Hello to you all. Checking out iWork 09. Generally, I find it much better, but some limitations are still there. To the point: has anybody found a way to modify/erase the footnote separator line that Pages adds automatically when choosing to put footnotes at the end of a section? In Word you can do it, although, as usual in Word, in a cumbersome way.In Pages 08 you could not. Any luck in Pages 09?
When you open up the Inspector, go to the document tab and click the document button. There is a headline "Footnotes & Endnotes" with the preference "Space Between Notes". Just set it to 0 px and the space is gone.
Thanks a lot for your msg. The tip is useful anyhow; however the question is different. I am talking, not about the space between footnotes, but about the little short line that is inserted between the footnotes and the main text, when you select "Use section endnote" or "Use Footnotes". That, I can't get rid of, and a professional paper should not have it.
(1) fine feature, the FrameWorks are no longer specific to each program. There is a single set stored in:
<startupVolume>:Library:Application Support:iWork '09:Frameworks:
For me it's more important than for current users because I have two iWork '09 packages installed, one to run in French, one to run in English.
With iWork '08, I had six sets of FrameWorks, you had three sets.
With iWork '09 we have only one set.
(2) It seems that the 'annoying' separator is defined in a .nib file and these ones aren't editables.
Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mercredi 7 janvier 2009 14:34:20)
Ah, bummer. No solution then. Too bad they didn't think of this, it is quite elementary. One can always cover it with a white picture, but then you have to move it around every time you edit the doc...
This is one of those problems in Pages, like the problems with .Mac / MobileMe, that I get the feeling they don't care about and will at this point never, ever fix unless they are somehow publicly embarrassed. That's unlikely to happen in this context, and they clearly don't do demanding academic word processing over at Apple often enough to notice these things themselves.
Besides the absence of editability in footnote separators, I continue to be unhappy with the crude handling of long footnotes, which cannot cross pages and can, when occurring in reasonable numbers, completely mess up the look of a whole document. Every other word processor I know, from ClarisWorks to WriteNow to every known version of Word, counts this sort of footnote handling among its basic, unremarkable skills.
I think they are trying to address academicians, but they have to simply do it better. For ex, they added references support -- for whom, if not for researchers? But they didn't go all the way -- no template for scientific papers, no completely thought-out set of functions for academic word processing. But can you seriously say that MS did it? Word has more functions simply because they added them over the years crazy, in a completely silly way, ergonomically speaking. At least Pages is better thought in its grounds. Let's hope these issues are ironed out soon.
The "crude handling of long footnotes" is the one complaint/feature that has stopped me from migrating completely to Pages for my academic work. In my area (Humanities) long footnotes/endnotes are common (connecting to spread sheets is not) -- and the final print-out of a Pages document with footnotes looks awful. I have started in Pages and exported to Word but I'd like to just use Apple software, which I generally prefer. Mellel isn't bad, but its development has stalled. And there are other options, but come on Apple -- get with it on Pages.... you've got a willing customer who writes thousands of words a month! As Peter says, this is so basic I wonder how you haven't done it long ago. Maybe in the next update.... ? (ha, as if) And, by the way, those of you looking for an alternative to Endnote might want to check out Bookends....
Thanks for the postings. I agree with all what was said. Off topic, but, yes: Bookends: much less expensive than EndNote and better designed. That's what we use.
In general, I think it woulnd't be a terrible effort on the part of Apple to iron out all these little issues that block us from moving away from other software. Although admittedly university people are a minority, they use these programs intensively! Do post improvement suggestions to the Apple site. One day or another somebody will listen and we will free ourself entirely of MS Office.
Well, I read that: (2) It seems that the 'annoying' separator is defined in a .nib file and these ones aren't editables.
have you Developer folder installed on your HD? I think the app. Interface Builder can edit .nib files. Chjeck it out!
I already wrote that they aren't editable with Interface Builder.
There is a kind of protection disabling the feature.
Of course if someone knows a way to get rid of it, I am interested.
Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE jeudi 8 janvier 2009 13:32:36)
My reflection over the long footnootes is exactly the same of that of RTMcC.
I obstinately searched for a way to figure it out, and all I found is a sort of acrobacy. Acrobacy, yes, but it works, so I report in here. Maybe someone could appreciate it.
The problem that Pages cant' solve is the handling of long footnotes through two pages. Every note has to stay in the same page in which it's created, so the space in the main text is generated in order to put the row with the note in the next page, when in the original page there's enogh space to host it.
Well, I tried this. I divided in two parts the long footnote, as well as the original page can host the fist part. After this, I created a personal note in the first row of the other page and put in the second part of the note, erasing the symbol in the note and changing in white the symbol's color in the main text. So the two parts will look as the original long note, spanning from one page to the other.
Naturrally, it could be necessary make same editing in sequence, because the page that hosts the second part of the note could become too full for another long note that's in its main text. So the tip could be repeated till every page is acceptable.
Complicated, but if the problem occurs not so many times in the text it could work. In may dissertation this problem has occurred about five times. We can make it.
