Skip to contents

Getting Started with docdesigner

Source: vignettes/getting-started.Rmd
getting-started.Rmd

docdesigner has two outputs:

The main design principle is short YAML. A field should appear in YAML only when it changes the document, identifies the document, or helps publishing.

Start a Document

Create a starter:

docdesigner::designer_use(template = "pdf")
docdesigner::designer_use(template = "html")

Or use RStudio:

File > New File > R Markdown > From Template

Minimal PDF YAML 

---
title: "Document Title"
author: "Your Name"
output:
  docdesigner::pdf:
    style: policy
---

PDF options 

---
title: "Document Title"
author:
  - name: "First Author"
    dept: "Department of Sociology"
    inst: "Queens College, CUNY"
    address: "65-30 Kissena Blvd, Queens, NY 11367"
    email: "first.author@example.edu"
    web: "example.edu/~first"
  - name: "Second Author"
warning: "DRAFT IN PROGRESS: DO NOT CIRCULATE"
acknowledgements: |
  I thank the department's workshop for comments.
output:
  docdesigner::pdf:
    style: methods
    title_layout: page
    doublespace: true
---
  • doublespace: true double-spaces the body text, as for a manuscript under review. Titles, headings, tables, captions, footnotes and code stay single-spaced.
  • title_layout: page gives the title, byline and abstract a page of their own; header (the default in every style) sets them at the top of page 1.
  • author is a plain string or a list of people. Each person’s name appears in the byline, with several authors stacked. The corresponding author (marked corresponding: true, otherwise the first author with an address, email or web) gets a contact block: name, dept and inst, address, and linked email and web. orcid is accepted but not printed yet.
  • kicker replaces the small label some styles set above the title (“POLICY BRIEF” in policy, “WORKING PAPER” in ssrn and economist): kicker: "Research Brief". kicker: "" removes it, and any style accepts one.
  • warning is a line such as “DRAFT IN PROGRESS: DO NOT CIRCULATE”, set between two rules. acknowledgements (or acknowledgments) is a paragraph or more of thanks.
  • On a title page the contact block, the warning and the acknowledgements stack at the foot of the page, in that order. In the header layout the warning sits above the title, and the contact details and acknowledgements become an unnumbered note at the foot of page 1.

Warning: tables in two-column styles (nature, economist). A two-column page cannot hold a table that breaks across pages, so in these styles every table becomes a float, placed by LaTeX:

  • A table may not appear where you put it. It moves to the top of a column or page, often after the paragraph that follows it. Refer to tables by number (“Table 2”), never as “the table below”.
  • A table that fits one column stays in the column; a wider one spans both columns and moves to the top of the next page that has room.
  • A table is never split. One taller than a page runs off the bottom. Keep tables short, or split them yourself.
  • Column widths are not kept. Text in cells does not wrap, so a long cell widens the whole table. Keep cell text short.

For long or wide tables, use a single-column style.

Writing a thesis

Two styles set a thesis: thesis, plain and conservative, and qc-thesis, the same with the Queens College title page for the MA in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research. Both use the thesis title layout: a title page with the degree statement, an optional copyright page, then contents, acknowledgements and abstract numbered i, ii, iii, with chapters starting on new pages from page 1.

---
title: "Thesis Title"
author: "Student Name"
date: "May 2027"
degree: "Master of Arts in Sociology"     # qc-thesis fills this in
institution: "Queens College"             # one line, or a list of lines
committee:
  - name: "Faculty Member"
    role: "Committee Chair"
  - name: "Second Reader"
    role: "Committee Member"
signatures: true      # signature lines on the title page; qc-thesis default
copyright: true       # adds a copyright page
toc: true
acknowledgements: |
  ...
abstract: |
  ...
output:
  docdesigner::pdf:
    style: qc-thesis
---

Each level-one heading (#) is a chapter. signatures: false removes the signature block. Any style can use the thesis layout with title_layout: thesis under docdesigner::pdf:.

Minimal HTML YAML 

---
title: "Article Title"
author: "Your Name"
output:
  docdesigner::html
---

Check Your Setup

Run:

docdesigner::designer_check()

This checks package assets, style bundles, rmarkdown, Pandoc, and common LaTeX engines.