How to Create Bookmarks with OpenOffice Writer

When you think of inserting a link in your OpenOffice Writer document, most people think of a hyperlink to a website. However, you can also create links to other parts of the same document. Why would you want to do this? For short documents, such as a three page document, links are not that beneficial. For a longer document, such as an ebook, links, also called bookmarks, are a major time saver.

Getting Started

The best way to create bookmarks in OpenOffice Writer is to first create a list of bookmarks, such as a table of contents. This page will be near the beginning of your document for easy access. You can also create a glossary or index at the end of your document. No matter how you want to do it, having all your bookmark links in one place makes it easier for your reader to find exactly what they need quickly.

Once your bookmark page is created, complete the rest of your document. Until you have the rest of your document written, it is hard to know exactly where to link your bookmarks. For instance, in an ebook, it is hard to guess where Chapter 2 will start until it is written. You can create bookmarks as your write, though.

Create a Bookmark

When you are ready to create your first bookmark, place your cursor at the beginning of the text or line you want to bookmark. For instance, in an ebook, you would likely create a bookmark for each chapter. In this example, you would place your cursor at the beginning of Chapter 1 and repeat the process for each chapter. You can divide bookmarks up however works best for your document.

Select the Insert menu and choose Bookmark. Enter a name for your bookmark in the first textbox. The name can be anything you want, but to make the next step easier, use a descriptive name. For chapters, you may want to use the chapter name or chapter number.

Press OK to add the bookmark to your document. Every new bookmark you add will be listed in the textbox below the bookmark name box. Delete a bookmark at any time by first selecting it from the list and choosing Delete.

Link to a Bookmark

Creating a bookmark does you little good unless you link to it. Navigate to your bookmark list page that you created initially. Highlight the text that matches your first bookmark. This text will serve as your hyperlink. Press the Hyperlink button or choose Insert and select Hyperlink.

Select Document from the left side of the screen. Beside the Target box, press the button that looks like a target. Select Bookmarks from the list. Choose the correct bookmark from the displayed list. Press Apply.

If you have multiple bookmarks, this method can become tedious. Luckily, you never have to close the Hyperlink window. If you have used descriptive names that are easy to remember, you don't actually have to select Bookmarks either.

To continue, click your document and highlight the next bookmark text. This refreshes the Hyperlink window. In the Target text box, enter the # symbol plus the name of your bookmark. For the bookmark Chapter 2, you would enter the text #Chapter 2. Press Apply. Repeat this process. Please note that the name of the bookmark must be spelled exactly as it was original created. For Chapter 2, you couldn't type chapter 2 or chapter2.

Adding bookmarks is much quicker this way. It also prevents skipping bookmarks in your bookmark list. After you've adding your bookmarks, click each link to make certain it works. Mainly, make certain it links to the correct spot in your document.