This is a place to share notes and ask questions.

This is a place to share notes and ask questions.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

OPENOFFICE + LIBREOFFICE

Apache Open Office is free word processing software. You may download it for free in the version compatible for your computer and operating system—Microsoft, Mac, and Linux. 

https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Open Office provides the option to turn off widow and orphan controls. Seriously. It's free

I believe Libre Office, which is also free, offers the same feature. 

https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/



Friday, January 12, 2018

WIDOW/ORPHAN

  • Widow: A paragraph-ending line that falls at the beginning of the following page/column, thus separated from the rest of the text.
  • Orphan: A paragraph-opening line that appears by itself at the bottom of a page/column.
Both MLA and APA (the two most common manuscript formats you are likely to be required to use in college) require widow control to be turned off. Microsoft Word is still the gold star program for word processing. You may find it is given to you free or for a small fee when you enter college. Take advantage of that opportunity, if it is available. 

I have not yet researched the reviewed programs below, but there are free word-processing programs available (see post above). The features of programs suggested may or may not include widow/orphan disconnect. Complaints about GoogleDocs failing to provide this feature date back several years. Nevertheless, GoogleDocs does provide safe storage and access to documents from any device. So there is that. 

Here is a link to one review: https://www.thebalance.com/free-word-processors-1356338


A review of cross-platform programs: https://www.investintech.com/articles/tenwordalternatives/


NOTE that all of this alternative software appears to be free. You will likely find others, if you search.