How to write a thesis using LaTeX **full tutorial**

My LaTex Videos:

In this video I'll talk about all the major things needed to write a thesis using LaTeX, a markup language that is great for displaying any content with formulas. We'll start with the title page, abstract, dedication, acknowledgement. I'll show how to separate out chapter into different files, table of contents, manage appendices, figures, and bibliographies, cite reference, use footnotes, and adjust the margins of your document using the geometry package.

0:00 Intro
0:43 Why LaTeX is great for writing a thesis
2:16 Folders, Projects, and Templates
3:26 Document Class and Title Page
5:06 Abstract, Dedication, Acknowledgements
6:59 Separate chapter files
9:10 Managing Errors
11:14 Table of Contents
11:59 Appendices
15:20 Figures and List of Figures
19:53 Bibliography and Citations
24:58 Footnotes
27:15 Margins and Formatting

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[DrTrefor]

My thank to www.overleaf.com for sponsoring today's video. I've used them for years prior to being sponsored and their cloud based LaTeX editor has so many useful free or premium features that just makes it easier to write a thesis.

[bastianfrom]

Ulimate tip: Get the tex-file from somebody who recently published his thesis. Keep all the layout-config issues, try to successful run it on your tex system, just fill it with your content - in case you are not sure how to write a nice table, exotic equation, etc. there is a good chance your colleague already figured it out, otherwise it is 5min of google it.

[michael-gary-scott]

First year engineering student here. Getting in the habit of using TeX early and my lecturers seem to appreciate it. Sure, it takes a little more effort to finish a write up, but having consistent style throughout everything I do means that when I start revising, I can easily switch between documents and have the same layout. Also, writing equations feels so much more streamlined than say, Microsoft Word.

[_clemens_]

Wrote my thesis two years ago...and it's funny how much similar my latex is built up.
Few tips after reviewing my latex document, feel free to use them (I know some of them might be included in upcoming videos):

- I recommend making a folder for each chapter and it this folder a figures/images/whatever folder together with the tex file of the chapter. This way it's easier to preview images for a certain chapter. Otherwise the list gets so long you can search for a long time searching for a particular file name. Also it allows to easily extract a single chapter if you want to include it into another document (e.g. if your start with your PhD afterwards and a chapter of your thesis will be a chapter of your PhD as well).

-Make at least two versions of compilable documents, one for publishing online without empty pages (oneside), and one for printing (twoside, \cleardoublepage after each chapter to get the begin of the chapter always on an odd page). You can normally use the same "main" section and include it in both versions to keep them in sync with the latest version (\cleardoublepage will be ignored for oneside), and the beginning you make different (Documentclass parameters, extra white pages). With this technique of including the same main you can easily make more variations if wanted (e.g. a version with extened abstract and one without, make one for different page sizes, make a black and white variant for alpha versions, etc.)

-Use \afterpage{\blankpage} if you want to add blank pages (For printed version handy at some places, you don't want to add blank pages manually and risking to forget this or mess it up or have to do this for each copy you print. Also always include 2 blank pages at once if you print twoside, as this is 1 blank page when printing.

-You can use \pagenumbering{gobble} for everything before the main section, this wil be numbered then in Roman numbers. Reset to latin after the table of contents with \setcounter{page}{1}. It's imho nicer when your main book starts again at page 1.

-Put your settings and usepackages and similar things in a separate file (it's quite basic in the video, it will get messier often in real life) (and use \include to include it in the mains). The mains will stay very clean this way.

-If you get a template for a titlepage of your university in Word and there is not latex template (or you have difficulties with the latex template to be compatible with your latex document for some reason): you can still use it, just make the page, create a pdf of it and include the pdf. The one annoying thing about it is when you have to fill in a date of handing in, then you need to do this last minute...but 9/10 this is the due date you fill in there ;)

[ajobial]

On my university LaTeX was mandatory for master thesis. Our facility even had its own template. At first it quite difficulty, but later on you start to appreciate it. To this day I still use LaTeX for my resume

[MahmoudMohamed-gumh]

Oooh Man, I turned a blind eye to Latex, after I watched some videos to other instructors.. Once I watched this video, I realized, that I have missed too much.. Thanks so much

[reddevil]

I should be done writing my thesis, but here I am three weeks before my defense date, writing and shifting what I have from word to LaTeX. I don't know how I could've completed two years of a master's in physics using just word, but I'm glad that I have this video to get by. Thank you so much, Trefor!

[aashsyed]

finally, was waiting for 100 years for this!!

[shahiraiqbal]

Thank you so so much, I'm not into computer and coding but you make it really really easy for me to my write my thesis... yours teaching skills are great may Allah bless you and grant you house in jannah... Ameen

[oladamola]

HOW CAN I LIKE THIS VIDEO A MILLION TIMES! Thank you so much Dr. Trefor!

[ErikaAlejandraGonzalez]

I did my undergraduate final project in LaTex and I loved it, no headaches with the bibliography or the table of contents or the formulas. I even got an honorable mention! Totally recommend it. (Btw my career is software engineering)

[gunaysoni]

I have a submission due tomorrow. Perfect timing.

[usmanafzali]

Thank you so much for this video. I was literally looking for one just three nights ago that shows how to do a thesis from scratch, and not just using templates. This is GREAT!

[swagatochatterjee]

Damn! Prof. Trefor is back with a bam!!

[Romaji]

Thank you for the video, I was really struggling with organizing the images of my thesis and I was starting to gave up. Until I ran into your video

[ZackRekeSkjell]

I've been using LaTeX for years and thought I knew it, but I hadn't used it for large documents before writing my master thesis. Then I ran into quite a few problems and this video thaught me a lot of different nuances that makes the experience a lot smoother.

[Heleyrine]

Hello! Thank you so much for this video. I'm glad you're covering this topic at more length.
I'm getting a mathematics degree, so I'm sure you can imagine how useful this is for me. Your first video regarding the subject and your great ability to convey meaning was the nail in the coffin for me to actually start learning Latex. Now I'm quite obsessed; I even wrote a presentation (for which, one traditionally uses slides) on Dedekind Cuts using Latex, and it looked more like a paper than a presentation. I have no regrets.
On a side note, learning Latex made learning Python more comprehensible for me as I had no prior experience writing "codes" beforehand.
My point is, thank you so much for your effort and wonderful teaching. It really did have an impact on someone's academic experience🌻

[khmeramzing-sport]

First year engineering student here. Getting in the habit of using TeX early and my lecturers seem to appreciate it. Sure, it takes a little more effort to finish a write up, but having consistent style throughout everything I do means that when I start revising, I can easily switch between documents and have the same layout. Also, writing equations feels so much more streamlined than say, Microsoft Word.

[mathhack]

You are enjoying teaching. It's gene wired skills and This is your strength . Many love what you are doing.
Thank you .

[hrperformance]

Yes!! The last video on Latex was sooo good. I can't wait to get stuck in to this one.
Super channel. Thanks for all the awesome videos