Template Version 2.0

What's New in Version 2.0

Major Changes

• Folder Restructured

  • Added New Folders.
    • Added Folder dedicated for LaTeX Files.
    • Added Folder to house the documents with the text for the Prefatory Pages.
    • Added Folder for all inclusions with subfolders:
      • Code.
      • Tables.
      • Data.
      • Images.
      • PDF's.

• Restructured Class File (ualberta.cls)

  • Now 90% more Readable.
  • With 100% more Comments.

• Main Document Restructuring

  • Removed Bloated Beginning Comments from over 100 lines to just over 30.
    • Kept Copyright Notice.
    • Removed "Guide" from the Comments.
      -[x] Added Guide into the Example Document.
    • Add Guide Section for Packages.
    • Add Guide Section for LaTeX Macros.
    • Add Guide Section for Theorem Environments.
    • Add Guide Section for Useful Commands.
    • Added Guide Section for Tables.
    • Add Guide Section for Including Code.
  • Added Better Document Options.
    • Add Guide Section for how to use the Document Options.
    • Updated pdfa to automatically update the *.xmpdata file with the information from the data entered.
      • Fix LaTeX warning due to ordering of packages.
    • Added saychapapp, which adds the word Chapter or Appendix in front of the number or letter for the Table of Contents.
    • Added fancyheader, which adds the current chapter and section information into the head with the page number.
  • Added \settoclevel{#} command with a corresponding comment to the document to allow easy changing of the Table of Contents Depth.
  • Added File Locations Sections and Macros
  • Added file for LaTeX Macros to be stored
  • Removed Abstract text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Abstract.
  • Removed Preface text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Preface.
  • Removed Quote text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Quote.
  • Removed Dedication text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Dedication.
  • Removed Acknowledgements text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Acknowledgement.
  • Removed Nomenclature text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Nomenclature.
  • Removed Acronyms text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Acronyms.
  • Removed Glossary text, and moved to Prefatory Files.
    • Added Actual example for Glossary.
  • Updated \makeabstract to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \makepreface to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \makequote, \makededication, and \makededicationandquote to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \listoftables to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \listoffigures to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \listofplates to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \listofsymbols to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \abbreviations to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Updated \generateglossary to smartly detect if if section is empty. If it is, it will not print the section.
  • Removed all Chapters and Appendices from file and Added New ones in external files, see Chapter Updates.

Minor Changes

• Setup Guide
  • Created a tailored setup guide, covering LaTeX installation, document structure, formatting, and best practices.
  • Emphasized University-specific formatting requirements with in-depth explanations for each step to ensure compliance.
  • Planned: Develop a quick-start checklist for beginner users to familiarize themselves with LaTeX in less than an hour.
  • Planned: Add video tutorials and interactive guides for setting up the environment, troubleshooting, and template customization.
• In-Depth Troubleshooting and User Experience Tips
  • In Development Adding a new section on troubleshooting, highlighting solutions to common LaTeX errors (e.g., citation issues, missing packages, compile errors).
  • Planned: Create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section based on user feedback.
• Expanded Document Formatting and Structure Sections
  • Added chapters on document structure, figure/table formatting, equations, cross-referencing, and citation management.
  • Included specific formatting guidance covering best practices for presenting technical content in figures, tables, and equations.
  • In Development Providing tips on managing citations and bibliography using BibTeX and BibLaTeX, with an emphasis on maintaining consistency and academic integrity.
  • Planned: Create template variations with department-specific styles for fields like health sciences, physics, and social sciences.
• Streamlined LaTeX Preamble and Dependencies
  • Optimized the LaTeX preamble by removing unused packages, and reducing dependency load.
  • Added detailed comments in the code to explain each part of the setup, enabling users to customize their documents with minimal confusion.
• Compatibility Testing and Improvements
  • Planned: Compatibility tests with additional cloud-based LaTeX platforms to support collaborative research environments.
  • Planned: Create a feedback loop to gather user-reported compatibility issues for future updates.

Compliance and Submission Support

• University-Specific Compliance Checklist
  • Planned: Created a step-by-step submission checklist tailored to the University of Alberta's formatting and submission guidelines.
  • Planned: Add department-specific checklists for humanities, business, and health sciences to broaden template applicability.
  • Planned: Automate formatting checks for common errors (e.g., margins, spacing) to ensure users comply with university standards.
• PDF/A Export Guide
  • Planned: Provided a detailed PDF/A export guide, ensuring compatibility for university archives and online repositories.

Cross-Referencing and Advanced Plotting

• Improved Cross-Referencing with hyperref and cleveref
  • Integrated hyperref and cleveref packages for enhanced cross-referencing, ensuring clickable links and consistent label styling across document sections.
  • Provided customizable styling options to adapt cross-references to specific document styles.
  • Allow custom cross-reference formats for departments with unique citation requirements, like law or historical studies.
• Advanced Plotting Capabilities with pgfplots
  • Integrated pgfplots package, allowing for complex plot types (3D, pie, scatter, and bar graphs).
  • Planned: Include sample templates for advanced data visualization (e.g., time-series, layered graphs).
  • Planned: Add sample code snippets for scientific plot types, such as error bars and multiple data overlays.
  • Planned: Include pre-configured templates for research presentation slides featuring interactive visualizations.

Installation Instructions and Tool Recommendations

• Updated Installation Guides for Popular LaTeX Platforms
  • Added basic installation instructions for TeX Live, MiKTeX, and MacTeX on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Tool and Software Recommendations
  • Listed recommended LaTeX editors, reference managers, and collaboration tools to streamline the academic workflow.
  • Suggested graphic design tools (e.g., Inkscape, GIMP) to improve the quality of images and charts in LaTeX documents.
  • Planned: Provide comparisons and feature descriptions of popular LaTeX editors.
  • Planned: Add a tool recommendations section for students.

Bug Fixes and Stability Improvements

• Resolved Package Conflicts and Improved Stability
  • Removed unused or conflicting packages to reduce compile-time errors and improve template stability.
  • Addressed formatting inconsistencies (e.g., spacing, alignment) to ensure a professional appearance.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.5.1

Version 1.5.1

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requirements specified by FGSR for submitting (as of October, 2022).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

What's New:

• Added Further Clarity (@Nachodog1738)
• Addressed some LaTeX Console Warnings (@Nachodog1738)
• Minor Quality of Life Fixes (@Nachodog1738)

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.5.0

Version 1.5.0

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting (as of June, 2022).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

What's New:

• Added Further Clarity
• Added Options for other Master Programs
• Updated the ualberta.tex to provide more information and better layout
• Added pgfplots package
  • Added new section to showcase pgfplots

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.4.1

Version 1.4.1

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting (as of November, 2020).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

What's New:

• Fixed space after equal sign in ExampleChapter.tex - Thank You to u/donshell (Reddit)

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.4.0

Version 1.4.0

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting (as of November, 2020).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

What's New:

• Added Further Clarity
• Added Option for non-Departmental Students
• Updated the Class file to be more Readable
• Added includePackages
  • Creates an easy to go to file that houses all of the packages that are included
  • Makes it easy to add your own packages and keep the main document clean
• Added includeTheorems
  • Creates an easy to go to file that houses all of the Theorem Environment Names
  • Makes it easy to add your own Theorem Environment Names
• Added includeSymbols
  • Creates an easy to go to file that houses all of the macros
  • Makes it easy to add your own macros, while keeping the main documents clean

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.3.1

Version 1.3.1

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting (as of May 28, 2020).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

Whats New:

• Added more clarity for the different spacing of the document

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.3.0

Version 1.3.0

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting (as of June 09, 2019).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

Whats New:

• Fixed bug caused by LaTeX package updates

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.2.0

Version 1.2.0

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting (as of June 09, 2019).

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

Whats New:

• Fixed bug with document option 'pdfa' where the file outputted was not PDF/A
• Fixed bug where removing the option 'chapterbib' did not stop the printing of References at the end of chapters using the \printreferences command
• Added 'PACKAGE' file that provides information on the already included packages and links to the official documentation.
• Added example for the Theorem environments
• Added example for inserting formatted code
• Added example for inserting Landscape and Portrait PDFs

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.1.0

Version 1.1.0

This is the (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It currently meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting.

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

Whats New:

• Added Plates (photographs) environment
• Added List of Plates (photographs)

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.

uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template V1.0.0

Version 1.0.0

This is the first (un)official release of the uAlberta LaTeX Thesis Template.

This class file and template file have been created to provide an easy method for typesetting a thesis document at the University of Alberta. It currently meets the requires specified by FGSR for submitting.

Additionally, these files provide numerous options/packages to make writing your thesis the focus, not worrying about the formatting.

Any bugs found should be reported in the issues tab, or directly to draldric@ualberta.ca. Further, if you have any requests or suggestions please feel free to invoke a pull request, or again feel free to contact draldric@ualberta.ca.