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Update:These instructions do not apply for OpenOffice.org 3.0. For OpenOffice.org 3.0, you need to install the Greek Dictionary, Thesaurus and Hyphenation Extension.

End of Update

You can install Greek spelling and hyphenation (soon thesaurus) in OpenOffice.org following the procedure below.

We would like to remind that you can install this Greek support in either the English, Greek or any other localised version of OpenOffice.org. There is confusion that you cannot install Greek spelling in the English version of OpenOffice.org. This is wrong; you can install Greek spelling in the English version of OpenOffice.org 2.0.

Firstly, click on Install new dictionaries...

A new document appears, which contains the application DicOOo. We install the Greek hyphenation through DicOO. At this point it asks you for the installation language. Notice that this is not the spellchecker language; it is the language of the installer only. Sadly, we do not have a Greek installer yet, so there is no Greek option. It does not mean that there is no Greek support!!! Since you read this, pick English. By the way, if you would like to contribute to the OpenOffice.org effort, you can translate DicOOo to Greek. If you plan to distribute OpenOffice.org 2.0 to end-users, simply use the offline language pack option.

Now you are almost read to do the installation. Here you see a message in red. This message is in red because it is something you have to notice at the end of the installation. Don't worry, I'll repeat at the end of this entry. Click on the button to start the installation.

Again, this is the interface language of DicOOo. Keep it in English.

Click on the button to Retrieve the list to retrieve from the Internet the available list of spell checkers. Sometime this hangs (way too many OOo users...), so try again when it fails. When it works, you can choose the individual spell checkers. You can choose more than one, so English and Greek would be a good choice. Click next.

Do the same thing for hyphenation. Some users do not notice that here we install hyphenation and they thing that DicOOo tries to install again the spell checker. No, this is the hyphenation. There is Greek in the list, so pick it up (along with any other language you will be using).

This is thesaurus. There is no Greek version yet (well, try anyway in case it has been added). If you feel like complaining for the lack of Greek thesaurus, divert your energy by helping the people that work on it.

Downloading the files...

That's it, the installation finished. Restart OpenOffice.org.

Once you restarted OpenOffice.org, go to Tools/Options/Language Settings/Languages (as shown above) and verify that Greek is the default language for Western languages. This will ensure that newly created documents will have Greek spelling enabled.

Click Edit for the OpenOffice.org MySpell SpellChecker.

Make sure that for Greek, the spell checker is enabled (ticked).

Verify that the hyphenation is also enabled for Greek. Then, click on Close.

Once all are correct, Greek spell checking should be enabled by default on your OpenOffice.org!