Applying page numbers to an already existing document

[Dave M G]

OpenOffice.org forum,

I have a book of around 120 pages.

The first page is a title.

The second page is blank.

The third and fourth page are a Table of Contents, created with the Index/Table function.

On the fifth page, the content finally begins.

What I want to do is have the page numbers start displaying from page 5, but the numbering should start at 1.

The page numbers will be in the header, and be on the outer side depending on if the page is left or right.

I know all this is doable, as I've read various tutorials on the web. But, some parts of it elude me:

How do I apply left and right page formats throughout the document? Do I have to click on each and every page and apply a page style?

Applying page styles does not seem to work as expected. Instructions I have read say I need to click somewhere inside the page, and then double click on the desired page format from the list of formats. But when, for example, I click on any page in the body of my document, every page in the whole document takes on that style. The only page I have been able to apply a separate page style to is the very first page, to which I applied the "First Page" style. Other than that, I can't seem to get any one page to have it's own style.

Right now, I have some page numbers, and they don't display on the First Page, since it has a different style. But the numbering is still being counted so as to include the first page. How do I get the numbering to start counting from a selected page?

I hope someone can help me answer these questions. I think I've understood the online tutorials that I've seen as best I can at this point.

Thank you for your time.
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LibreOffice 3.4.5
Ubuntu 11.10

[squenson]

I suggest that you insert a Manual Break (menu Insert > Manual break...) at the top of the first page of the content, and select the Page radio button and the style you want, and in the box below type 1 as first page number.
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[Dave M G]

Thank you, that has enabled me to start the numbering at the right place.

The only place I'm stuck now is trying to get the page numbers to alternate sides.

No matter what I try in order to implement page styles, it always applies to every page, so that page numbers are always on the left, or always on the right. I can't get them to alternate.
_________________
LibreOffice 3.4.5
Ubuntu 11.10

[squenson]

Page numbering has generated tremendous discussions and you can look at this tutorial that answers most of the questions:
http://www.8daysaweek.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34
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[BillP]

[Dave M G]

Thank you.

To be honest, I thought I had done that before, but either I hadn't, or perhaps there was some other setting that was conflicting.

But just now I did it as you described, and it worked perfectly.

Thank you everyone for your help. My document is now formatted as I had hoped.
_________________
LibreOffice 3.4.5
Ubuntu 11.10