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Author a Document via Overleaf

Objective

Using the GitHub and Overleaf websites, you will edit a document in LaTeX and then create a snapshot of it in Baseprint Document Format (BDF). This format is required to publish a document succession. You will also see a Baseprint preview generated for your Baseprint document snapshot.

Alternatives

If you prefer to author a document on your local computer, follow the tutorial to author a document locally.

Prerequisites

  • A GitHub account
  • An Overleaf account with GitHub integration (paid accounts)

Steps

1. Create a repository

First, create a new repository from a repository template. This new repository will contain

  • source text files in LaTeX format and
  • a GitHub Actions workflow file that automatically generates Baseprint snapshots and previews.

These files will be copied from the Baseprinter repository template. The workflow file is located at .github/workflows/pages-deploy.yaml.

Create repository from the template

2. Enable GitHub Pages

Follow these substeps to publish to GitHub Pages:

  • On GitHub, navigate to your site's repository.
  • Under your repository name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.
  • In the "Code and automation" section of the sidebar, click Pages.
  • Under "Build and deployment", under "Source", select GitHub Actions.

3. Import from GitHub into Overleaf

  • Log in to your Overleaf account
  • Click "New Project" and then "Import from GitHub"
  • Click "Import to Overleaf" for the GitHub repository you just created

4. Edit the document with Overleaf

  • In Overleaf, click the "document.tex" file.
  • In the Code Editor, make changes to the document text.

5. Push to GitHub

  • Click the Overleaf "Menu" button in the top left corner.
  • Under "Sync", click "GitHub".
  • Click "Push Overleaf changes to GitHub".
  • Enter a description of your changes and click "Commit".

6. Show the preview URL on GitHub

  • Click on the "Code" tab of the GitHub repository https://github.com/<username>/<reponame>.
  • Click the gear icon to the right of "About".
  • In the "Website" field, enter the URL https://<username>.github.io/<reponame>/.
  • Click the "Save changes" button.

Note that <username> and <reponame> should be replaced with your GitHub username and repository name, respectively.

7. See the status of the Baseprint preview job (Optional)

  • Click the "Actions" tab.
  • Click on the workflow in progress to "Deploy Baseprint preview to GitHub Pages"
  • Wait for the workflow to complete successfully.
  • Click on the link https://<username>.github.io/<reponame>/ under the "deploy" job.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You can now edit your source files in Overleaf and see a LaTeX preview in Overleaf. And when you push changes from Overleaf to GitHub, a Baseprint preview is automatically regenerated at https://<username>.github.io/<reponame>/.

Questions/Feedback

If you have any questions or have feedback, feel free to contact Castedo.