University of Aveiro Thesis Template + WebLaTeX

A complete University of Aveiro thesis template powered by WebLaTeX with VSCode + Web + Git Integration + GitHub Copilot + Grammarly + Live Collaboration Support

Overview

This project combines the University of Aveiro Thesis Template with WebLaTeX, providing a professional LaTeX thesis environment that runs entirely in your browser via GitHub Codespaces. No local installation required!

UA Thesis Template Features:

• Complies with University of Aveiro's thesis guidelines
• Supports multiple departments and schools
• Professional cover page generation
• Portuguese and English language support
• Comprehensive bibliography management with biber
• Code syntax highlighting with minted

WebLaTeX Environment Features:

• Full VSCode editor in your browser
• Automatic PDF generation on save
• Git version control built-in
• GitHub Copilot AI assistance
• Grammarly/LanguageTool integration
• Real-time collaboration support
• Dark mode PDF viewer

This template was developed by professors and students. We will try to keep up to date with thesis requirements but some discrepancies may exist. Feel free to open issues and pull requests with new options, packages and fixes.

Why Use This?

Beyond Overleaf

Traditional LaTeX platforms like Overleaf have limitations:

• Limited Git integration (requires $40/month subscription)
• Restricted collaboration (only 1 collaborator on free plan)
• No VSCode extensions or customization
• No GitHub Copilot or advanced AI assistance
• Limited dark mode support

With This Template You Get:

✅ Full Git Integration - Complete version control, branches, commits, and history

✅ VSCode Power - All your favorite extensions, themes, and keybindings

✅ AI Assistance - GitHub Copilot suggests LaTeX commands and content

✅ Grammar Checking - Built-in Grammarly or LanguageTool support

✅ Real-time Collaboration - Unlimited collaborators with Live Share

✅ Mobile Access - Edit your thesis from any device, including tablets

✅ Automatic Builds - PDF generated on every save (Ctrl+S)

✅ No Installation - Runs entirely in the browser

Installation Instructions

1. Login to GitHub - Sign up or login

2. Create Your Repository

   • Use as Template (Recommended): Click Use this template → Create a new repository
   • Or Fork: Fork this repository to your account

3. Launch Codespace

   • Click <> Code → Codespaces → Create codespace on main
   • First launch takes ~2 minutes to install dependencies
   • Subsequent launches take only 2-3 seconds

4. Start Writing!

   • Edit matter.tex or files in chapters/
   • Press Ctrl+S to save and auto-generate PDF
   • View PDF in the build/ directory

Quick Start

Where is my PDF?

Generated PDFs are saved to the build/ directory:

• build/matter.pdf - Your complete thesis
• build/cover.pdf - Just the cover pages

Editor Instructions

1. Save & Build - Press Ctrl+S to save and automatically generate PDF
2. View PDF - Click the PDF file in build/ folder
   • ⚠️ First preview takes 20-30 seconds - be patient!
   • After that, previews are instant
3. Auto-save - Your document auto-saves and rebuilds on changes
4. View Logs - Check Terminal → Output → LaTeX Compiler for errors
5. Troubleshooting - If PDF preview fails, reload browser (Ctrl+R)

Basic Workflow

Starting a new chapter:

# 1. Create chapter file
chapters/chapter1.tex

# 2. Add to matter.tex
\include{chapters/chapter1}

# 3. Write content and save (Ctrl+S)

Adding bibliography entries:

# 1. Add entries to bib/references.bib
# 2. Cite in text: \cite{key}
# 3. Biber processes automatically on build

Adding figures:

% 1. Place image in figs/ directory
% 2. Include in document:
\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{figs/myimage.png}

Building Your Thesis

Method 1: Auto-Save (Recommended for Quick Iterations)

Press Ctrl+S to save your file, and PDF is automatically generated to build/ directory.

Method 2: Makefile (Advanced Features)

make build        # Build thesis (default)
make preview      # Continuous watch mode (auto-rebuild on changes)
make print        # Generate print-optimized PDF with color simplification
make ebook        # Generate e-book optimized PDF
make lint         # Lint LaTeX files for common errors
make clean        # Clean auxiliary files
make cleanall     # Clean everything including PDFs

Main documents to compile:

• matter.tex - Complete thesis document (includes cover)
• cover.tex - Cover pages only (compiled separately by Makefile)

Choosing Your TeX Compiler

Default: The template uses pdflatex with --shell-escape (required for minted package)

To use a different compiler (e.g., LuaLaTeX, XeLaTeX), add this magic comment at the top of your .tex file:

%!TEX program = lualatex

Supported programs: pdflatex, lualatex, xelatex

Advanced Features

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot suggests LaTeX commands, completes sentences, and even writes paragraphs based on your context!

To disable: Remove/comment "GitHub.copilot" from .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

"extensions": [
  // "GitHub.copilot",
]

Grammarly Integration

Built-in Grammarly support checks grammar and spelling in .tex files automatically.

Use Premium Account: Press Ctrl+Shift+P → Grammarly: Login / Connect your account

Check Other Files: Press Ctrl+Shift+P → Grammarly: Check text

Configure File Types: Edit .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

"grammarly.files.include": ["*.md", "*.tex"],
"grammarly.files.exclude": ["*.bib"]

To disable: Remove/comment "znck.grammarly" from extensions list

LanguageTool (Open-Source Alternative)

LanguageTool supports LaTeX, BibTeX, Markdown, and more - disabled by default.

To enable: Uncomment in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

"extensions": [
  "valentjn.vscode-ltex",  // Uncomment this
  // "znck.grammarly",     // Comment this out
]

Live Collaboration

Real-time collaborative editing powered by Visual Studio Live Share.

1. Click Live Share in the sidebar
2. Share the link with collaborators
3. Edit together in real-time!

To disable: Remove/comment "ms-vsliveshare.vsliveshare" from extensions

PDF Viewer Dark Mode

PDF viewer uses dark mode automatically when your OS is in dark mode.

To disable dark mode: Remove these lines from .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

"latex-workshop.view.pdf.color.dark.pageColorsBackground":"#171717",
"latex-workshop.view.pdf.color.dark.pageColorsForeground":"#FFFFFF",
"latex-workshop.view.pdf.color.dark.backgroundColor":"#171717",

UA Thesis Template Specifics

Document Structure

Key Files:

• matter.tex - Main thesis document (compile this)
• cover.tex - Thesis cover pages
• glossary.tex - Acronyms and glossary definitions
• uaThesisTemplate.sty - UA-specific style package
• chapters/ - Your thesis chapters and appendices
• bib/ - Bibliography files
• figs/ - Figures and images (includes UA logos)

Configuring Your Thesis

Edit the configuration variables in matter.tex (lines 1-24):

\def\mtitle{Your Thesis Title}
\def\msubtitle{Subtitle if any}
\def\mauthorfirst{First Name}
\def\mauthorsecond{Last Name}
\def\mdegree{Master/Doctor}
\def\msupervisors{Supervisor Name\\Prof. Title, University}
\def\mdate{\monthyeardate\today}
\def\mdocument{thesis} % or dissertation, proposal

Department Selection

Configure your department/school in matter.tex preamble. Supported departments:

Engineering: deti, dao, dbio, dcspt, deca, degeit, de, demac, decivil, dem Sciences: dfis, dmat, dq, dbio Humanities: dlc Other: dcm, dgeo

Or use school-wide colors: arts, sciences, education, economy, engineering, humanities, health

Code Listings with Minted

Syntax-highlighted code blocks using the minted package:

\begin{minted}{python}
def hello_world():
    print("Hello, World!")
\end{minted}

Supported languages: python, java, c, cpp, javascript, latex, bash, and 200+ more

Bibliography Management

Uses biblatex with biber backend (IEEE style):

\cite{key}           % [1]
\parencite{key}      % (Author, Year)
\textcite{key}       % Author (Year)

Add entries to bib/references.bib, bib/rfc.bib, or bib/3gpp.bib

Acronyms

Define acronyms in glossary.tex:

\acro{API}{Application Programming Interface}

Use in text:

\ac{API}   % First use: Application Programming Interface (API)
\ac{API}   % Subsequent: API
\acp{API}  % Plural: APIs

Print Optimization

Generate print-friendly PDFs with reduced color pages:

make print  # Creates build/matter-print.pdf and matter-print-final.pdf

The scripts/simplify-colors.sh script converts grayscale pages to true gray colorspace, significantly reducing printing costs.

Linting Your Thesis

Check for errors and style issues:

make lint                       # Lint all LaTeX files
make lint texfile=chapter1.tex  # Lint specific file

Linting tools: lacheck, chktex, proselint, pandoc

Using the Template (Traditional Setup)

For local/traditional usage without WebLaTeX:

Option 1: Use as GitHub Template

Click here to create a repository from this template

Option 2: Fork

Fork this repository to your account

Option 3: Git Subtree (Most Flexible)

mkdir mythesis
cd mythesis
git init
git commit --allow-empty -m "Initial commit"
git subtree add --prefix document https://github.com/detiuaveiro/ua-thesis-template.git master --squash
# Later, to pull updates:
git subtree pull --prefix document https://github.com/detiuaveiro/ua-thesis-template.git master --squash

Local Dependencies

Required:

• TeX Live or MacTeX (full installation recommended)
• pygments (for minted): pip install -r requirements.txt
• biber

Optional (for advanced features):

• ghostscript (for make print, make ebook)
• pandoc (for make lint)
• imagemagick and poppler (for color simplification)

Ubuntu/Debian packages:

sudo apt install texlive-full biber texlive-bibtex-extra texlive-latex-extra texlive-science

Auto-setup on Debian/Ubuntu:

make setup

Configuration

Change Output Directory

Edit both .devcontainer/devcontainer.json and .vscode/settings.json:

"latex-workshop.latex.outDir": "./YourDirectoryName",
"latex-workshop.latex.magic.args": [
  "-output-directory=YourDirectoryName",
  "-shell-escape"
]

Also update OUTDIR in Makefile if using make commands.

LaTeX Workshop Settings

The project uses LaTeX Workshop with:

• Auto-build: Disabled (use Ctrl+S to compile)
• Auto-clean: Runs after build
• PDF viewer: Opens in VS Code tab
• Dark mode: Enabled by default
• Output directory: ./build/
• Shell escape: Enabled (required for minted)

Additional Features

• Intellisense: Auto-completion for citations and references
• Snippets: LaTeX command shortcuts
• Code Folding: Supported for sections and environments
• SyncTeX: Forward/inverse search between source and PDF
• Format on Save: Automatically format LaTeX code

For more features, see the LaTeX Workshop Wiki

Important Notes

• Do not delete .devcontainer/devcontainer.json - essential for environment
• Remote user: Must remain root (do not change)
• First startup: Takes ~2 minutes to install dependencies
• PDF Preview: First preview takes 20-30 seconds, then instant
• Git integration: Full git functionality (unlike Overleaf)

Credits & Authors

UA Thesis Template:

• Tomás Oliveira e Silva - Original template
• João Paulo Barraca - Improved and maintained
• Fábio Maia and Ricardo Jesus - Further improvements and workflow

WebLaTeX Environment:

• @James-Yu - LaTeX Workshop
• @sanjib-sen - WebLaTeX
• dante-ev - TeXLive Docker image
• @znck - Grammarly extension
• @thodson-hugs - GitHub Copilot integration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

• Open an issue for feature requests or bug reports
• Submit pull requests with improvements
• Help keep the template up-to-date with UA requirements