Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 89949
Enable multiple user profiles which can be switched on-the-fly
Last modified: 2013-02-07 22:36:02 UTC
Many times I had felt the need to re-adjust OOo's settings under Tools -> Options, for example, my name, credentials, digital signatures, colour combinations, font styles, etc.. It would be nice if OOo offered different user profiles. I can imagine OOo having a Tools menu entry having "Profiles". Clicking it would open a Profiles Manager, where one can add a new profile, edit settings, import information from other profiles, modify existing profiles, etc.. Here, once can add new credentials, personal information, different personal preferences to change the way OOo behaves, etc.. The ability to switch profiles would also be a great enhancement in the authoring of OOo files. Each personal profile may be password-protected. Additionally, the user can specify at the time of creation, on which OOo application the profile will be activated/available - for example in Writer and Draw, but not in Calc. The profiles can be switched from a toolbar entry having a pulldown menu with the names of the profiles available under the given app. There should also be a Home Profile with a suitable button. And also there should be a default profile - with OOo's default settings so that the user can revert to it should something go wrong. One should also be able to Export/Import profiles to/from a location in the hard-drive, removable drive or a network drive, so that the profiles remain very portable. Stretching the concept further, one can imagine a "ghost" profile. Imagine, I carry all my OOo settings in a password-protected profiles file "MyProfile_1" in my USB Drive. I then log into a different PC, having OOo with different settings than mine. So, I insert the USB stick, open my profile "MyProfile_1" from the host's OOo. But as this profile is a "ghost" profile, the host OOo will temporarily load those settings into memory so that it behaves the way I want it to. However, the profile will NOT be saved in the host PC, that is, after I close OOo and remove my USB stick, the host OOo will not have any traces of my earlier profile. That would certainly enable OOo portability.
Some nice ideas. @ anjalip222: For upcoming issues please write one issue for each of your enhancements.