Survey on LibreOffice features
Due to its long history, LibreOffice has accumulated a staggering amount of features. Maintaining these features is not free, and having a massive amount of features may blur the focus of the software. In order to steer the development and to focus on the more important aspects we prepared a survey that investigates how often some features are used.
Thanks to the awesome localization team the survey is available in many languages: Basque, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Slovenian, and Turkish. So no excuse to quickly answer a few simple yes/no questions. Thanks a lot in advance for your input.
Start the survey at https://survey.documentfoundation.org/492228
The results are reported at https://design.blog.documentfoundation.org/2017/06/28/results-survey-libreoffice-features/
Please spread the word. Since some of the features are likely not used by a majority we get reliable results only with a large number of replies.
I have doubts about the survey, because the answers can be misinterpreted according to my point of view. For example, my answer is “no” about using the last year the integrated bibliography module, but it is because I find it not very useful as it is now, but if I consider it a feature that should be improved in LibreOffice.
Thanks for the survey. In my opinion, some of the features listed are power user features and therefore, it is questionable what the survey results will tell you.
For example, for academic output, the EPS format is often the only format to exchange vector data. SVG is still not widely accepted and WMF/EMF are frequently flawed. Hence, EPS is an important format for a certain number of power users.
Come on
Just transform them in extensions and let time decide
“Just transform”, yeah sure, I guess you’ll get that done in less than three weeks, so when can we expect your code?
I will go to answer the survey, but please stop adding new feature for next year and concentrate resources to give more stability to the full LO product, Calc and Write in first order. There are numerous bugs that do note get the attention they should need.
+1
Please enable better *default* grammar support in LibreOffice based on the preferred programming language of LibreOffice (i.e. C++ not Java).
Perhaps investment in converting LanguageTool from Java to C++ to enable LanguageTool to be available in the default LibreOffice installation:
https://extensions.libreoffice.org/extensions/languagetool
https://www.languagetool.org/
https://github.com/languagetool-org/
Please forward this idea to the ESC.
What do you think?
Thank you
Self-reported surveys strike me as an unreliable measure for this sort of thing.
Surely opt-in telemetry would be appropriate, something that feeds back what functions in LO were actually used. The incentive for the user to participate being: this way the devs know the functions I rely on really are being used.
If you volunteer on the implementation part and how the tremendous telemetry data are stored I’d love to present a new analysis every week. We had a tender that could get resurrected but back then no one applied, AFAIK https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2015/12/16/tender-to-develop-and-incorporate-usability-metrics-collection-for-libreoffice-201512-02/
This sadly founders on me not being a dev :-)
The survey is too oriented to be useful.
For example I don’t care at all about draw in general, it’s a poor vector graphic tool, but I do care about importing svgs from inkscape and the noun project, which libreoffice is terrible at.
Libreoffice only cares about windows closed graphic tool chains and does not try to build a real free software ecosystem (which it would only be one part of). Interfacing well with other free software tools would go a long way to increase the value of Libreoffice. Trying to recreate everything within Libreoffice is not going to end well.
I have closed the survey, because I have not used one of the functions directly because I didn’t know there was the option to use it, not because I didn’t have a use for it!
To be clear, I was using notepad++ (or Sigil before they removed the buttom to see both text and code at the same time) to see the code under documents saved as html because if you create the html document by saving or open any other, it doesn’t show on the menu bar.
I took the survey, but in my view:
1-Stability comes first.
2-Concentrate on Calc, Writer, Impress and base, in this order.
3-Improve the compatibility with MS Office formats (you know, you have to deal with those from time to time, especially if you work with other people who just stick with MS products).
Thanks for your great work.
1. Enable recording macros in “LibreOffice Basic” format in LibreOffice Calc
LibreOffice Calc → “Tools” menu → “Macros” item → Add “Record” item
2. Improve “Visual Basic for Applications” (VBA) conversion to “LibreOffice Basic”
LibreOffice Calc → “Tools” menu → “Options… Alt+F12” item → Load/Save → VBA Properties
Perhaps these can help:
a) “gsf-vba-dump – extract Visual Basic for Applications macros” installed by default in the core LibreOffice installation?
b) https://www.decalage.info/vba_tools
What do you think?
Thank you
Please resolve the “EPS” problems, this issue drive me crazy. How can it be so difficult to have to include images in the text with you? I had to solve it with google docs. Insane
I answered the survey. Nevertheless, I think that it should have a field regarding people background or main use of Libreoffice.
In hindsight that would have been a good idea. But the question was clearly restricted to the usage with the expectation that many users would answer No. The intermediate results are… interesting :-). So stay tuned.
One of the most features i liked from LO, is the “export to pdf” from the buttom, or in the options.
But generate a pdf with de menú options: print >print from postscript to pdf.
I vote no.
I think this is a diferent function, i don’t know, but the export documents to pdf, is one of the functions of i chose libreoffice a few year ago.
Good questions on this survey, i hope your can focus on the develpment, and i helpful with yours for do this great job! :)
We deliberately asked “How often in the last year”, and in respect to Postscript it was clearly explained what is meant (to intentionally switch off the print as PDF option). Export to PDF is not challenged, anyway.