On 6/22/2010 7:09 AM, Kevin Foster wrote:
Hello all,I've very new to LyX and somewhat new to LaTeX. Can anyone comment on the existence of memo templates? The selection of user-created templates <http://wiki.lyx.org/Layouts/Layouts> i found (layouts? same thing right?)
No. Layouts tell LyX how to handle document classes (mainly how to display them, what environments to allow, etc., with some ability to customize the document class within the layout file). Templates are prefab "fill in the blanks" documents. Essentially, a template is just an ordinary LyX document. If you open it with File > Open, you can edit it. If you choose File > New from Template and select that document, LyX opens it but with a different file name (the generic "newfile<#>.lyx" name), so that you won't accidentally overwrite it if you make changes and do a save operation.
is surprisingly sparse given LyX's enthusiastic user base... as several previous commenters on this list have noted, the absence of a simple "memo" template is a shame. This thread <http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-users@lists.lyx.org/msg28646.html> sums it up best.
I haven't read the thread, but I'm not particularly surprised -- memos frequently need to observe some formatting rules/preferences established by the author's organization (e.g., first page on the organization's letterhead).
Are there many layouts out there elsewhere on the site that I'm missing? Do I just have to read the documentation and create my own layout?
Unless you have to do something funky, it's a lot easier to create a template than to create a layout -- a layout makes sense mostly if you have tracked down a third party LaTeX document class (or created your own).
If you want to create something fancy, you might start with http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/bytopic.html#letters. Search for "memo" (sadly having to skip over quite a few hits on "memoir") and see if anything tickles your fancy.
I recognize that it's not a very difficult process, but for new users it would be nice if more shared layouts were on the wiki. Of course i'm happy to post whatever i come up with once i figure it out... just surprised there aren't memo layouts up already :)
My guess is that memo layouts (as opposed to templates) will be highly customized to the user's environment (and preferences). I'm attaching a bare bones, plain paper memo template I use for within-office, don't-sweat-the-letterhead stuff. Change my name to your (or whatever pseudonym you want to use), futz with choice of language, paper size, preferred fonts etc. in Document > Settings, and save it someplace. Then use File > New from Template to load a copy of it and memo away.
HTH, Paul
memo.lyx
Description: application/lyx
