<[autotemplate]
usepackage=[utf8]{inputenc}
usepackage=[T1]{fontenc}
usepackage={color}
usepackage={textcomp}

usepackage={beamerthemesplit}


title={Introduction to Wiki2Beamer}
author={Michael Rentzsch}
date={\today}

[autotemplate]>




== Motivation ==

==== Why use Wiki2Beamer? ====

\LaTeX{} Beamer is a powerful way to create presentations:

* Uses all advantages of \LaTeX, e.g. typesetting of formulas
* Powerful overlay concept
* Creates small and platform independent PDF files

 !However, \LaTeX{} Beamer has one big disadvantage:!


==== A typical presentation slide ====

* This is a typical presentation slide
* It consists of some items
** Which might be cascaded
** Just like this
* The \LaTeX{} Beamer source code for this slide looks like this:


==== Source code ====

{
\tt
\textbf{$\backslash$frame}{$\{$}\\
{\ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$frametitle}{ $\{$}{A typical presentation slide}{$\}$}\\
{ \ \\
}{\ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$begin}{$\{$}{itemize}{$\}$}\\
{\ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$item }{This is a typical presentation slide\\
}{\ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$item }{It consists of some items\\
}{\ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$begin}{$\{$}{itemize}{$\}$}\\
{\ \ \ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$item }{Which might be cascaded\\
}{\ \ \ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$item }{Just like this\\
}{\ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$end}{$\{$}{itemize}{$\}$}\\
{\ \ \ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$item }{ The }\textbf{$\backslash$LaTeX}{$\{$$\}$ }{Beamer source code for this slide looks like this:\\
}{\ \ }\textbf{$\backslash$end}{$\{$}{itemize}{$\}$}\\
{ $\}$}\\
}


==== \LaTeX{} Beamer's disadvantage ====

As you can see, one has to write a lot of \LaTeX{} code for a simple
slide with a few (structured) items on it. \\[4mm]

That's where '''Wiki2Beamer''' comes into play.


==== A typical wiki page ====

Wikis have a very simple syntax. The wiki code for the example slide looks like this: \\[4mm]

{\tt
  ==== A typical presentation slide ====\\
 \ \\
 * This is a typical presentation slide \\
 * It consists of some items \\
 ** Which might be cascaded \\
 ** Just like this \\
 * The $\backslash$LaTeX{} Beamer source code for this slide looks like this: \\
}


==== The idea behind Wiki2Beamer ====

Wiki2Beamer is a small Python script that takes a wiki-like text file
and transforms it into \LaTeX{} code for inclusing in a \LaTeX{} Beamer skeleton file.



== How to use it ==

==== Initial setup ====

# Create a skeleton \LaTeX{} file (see example beamer.tex)
# Create a text file for your slides in a wiki-based language
# Run '''wiki2beamer.py''' on your wiki file, write the output to a \LaTeX{} file \\ @python wiki2beamer.py wiki.txt > output.tex@
# Use pdflatex to create your presentation file

You may want to create a '''make''' script (or something similar) to execute the last two steps.


==== Basic syntax: Headings ====

The Wiki2Beamer syntax is very similiar to those of the famous '''Mediawiki''' software which is used for the '''Wikipedia''' project. \\[4mm]

Headings are produced like this: \\[4mm]

{\tt
  !== section ==! will be translated to $\backslash$section{$\ldots$} \\
  !=== subsection ===! will be translated to $\backslash$subsection{$\ldots$} \\[2mm]
  !==== frame ====! will create a new frame
}


==== Basic syntax: Lists ====

Lists can be produced very easily: \\[4mm]

{\tt
  * This is an unordered list item. \ \\
  ** This is one, too. \ \\
   \ \\
  \# This is an ordered list item. \ \\
  \#\# This is one, too. \ \\
   \ \\
  * Important: \ \\
  *\# Mixing list types is possible. \ \\
  *\# Wiki2Beamer will create the necessary environments for you.
}


==== Basic syntax: Formatting ====

Wiki2Beamer includes some simple formatting commands: \\[4mm]

* '''Bold Text:''' enclose text in @\textquotesingle\textquotesingle\textquotesingle@
* ''Italic Text:'' enclose text in @\textquotesingle\textquotesingle@
* @Typewriter:@ enclose text in @
* !Alerts:! enclose text in !
* _blue_Colors:_ use \_ notation, see project home page \\[4mm]

This example presentation can not show all features that '''wiki2beamer''' offers, have a look at the project website for more information.


== Further information ==

==== Further  information ====

Further information can be found on the project home page: \\[4mm]

\begin{center}
  http://wiki2beamer.sourceforge.net \\[4mm]
\end{center}

Bug reports and feature requests are appreciated.
