<SOLVED> Odd behavior with previously created Libre Office Impress presentations

[bearzlos]

Hello. I'm brand new to Mint (using Mint 19) but have used Libre Office Impress for several years with SuSE. Now I'm having a problem that's just got me baffled and I've not been able to find anyone who has described a similar problem in these forums or in Google.

I've copied my presentations to the new computer. They play just fine in Mint 19, including videos I had imbedded in the existing presentations. But I cannot edit the slides. Though I try clicking in the text in the slides I never get a flashing "line" cursor that allows editing. All I see is what looks like a hand, or maybe it's a fist?

Interestingly the text I had written into the "Notes" boxes below the slides can be edited. It's just the text and pictures within the slides that cannot.

For a test I created a new slide, added some text and inserted a picture, and then saved it. When I reopened the test slide I could get into it and edit both the text and the picture.

So it's only my previously created Impress presentations that will not edit within the slides -- only the "Notes" below the slides.

I'm guessing there is probably a setting somewhere that I need to tick or untick. The solution is probably so simple I'll kick myself once realized, but for now I'm just stuck.

Is there any console output I can provide that might help?

Thanks for your wisdom.
bearzlos

[richyrich]

Try this:
If you open the File Manager and navigate to one of your Impress presentation files, right-click on it, and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
Go to the Permissions tab.
How are the permissions set ?
Change them to your username if thay are not set as such.

[bearzlos]

Try this:
If you open the File Manager and navigate to one of your Impress presentation files, right-click on it, and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
Go to the Permissions tab.
How are the permissions set ?
Change them to your username if thay are not set as such.

Thanks for this suggestion. I had already investigated that but without results. My permissions are set as:

Owner: <my name> (I am the only one who uses this computer)
Access: Read and Write

Group: <my name>
Access: Read-only
Access: Read-only

Changing the settings for Group did not make a difference.

I looked under Administration>Users and Groups to check that my name is there and is the same as I see in the permissions tab.

When I look here: Administration>Users and Groups I do see my name twice on the left side, listed one above the other as in:
<my name>
<my name>

Is that problematic?

It's only listed once on the right side under Administrator.

Finally, as an FYI, I use Codeweavers/Crossover to run Windows programs. My PowerPoint presentations all do allow me to edit within the slides. I have never had a conflict between the programs, for example, if writing and saving a presentation in PowerPoint (easier to create text boxes than with Impress), then opening it with Impress and saving the presentation, and then inserting my videos using Impress.

Thanks for your guidance wise gurus.
bearzlos

[bearzlos]

Solved!! And it ended up being so simple. Duh!

Depending on how an existing presentation was saved Libre Office Impress reopens to "Notes" or "Normal" mode under the View tab. Notes mode allows editing of notes below the main slide text/images. But it does not allow editing of the slide itself.

To do that one must switch the View tab to "Normal."

So now I can edit my Impress presentations previously created on a SuSE Leap 42.3 box by changing from "Notes" to "Normal."

And, of course, for new slide shows any progress saved in "Normal" or "Notes" will reopen in the same mode.

It's a bit embarrassing to have taken so long to figure this out.

But at least it's solved!

bearzlos