Spacing between footnote number (symbol?) and footnote

[Madbeppo]

I am using NeoOffice 2.2.4 Patch 2 on a MacBook Pro OS 10.5.2.

The document was a Word file, which I am now editing in NeoOffice.

I cannot formate properly the space between the footnote number, which I believe is called the footnote symbol, and the beginning of the footnote text.

I have been going to Styles and Formatting, choosing Page Styles, control-clicking on Footnote, choosing modify, and in the Footnote tab of the Page Style window I have increased the space to text first to .20", then to .30".

However, all the above seems to have no effect. When I make a new footnote, the text of the footnote always begins immediately after the footnote symbol.

Any suggestions?

[James3359]

'Space to text' and 'Spacing to footnote contents' on the footnote tab of the Page formatting pane both alter the vertical distance between text/ footnote/ separator line.

To adjust the horizontal distance between the number and the footnote for a single footnote you need to have your cursor in the footnote and then choose Format>Paragraph... In the Paragraph pane select the Indents & Spacing tab. The gap is set by adjusting the 'Indent - Before text' and 'Indent - First line' numbers. The 'Indent - First line' will normally be the negative of the 'Indent - First line' number.

If you want to do it for all footnotes that you insert then you need to edit your Paragraph Style for Footnotes. Choose Format>Styles and Formatting and then select Footnote in the paragraph styles list. Ctrl-click or right click the Footnote item and select Modify from the little drop-down. This will bring up the Paragraph Style pane (very similar to the Paragraph pane (above) again you want to select the Indents & Spacing tab and then set the gap as described above.

Hope this helps.

[Madbeppo]

Thanks, Captain James, but I have followed your recommendations, and in particular:

Paragraph Style > Footnote > Indents-and-spacing > Indent

"Before text" moves footnote number-and-body together; it does not change the distance between number and text.

"After text" has no effect; perhaps because I do not have the footnotes Justified.

"First line" has the same effect as "Before text" for the first line.

Character Style > Footnote has nothing to help.

Is there something I am overlooking in "Paragraph Style > Footnote > Indents-and-spacing" ?
Page Style > Footnote > Space to text, as you say, changes the distance between the text body and the footnotes [/i][/b]

[James3359]

What follows assumes you are working with Left to Right text. You will need to reverse it for Right to Left Text.

The Before text figure sets the gap between the left margin and the beginning of the text.

The After text item sets the gap between the end of the text and the right margin (the sort of thing you might want to use for a block quotation for example).

The First line indent affects the positioning of the text in the first line relative to where the rest of the text in the paragraph begins. Setting it to a negative number means that the first line begins to the left (in L to R text) of the following lines.

For footnotes the First line indent must be set to a negative number - usually the negative of the number set for the Before text indent. Both numbers (Before text indent AND First Line indent) should be set.

If you set the Before text figure to 0.5 cm (say) and the First line indent to –0.5cm then your footnote symbol will appear lined up to the margin with a gap of 0.5cm to the footnote text. If you adjust those figures to 0.8 and -0.8 respectively then it will be a gap of 0.8cm.

If you set the first figure to 0.8 and the second to -0.5 then the footnote symbol will be 0.3cm to the right of the margin with the text a further 0.5cm to the right of the symbol.

If you set the first figure to 0.5 and the second to -0.8 the footnote text will begin 0.5cm to the right of the margin and the footnote symbol will be 0.3cm to the left of the margin and possibly not visible as a result.

If you are not getting these results then there is something unusual in your set up, or my communication skills are not what they should be.

[Madbeppo]

At last, at last! Yes, previously in following your instructions I failed to get the right combination of fields and pluses and minuses.

[Madbeppo]

Dear Captain,

Having followed your instructions, my footnotes now seem to format themselves with the right distance between the footnote number and text—*unless* I have copied text from the body to the footnote, in which case the copied text appears right next to the number.

This is bothersome, because I am doing an edition of a medieval text, and so I am frequently copying text from the body to use as "lemmata" in the footnotes.

Any suggestions?[/i][/b]

[James3359]

I am guessing that what is happening is that your pasted text is bringing its own formatting with it and overriding the Footer's formatting. What happens if you choose Edit>Paste Special... and select Unformatted text? For Footnotes where the problem already exists, you could try selecting the whole content of the footnote and then choose Format>Styles and Formatting and then double click the Footnote style from the table to apply it.