PM'ing LaTeX projects
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Managing a LaTeX project is slightly different from managing most projects that go through DP. Projects are done with LaTeX because they have math or other features beyond the reach of regular DP formatting, but even the ordinary things like italics---and em-dashes---are done differently. Details are given below of things that PMs with LaTeX projects may wish to consider.
Be aware that LaTeX projects tend to attract more questions in the project thread than typical projects so keep a close eye on the thread and always feel free to ask the LaTeX Typesetters team for help, if there's a question you can't answer.
When creating the project
- Add "{LaTeX}" at the end of the project title. This makes it easy to identify which projects require LaTeX.
- Add the project to the list of LaTeX projects.
- If the book's title is long enough that the {LaTeX} tag is cut off in the thread's subject line, it may be a good idea to edit the auto-generated first post and move the {LaTeX} tag to the start instead. For example, instead of "A very very long title that goes on..." you could edit the topic's subject to say "{LaTeX} A very very long title that...". (This can allow LaTeX-knowledgeable formatters to recognize your project's thread as a LaTeX discussion, and potentially help with questions that they wouldn't have looked at otherwise.)
Project Comments
- As usual, it helps to clearly separate proofing and formatting instructions. Use appropriate headers or visual dividers of some sort.
- In the proofing section, copy the short version of the LaTeX proofing guidelines into the project comments.
- Link to the long version of the LaTeX proofing guidelines for more details.
- For the formatting section, this is a recommended template:
<table width="85%" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center">
<tr align="center">
<td><font size="+1" color="red"><b>This is a LaTeX project.
Please use LaTeX markup only—<em>not</em> regular DP
formatting.</b></font></td>
</tr>
</table><br />
<p>In the <i>formatting rounds</i>, the formulae left out in the
proofing rounds will be typeset using LaTeX, rather than HTML. The
respective comments will become visible after the project has
completed the P rounds as they are of no relevance to the proofers
and might lead to confusion.</p>
<!--
<p><b>Caution</b>: Please note that LaTeX formatting differs in
<i>every detail</i> from non-LaTeX formatting. <b>Not one of the
buttons in the formatting interface adds suitable markup!</b>
Take care not to apply formatting habits appropriate to
non-LaTeX projects. If you aren't sure what LaTeX is, please
reconsider working on this project today, and consult the
links below.</p>
<p>In the <i>formatting rounds</i>, the formulae left out in the
proofing rounds should be typeset using LaTeX, rather than HTML.
The DP wiki has guidelines for using LaTeX to format
<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/wiki/LaTeX_formatting_manual#Formatting_Text">text</a>
and <a href="http://www.pgdp.net/wiki/LaTeX_formatting_manual#Formatting_Mathematics">mathematics</a>.
Please follow those guidelines on this project. Links to a variety of additional
resources are collected on the <a href="http://www.pgdp.net/wiki/LaTeX_resources">LaTeX
resources</a> page.</p>
<p>If you are new to LaTeX, please see the
<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36670">Formatting LaTeX: Orientation</a>
thread and the <a href="http://www.pgdp.net/wiki/New_To_LaTeX">New to LaTeX</a> page
for important information. Please ask for feedback as you go along!</p>
<p><strong>Make sure you test-compile every page that you format!</strong></p>
<p>The Table of Contents begins on <a href="insert_url_here">###.png</a>.</p>
<p>Please post in the project discussion if you have any questions
or come across anything that may require discussion to decide on a
standard method of handling it.</p>
-->
- The above template has the formatting instructions commented out, so they won't be visible to proofers to create confusion. When the project reaches F1 you should remove the paragraph saying that the instructions have been hidden, and remove the html comment markup (<!-- and -->) so that the instructions do appear.
- Within the hidden formatting section, include a suggested preamble for using to check that pages compile properly. Add any special features the project needs, e.g. functions that the project uses repeatedly for which there is no predefined LaTeX command. If you're not sure what the preamble should be, ask the LaTeX Typesetters team to have a look through the project and suggest one.
Later in the rounds
During P3...
- It's a good idea to add (HOLD) to the first line of the project comments. This will stop the project from releasing into F1 before it's ready. (You may also want to sign up for notification when the project finishes a round to make sure you don't forget about it and leave it in limbo.)
Once it reaches F1 Waiting...
- Edit the formatting section of the project comments as described above to make the F* instructions visible to formatters.
- It's highly recommended to prepare some sample pages, or portions of pages, to help out formatters and improve consistency. You can edit your first post in the project thread (the auto-generated one) if you want, to make the examples easy for formatters to find.
- If you need help developing examples, ask the LaTeX Typesetters team.
- Remove the (HOLD) at the top of the project comments, allowing it to release into the round.
During F1...
- Check the formatters' saved pages regularly. If you aren't familiar with LaTeX, a simple thing to check for is regular DP markup such as <i> and [Footnote: ]—this markup is not used in LaTeX so if an F1er inserted it they need some feedback pointing out the LaTeX guidelines. Please try not to let any pages leave F1 with regular DP-style formatting or no formatting at all!