The Problem: Students writing papers under the MLA or APA guidelines will not be happy about the page numbering process in Writer, especially if they're new to Writer and accustomed to numbering pages in Microsoft Word. Students will not only have to figure out how to number pages, but Writer doesn't place the headers or footers inside the margins the way Word does. Under the MLA and APA guidelines page margins are all set to 1 inch, and page numbers go at the top-right of the page, half an inch (0.5') from the top of the page. This means that students using Writer will need to use the header for page numbering.
Change Page Orientation Change Page Size Change Page Margins Insert Break Insert Header Footer. To customize Margins select 'Custom Margins'. It displays a 'Page Setup' dialog box. Enter the desired margin size and click Ok. See the image.
However, if a student sets the margins of a paper to one inch, and then activates the header, the header will appear under the top margin, instead of inside the margin, and therefore adding space to the top of the page. This brings the page number down 1 inch instead of the required half inch. This will not only annoy students, it can also lead to lower paper grades. The Fix: In a new Writer document, open the Page Style dialog box (Format-Page) and set all the page margins to one inch, except the top margin; set the top margin to half an inch (0.50'). Then move over to the Header tab, and check the 'Header on' box. Set the Spacing to 0.30.'
![Word Word](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125427614/366543316.jpg)
Leave the Height value alone, but make sure that the 'Autofit Height' box is checked. Then click OK to save these settings. Now a student can insert the page number (Insert-Fields-Page Number) in the header.
The page number will be exactly 5 inches from the top of the page, and the body of the paper will start exactly one inch from the top of the page the way it's supposed to. More Good News: After setting the page as described above, students can save the document as a Microsoft Word document, and when they open the document in Word, the margins will all be set to 1 inch, and the page numbers will be half an inch from the top of the page. It'll be just as if they set the page numbering in Word from the beginning. You can also watch this video: off my website LearnWriter.com, which explains the process. There's really nothing to it.