SEction Break Problem

[Woody44]

I just encountered a SERIOUS (in my opinion) problem with TextMaker.

I publish a monthly newsletter for building code officials in my state (United States). It is formatted to print on U.S. standard 8.5" x 11" paper, but it is distributed by e-mail as a PDF. Recipients who want printed copies can print their own.

As is common for newsletters, I format article headlines to span the full with of the page margins, then I change to two columns for the body of each article. For new articles, I again switch to full width of the page for headlines, then switch back to two columns for the body of the article.

In Microsoft Word, the change from full-width headlines to two column articles is accomplished by inserting a [Break]>{Continuous] command to create a new section, which can then have the number of columns set different from the preceding section. The first page looks like this:

When I open the file in TextMaker 2026, what Word entered as a [Break]>[Continuous] command is translated to a chapter break (not a section break), and the body of the article is bumped to the next page. (See below)

Aside from the fact that I don't know how to fix this -- it's unacceptable because it makes it impossible to move the file back and forth between me and a colleague who uses Microsoft Word.

The file is attached.

[Jossi]

In Format > Columns, "Page break" is checked. This adds a page break at the start of the new section. I suspect this is the reason for the issue.

[Woody44]

In Format > Columns, "Page break" is checked. This adds a page break at the start of the new section. I suspect this is the reason for the issue.

Yes ... and no. The fact that box is checked is indeed the cause of the problem. Unchecking that box in the TextMaker dialogue for Format > Columns is the workaround to correct the problem. I figured that out last night. The reason for the problem is that TextMaker did not correctly convert the .docx file.

The PROBLEM is that the original document was created in Microsoft Word and does not have this problem when opened in Word ... or in LibreOffice Writer. The problem occurs only when the Word document is opened in TextMaker. It also occurs when the file is opened in TextMaker 2024 Pro. As I have commented in regard to other issues, when things like this occur TextMaker is NOT providing "seamless" document exchange.

I figured out how to manually go into the file in TextMaker, uncheck that box, and make the document look the same as it looks in Word. But ... I'm a curious, stubborn sort of person who wants to understand why things go wrong. I respectfully submit that the average user of word processing software is NOT going to be willing to expend the time and effort to dig into this issue and figure out that they can "fix" the problem by unchecking an option box in a dialogue screen. The average user is more likely to say "F**k it, this program screws up my Word files, I can't use it."

It needs to be fixed, not explained away. SoftMaker cannot claim "seamless" document exchange while NOT providing seamless document exchange. "Seamless" means when I open a Words file in TextMaker, it looks the same as it looks on Word. It doesn't mean that I can spend an hour tweaking obscure settings to force it to look like the Word version.