You can use the Lookup to find the definition of a highlighted word, or the Google Translate link to translate a phrase. At the top of the menu is a collection of reference tools.

The rest of the tools are far more promising. But, for the most part, these are the least useful or interesting of the Writer's Tool. Similarly, Word of the Day is the equivalent of one of those desktop calendars with a new word definition or quote for each day - although Popov does suggest on the Writer's Tools web page that you might use it to store words you found interesting. In the Word Hunt Game, for instance, you simply guess which of five words the extension has flagged. The games, however, are probably too simple for most people to return to them a second time. Opening the Writer's Tools menu after the extension is installed, you find more a list of 20 items, organized into natural divisions.Ī few of these items - the Word Hunt Game, the Q and A Game, the Letter Hunt Game, and Word of the Day feature - are simple diversions for when you want to take a quick break from the work. The extensive help that accompanies Writer's Tools gives you detailed instructions about how to modify the macros so that you can customize. Optionally, you can edit some Writer's Tools features - for instance, adding new links to the Lookup Tools. After installation, the database is largely transparent to the user, except for the dialogs that open to display the information stored in it.

To install the database, you need to open Tools -> Options -> Base -> Databases -> New. You can install the extension and templates using Tools -> Extension Manager, accessing the tools from a new top-level menu and the extensions from File -> New -> Templates and Documents -> Templates. Writer's Tools consists of three parts: The basic extension, a couple of templates, and a Java database for some of the included tools. It's a little rough in places, being only at version 0.9.27, and possibly a little idiosyncratic, but like Emacs, Writer's Tools is so varied that it undoubtedly has something for everyone, regardless of their writing habits. As the name suggests, Writer's Tools is a collection of various utilities that might be useful for writers. A case in point is Writer's Tools, an extension for Writer being developed by my fellow journalist Dimitri Popov, whose articles about macros have taught me most of what I know on the subject. One of the perqs of being a journalist is that I often hear about software and events before most people.

Extension openoffice writer