PC Tonic

OpenOffice.org is an open source, multi-platform office and productivity suite. It includes a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), a database manager (Base), a presentation tool (Impress), an all-purpose calculator (Math) and a drawing tool (Draw). OOo uses the open document format by default, and also supports the native formats of many other office suites like Microsoft Office (upto version 2003) and Corel WordPerfect.

Good as it is by default, OOo can be made even better by inserting plugins (aka extensions) into it’s source code. However the extension manager is not as easy or conspicuous as the ones in other open source apps like Firefox or Pidgin. In this post we shall carry a workout of how to install extensions in OOo.

Note: This tutorial has been made using OpenOffice.org 2.3 on Ubuntu Linux. However the same procedure applies to OpenOffice.org on Windows or OS X. The procedure is same for StarOffice and OxygenOffice Professional as well.

1.You need to have OOo in the first place. Download it (completely free!) : Home (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) | Download.com (Windows only)

2.Visit the OOo Extensions Repository page and download the extension/s that you want (note that it will be an .oxt file).

3.Now open any one OOo application, say Writer. Go to Tools >Extension Manager.

4.The Extension Manager window will pop up. Click on My Extensions and then Add.

5.Navigate to the place where you had saved your downloaded extension and select OK.

6.You may have to agree to license agreements for a few extensions (don’t worry, most extensions are open source) before the Extension Manager starts the auto installer. Just restart your OOo app and the extension will be active!