The Small Picture: More OpenOffice.org Extensions

Bruce Byfield — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:10:11 +0000

Every few weeks, I like to browse the OpenOffice.org Extensions site to see what is available, and what people are using.

New extensions that are both useful and well-designed seem to be getting few and far between. However, if you search patiently, you can still find extensions worth trying.

Below, in no particular order, are the extensions that I have explored in the past couple of months. None radically transform the office suite, and some work better than others, but all of them show some aspect of what can be done or needs to be done to make OpenOffice.org more efficient or convenient.

Last Session

One of my most frequently used Firefox extensions is Session Manager, which allows you to save and open groups of tabs. Last Session is the OpenOffice.org equivalent of Session Manager, and, as someone who regularly works with multiple documents open, I have found it just as essential.

Last Session (not to be confused with Last Session Multi, a Windows-only variant by the same developer) installs two buttons -- one labeled "S" for "Saved" and one "L" for "Load" in the Standard Toolbar. As you exit, you can press the S button to save your current session. then, when you start OpenOffice.org again, you can press the L button to reload all the files you had opened the last time you were in the program. Last Session will open windows from all OpenOffice.org applications.

Unlike Session Manager or Last Session Multi, Last Session lacks the ability to store multiple sessions. It also does not open in OpenOffice.org's initial menu, requiring you to open at least one file before you can load the rest. Still, within these limitations, Last Session is an extension well worth having.

Magenta Anonymous

You can easily forget the fact that OpenOffice.org uses personal data about you. If you fill out Tools -> Options -> User Data, adding your online and real life information, OpenOffice.org will access this information and automatically identify you as the creator of the file in File -> Property or when you edit a collaborative document.

However, if a document is posted on-line or passed along to someone else, you might prefer to guard whatever's left of your privacy these days and not have your name associated with a document -- especially one that's no longer in your control.

That's where Magenta Anonymous comes it. This extension adds a Remove User Information item to the File menu that you can press to remove your name from a document.

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The Small Picture: More OpenOffice.org Extensions