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View Full Version : "Aargh!" or "Openoffice is counting my asterisks as words!"

Adam
03-04-2009, 01:44 AM
If this has already been posted in the past, I apologise, but my search-fu didn't bring anything up.

Anyway, the problem. To symbolise a change of viewpoint/scene in my writing, I use a line of 10 asterisks so I can easily see where I've switched. The problem is that I've just noticed that the word count function in OpenOffice is counting them as words, which is messing up my daily and overall targets. :(

Does anyone know of either a way of stopping it from counting them, or a character I can use that it won't count? I tried all the standard characters, but didn't find one.

It may sound minor to some, but it's really pissed me off, since I thought I'd just hit the 60% mark on my WIP. Turns out I might not have once you discount my dividers.

Oh, and please don't tell me to "Buy Xxxx word processing suite", this is the first problem I've had with OpenOffice and don't wish to spend money on an alternative. :)

Any help is appreciated,
Adam.


Edit - Sorry, just noticed I'd put this in Tech Talk instead of Tech Help. If a mod could move it, I'd be grateful.
Kitty Pryde
03-04-2009, 01:54 AM
why not just use like ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
which will only count as one word and only throw your word count off by 1/10th as much?
Adam
03-04-2009, 01:57 AM
The idea behind the asterisks was that they were an otherwise unused character, so if need be I could delete/change them without risking messing up the writing. But yeah, in hindsight I should have gone with ************ instead of * * * * * * * * . :)
Kitty Pryde
03-04-2009, 01:58 AM
The idea behind the asterisks was that they were an otherwise unused character, so if need be I could delete/change them without risking messing up the writing. But yeah, in hindsight I should have gone with ************ instead of * * * * * * * * . :)

ahh. well can't you do a search and replace now to change them all in one go? MS word does it so i would guess that OOW will do it as well.
Adam
03-04-2009, 02:05 AM
ahh. well can't you do a search and replace now to change them all in one go? MS word does it so i would guess that OOW will do it as well.


Your question led me to the answer :)

Find & Replace ---> Find All "*"s ---> Word Count, then subtract number from total.

Turns out they only accounted for 500 words. Thanks very much for the help Kitty :D
Kitty Pryde
03-04-2009, 02:08 AM
woo woo! i aim to please!
Adam
03-04-2009, 02:18 AM
Well you certainly did please :)
Looks like I've an extra 500 words to get done before I sleep ;)