How to unprotect a Master document to be able to edit it directly

10 Rabiulakhir 1432H

For those who have written a thesis or a novel, they're pretty familiar or at least have and idea of what a Master document is. Previously I've had the experience of writing a thesis using Microsoft Word (Word), and am currently using OpenOffice Writer (Writer).

Personally, i think Writer isn't as user-friendly as Word. Changes made in Writer's Master document freezes when applying changes such as updating links or scrolling. But then again it could be because my file is loaded with pictures, links, texts, pages, graphs, etc.

One thing i like about Word's Master document is that, you can straight away edit the document there and then. As for Writers's Master document, you'd have to open the sub-document in another window, edit there, probably save it, then update the Master document -- you can't simply edit the Master document directly. That's what i thought until i found out the reason why it is so wickedly complex... my Writer's Master document is write-protected! And there was no clue what was going on or what to do!

I know it's protected because the Formatting toolbar is grayed-out (Pic 1) and no matter how furiously you click *and lash-out*, nothing happens. Also when you try to type something, you get a warning (Pic 2).

Pic 1 - Formatting toolbar is locked.

Pic 2 - Write-protect warning. Readonly content cannot be changed. No modifications will be accepted.


Here's how to remove the protection on your sub-documents so that you can directly edit them in the Master document.


1. From the toolbar, click Format > Sections.... See Pic 3.

Pic 3 - Refer Step 1.


2. A pop-up window appears. In the Edit Sections pop-up window, under the Section section, select the document you want to unprotect. See Pic 4.

My document is named 22. Appendices.odt.

Pic 4 - Refer Step 2, 3, and 4. Edit Sections pop-up window.


3. Still in the Edit Sections pop-up window, under the Write Protection section, there is a Protected option with a tick-box next to it. Untick this box. Then click the OK button. See Pic 4.


4. You will notice that the Formatting toolbar is no longer grayed-out (Pic 5), which means you can now edit straight from the Master document.

Pic 5 - Refer Step 4. The Formatting toolbar is now accessible!

How to remove custom fonts (user fonts) on Ubuntu

Update: 3 January 2011 / 28 Muharam 1432H, Is.

24 Muharam 1432H

After clicking the Install Font button, see Pic 1, and trying out a new font, it turns out that that new font isn't what i want on my list of fonts. But how does one remove it?

Pic 1 - The Install Font button. Easy to install, hardly know how to uninstall :p


Before removing the unwanted font, Pic 2:

Pic 2 - The unwanted font shown in OpenOffice.org Writer. Before removing.


After removing the unwanted font, Pic 3:

Pic 3 - The unwanted font shown in OpenOffice.org Writer. After removing.


Like any seasoned Windows user, i did go through the fonts file, see Pic 4, but couldn't find the font i want to delete. By the way, the file is located here:
File System > usr > share > fonts.

Pic 4 - Locating the fonts folder in Ubuntu.


So, i did some searching and found these to be helpful:
- How to remove installed fonts in Ubuntu
- How to Delete Ubuntu Fonts

Turns out that a font installed using the Install Font button is referred to as custom fonts or user fonts.

Here, i refined the explanations.


1. Run the Terminal. The Terminal, shown in Pic 6, is located here:
Panel > Applications > Accessories > Terminal. See Pic 5.

Pic 5 - Refer Step 1. Running the Terminal from the menu.

Pic 6 - The Terminal, freshly loaded.


2. Type in the command as follow:

cd /home/username/.fonts

Source: How to remove installed fonts in Ubuntu

Refer Pic 7.

Pic 7 - Refer Step 2. Changing directory to the fonts folder.


3. Change the part username in Step 2 to your username. Mine is aisha. See Pic 8.

In my case, it's:

cd /home/aisha/.fonts

Then press the Enter button. A new command line appears as shown in Pic 9.

Pic 8 - Refer Step 3. Changing the username in the command.

Pic 9 - Refer Step 3. We are now in the fonts folder.


4. To see the list of items in the fonts folder, type the command as follow:

ls

Source: How to remove installed fonts in Ubuntu

Refer Pic 10. Then press the Enter button. A list of custom fonts appears, similar to Pic 11.

Pic 10 - Refer Step 4. Adding command to see the list of items in the fonts folder.

Pic 11 - Refer Step 4. List of user fonts installed in my laptop.


5. From the list, similar to as seen in Pic 11, look for the font(s) you want to remove. Then type in the the command as follow:

rm

Source: How to remove installed fonts in Ubuntu

followed by the name of the font(s) you want to remove. The are two ways to add the font name:

1. You can either type-in the name, or
2. Highlight the name. Press Ctrl+Shift+C to copy. Then press Ctrl+Shift+V to paste.

Then press the Enter button.

In my case, i want to remove the Arabic Typesetting font. So, my command, as shown in Pic 12, will be like this:

rm arabtype.ttf

Pic 12 - Refer Step 5. Adding the command to remove the unwanted font(s).


6. Upon pressing the Enter button in Step 5, a new line to confirm the removal appears. Refer Pic 13.

To proceed with the removal, type in:

y

then press the Enter button, see Pic 14. Then command line seen in Pic 9 appears, also shown in Pic 15. The removal process is completed.

Pic 13 - Refer Step 6. Confirmation required.

Pic 14 - Refer Step 6. Removal confirmed.

Pic 15 - Refer Step 6. Unwanted font has been removed.

Greyed-out Thesaurus button in OpenOffice.org Writer after upgrading to Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat)

9 Zulhijjah 1431H

After upgrading from Ubuntu 9.04 Karmic Koala to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, i noticed that in OpenOffice Writer, the Thesaurus button is greyed-out. It's not working!

After some searching, i found the solution here:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=16512

Before discovering the solution, i was half-way done but couldn't put things together to overcome the problem all together.

1. Go here,
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/en/dictionaries
to download the dictionary/thesaurus.

2. Open the OpenOffice Writer.

3. Click Tools > Extension Manager... .

4. Click the Add... button

5. Go to the location where the file was downloaded. Usually it's in the Download folder.

6. Select the downloaded file then click the Open button.

7. Allow the extension to be installed.

8. Click the Close button to close the Extension Manager window.

9. Close all running OpenOffice.org Writer to restart.

10. Open OpenOffice.org Writer. Give Writer a few seconds to load. Check whether the Thesaurus button is up and running.