Template Selector LibreOffice Impress
The Template Manager is used to keep track of all the templates that you have associated with your LibreOffice installations. These templates include ones for Writer, Calc, Draw, and Impress.
They are especially useful for creating new presentations in Impress.
With version 5.3, LibreOffice offers a Template Manager-like interface. It is called the Template Selector.
It doesn’t have as many features as the Template Manager, but it is designed to be launched when a new presentation document is created.
It shares the following features with the template manager:
- Search text box and categories drop-down menu
- Import feature
The Selector can be turned off, so it doesn’t launch when a new presentation is created. Simply click the box next to “Show this dialog at startup” so there is no check in it. The next time you create a presentation, a blank presentation will appear.
To set the Selector so it launches when a new presentation is created:
- Options window setting
Search field and categories drop-down
Like the Template Manager, the Selector has two drop-down menus: one for the document type and one for the different categories. Unlike the Manager, the document types one is inactive. This is because the Selector is only for presentations.
The second drop-down menu is the same as the One in the Manager. Both have the same categories in the second drop-down list. If you add a new category to one, it will be added to the other.
The categories that come with LibreOffice:
- All Categories
- My Templates
- Business Correspondence
- Imported_Templates
- Other Business Documents
- Personal Correspondence and Documents
- Presentation Backgrounds
- Presentations
- styles
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 from the drop-down menus. You also can use the categories filter, then type terms in the search field.
Import feature
Templates imported through the Selector will also appear in the Manager.
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.
If you want to create a new category, first select the None item. Then type the desired category name in the “Create a New Category” field. 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.
Options window setting
The Template Selector can be set to launch when creating a new presentation through the Options window in Impress. Perform the following steps with an open presentation.
- Click the Tools menu, if you are using Windows or a Linux distro. For Mac users, click the LibreOffice menu.
- Windows and Linux distro users, click the Options item. For Mac it will be Preferences. This launches the Options window, which has settings for Impress and the suite as a whole.
- Click the arrow to the left LibreOffice Impress in the left column.
- Click on the General item.
- Under the New Document section, put a check in the Start with Template Selection box.
- Click the OK button.
The next time you create a presentation the Selector Template will appear first. Now let’s look at the wizard and its steps.