Getting Started

* Opening AbiWord
* Creating a New Document
* Saving a Document
* Opening a Document
* Exiting AbiWord

Opening AbiWord

Windows: You can open AbiWord in two ways:

1. Double-click on the icon located on the Windows desktop.
2. Click on the Start button on the Windows taskbar, go to the Programs menu, go to the AbiWord group and click on the AbiWord icon.

Linux: You can open AbiWord in two different ways:

1. Click on the AbiWord icon in your menu or on your desktop.
2. Type "abiword" into a X-terminal.

Creating a New Document

For each new document created, another AbiWord window opens with a new blank page. AbiWord is a "single document interface" (SDI) as opposed to "multiple document interfaces" (MDI) such as Microsoft Word where all your documents are in the same Word window. For more about the difference between these two concepts, see SDI Vs. MDI

There are four ways to create a new document:

1. Go to the File menu and click on "New"
2. Go to the Window menu and click on "New window"
3. Click on the "Create a new document"
4. Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "N" keys simultaneously

Saving a Document

Save As...

If your document has never been saved, choose a name and where to store the file. Then do one of the following two actions:

1. Go to the File menu and click on "Save as"
2. Click on the "Save as..." icon

In both cases, a window appears. Select the location to place the document (folder, hard disk or floppy) and type the name of the document in the "Name" field, then click on the "Save" or "OK" button. The filename and path to the document appear in place of "Untitled1" in the titlebar of AbiWord.

Save

There are three ways to save the document when you are finished or to update the document with modifications:

1. Go to the File menu and click on "Save"
2. Click on the "Save the document" icon
3. Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "S" keys simultaneously

Note

1. Saving is almost instantaneous and the previously saved document is irretrievably lost.
2. If you update a document but want to keep previous versions, you have to use "Save as..." and give the versions different names.
3. On the Linux versions, before crashing, Abiword will automatically make a backup of the file. To use the backup, simply restart Abiword and load the backup version.

Formats

AbiWord lets you save documents in several formats:

• *.abw : this is AbiWord's default format. It is an XML format
• *.zabw : abw format compressed to reduce the file size
• *.rtf : this is a standard  "works anywhere" format (keeps text formatting)
• *.rft for old apps : for use with older applications
• *.txt : a plain text file with no formatting. (the file size is reduced)
• *.utf8 :  this is a plain text format which can encode many character sets in a multi-byte format
• *.html : the universal standard for Web pages
• *.latex : LaTeX format file
• *.wml : a file standard for mobile phones and portable devices
• *.dbk : the docbook format
• *.pdb : Palm Document standard for use on Palm computers

Opening a Document

There are three ways to open a document:

1. Go to the File menu and click on "Open"
2. Click on the "Open an existing document" icon
3. Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "O" keys simultaneously

In each case, a window appears. Select the document to open and either double-click on the name of the document to open or click on the "Save" or "OK" button. Your document will then open.

Note

1. The last four documents opened are listed under the file menu for easy access. These documents are arranged in chronological order: the most recent in position one.
2. AbiWord lets you open files originating from different sources:
   • *.abw : this is AbiWord's default format. It is an XML format
   • *.zabw : abw format compressed to reduce the file size
   • *.rtf : this is a standard  "works anywhere" format (keeps text formatting)
   • *.rft for old apps : for use with older applications
   • *.txt : a plain text file with no formatting. (the file size is reduced)
   • *.utf8 :  this is a plain text format which can encode many character sets in a multi-byte format
   • *.html : the universal standard for Web pages
   • *.wml : a file standard for mobile phones and portable devices
   • *.dbk : the docbook format
   • *.doc : files written by Microsoft Word (all versions)

Exiting AbiWord

There are three ways to exit AbiWord:

1. Go to the File menu and click on "Exit"
2. Click on the button in the titlebar
3. Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Alt" and "F4" keys simultaneously

Note

1. If you try to exit AbiWord while a document is open but not saved, the window below appears:

   

   Click the Yes button to save the document, the No button to exit without saving the document or the Cancel button to stay in AbiWord.

2. If several documents are open at the same time, go to the File menu and click on "Exit" while holding down the "SHIFT" key to close all the windows at once. The window below appears to ask you if you want to close all the windows.

   

3. To minimize AbiWord, click on the button in the titlebar and reduce it to a button on the taskbar.
4. To maximize the AbiWord window or restore it to normal size, click on the button  in the titlebar. In Windows, double-clicking on the titlebar will have the same effect.
   
5. In Unix, furl the AbiWord window, reducing it to its titlebar. In KDE, double-clicking on the titlebar furls the window.