click the arrow to the left of it to reveal its sub-directories. Click the OK button. A window appears saying that “#” templates successfully exported. Click the OK button.

Import
Click the Import icon. This will open the Select Category window. It has a list of the current categories and a text field where you can enter a new category.

To import a template to one of the other categories in the list, click the desired category. Then click the OK button.

After you click the OK button, an Open window appears. Through it you can search your computer’s directory to find the template you want to import.

Once you find the directory the template is located in, click the template. Then click the Open button. This will add the new template to the category you selected or created.

Version 5.1 also has an import icon. When it is clicked, the open window in your operating system.

When you select a template in version 5.1, the following icons appear at the top of the window:

• Open
• Edit
• Properties
• Set as Default
• Move to Folder
• Export
• Delete

When you select more than one template, the choices are Move to Folder, Export, and Delete. 

The updated Template Manager has several features that the old version does not have. Two of the features that were not carried over are sorting by name and folders.

Categories are covered in the next section. This has replaced folders.

The Template Manager allows you to move templates from one category to another. You can move more than one template at a time.

To select templates that are next to each other, click the desired template that is on the highest row and is the farthest template to the left. Hold down the Shift key.

Then move the cursor to the template to the right of it. Then click the left mouse button.

To select templates that are not next to each other, click one of the desired templates. Then hold down the Ctrl button (Cmd key on Mac keyboard). Then click the other desired templates one by one.

When all the desired templates are selected, click the Move button in the bottom, right of the window.

Select Category

This will open the Select Category window. It has a list of the current categories and a text field where you can enter a new category.

Click the desired category. If you want to move them to a new category, type the name of the new category in the text field. Then click the OK button. The templates will be moved.

However, templates that come with the installation cannot be moved to a different category. They will be copied instead, so templates will now be in two categories.

A window will appear when this is the case, stating “Business card-with-logo could not be moved to the category “Presentations”.

Do you want to copy the template instead?”

In version 5.2, there is another drop-down menu at the bottom, left of the window in some versions of LibreOffice, called Repository.

Clicking it lets you choose between local resources and those on remote servers, such as Google Drive.

According to a blog about LibreOffice’s versions, the feature was removed in version 5.3 because the code was “dead and buggy” and previews for remote templates could not be downloaded.

This is also the same as the Remote File feature that has been in versions 5.1 and later.