parts in beamer presentation

because LaTeX matters

Side-by-side content in beamer presentations.

There are two ways (and possibly more) to place content side-by-side in a beamer presentation, the columns and the minipage environments. The first is a beamer-specific environment and is therefore only available in a beamer presentation. Whereas the latter has other applications and is available in all document-classes.

General considerations

In any LaTeX document, there is a predefined width available for text, \textwidth . In order to place content side-by-side, this width has to be split in such a way that the total width of all elements does not exceed \textwidth . Otherwise, LaTeX will automatically break the line and place elements on top of each other, which is usually not desired. The value \textwidth can be used to define the width of a column or minipage . For example, 0.33\textwidth takes a third of width of a page available for content. LaTeX also adds a small horizontal space between elements. Therefore, in order to split a page into three equal parts, 0.3\textwidth might be a more reasonable number. If required, one can add more horizontal white-space between two elements using \quad or \qquad .

The columns environment

The columns environment is only available in the beamer document-class and might therefore be lesser known.

Basic command structure:

And here is a complete minimal working example:

The minipage environment

I wrote an article on the minipage environment quite some time ago. In beamer , the usage is not different.

The command is used as follows:

Below is a complete minimal working example:

Even though there are differences, I don’t know of any advantage of one method over the other when placing content side-by-side. However, I suggest choosing one environment and sticking to it throughout a presentation.

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9. November 2013 at 9:44

Thank you for the post. Dividing the width into several parts has solved my problem of putting two images side by side in a presentation.

21. June 2015 at 21:25

I want to do this with a tikz picture on one side and an itemized list on the other. My suspicion is that the minipage approach is better for this application. Have you any experience with this use case?

22. July 2015 at 21:37

Both approaches should work just fine. Why do you think minipage is more suitable in this case?

Thanks, Tom

14. March 2019 at 5:07

One reason to use minipage is this: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/16447/beamer-top-aligning-columns-within-a-top-aligned-frame

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Norm Matloff's Quick Tutorial on the Beamer Package for Slide Making in LaTeX

Professor Norm Matloff Dept. of Computer Science University of California at Davis Davis, CA 95616

Quick Start

To skip the overview and go right to the full, worked-out example, go here.

Disclaimer: What I've written here is, alas, all I know about Beamer. If you have a question on Beamer which isn't answered here, you will find other sources much more useful, such as the TeX/LaTeX Usenet newsgroup .

Beamer allows you to create slides featuring overlays, animation and so on in LaTeX. You simply insert some calls to Beamer macros in your LaTeX source file, then run pdflatex . You then use Acroread (or xpdf etc.) to present your slides.

For LaTeX users, Beamer has a number of advantages over PowerPoint or OpenOffice:

• If you are creating slides from a larger document, you can simply re-use your LaTeX source material from that document.
• If you need mathematical content in your slides, you have the wealth of mathematical constructs in LaTeX to draw upon.
• The slides you create are multi-platform.

Another excellent LaTeX presentation-making package is Prosper package. Each package has certain advantages over the other. The advantages of Beamer over Prosper are:

• Beamer has a much richer functionality. Look at an advanced Beamer example to see what Beamer is really capable of. (Sorry, I do not know where to get the source.) Beamer's \uncover command alone is worth considering making the switch away from Prosper.
• One can use pdflatex on Beamer directly, as opposed to Prosper's restriction of latex followed by dvipdf .
• Overlays are easier in Beamer.

This document is intended as a quick tutorial on using Beamer. It's certainly enough to get you started, and the features presented here may be all you ever need. However, after you get comfortable with these features, there are tons of other ones which Beamer offers--its user manual is 210 pages long! Here are some other Beamer tutorials on the Web:

Contents of this site:

You should first take my 5-minute tour. First view the result, at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/~matloff/BeamerTour.pdf . The raw LaTeX file is here. View the PDF file, page by page so you can see the overlay action etc., then compare what you see in PDF to the raw .tex file.

Your Web browser is probably configured to use Acroread on PDF files. If so, you can go from slide to slide using PageDown and PageUp (or the arrow keys). You can go to full screen via ctrl-L, and later toggle to get out of full screen mode. If on the other hand you are using xpdf , again use PageDown and PageUp for navigation. But if you want full screen mode in xpdf , you need to specify the -fullscreen option on the command line. Note that Beamer itself includes little navigation icons at the bottom right of the screen.

Then download the source, at http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/~matloff/BeamerTour.tex ; you'll need the image too, if you want to actually run pdflatex on the source. Glance through the source, and compare to the PDF output. I have placed explanatory comments by most of the Beamer commands, and will explain many of them in more detail below.

Obtaining and installing Beamer:

If you are using Ubuntu, just type

Obtain from the Beamer home page , https://bitbucket.org/rivanvx/beamer/wiki/Home.

You'll also need LaTeX, of course. You'll also need (from the Beamer home page):

• pgf : Beamer docs say any version >= 0.63 works, but I found that I needed at least 0.95 for the examples to work.

Assuming you have root access to that directory (see below if not) create subdirectories beamer , pgf and xcolor . Install the corresponding packages in those subdirectories, so that for example you will now have a further subdirectory /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/beamer/base , a file /usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/pgf/pgfautomata.sty

Then run texhash to update LaTeX's database.

If you do not have root access, you can install in another directory, say /u/v . However, you'll then have to set your TEXINPUTS environment variable. For example, in the C-shell, you'd type

In the pgf case, I found that version 0.95 had a multi-level directory structure, unlike the earlier versions, and that Beamer was unable to find the files without further arrangement. The approach I took to solving this problem was to "flatten" the structure, which I did by writing the following Unix C-shell alias:

Finally, I had to update the LaTeX database, by running

General Beamer document structure:

The meat of the presentation consists of the frames . One frame corresponds to one or more overlaid slides. If for instance you have three slides overlaid with each other, that will correspond to just one \begin{frame}...\end{frame} pair.

The document as a while will look like this:

The mode paragraph:

This used to set various global parameters, such as visual themes. As a nice starter mode section, I recommend

Frame structure:

The structure of a frame is

The frame title that you choose will show up at the top edge of the frame. You can also choose a subtitle.

Creating overlays:

Beamer has a very rich selection of methods for creating overlays. Here we introduce the most primitive types.

The simplest way to create a set of overlaid slides is to use \pause everywhere you want a break between overlays. For example,

would create a frame consisting of three overlaid slides. At first only "Here is a list of items:" and "first item" would appear. Then "second item" would surface, etc.

For this reason, one can also itemize within itemizing, etc.

There is nothing special about \itemize here. The \pause command will create an overlay wherever we place it. So for instance

would first display only "Here is a". Then "list of items:" would appear and so on.

A much more flexible way to create overlays is to use \uncover . For instance

would display that sentence in the third and all subsequent slides in the current frame.

If you always want to pause after items, place the command

after your \begin{document} command.

To see a more meaningful example, take a look at the source file in my quick Beamer tour cited above . There I used \uncover in LaTeX's \tabular environment to show the steps in a geometry proof, one step at a time.

Title frame structure:

All the usual LaTeX \title , \author etc. information declared earlier in the document will now show up in a slide, if you include this paragraph:

Structure for recurrent slides:

One may wish to have a certain slide show up repeatedly within the presentation. One common example of this is a highlighted outline:

A popular way of organizing a slide presentation is to have an outline slide, which will appear repeatedly at various times during the presentation. The slide consists of an outline of the talk, listing the major topics. Each time the slide appears, it highlights the title of the section of the presentation which will next be shown. This way the audience can see the "forest" instead of the "trees," i.e. understand how the parts of the talk fit together.

Beamer allows us to automate this process.

One creates the groundwork for an outline in Beamer by using ordinary LaTeX \section , \subsection etc. These will be used to tell Beamer the points in the presentation at which to insert the outline or other kind of recurrent slide. We arrange this as follows, in the outline case:

This tells Beamer, "At each point which we've marked with a LaTeX \section command, insert a Beamer frame whose title at the top edge of the slide is `Outline' and which consists of our LaTeX table of contents with the current section being highlighted." (Note: Remember that you may have to run pdflatex more than once in order to get the table of contents.)

If we need to do this instead at the subsection level, we would have

Of course, we can set whatever frame title we wish, not just `Outline'. And it's clear that we have can recurrent slides other than outlines, by simply replacing the \tableofcontents command with other text, say a joke we want to keep repeating until people get sick of it. :-)

Displaying code:

You can use the traditional \verbatim , or probably better, the listings package.

If you use \verbatim or lstlisting within a frame, be sure to declare the frame fragile :

You may also need the relsize package:

To use listings , place

near the top of your source file. The simplest usage is

See the listings manual for all the other tricks that can be done.

Rob Williams

Data Scientist

• Google Scholar

Better Beamer Presentations the Easy Way

October 01, 2019 9 minute read

Everyone knows that Beamer makes frankly terrible presentations without a good deal of help. A well crafted Beamer presentation can be a thing of beauty, especially since you can use knitr or R Markdown to automatically generate tables and figures, but it takes a lot of work. We all have our own little tricks to do things like get more space between items in a list (ending every \item line with \\~\\ ) and the simple but repetitive tasks we have to do every single slide (opening a \Large environment to make text more readable).

Three little tricks

I finally got tired of all this and decided to waste a lot of time now to save even more time later. To do that, I headed to Stack Exchange and started digging into the Beamer documentation.

Give me some space

We’ll start with the base Beamer class. There are a number of Beamer themes that are much better than the default theme, but I’m going to focus on things we can do to improve even the default theme. Here’s our humble starting point.

The first thing anyone who’s ever taken a graphic design class will tell you is that we need to space out those lines. With them all crammed in the middle, they’re harder to read and there’s ton of empty space up top and down below. We can insert a \vfill at the top and bottom of the slide, and between each line, but this gets old quickly. After plenty of googling and a few less than perfect solutions, I came across this Stack Exchange answer . By adding the following code to your preamble, any items in a \itemize environment will be evenly spaced vertically.

Looking better already!

Super size it

Next we need to enlarge our text to make it easier to read. Again, we can do this manually on every slide, but that’s a giant pain. I found this old thread on latex.org which explains how to redefine the font size of \itemize and \enumerate items.

While this has fixed the font size of our lists, now our still too small equation will look even more out of place. I learned from this Stack Exchange answer that the \[ and \] math mode separators actually call the equation* environment. With this knowledge, I used the etoolbox package’s \BeforeBeginEnvironment and \AfterEndEnvironment commands to change the font size to LARGE for any equation* environments.

Now we’ve got a much more readable slide that will be automatically replicated for every other slide in our presentation. If you have multi-line equations in your slides, you can similarly redefine the align* environment to enlarge these equations as well.

Don’t forget numbers

As we can see above, our redefinition of the \itemize environment also evenly spaces sub-bullets. However, it doesn’t do anything for numbered lists defined with /enumerate as the slide below shows.

To evenly space items in numbered lists, we just need to take the same changes to the \itemize environment we introduced above, and apply them to the \enumerate environment as well. Unfortunately, I’m not nearly fluent enough in TeX to understand what this code does. Luckily, I know how to run a diff . Diffing two files will point out all differences between the two. By comparing the modified code from Stack Exchange with the original in beamerbaselocalstructure.sty , we can figure out which lines have been added and copy them over to Beamer’s definition of the \enumerate environment.

Essentially, the new code redefines the \itemsep length parameter as \vfill and adds a \vfil at the end of an \itemize environment. \vfil and \vfil are both commands to create vertical space, and this Stack Exchange answer explains the difference between them, but I still have no idea what the difference is after reading it. What matters is that the \enumerate environment definition looks identical to the \itemize one in the lines surrounding the new code (with the substitution of \endenumerate for \enditemize ), which makes it easy to add it to this definition as well.

Once we’ve done that, now numbered lists are also evenly spaced!

All together now

Sticking all of the below in your preamble will greatly improve the visual appeal of your slides with zero effort required on each individual slide.

I’ve combined all of the LaTeX code above into a style file called better-beamer.sty available on my GitHub. To avoid having to copy and paste this code into the preamble of every presentation you make, you can just load the style file instead! If you place the style file into the same directory as your .tex file, you just need to add:

If you want to avoid having to copy the style file every time you make a new presentation, you can just use an absolute path to reference it in your .tex document. On my computer, this looks like this:

One caveat if you use R Markdown like I do. R Markdown relies on pandoc to convert from .Rmd to .md to .tex to .pdf (phew). This only matters if you’re a lazy typist like me and write your

When you write your lists in the former format, pandoc redefines \itemsep to 0pt in any list (bulleted or numbered) environment in the the resulting LaTeX code via the following command:

This will cancel out our redefined list environments and get us back our original cramped lines. There’s no way to disable this \tightlist behavior (short of removing it from the source code and compiling pandoc yourself), but it is very easy to neutralize thanks to the info in this Stack Exchange answer . If you’re using R Markdown, simply add the following to your YAML header under the header-includes variable.

This will come after the \tightlist definition in the preamble and redefine it to do nothing, leaving our properly spaced lists intact without having to add an empty line after every item. At some point I’ll post my custom LaTeX template (with other aesthetic improvements) for Beamer slides via R Markdown and talk about my process for modifying the default template.

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Adding content to an academic website.

August 07, 2020

One thing I haven’t covered in my previous posts on creating and customizing an academic website is how to actually add content to your site. You know, the stuff that’s the reason why people go to your website in the first place? If you’ve followed those guides, your website should be professional looking and already feeling a little bit different from the stock template. However, adding new pages or tweaking the existing pages can be a little intimidating, and I realized I should probably walk through how to do so. Luckily Jekyll’s use of Markdown makes it really easy to add new content!

Customizing an Academic Website

July 06, 2020

This is a followup to my previous post on creating an academic website . If you’ve followed that guide, you should have a website that’s professional-looking and informative, but it’s probably lacking something to really make it feel like your own. There are an infinite number of ways you could customize the academicpages template (many of them far, far beyond my abilities) but I’m going to walk you through the process I used to start tweaking my website. The goal here isn’t to tell you how you should personalize your website, but to give you the tools to learn how to implement whatever changes you want to make.

Building an Academic Website

June 30, 2020

If you’re an academic, you need a website. Obviously I agree with this since you’re reading this on my website, but if you don’t have one, you should get one. Most universities these days provide a free option, usually powered by WordPress (both WashU and UNC use WordPress for their respective offerings). While these sites are quick to set up and come with the prestige of a .edu URL, they have several drawbacks that have been extensively written on .

How to create presentations with Beamer

Vector Open Stock. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Beamer is a LaTeX package for generating presentation slide decks. One of its nicest features is that it can take advantage of LaTeX's powerful typesetting system and all the other packages in its ecosystem. For example, I often use LaTeX's listings package in Beamer presentations that include code.

Starting a presentation

To begin a Beamer document, enter:

As you would with any other LaTeX document, add any packages you want to use. For example, to use the listings package, enter:

Place all content inside the document environment:

Beamer documents are usually a sequence of frame environments. Frames that contain code should be marked fragile :

Begin your frames with a title:

Testing your code before you present it

One of the worst feelings in the world is giving a talk and realizing, as you walk through the code, that there is a glaring bug in it—maybe a misspelled keyword or an unclosed brace.

The solution is to test code that is presented. In most presentation environments, this means creating a separate file, writing tests, then copying and pasting.

However, with Beamer, there is a better way. Imagine you have a file named do_stuff.py that contains code. You can write tests for the do_stuff.py code in a second file, which you call test_do_stuff.py , and can exercise it with, say, pytest . However, most of the lines in do_stuff.py lack pedagogic value, like defining helper functions.

To simplify things for your audience, you can import just the lines you want to talk about into the frame in your presentation :

Since you will be talking through those lines (from 8 to 15), you don't need any other content on the slide. Close the frame:

On the next slide, you want to show a usage example for the do_stuff() function you just presented:

You use the same file, but this time you show the lines that call the function. Finally, close the document:

Assuming you have an appropriate Python file in do_stuff.py , this will produce a short two-slide presentation.

Beamer also supports necessary features such as progressive revelation, showing only one bullet at a time to prevent the audience from being distracted by reading ahead.": \pause inside a list will divide bullets into pages:

Creating handouts

My favorite feature in Beamer is that you can set it to ignore everything outside a frame with \documentclass[ignorenonframetext]{beamer} . When I prepare a presentation, I leave off the top (where the document class is declared) and auto-generate two versions of it: one with Beamer that ignores all text outside any frame, which I use for my presentation, and one with a header like:

which generates a handout—a PDF that has all the frames and all the text between them.

When a conference organizer asks me to publish my slides, I include the original slide deck as a reference, but the main thing I like people to have is the handout, which has all the explanatory text that I don't want to include on the slide deck itself.

When creating presentation slides, people often wonder whether it's better to optimize their materials for the presentation or for people who want to read them afterward. Fortunately, Beamer provides the best of both worlds.

Related Content

Building a Presentation

8 creating frames, 8.1 the frame environment ¶.

A presentation consists of a series of frames. Each frame consists of a series of slides. You create a frame using frame environment. 1 All of the text that is not tagged by overlay specifications is shown on all slides of the frame. (Overlay specifications are explained in more detail in later sections. For the moment, let’s just say that an overlay specification is a list of numbers or number ranges in pointed brackets that is put after certain commands as in \uncover<1,2>{Text} .) If a frame contains commands that have an overlay specification, the frame will contain multiple slides; otherwise it contains only one slide.

\begin{ frame } < ⟨ overlay specification ⟩ > [< ⟨ default overlay specification ⟩ >] [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] { ⟨ title ⟩ }{ ⟨ subtitle ⟩ }

⟨ environment contents ⟩

\end{ frame }

The ⟨ overlay specification ⟩ dictates which slides of a frame are to be shown. If left out, the number is calculated automatically. The ⟨ environment contents ⟩ can be normal L a T e X text, but may not contain \verb commands or verbatim environments or any environment that changes the character codes, unless the fragile option is given.

The optional ⟨ title ⟩ is detected by an opening brace, that is, if the first thing in the frame is an opening brace then it is assumed that a frame title follows. Likewise, the optional ⟨ subtitle ⟩ is detected the same way, that is, by an opening brace following the ⟨ title ⟩ . The title and subtitle can also be given using the \frametitle and \framesubtitle commands.

The normal L a T e X command \frame is available inside frames with its usual meaning. Both outside and inside frames it is always available as \framelatex .

Normally, the complete ⟨ environment contents ⟩ is put on a slide. If the text does not fit on a slide, being too high, it will be squeezed as much as possible, a warning will be issued, and the text just extends unpleasantly over the bottom. You can use the option allowframebreaks to cause the ⟨ frame text ⟩ to be split among several slides, though you cannot use overlays then. See the explanation of the allowframebreaks option for details.

The ⟨ default overlay specification ⟩ is an optional argument that is “detected” according to the following rule: If the first optional argument in square brackets starts with a < , then this argument is a ⟨ default overlay specification ⟩ , otherwise it is a normal ⟨ options ⟩ argument. Thus \begin{frame}[<+->][plain] would be legal, but also \begin{frame}[plain] .

The effect of the ⟨ default overlay specification ⟩ is the following: Every command or environment inside the frame that accepts an action specification, see Section  9.6.3 , (this includes the \item command, the actionenv environment, \action , and all block environments) and that is not followed by an overlay specification gets the ⟨ default overlay specification ⟩ as its specification. By providing an incremental specification like <+-> , see Section  9.6.4 , this will essentially cause all blocks and all enumerations to be uncovered piece-wise (blocks internally employ action specifications).

Example: In this frame, the theorem is shown from the first slide on, the proof from the second slide on, with the first two itemize points shown one after the other; the last itemize point is shown together with the first one. In total, this frame will contain four slides.

The following ⟨ options ⟩ may be given:

• allowdisplaybreaks = ⟨ break desirability ⟩ causes the AMS T e X command \allowdisplaybreaks [ ⟨ break desirability ⟩ ] to be issued for the current frame. The ⟨ break desirability ⟩ can be a value between 0 (meaning formulas may never be broken) and 4 (the default, meaning that formulas can be broken anywhere without any penalty). The option is just a convenience and makes sense only together with the allowsframebreaks option.

• allowframebreaks = ⟨ fraction ⟩ . When this option is given, the frame will be automatically broken up into several frames if the text does not fit on a single slide. In detail, when this option is given, the following things happen:

1. Overlays are not supported.

2. Any notes for the frame created using the \note command will be inserted after the first page of the frame.

3. Any footnotes for the frame will be inserted on the last page of the frame.

4. If there is a frame title, each of the pages will have this frame title, with a special note added indicating which page of the frame that page is. By default, this special note is a Roman number. However, this can be changed using the following template.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font frametitle continuation

The text of this template is inserted at the end of every title of a frame with the allowframebreaks option set.

The following template options are predefined:

– [ default ] Installs a Roman number as the template. The number indicates the current page of the frame.

– [ roman ] Alias for the default.

– [ from second ] [ ⟨ text ⟩ ] Installs a template that inserts ⟨ text ⟩ from the second page of a frame on. By default, the text inserted is \insertcontinuationtext , which in turn is (cont.) by default.

– [ singleframecheck ] [ ⟨ text ⟩ ] Installs a template that inserts ⟨ text ⟩ starting from the first page, but only if one or more frame breaks occur in the frame. By default, the text inserted is \insertcontinuationcountroman , which will show the continuation count as Roman number.

The following inserts are available:

– \insertcontinuationcount inserts the current page of the frame as an arabic number.

– \insertcontinuationcountroman inserts the current page of the frame as an (uppercase) Roman number.

– \insertcontinuationtext just inserts the text (cont.) or, possibly, a translation thereof (like (Forts.) in German).

If a frame needs to be broken into several pages, the material on all but the last page fills only 95% of each page by default. Thus, there will be some space left at the top and/or bottom, depending on the vertical placement option for the frame. This yields a better visual result than a 100% filling, which typically looks crowded. However, you can change this percentage using the optional argument ⟨ fraction ⟩ , where 1 means 100% and 0.5 means 50%. This percentage includes the frame title. Thus, in order to split a frame “roughly in half,” you should give 0.6 as ⟨ fraction ⟩ .

Most of the fine details of normal T e X page breaking also apply to this option. For example, when you wish equations to be broken automatically, be sure to use the \allowdisplaybreaks command. You can insert \break , \nobreak , and \penalty commands to control where breaks should occur. The commands \pagebreak and \nopagebreak also work, including their options. Since you typically do not want page breaks for the frame to apply also to the article mode, you can add a mode specification like <presentation> to make these commands apply only to the presentation modes. The command \framebreak is a shorthand for \pagebreak<presentation> and \noframebreak is a shorthand for \nopagebreak<presentation> .

The use of this option is evil . In a (good) presentation you prepare each slide carefully and think twice before putting something on a certain slide rather than on some different slide. Using the allowframebreaks option invites the creation of horrible, endless presentations that resemble more a “paper projected on the wall” than a presentation. Nevertheless, the option does have its uses. Most noticeably, it can be convenient for automatically splitting bibliographies or long equations.

• b , c , t will cause the frame to be vertically aligned at the bottom/center/top. This overrides the global placement policy, which is governed by the class options t and c .

• s will cause the content of the frame to be distributed vertically across the whole frame. For a reasonable usage of the option, the user has to add “stretchable” material to the frame content, e.g. \vfill or similar macros.

• noframenumbering tells beamer not to step the framenumber counter for this frame.

• fragile =singleslide tells beamer that the frame contents is “fragile.” This means that the frame contains text that is not “interpreted as usual.” For example, this applies to verbatim text, which is, obviously, interpreted somewhat differently from normal text.

If a frame contains fragile text, different internal mechanisms are used to typeset the frame to ensure that inside the frame the character codes can be reset. The price of switching to another internal mechanism is that either you cannot use overlays or an external file needs to be written and read back (which is not always desirable).

In detail, the following happens when this option is given for normal (pdf) L a T e X : The contents of the frame is scanned and then written to a special file named ⟨ jobname ⟩ .vrb or, if a label has been assigned to the frame, ⟨ jobname ⟩ . ⟨ current frame number ⟩ .vrb . Then, the frame is started anew and the content of this file is read back. Since, upon reading of a file, the character codes can be modified, this allows you to use both verbatim text and overlays.

To determine the end of the frame, the following rule is used: The first occurrence of a single line containing exactly \end{ ⟨ frame environment name ⟩ } ends the frame. The ⟨ environment name ⟩ is normally frame , but it can be changed using the environment option. This special rule is needed since the frame contents is, after all, not interpreted when it is gathered.

You can also add the optional information =singleslide . This tells beamer that the frame contains only a single slide. In this case, the frame contents is not written to a special file, but interpreted directly, which is “faster and cleaner.”

• environment= ⟨ frame environment name ⟩ . This option is useful only in conjunction with the fragile option (but it is not used for fragile=singleslide , only for the plain fragile ). The ⟨ frame environment name ⟩ is used to determine the end of the scanning when gathering the frame contents. Normally, the frame ends when a line reading \end{frame} is reached. However, if you use \begin{frame} inside another environment, you need to use this option:

If you did not specify the option environment=slide in the above example, T e X would “miss” the end of the slide since it does not interpret text while gathering the frame contents.

• label= ⟨ name ⟩ causes the frame’s contents to be stored under the name ⟨ name ⟩ for later resumption using the command \againframe . Furthermore, on each slide of the frame a label with the name ⟨ name ⟩ < ⟨ slide number ⟩ > is created. On the first slide, furthermore, a label with the name ⟨ name ⟩ is created (so the labels ⟨ name ⟩ and ⟨ name ⟩ <1> point to the same slide). Note that labels in general, and these labels in particular, can be used as targets for hyperlinks.

You can use this option together with fragile .

• plain causes the headlines, footlines, and sidebars to be suppressed. This is useful for creating single frames with different head- and footlines or for creating frames showing big pictures that completely fill the frame.

Example: A frame with a picture completely filling the frame:

Example: A title page, in which the head- and footlines are replaced by two graphics.

• shrink = ⟨ minimum shrink percentage ⟩ . This option will cause the text of the frame to be shrunk if it is too large to fit on the frame. beamer will first normally typeset the whole frame. Then it has a look at vertical size of the frame text (excluding the frame title). If this vertical size is larger than the text height minus the frame title height, beamer computes a shrink factor and scales down the frame text by this factor such that the frame text then fills the frame completely. Using this option will automatically cause the squeeze option to be used, also.

Since the shrinking takes place only after everything has been typeset, shrunk frame text will not fill the frame completely horizontally. For this reason, you can specify a ⟨ minimum shrink percentage ⟩ like 20 . If this percentage is specified, the frame will be shrunk at least by this percentage. Since beamer knows this, it can increase the horizontal width proportionally such that the shrunk text once more fills the entire frame. If, however, the percentage is not enough, the text will be shrunk as needed and you will be punished with a warning message.

The best way to use this option is to identify frames that are overly full, but in which all text absolutely has to be fit on a single frame. Then start specifying first shrink=5 , then shrink=10 , and so on, until no warning is issued any more (or just ignore the warning when things look satisfactory).

Using this option is very evil . It will result in changes of the font size from slide to slide, which is a typographic nightmare. Its usage can always be avoided by restructuring and simplifying frames, which will result in a better presentation.

• squeeze causes all vertical spaces in the text to be squeezed together as much as possible. Currently, this just causes the vertical space in enumerations or itemizations to be reduced to zero.

Using this option is not good, but also not evil.

In article mode, the frame environment does not create any visual reference to the original frame (no frame is drawn). Rather, the frame text is inserted into the normal text. To change this, you can modify the templates frame begin and frame end , see below. To suppress a frame in article mode, you can, for example, specify <presentation> as overlay specification.

Beamer-Template frame begin

The text of this template is inserted at the beginning of each frame in article mode (and only there). You can use it, say, to start a minipage environment at the beginning of a frame or to insert a horizontal bar or whatever.

Beamer-Template frame end

The text of this template is inserted at the end of each frame in article mode.

You can use the frame environment inside other environments like this

or like this

However, the actual mechanics are somewhat sensitive since the “collecting” of the frame contents is not easy, so do not attempt anything too fancy. As a rule, the beginning of the environment can be pretty arbitrary, but the ending must end with \end{frame} and should not contain any \end{xxx} . Anything really complex is likely to fail. If you need some \end{xxx} there, define a new command that contains this stuff as in the following example:

1  The command \frame is supported for legacy documents.

8.2 Components of a Frame ¶

Each frame consists of several components:

1. a headline and a footline,

2. a left and a right sidebar,

3. navigation bars,

4. navigation symbols,

6. a frame title,

7. a background, and

8. some frame contents.

A frame need not have all of these components. Usually, the first three components are automatically setup by the theme you are using. Figure 1 shows an overview of the order in which the different components are drawn.

Figure 1: Diagram of the order in which the different frame components are drawn (image originally created by Andrew Stacey )

8.2.1 The Headline and Footline ¶

The headline of a frame is the area at the top of the frame. If it is not empty, it should show some information that helps the audience orientate itself during your talk. Likewise, the footline is the area at the bottom of the frame.

beamer does not use the standard L a T e X mechanisms for typesetting the headline and the footline. Instead, the special headline and footline templates are used to typeset them.

The size of the headline and the footline is determined as follows: Their width is always the paper width. Their height is determined by tentatively typesetting the headline and the footline at the start of the frame.

The appearance of the headline and footline is determined by the following templates:

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font headline

This template is used to typeset the headline. The beamer -color and -font headline are installed at the beginning. The background of the beamer -color is not used by default, that is, no background rectangle is drawn behind the headline and footline (this may change in the future with the introduction of a headline and a footline canvas).

The width of the headline is the whole paper width. The height is determined automatically as described above. The headline is typeset in vertical mode with interline skip turned off and the paragraph skip set to zero.

Inside this template, the \\ command is changed such that it inserts a comma instead.

• [ default ] The default is just an empty headline. To get the default headline of earlier versions of the beamer class, use the compatibility theme.

• [ infolines theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the infolines outer theme is loaded. The headline shows current section and subsection.

• [ miniframes theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the miniframes outer theme is loaded. The headline shows the sections with small clickable mini frames below them.

• [ sidebar theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the sidebar outer theme is loaded and if the head height (and option of the sidebar theme) is not zero. In this case, the headline is an empty bar of the background color frametitle with the logo to the left or right of this bar.

• [ smoothtree theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the smoothtree outer theme is loaded. A “smoothed” navigation tree is shown in the headline.

• [ smoothbars theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the smoothbars outer theme is loaded. A “smoothed” version of the miniframes headline is shown.

• [ tree ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the tree outer theme is loaded. A navigational tree is shown in the headline.

• [ split theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the split outer theme is loaded. The headline is split into a left part showing the sections and a right part showing the subsections.

• [ text line ] { ⟨ text ⟩ } The headline is typeset more or less as if it were a normal text line with the ⟨ text ⟩ as contents. The left and right margin are setup such that they are the same as the margins of normal text. The ⟨ text ⟩ is typeset inside an \hbox , while the headline is normally typeset in vertical mode.

Inside the template numerous inserts can be used:

• \insertnavigation{ ⟨ width ⟩ } Inserts a horizontal navigation bar of the given ⟨ width ⟩ into a template. The bar lists the sections and below them mini frames for each frame in that section.

• \insertpagenumber Inserts the current page number into a template.

• \insertsection Inserts the current section into a template.

• \insertsectionnavigation { ⟨ width ⟩ } Inserts a vertical navigation bar containing all sections, with the current section highlighted.

• \insertsectionnavigationhorizontal { ⟨ width ⟩ }{ ⟨ left insert ⟩ }{ ⟨ right insert ⟩ } Inserts a horizontal navigation bar containing all sections, with the current section highlighted. The ⟨ left insert ⟩ will be inserted to the left of the sections, the { ⟨ right insert ⟩ } to the right. By inserting a triple fill (a filll ) you can flush the bar to the left or right.

• \insertshortauthor [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] Inserts the short version of the author into a template. The text will be printed in one long line, line breaks introduced using the \\ command are suppressed. The following ⟨ options ⟩ may be given:

– width= ⟨ width ⟩ causes the text to be put into a multi-line minipage of the given size. Line breaks are still suppressed by default.

– center centers the text inside the minipage created using the width option, rather than having it left aligned.

– respectlinebreaks causes line breaks introduced by the \\ command to be honored.

Example: \insertauthor[width={3cm},center,respectlinebreaks]

• \insertshortdate [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] Inserts the short version of the date into a template. The same options as for \insertshortauthor may be given.

• \insertshortinstitute [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] Inserts the short version of the institute into a template. The same options as for \insertshortauthor may be given.

• \insertshortpart [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] Inserts the short version of the part name into a template. The same options as for \insertshortauthor may be given.

• \insertshorttitle [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] Inserts the short version of the document title into a template. Same options as for \insertshortauthor may be given.

• \insertshortsubtitle [ ⟨ options ⟩ ] Inserts the short version of the document subtitle. Same options as for \insertshortauthor may be given.

• \insertsubsection Inserts the current subsection into a template.

• \insertsubsubsection Inserts the current subsection into a template.

• \insertsubsectionnavigation { ⟨ width ⟩ } Inserts a vertical navigation bar containing all subsections of the current section, with the current subsection highlighted.

• \insertsubsectionnavigationhorizontal { ⟨ width ⟩ }{ ⟨ left insert ⟩ }{ ⟨ right insert ⟩ } See \insertsectionnavigationhorizontal .

• \insertverticalnavigation { ⟨ width ⟩ } Inserts a vertical navigation bar of the given ⟨ width ⟩ into a template. The bar shows a little table of contents. The individual lines are typeset using the templates section in head/foot and subsection in head/foot .

• \insertframenumber Inserts the number of the current frame (not slide) into a template.

• \insertslidenumber Inserts the number of the current slide in frame into a template.

• \insertoverlaynumber Inserts the number of current overlay counter into a template. This is generally equal to \insertslidenumber , except when an overlay specification is used in a frame environment.

• \inserttotalframenumber Inserts the total number of the frames (not slides) into a template. The number is only correct on the second run of T e X on your document.

• \insertmainframenumber Inserts the number of the frames in the main part (before \appendix command) into a template. The number is only correct on the second run of T e X on your document.

• \insertappendixframenumber Inserts the number of the frames in the appendix part (after \appendix command) into a template. The number is only correct on the second run of T e X on your document.

• \insertframestartpage Inserts the page number of the first page of the current frame.

• \insertframeendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the current frame.

• \insertsubsectionstartpage Inserts the page number of the first page of the current subsection.

• \insertsubsectionendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the current subsection.

• \insertsectionstartpage Inserts the page number of the first page of the current section.

• \insertsectionendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the current section.

• \insertpartstartpage Inserts the page number of the first page of the current part.

• \insertpartendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the current part.

• \insertpresentationstartpage Inserts the page number of the first page of the presentation.

• \insertpresentationendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the presentation (excluding the appendix).

• \insertappendixstartpage Inserts the page number of the first page of the appendix. If there is no appendix, this number is the last page of the document.

• \insertappendixendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the appendix. If there is no appendix, this number is the last page of the document.

• \insertdocumentstartpage Inserts 1.

• \insertdocumentendpage Inserts the page number of the last page of the document (including the appendix).

• \usebeamertemplate*{page number in head/foot} inserts a customisable template which e.g. inserts the current and total number of frames.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font footline

This template behaves exactly the same way as the headline. Note that, sometimes quite annoyingly, beamer currently adds a space of 4pt between the bottom of the frame’s text and the top of the footline.

• [ default ] The default is an empty footline. Note that the navigational symbols are not part of the footline by default. Rather, they are part of an (invisible) right sidebar.

• [ infolines theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the infolines outer theme is loaded. The footline shows things like the author’s name and the title of the talk.

• [ miniframes theme ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the miniframes outer theme is loaded. Depending on the exact options that are used when the miniframes theme is loaded, different things can be shown in the footline.

• [ page number ] Shows the current page number in the footline.

• [ frame number ] Shows the current frame number in the footline.

• [ split ] This option becomes available (and is used) if the split outer theme is loaded. The footline (just like the headline) is split into a left part showing the author’s name and a right part showing the talk’s title.

• [ text line ] { ⟨ text ⟩ } The footline is typeset more or less as if it were a normal text line with the ⟨ text ⟩ as contents. The left and right margin are setup such that they are the same as the margins of normal text. The ⟨ text ⟩ is typeset inside an \hbox , while the headline is normally typeset in vertical mode. Using the \strut command somewhere in such a line might be a good idea.

The same inserts as for headlines can be used.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font page number in head/foot

These beamer -color and -font are used to typeset the page number or frame number in the footline.

The beamer -template provides a convenient way to format the page or frame number in the footline. It is used by the infolines outer theme and the page number and frame number footline themes. It can also be used with the miniframes and split outer themes, but for them it is set to empty as default.

• [ default ] The default option is empty.

• [ framenumber ] This option inserts the current frame number.

• [ totalframenumber ] In addition to the current frame number, this option also shows the total number of frames.

• [ appendixframenumber ] This options replicates the behaviour of the appendixnumberbeamer package. In the main part before the \appendix command the current frame number and the total number of frames in the main part is displayed. In the appendix only the frame number within the appendix and the total number of frames in the appendix are shown.

• [ pagenumber ] Shows the current page number.

• [ totalpagenumber ] In addition to the current page number also the total page number is displayed.

8.2.2 The Sidebars ¶

Sidebars are vertical areas that stretch from the lower end of the headline to the top of the footline. There can be a sidebar at the left and another one at the right (or even both). Sidebars can show a table of contents, but they could also be added for purely aesthetic reasons.

When you install a sidebar template, you must explicitly specify the horizontal size of the sidebar using the command \setbeamersize with the option sidebar width left or sidebar width right . The vertical size is determined automatically. Each sidebar has its own background canvas, which can be setup using the sidebar canvas templates.

Adding a sidebar of a certain size, say 1 cm, will make the main text 1 cm narrower. The distance between the inner side of a side bar and the outer side of the text, as specified by the command \setbeamersize with the option text margin left and its counterpart for the right margin, is not changed when a sidebar is installed.

Internally, the sidebars are typeset by showing them as part of the headline. The beamer class keeps track of six dimensions, three for each side: the variables \beamer@leftsidebar and \beamer@rightsidebar store the (horizontal) sizes of the side bars, the variables \beamer@leftmargin and \beamer@rightmargin store the distance between sidebar and text, and the macros \Gm@lmargin and \Gm@rmargin store the distance from the edge of the paper to the edge of the text. Thus the sum \beamer@leftsidebar and \beamer@leftmargin is exactly \Gm@lmargin . Thus, if you wish to put some text right next to the left sidebar, you might write \hskip-\beamer@leftmargin to get there.

For convenience, the width of the sidebar and the height of its headline are accessible through the macros \beamersidebarwidth and \beamerheadheight , respectively.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font sidebar left

Color/font parents: sidebar

The template is used to typeset the left sidebar. As mentioned above, the size of the left sidebar is set using the command

beamer will not clip sidebars automatically if they are too large.

When the sidebar is typeset, it is put inside a \vbox . You should currently setup things like the \hsize or the \parskip yourself.

• [ default ] installs an empty template.

• [ sidebar theme ] This option is available if the outer theme sidebar is loaded with the left option. In this case, this options is selected automatically. It shows a mini table of contents in the sidebar.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font sidebar right

This template works the same way as the template for the left.

• [ default ] The default right sidebar has zero width. Nevertheless, it shows navigational symbols and, if installed, a logo at the bottom of the sidebar, protruding to the left into the text.

• [ sidebar theme ] This option is available, if the outer theme sidebar is loaded with the right option. In this case, this option is selected automatically. It shows a mini table of contents in the sidebar.

Beamer-Template sidebar canvas left

Like the overall background canvas, this canvas is drawn behind the actual text of the sidebar. This template should normally insert a rectangle of the size of the sidebar, though a too large height will not lead to an error or warning. When this template is called, the beamer -color sidebar left will have been installed.

• [ default ] uses a large rectangle colored with sidebar.bg as the sidebar canvas. However, if the background of sidebar is empty, nothing is drawn and the canvas is “transparent.”

• [ vertical shading ] [ ⟨ color options ⟩ ] installs a vertically shaded background. The following ⟨ color options ⟩ may be given:

– top= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color at the top of the sidebar. By default, 25% of the foreground of the beamer -color palette primary is used.

– bottom= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color at the bottom of the sidebar (more precisely, at a distance of the page height below the top of the sidebar). By default, the background of normal text at the moment of invocation of this command is used.

– middle= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color for the middle of the sidebar. Thus, if this option is given, the shading changes from the bottom color to this color and then to the top color.

– midpoint= ⟨ factor ⟩ specifies at which point of the page the middle color is used. A factor of 0 is the bottom of the page, a factor of 1 is the top. The default, which is 0.5 , is in the middle.

Note that you must give “real” L a T e X colors here. This often makes it necessary to invoke the command \usebeamercolor before this command can be used.

Also note, that the width of the sidebar should be setup before this option is used.

Example: A stylish, but not very useful shading:

• [ horizontal shading ] [ ⟨ color options ⟩ ] installs a horizontally shaded background. The following ⟨ color options ⟩ may be given:

– left= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color at the left of the sidebar.

– right= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color at the right of the sidebar.

– middle= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color in the middle of the sidebar.

– midpoint= ⟨ factor ⟩ specifies at which point of the sidebar the middle color is used. A factor of 0 is the left of the sidebar, a factor of 1 is the right. The default, which is 0.5 , is in the middle.

Example: Adds two “pillars”

Beamer-Template sidebar canvas right

Works exactly as for the left side.

8.2.3 Navigation Bars ¶

Many themes install a headline or a sidebar that shows a navigation bar . Although these navigation bars take up quite a bit of space, they are often useful for two reasons:

• They provide the audience with a visual feedback of how much of your talk you have covered and what is yet to come. Without such feedback, an audience will often puzzle whether something you are currently introducing will be explained in more detail later on or not.

• You can click on all parts of the navigation bar. This will directly “jump” you to the part you have clicked on. This is particularly useful to skip certain parts of your talk and during a “question session,” when you wish to jump back to a particular frame someone has asked about.

Some navigation bars can be “compressed” using the following option:

\documentclass[ compress ]{beamer}

Tries to make all navigation bars as small as possible. For example, all small frame representations in the navigation bars for a single section are shown alongside each other. Normally, the representations for different subsections are shown in different lines. Furthermore, section and subsection navigations are compressed into one line.

Some themes use the \insertnavigation to insert a navigation bar into the headline. Inside this bar, small icons are shown (called “mini frames”) that represent the frames of a presentation. When you click on such an icon, the following happens:

• If you click on (the icon of) any frame other than the current frame, the presentation will jump to the first slide of the frame you clicked on.

• If you click on the current frame and you are not on the last slide of this frame, you will jump to the last slide of the frame.

• If you click on the current frame and you are on the last slide, you will jump to the first slide of the frame.

By the above rules you can:

• Jump to the beginning of a frame from somewhere else by clicking on it once.

• Jump to the end of a frame from somewhere else by clicking on it twice.

• Skip the rest of the current frame by clicking on it once.

We also tried making a jump to an already-visited frame jump automatically to the last slide of this frame. However, this turned out to be more confusing than helpful. With the current implementation a double-click always brings you to the end of a slide, regardless from where you “come” from.

Parent Beamer-Template mini frames

This parent template has the children mini frame and mini frame in current subsection .

Example: \setbeamertemplate{mini frames}[box]

• [ default ] shows small circles as mini frames.

• [ box ] shows small rectangles as mini frames.

• [ tick ] shows small vertical bars as mini frames.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font mini frame

The template is used to render the mini frame of the current frame in a navigation bar.

The width of the template is ignored. Instead, when multiple mini frames are shown, their position is calculated based on the beamer -sizes mini frame size and mini frame offset . See the command \setbeamersize for a description of how to change them.

Beamer-Template mini frame in current subsection

This template is used to render the mini frame of frames in the current subsection that are not the current frame. The beamer -color/-font mini frame installed prior to the usage of this template is invoked.

Beamer-Template mini frame in other subsection

This template is used to render mini frames of frames from subsections other than the current one.

• [ default ] [ ⟨ percentage ⟩ ] By default, this template shows mini frame in current subsection , except that the color is first changed to fg! ⟨ percentage ⟩ !bg . The default ⟨ percentage ⟩ is 50%.

Example: To get an extremely “shaded” rendering of the frames outside the current subsection you can use the following:

Example: To render all mini frames other than the current one in the same way, use

Some themes show sections and/or subsections in the navigation bars. By clicking on a section or subsection in the navigation bar, you will jump to that section. Clicking on a section is particularly useful if the section starts with a \tableofcontents[currentsection] , since you can use it to jump to the different subsections.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font section in head/foot

This template is used to render a section entry if it occurs in the headline or the footline. The background of the beamer -color is typically used as the background of the whole “area” where section entries are shown in the headline. You cannot usually use this template yourself since the insert \insertsectionhead is setup correctly only when a list of sections is being typeset in the headline.

The default template just inserts the section name. The following inserts are useful for this template:

• \insertsectionhead inserts the name of the section that is to be typeset in a navigation bar.

• \insertsectionheadnumber inserts the number of the section that is to be typeset in a navigation bar.

• \insertpartheadnumber inserts the number of the part of the current section or subsection that is to be typeset in a navigation bar.

Beamer-Template section in head/foot shaded

This template is used instead of section in head/foot for typesetting sections that are currently shaded. Such shading is usually applied to all sections but the current one.

Note that this template does not have its own color and font. When this template is called, the beamer -font and color section in head/foot will have been setup. Then, at the start of the template, you will typically change the current color or start a colormixin environment.

• [ default ] [ ⟨ percentage ⟩ ] The default template changes the current color to fg! ⟨ percentage ⟩ !bg . This causes the current color to become “washed out” or “shaded.” The default percentage is 50 .

Example: You can use the following command to make the shaded entries very “light”:

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font section in sidebar

This template is used to render a section entry if it occurs in the sidebar, typically as part of a mini table of contents shown there. The background of the beamer -color is used as background for the entry. Just like section in head/foot , you cannot usually use this template yourself and you should also use \insertsectionhead to insert the name of the section that is to be typeset.

For once, no default is installed for this template.

• [ sidebar theme ] This template, which is only available if the sidebar outer theme is loaded, inserts a bar with the beamer -color’s foreground and background that shows the section name. The width of the bar is the same as the width of the whole sidebar.

The same inserts as for section in head/foot can be used.

Beamer-Template/-Color section in sidebar shaded

This template is used instead of section in sidebar for typesetting sections that are currently shaded. Such shading is usually applied to all sections but the current one.

Differently from section in head/foot shaded , this template has its own beamer -color.

• [ sidebar theme ] Does the same as for the nonshaded version, except that a different beamer -color is used.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font subsection in head/foot

This template behaves exactly like section in head/foot , only for subsections.

• \insertsubsectionhead works like \insertsectionhead .

• \insertsubsectionheadnumber works like \insertsectionheadnumber .

Beamer-Template subsection in head/foot shaded

This template behaves exactly like section in head/foot shaded , only for subsections.

• [ default ] [ ⟨ percentage ⟩ ] works like the corresponding option for sections.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font subsection in sidebar

This template behaves exactly like section in sidebar , only for subsections.

Beamer-Template subsection in sidebar shaded

This template behaves exactly like section in sidebar shaded , only for subsections.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font subsubsection in head/foot

This template behaves exactly like section in head/foot , only for subsubsections. Currently, it is not used by the default themes.

• \insertsubsubsectionhead works like \insertsectionhead .

• \insertsubsubsectionheadnumber works like \insertsectionheadnumber .

Beamer-Template subsubsection in head/foot shaded

This template behaves exactly like section in head/foot shaded , only for subsubsections.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font subsubsection in sidebar

This template behaves exactly like section in sidebar , only for subsubsections.

Beamer-Template subsubsection in sidebar shaded

This template behaves exactly like section in sidebar shaded , only for subsubsections.

By clicking on the document title in a navigation bar (not all themes show it), you will jump to the first slide of your presentation (usually the title page) except if you are already at the first slide. On the first slide, clicking on the document title will jump to the end of the presentation, if there is one. Thus by double clicking the document title in a navigation bar, you can jump to the end.

8.2.4 The Navigation Symbols ¶

Navigation symbols are small icons that are shown on every slide in beamer mode by default. The following symbols are shown:

A slide icon, which is depicted as a single rectangle. To the left and right of this symbol, a left and right arrow are shown. If supported by the viewer application, clicking on a slide icon pops up a window that allows you to enter a slide number to which you wish to jump.

A frame icon, which is depicted as three slide icons “stacked on top of each other”. This symbol is framed by arrows. Clicking on the left side of a frame icon will jump to the first slide of the frame, clicking on the right side will jump to the last slide of the frame (this can be useful for skipping overlays).

A subsection icon, which is depicted as a highlighted subsection entry in a table of contents. This symbol is framed by arrows. Clicking on the left side of a subsection icon will jump to the first slide of the subsection, clicking on the right side will jump to the last slide of the subsection.

A section icon, which is depicted as a highlighted section entry (together with all subsections) in a table of contents. This symbol is framed by arrows. Clicking on the left side of a section icon will jump to the first slide of the section, clicking on the right side will jump to the last slide of the section.

A presentation icon, which is depicted as a completely highlighted table of contents and an appendix icon, which is depicted as a completely highlighted table of contents consisting of only one section. (This icon is only shown if there is an appendix.) Clicking on the left side of the presentation icon will jump to the first slide, clicking on the right side will jump to the last slide of the presentation. However, this does not include the appendix. Clicking on the left side of the appendix icon will jump to the first slide of the appendix, clicking on the right side will jump to the last slide of the appendix.

Back and forward icons, depicted as circular arrows and a “search” or “find” icon, depicted as a detective’s magnifying glass. If supported by the viewer application, clicking on the back and forward symbols jumps to the previously visited slides and clicking on the search icon pops up a window that allows you to enter a search string. If found, the viewer application will jump to this string.

Clicking on the left arrow next to an icon always jumps to (the last slide of) the previous slide, frame, subsection, or section. Clicking on the right arrow next to an icon always jumps to (the first slide of) the next slide, frame, subsection, or section.

You can reduce the number of icons that are shown or their layout by adjusting the navigation symbols template.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font navigation symbols

This template is invoked in “three-star-mode” by themes at the place where the navigation symbols should be shown. “Three-star-mode” means that the command \usebeamertemplate*** is used.

Note that, although it may look like the symbols are part of the footline, they are more often part of an invisible right sidebar.

• [ default ] Organizes the navigation symbols horizontally.

• [ horizontal ] This is an alias for the default.

• [ vertical ] Organizes the navigation symbols vertically.

• [ only frame symbol ] Shows only the navigational symbol for navigating frames.

Example: The following command suppresses all navigation symbols:

Inside this template, the following inserts are useful:

• \insertslidenavigationsymbol Inserts the slide navigation symbols, that is, the slide symbols (a rectangle) together with arrows to the left and right that are hyperlinked.

• \insertframenavigationsymbol Inserts the frame navigation symbol.

• \insertsubsectionnavigationsymbol Inserts the subsection navigation symbol.

• \insertsectionnavigationsymbol Inserts the section navigation symbol.

• \insertdocnavigationsymbol Inserts the presentation navigation symbol and (if necessary) the appendix navigation symbol.

• \insertbackfindforwardnavigationsymbol Inserts a back, a find, and a forward navigation symbol.

8.2.5 The Logo ¶

To install a logo, use the following command:

\logo { ⟨ logo text ⟩ }

The ⟨ logo text ⟩ is usually a command for including a graphic, but it can be any text. The position where the logo is inserted is determined by the current theme; you cannot (currently) specify this position directly.

Currently, the effect of this command is just to setup the logo template. However, a more sophisticated effect might be implemented in the future.

This command has no effect.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font logo

This template is used to render the logo.

The following insert can be used to insert a logo somewhere:

• \insertlogo inserts the logo at the current position. This command has the same effect as \usebeamertemplate*{logo} .

8.2.6 The Frame Title ¶

The frame title is shown prominently at the top of the frame and can be specified with the following command:

\frametitle < ⟨ overlay specification ⟩ > [ ⟨ short frame title ⟩ ] { ⟨ frame title text ⟩ }

You should end the ⟨ frame title text ⟩ with a period, if the title is a proper sentence. Otherwise, there should not be a period. The ⟨ short frame title ⟩ is normally not shown, but it’s available via the \insertshortframetitle command. The ⟨ overlay specification ⟩ is mostly useful for suppressing the frame title in article mode.

If you are using the allowframebreaks option with the current frame, a continuation text (like “(cont.)” or something similar, depending on the template frametitle continuation ) is automatically added to the ⟨ frame title text ⟩ at the end, separated with a space.

presentation

The frame title is not typeset immediately when the command \frametitle is encountered. Rather, the argument of the command is stored internally and the frame title is only typeset when the complete frame has been read. This gives you access to both the ⟨ frame title text ⟩ and to the ⟨ subframe title text ⟩ that is possibly introduced using the \framesubtitle command.

By default, this command creates a new paragraph in article mode, entitled ⟨ frame title text ⟩ . Using the ⟨ overlay specification ⟩ makes it easy to suppress a frame title once in a while. If you generally wish to suppress all frame titles in article mode, say \setbeamertemplate<article>{frametitle}{}

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font frametitle

Color/font parents: titlelike

When the frame title and subtitle are to be typeset, this template is invoked with the beamer -color and -font frametitle set. This template is not invoked when the commands \frametitle or \framesubtitle are called. Rather, it is invoked when the whole frame has been completely read. Till then, the frame title and frame subtitle text are stored in a special place. This way, when the template is invoked, both inserts are setup correctly. The resulting T e X -box is then magically put back to the top of the frame.

• [ default ] [ ⟨ alignment ⟩ ] The frame is typeset using the beamer -color frametitle and the beamer -font frametitle . The subtitle is put below using the color and font framesubtitle . If the color frametitle has a background, a background bar stretching the whole frame width is put behind the title. A background color of the subtitle is ignored. The ⟨ alignment ⟩ is passed on to the beamercolorbox environment. In particular, useful options are left , center , and right . As a special case, the right option causes the left border of the frame title to be somewhat larger than normal so that the frame title is more in the middle of the frame.

• [ shadow theme ] This option is available if the outer theme shadow is loaded. It draws the frame title on top of a horizontal shading between the background colors of frametitle and frametitle right . A subtitle is, if present, also put on this bar. Below the bar, a “shadow” is drawn.

• [ sidebar theme ] This option is available if the outer theme sidebar is loaded and if the headline height is not set to 0pt (which can be done using an option of the sidebar theme). With this option, the frame title is put inside a rectangular area that is part of the headline (some “negative space” is used to raise the frame title into this area). The background of the color frametitle is not used, this is the job of the headline template in this case.

• [ smoothbars theme ] This option is available if the outer theme smoothbars is loaded. It typesets the frame title on a colored bar with the background color of frametitle . The top and bottom of the bar smoothly blend over to backgrounds above and below.

• [ smoothtree theme ] Like smoothbars theme , only for the smoothtree theme.

The following commands are useful for this template:

• \insertframetitle yields the frame title.

• \insertframesubtitle yields the frame subtitle.

\framesubtitle < ⟨ overlay specification ⟩ > { ⟨ frame subtitle text ⟩ }

If present, a subtitle will be shown in a smaller font below the main title. Like the \frametitle command, this command can be given anywhere in the frame, since the frame title is actually typeset only when everything else has already been typeset.

By default, the subtitle is not shown in any way in article mode.

Beamer-Color/-Font framesubtitle

Color/font parents: frametitle

This element provides a color and a font for the subtitle, but no template. It is the job of the frametitle template to also typeset the subtitle.

Be default, all material for a slide is vertically centered. You can change this using the following class options:

\documentclass[ t ]{beamer}

Place text of slides at the (vertical) top of the slides. This corresponds to a vertical “flush.” You can override this for individual frames using the c or b option.

\documentclass[ c ]{beamer}

Place text of slides at the (vertical) center of the slides. This is the default. You can override this for individual frames using the t or b option.

8.2.7 The Background ¶

Each frame has a background , which—as the name suggests—is “behind everything.” The background is a surprisingly complex object: in beamer , it consists of a background canvas and the main background .

The background canvas can be imagined as a large area on which everything (the main background and everything else) is painted on. By default, this canvas is a big rectangle filling the whole frame whose color is the background of the beamer -color background canvas . Since this color inherits from normal text , by changing the background color of the normal text, you can change this color of the canvas.

Example: The following command changes the background color to a light red.

The canvas need not be monochrome. Instead, you can install a shading or even make it transparent. Making it transparent is a good idea if you wish to include your slides in some other document.

Example: The following command makes the background canvas transparent:

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font background canvas

Color parents: normal text

The template is inserted “behind everything.” The template should typically be some T e X commands that produce a rectangle of height \paperheight and width \paperwidth .

• [ default ] installs a large rectangle with the background color. If the background is empty, the canvas is “transparent.” Since background canvas inherits from normal text , you can change the background of the beamer -color normal text to change the color of the default canvas. However, to make the canvas transparent, only set the background of the canvas empty; leave the background of normal text white.

• [ vertical shading ] [ ⟨ color options ⟩ ] installs a vertically shaded background. Use with care: Background shadings are often distracting! The following ⟨ color options ⟩ may be given:

– top= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color at the top of the page. By default, 25% of the foreground of the beamer -color palette primary is used.

– bottom= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color at the bottom of the page. By default, the background of normal text at the moment of invocation of this command is used.

– middle= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color for the middle of the page. Thus, if this option is given, the shading changes from the bottom color to this color and then to the top color.

– midpoint= ⟨ factor ⟩ specifies at which point of the page the middle color is used. A factor of 0 is the bottom of the page, a factor of 1 is the top. The default, which is 0.5 is in the middle.

The main background is drawn on top of the background canvas. It can be used to add, say, a grid to every frame or a big background picture or whatever. If you plan to use a PNG image as a background image, use one with an alpha channel to avoid potential problems with transparency in some PDF viewers.

Beamer-Template/-Color/-Font background

Color parents: background canvas

The template is inserted “behind everything, but on top of the background canvas.” Use it for pictures or grids or anything that does not necessarily fill the whole background. When this template is typeset, the beamer -color and -font background will be setup.

• [ default ] is empty.

• [ grid ] [ ⟨ grid options ⟩ ] places a grid on the background. The following ⟨ grid options ⟩ may be given:

– step= ⟨ dimension ⟩ specifies the distance between grid lines. The default is 0.5 cm.

– color= ⟨ color ⟩ specifies the color of the grid lines. The default is 10% foreground.

8.3 Frame and Margin Sizes ¶

The size of a frame is actually the “paper size” of a beamer presentation, and it is variable. By default, it amounts to 128 mm by 96 mm. The aspect ratio of this size is 4:3, which is exactly what most projectors offer these days. It is the job of the presentation program (like acroread , xpdf , okular or evince ) to display the slides at full screen size. The main advantage of using a small “paper size” is that you can use all your normal fonts at their natural sizes. In particular, inserting a graphic with 11pt labels will result in reasonably sized labels during the presentation.

To change “paper size” and aspect ratio, you can use the following class options:

\documentclass[ aspectratio=2013 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 20:13, and frame size to 140 mm by 91 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=1610 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 16:10, and frame size to 160 mm by 100 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=169 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 16:9, and frame size to 160 mm by 90 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=149 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 14:9, and frame size to 140 mm by 90 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=141 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 1.41:1, and frame size to 148.5 mm by 105 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=54 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 5:4, and frame size to 125 mm by 100 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=43 ]{beamer}

The default aspect ratio and frame size. You need not specify this option.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=32 ]{beamer}

Sets aspect ratio to 3:2, and frame size to 135 mm by 90 mm.

\documentclass[ aspectratio=xxxx ]{beamer}

Allows the user to set their own aspect ratio. For the height of the resulting frame, the default value of 96 mm is used and the width will be calculated accordingly to match the desired aspect ratio.

The custom aspect ratio allows for two to four digits and will be interpreted as shown in the following examples:

• two digits: aspectratio=42 as 4:2

• three digits: aspectratio=137 as 13:7 (e.g. always in landscape format)

• four digits: aspectratio=1024 as 10:24

\insertaspectratio

The user can access the aspect ratio of the presentation via the \insertaspectratio macro. This can be useful if one creates a presentation in multiple different aspect ratios and would like to check the currently used value, e.g. to select different background images.

Aside from using these options, you should refrain from changing the “paper size.” However, you can change the size of the left and right margins, which default to 1 cm. To change them, you should use the following command:

\setbeamersize { ⟨ options ⟩ }

The following ⟨ options ⟩ can be given:

• text margin left= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ sets a new left margin. This excludes the left sidebar. Thus, it is the distance between the right edge of the left sidebar and the left edge of the text.

• text margin right= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ sets a new right margin.

• sidebar width left= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ sets the size of the left sidebar. Currently, this command should be given before a shading is installed for the sidebar canvas.

• sidebar width right= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ sets the size of the right sidebar.

• description width= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ sets the default width of description labels, see Section  12.1 .

• description width of= ⟨ text ⟩ sets the default width of description labels to the width of the ⟨ text ⟩ , see Section  12.1 .

• mini frame size= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ sets the size of mini frames in a navigation bar. When two mini frame icons are shown alongside each other, their left end points are ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ far apart.

• mini frame offset= ⟨ T e X dimension ⟩ set an additional vertical offset that is added to the mini frame size when arranging mini frames vertically.

This command has no effect in article mode.

8.4 Restricting the Slides of a Frame ¶

The number of slides in a frame is automatically calculated. If the largest number mentioned in any overlay specification inside the frame is 4, four slides are introduced (despite the fact that a specification like <4-> might suggest that more than four slides would be possible).

You can also specify the number of slides in the frame “by hand.” To do so, you pass an overlay specification to the \frame command. The frame will contain only the slides specified in this argument. Consider the following example.

This command will create a frame containing four slides. The first will contain the text “This is slide number 1,” the second “This is slide number 2,” the third “This is slide number 4,” and the fourth “This is slide number 5.”

A useful specification is just <0> , which causes the frame to have no slides at all. For example, \begin{frame}<handout:0> causes the frame to be suppressed in the handout version, but to be shown normally in all other versions. Another useful specification is <beamer> , which causes the frame to be shown normally in beamer mode, but to be suppressed in all other versions.

Frames which are hidden with <0> behave like the noframenumbering option and will not be counted for the number of frames (this only applies if no mode is specified, e.g. not for <all:0> ).

How do you split a Beamer slide into two columns?

The following minimal working example shows how to do so:

and the result is shown below:

For more columns, you can create more column environment inside columns environment with the width that you like.

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A Quick Guide to the MoSCoW Method Technique

January 12, 2022 - 10 min read

The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique used by project and campaign managers to work smarter not harder. In this quick guide, we’ll explain exactly what the MoSCoW method is, how it works, and provide some examples you can use to inform your own analysis. Keep reading to better understand the various categories within the MoSCoW method, as well as an alternative prioritization tool for project managers.

What is the MoSCow method?

The MoSCoW method is a technique used by organizations to communicate the importance and priority of the various requirements being met in various projects. This method is also referred to as MoSCoW prioritization and MoSCoW analysis.

The term MoSCoW is an acronym that refers to the first letter of each of the four priority categories. It uses four categories, which are must-have, should-want, could-have, and will not have. While it’s meant to be used at the start of a project when time is on your side, it can also be adapted to work seamlessly for time constraints .

Software developer Dai Clegg originally created the MoScoW method. Since then, many other leading companies have used it to get their team on the same page, properly distribute resources, and achieve project goals. 

How does the MoSCow technique work?

The MoSCoW technique works by allowing teams to include multiple representatives from the organization in their project management discussions. This gives everyone a wider perspective on the organization's operations and where their collective priorities lie. 

Before you begin your MoSCoW method, think about which people can provide valuable context for your team. They can help you identify opportunities and threats, and they can help you make better decisions. Once finalized, the MoSCoW method will also force stakeholders to show evidence before they can submit additional work requests mid-project. 

Critics of MoSCoW often say that it does not include a comprehensive objective scoring system for all initiatives. This is a common mistake that many teams make. A weighted scoring method will more accurately measure the backlog against a set of predefined benefits and costs.

One of the most challenging aspects of the MoSCoW technique is learning which categories their initiatives should go in.  As the manager, you will need to know which of your team's initiatives are “must haves” for their product or which are merely “should haves”. 

You may even need to solicit feedback from a different department in order to get greater perspective on your current project prioritization. For example, a marketing department head may have greater insight into which selling points for your upcoming product launch are resonating more with buyers so that you can work on perfecting those components first. 

Another key idea about how the MoSCoW technique works is that it’s only effective if you follow it. This means that, once an initiative is placed into a category, the entire team needs to stick to that decision. Many beginner MoSCoW teams end up agreeing that an initiative should have been initiated, but they move on to the next step instead because it feels better or more familiar to them. 

Finally, when it comes to making decisions about prioritization, your team will need to have a consistent framework in place before you engage with this technique. A consistent framework for assessing and ranking all initiatives is critical if you want to avoid biases and falling into old patterns. 

Your team’s prioritization strategy helps set expectations across the organization. It lets them know that they have made the right decisions and weigh all the factors that go into making those decisions. Don’t be afraid to make your MoSCoW method results available to the rest of your organization if applicable. 

Understanding MoSCow prioritization categories

Before the MoSCoW analysis can begin, all participants need to agree on which initiatives will be prioritized. It's important to discuss how to resolve disagreements in order to prevent them from holding up progress during this preparation stage. This can help prevent issues from happening in the first place.

Once the framework has been established, it is time to start identifying the appropriate categories for each project. Here are the definitions and explanations of each of the MoSCoW prioritization categories: 

Musts are defined as initiatives that are critical to the success of a project or product. These are usually non-negotiable and can be used to describe specific functionalities or solutions that need to be implemented.

The “must have” category is challenging to define. Before you start, ask yourself if something is truly necessary in this category.

Should have

Although “should have” initiatives are not essential to a product or project, they may add significant value. A “should have” initiative is different from a “must have” initiative, which means it can be scheduled for a future release.

“Could haves” are initiatives that are not necessary to the core of a product. Projects that are placed in the “could have” category are often the first ones to be deprioritized when another project takes longer than expected.

Will not have

The MoSCoW method places several initiatives in a “will not have” category. This method allows you to manage expectations about what will not be included in a release or another timeframe.

Putting initiatives in the “will not have" category can help prevent scope creep . This category shows the team that the project is not a priority at this specific time frame. 

Some initiatives are prioritized in the “will not have” group, while others are likely to happen in the future. Some teams then decide to create a subcategory for these initiatives.

How is the MoSCoW method used in project management?

The concept of MoSCoW allows project managers to prioritize tasks that can be done efficiently even when they have limited time. For example, if the team has a tight budget, it can use MoSCoW to determine which initiatives can be completed within those limitations. 

This is especially useful for managers juggling more than project or leading cross-functional teams. This is because cross-functional teams are sometimes obligated to another company or department’s priorities. While your team is working on a new product release, another project manager may have them on a tight timeline for another client’s goal. 

And, as we all know, things come up throughout the lifespan of a project. Although efficient planning helps teams remain agile, the MoSCoW method can make even the biggest and most unexpected roadblocks more manageable. 

MoSCoW examples

This method can be used for nearly any industry or project type because it has to do more with project decision-making than the subject matter itself. Here are a couple of MoSCoW method examples you can use to get started with your first draft: 

1. National College of Ireland’s website project

In this example from a lecture on the MoSCoW analysis, Professor Eugene O’Loughlin demonstrates how to use this technique when building a website . 

The project goal in this example is to create a platform where users can securely log in and access files. Because of this, the tasks listed under their MoSCoW categories will look different from other standard website creation projects. 

For example, while another project may add “have an eye-catching design” to their should-have section, this particular website has added “password retrieval” because it directly applies to their security-oriented goal. 

Even if this website project could benefit from a great design, the MoSCoW method helps managers and teams laser focus on completing the highest priority activities first. If they have more time later on, they can potentially add a design improvement task to their “could haves” if they determine the ROI is high enough. 

Takeaway: Consider your project holistically when assigning priority. Your goals should be your north star for determining what is or is not truly important, regardless of what conventional wisdom says to do. 

2. Slideteam’s Assessing HR Requirements Template

This is one of the MoSCoW examples that shows how many different types of tasks this technique covers. Here, we see storing employee leave history as a must, leave letter printing a should, notifications for pending leave dates a could, and remote access a won’t. 

In HR, many of their decisions around prioritization will be made by compliance and legal counsel that they must adhere to. Still, it’s important to define these tasks and their MoSCoW label so that employees understand at a glance that it’s less important to set up leave notifications and more important that they update employment histories in their software. 

Takeaway: The MoSCoW method can be used to cover many different aspects of projects including compliance and procedure. 

How to undertake a MoSCoW analysis using Wrike

Wrike is a project management software that allows users to strategize how they prioritize their portfolio of projects as well as the tasks within each individual initiative. Using visual tools such as road maps that show what progress will look like from kickoff to completion, managers can easily see which of their chosen MoSCoW analysis configurations work best for achieving their goals. 

Wrike also allows you to centralize all of your project planning in one central location. You can view potential resource conflicts across projects, individual task progress statuses, and automate tasks from your should or could have categories that you otherwise wouldn’t have time for. 

Ready to get started with the MoSCoW method and Wrike? Sign up for a two-week free trial today. 

Maria Waida

Maria is a freelance content writer who specializes in blogging and other marketing materials for enterprise software businesses.

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An Introduction to Bullet Journal Project Management

Bullet journals are great tools to destress and organize various aspects of project management. In this guide, we’re diving deep into the pros and cons of using this method to organize projects of all kinds. Keep reading to discover what bullet journal project management is and how this practice can boost productivity to new levels.  What is a bullet journal? A bullet journal is a customized space to organize all of your personal projects and goals. It can also be used to track deadlines and prioritize tasks. Bullet journaling became popular thanks to the book Getting Things Done, which is about a project management technique that uses a bullet journal to manage different projects efficiently. Bullet journals are often used to create daily, weekly, and monthly project plans. They can also be home to your to-do lists, inspiration boards, and project notes. They’re relaxing to create and relatively easy to maintain.  If you have multiple projects to manage, then you may want to use more than one notebook. Or you can swap your physical journal for a professional services management software that has plenty of space for storing digital plans.  Software tools are also easy to customize, make collaboration easier, and help with turning the plan into reality through task creation and assignment tools. With Wrike, data from multiple users will automatically sync so that everyone is on the same page with new updates and responsibilities.  If you do use a physical journal, using loose leaf paper in a binder will allow you to add pages as you go. This is useful for keeping track of all the data in one place instead of switching to additional notebooks when you run out of room.  There are many elegant, decorated bullet journal page layouts out there. Many invest time into making them artistic with drawings, decorative tape, and cut-out images. This isn’t necessary for project management, but it may be a fun activity outside of work.  Bullet journals can use several different layouts. The most common is a two-page spread that includes a month-long calendar on one page and a breakdown of goals for that period on the other. The latter will help you keep track of all the dates and commitments that are important to you as you get closer to starting a new project. The two-page spread makes it easy to see where you'll be working most efficiently in the coming weeks. It's ideal for people who manage multiple projects simultaneously. You can also create a view of the next six months within your bullet journal project management layout. This is called a future log. A future log is a calendar that lets you keep track of important events and dates for long-term projects. How do you use a bullet journal in project planning? Projects are essentially collections of notes and tasks that are linked to a common goal. They can be pulled together in a bullet journal for you to easily see all of the work related to that specific project. To start, you’ll need to list out your goals.  Create a list that includes every project goal you or your team can think of. Sort them in order of importance. Ideally, these smaller project goals will align with your organization’s big-picture goals.  Once you know what you’d like to accomplish, you can begin your bullet journal. Start by breaking down your number one goal into a project action plan. This can span days, weeks, or months. Then, break down your project action plan into individual tasks. Determine what the task is, who will be in charge of getting it done, and when it needs to be completed.  After that, you’re ready to use your bullet journal for project planning.  Step 1: List out your sections Number your pages if they aren’t already. At the beginning of the bullet journal, write the name of the page on the left side and the page number on the right.  Step 2: Add your key You may use symbols and abbreviations throughout your project planning. Put these at the beginning of the journal either after or on the same page as your key. Use color coding to signify which symbols belong to each project if you have more than one.  Step 3: Write out your future log A future log is a list of key dates and tasks that aren’t part of your immediate three-to-six month plans but are important to keep in mind. Add this after your key and leave space for other items as they come up.  Step 4: Create your calendar This can be in the form of a traditional calendar page. Some people like to hand draw them. However, you can also print, cut out, and paste a blank monthly calendar page into your journal too.  Step 5: Track tasks Create sections for monthly, weekly, and daily task lists. You can organize these in a few ways. Some project managers prefer to do it by project or by person. You can also create one massive list with everything you’re personally responsible for so you have it all in one place. Or use a combination of any of these for your various projects.  Make sure to check in with your bullet journal weekly and monthly. Note any upcoming or past deadlines. Adjust your task list and schedule for unexpected issues as needed.  The benefits of using a bullet journal for work Project managers often have a hard time keeping track of their work activities without losing track of anything along the way. This is one of the reasons why the bullet journal is so useful. Not only does it give you a roadmap of your next projects, but it’s also good for daily use.  You can keep track of to-do lists, priorities, and daily reflections. You can also journal about your progress and realign with goals all in the same notebook or tool. You can also rapidly log your thoughts for the day to boost your creativity and clear out emotions that no longer serve the project.  Combine your bullet journal for work with your personal goals. It will be easier to prioritize and accurately schedule tasks when you have your entire life laid out in front of you on paper.  Another benefit of using a bullet journal for work is that you can either DIY a notebook or use a planner you already have. It’s not so much what you use but how you use it.  And bonus: bullet journaling only takes five to 15 minutes a day. Whether it’s reviewing tomorrow’s meetings or crossing off today’s tasks, a bullet journal practice is easy to build into your schedule no matter how busy you are.  The disadvantages of using a bullet journal in project management While bullet journaling project management is great for keeping track of key project details, many project managers need a separate system to manage their meetings and reports.  Having more than one journal or calendar to manage at one time can be confusing. Add more than one project to the mix, and it may be counterproductive to use a traditional pen and paper bullet journal to accomplish your goals.  Another disadvantage of using a bullet journal in project management is your lack of ability to collaborate with others. When writing on paper, you have to either show your team the notebook in person or scan the pages and share them online. Either way, it’s not ideal for large, remote, and/or revolving teams.  The other thing to know about bullet journaling before diving in headfirst is that it can be quite time-consuming. If you do a crafty layout with calligraphy and scrapbooking accessories, then it may even take several days to finish.  And once you do have your plans laid out, they can be hard to change. Rewriting, erasing, and making more space for things that come up are essential for project planning. For that reason, we suggest using an 11 inch by 7 inch grid lined notebook to give yourself extra space.  Also, you can outline headlines and calendars with a pen or marker if you like the look. But stick to pencil for any factual information that is subject to change throughout the lifetime of the project. If you don’t do this now, you may end up having to scrap entire pages and start over later on.  Bullet journal alternatives you should consider Bullet journals are fun, unique, and creative. But there are some projects where they just aren’t the best possible option for managing it all. The project may be too complex or too large for a single notebook. There may even be so many updates needed that a physical notebook doesn’t make sense for your project.  If you’re facing any of these issues, you can try any of the following bullet journal alternatives:  Digital calendar and list app combo Bulletin board, sticky notes, and shared files Project management software Project management software is the top choice for bullet journal alternatives. Not only is it flexible, but it can make project planning more productive.  Wrike is the ultimate platform for customizing your own bullet journal project management processes. With over 30 predefined apps you can use to sync all your project data in one place, it's the most versatile platform for managing complex tasks. As a single source of truth for a project, team, and entire organization, project management software offers more advanced features than a simple notebook can. Instead of writing everything down on a few sheets of paper, Wrike acts like a living document. And unlike other digital organization tools, Wrike is specifically built to optimize project performance and success.  Wrike's tools are designed to work seamlessly with any team. Anyone who has permission to access the project can share files and tasks quickly and easily. Once uploaded, collaborators can visually edit and obtain files.  They’ll also have access to reports and tasks that are simple to understand at a glance without losing the details in the process. This allows all managers to gain visibility across departments and groups. Wrike is the ideal solution for teams that want to grow and operate efficiently with the help of cutting edge technology. For example, Wrike’s Work Intelligence helps you get started with the next generation of work, with AI-powered projects and automation. Wrike also features a streamlined UI that lets you customize its features to work seamlessly with your team. Although bullet journaling allows you to customize your project planning, you’ll be able to get and implement feedback from partners faster with a digital project tool.  Here are some other stand out benefits of using a project management software over a physical or digital bullet journal:  It’s interactive. For example, Wrike offers Gantt charts that lets users visualize their plans and progress. It’s efficient. Kanban boards make it easy to work seamlessly with Agile teams by creating and sharing whenever needed.  It’s faster. Wrike's template library is designed to help you quickly create and manage complex projects. It’s customizable. With custom request forms, you can easily gather details for your intake, assign tasks to the right teams, and dynamically route questions and requests. It’s up to date. Wrike’s calendars are ideal for team members who want to keep up with the latest information. It’s repeatable. Most tasks go through the same steps before they are finished. In a project management solution, you build a path for yours that will automatically assign and notify people when it's ready to begin through Wrike’s Automation Engine.  It’s trackable. With timers, approvals, and visual task assignments, you can manage entire teams while streamlining your work. It’s transparent. Get a 360 view across all of your organizations with custom dashboards. It’s syncable. Wrike's 400+ app integrations make it possible to integrate hundreds of apps into one central hub.  It’s safe. A digital project management software can safeguard your data by enforcing rules and encryption key ownership. Ready to upgrade your project planning methods and tools? Check out Wrike’s two-week free trial for some more goal-achieving features. 

What Is The Pomodoro Technique and How Does it Work?

Endless tasks and expectations from colleagues and employers can make getting things done hard. There’s always something else to add to your to-do list and, as that list grows, it starts to feel like there’s never enough time to do it all. Productivity hacks can seem gimmicky and semi-helpful at best. But what if there was a time management strategy that could help you tackle your to-do list, meet others’ expectations, and help you feel more productive and balanced?  That’s where the Pomodoro Technique comes in. This popular time management strategy can help you better plan your workload, overcome distractions, and check tasks off your list. And it doesn’t require working overtime or jamming more work into your day. Instead, it encourages frequent breaks in between stints of work. Perhaps one of the best aspects about it is that it’s easy to use.  We’re here to help you make your workdays better and more productive. In this guide, we’re breaking down the Pomodoro method — how to use it, why it works, and its advantages and disadvantages. And don’t worry, we’ll cover what Pomodoro means while we’re at it. Add reading this guide to your list of to-dos for today, and let’s get started.  What is the Pomodoro Technique? The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity or time management method created in the early 1990s by Francesco Cirillo.  A university student at the time, Cirillo struggled to focus and get his assignments done. Feeling overwhelmed, he realized he needed to try a new way of working and held himself accountable for committing to 10 minutes of focused time while studying. As he committed to the challenge, he found a tomato-shaped timer (you guessed it, Pomodoro is “tomato” in Italian), and the Pomodoro Technique was born. Cirillo wrote an entire book about the Pomodoro Technique, but the gist of it is simple. The method encourages short bursts of manageable chunks of work with breaks built in between. With this method, you work for 25-minutes sessions separated by five-minute breaks. After every four or five Pomodoros (think of these as work sessions), you indulge in a more extended break for 15-20 minutes. With a sense of urgency built into it, the method forces you to think through your to-do list and eliminate distractions while progressing on your tasks for a limited amount of time. And you can eliminate distractions knowing that you have breaks built into your day to look forward to. Let’s start by understanding what exactly the word “Pomodoro” means and where it came from. What does Pomodoro mean? Pomodoro quite literally means “tomato” in Italian. But what does a tomato have to do with time management?  Like we mentioned earlier, Cirillo used a tomato-shaped timer to help him manage his focused work time. He later named his famous technique after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that helped him do his best work.  When we talk about the Pomodoro Technique, a Pomodoro also refers to one 25-minute focused work session. You’ll use a timer to work for one Pomodoro. Get it? Don’t worry — we’ll walk you through the nitty-gritty of how to use the Pomodoro Technique next.  How to use the Pomodoro Technique One of the best parts of the Pomodoro Technique is that it’s super simple to use without any training. Depending on who you ask, these steps may vary slightly. But that’s one of the best parts about the method — you can customize it.  Here’s how Cirillo’s Pomodoro method works: 1. Make a list of the tasks you need to accomplish To make the best use of your Pomodoro sessions, consider starting your day by creating a to-do list and outlining the tasks you need to accomplish. Don’t panic if your list becomes lengthy! Remember, you’re going to split up your work so that it’s more manageable throughout the day. You just need to make a note of what you need to accomplish today.  Tip: When you make a list of your tasks, think about how much time you need to complete each task. For example, one task might take you a full 25-minute Pomodoro. Or you might have three short tasks that you can group during one Pomodoro. Write down how many minutes each task will take. That way, you can pair up tasks that will take less than 25-minutes to complete. Your estimations don’t have to be perfect, but you want to avoid having gaps of time to fill or going past time during your Pomodoro sessions. 2. Set a timer for 25 minutes You don’t have to mimic Cirillo exactly and use a tomato-shaped kitchen timer, but to live the complete Pomodoro Technique experience, give a real timer a try. It doesn’t matter if you use a virtual or physical timer; any will do. Here are a few options to choose from when selecting a Pomodoro Technique timer: Pomodoro tomato timer Online tomato timer Focus Keeper app Pomodoro Timer Lite app The timer you use doesn’t need to be overly cumbersome or have any fancy capabilities, so don’t get caught up in the details. Keep it simple to make it most effective.  3. Focus on your tasks until the timer goes off This is the tricky part. Once you’ve set your timer, you need to work on the task or tasks you’ve chosen for 25 minutes without any interruptions throwing you off track. Combating distractions is no easy feat, and it may take practice to nail this step.  Tip: If possible, alert those around you when you’re using the Pomodoro method. This can help reduce interruptions and external distractions.  If you find yourself with spare time during a Pomodoro and aren’t sure what to focus on, Cirillo recommends taking advantage of the opportunity for overlearning. Use the time to make improvements and tidy up your work, reflect on the tasks you completed, or make a note of what you’ve learned until the timer goes off. Use the 25 minutes as best you can and avoid starting your break early if possible. 4. Enjoy a short break for five minutes You made it! Time is up and you can enjoy a break for five minutes or so. Consider using this time to use the restroom, grab a snack, or fill up your water bottle. Give your eyes a break and try to limit screen time if you can. Get up and stretch your legs or move your body around. Taking care of your well-being will help you stay motivated throughout the remainder of the day. 5. Repeat steps the first four steps Are you getting the hang of it? Rinse and repeat the above steps. After you’ve completed four Pomodoros, skip step four and jump straight to step six. 6. After every four or five Pomodoros, enjoy a more extended break You’ve earned it! Enjoy a longer, restorative break this time. Take 15-20 minutes to rejuvenate yourself. Maybe it’s time for breakfast or lunch. Or perhaps you want to spend a few minutes outside in the sun. Whatever the case may be, use your break wisely and prepare to jump into more Pomodoros after the break. That’s it. The Pomodoro Technique is an easy-to-use system, which means there isn’t much of a learning curve to start using it to your advantage. Does the Pomodoro Technique work? It sounds simple, right? That means you might be asking yourself whether the Pomodoro method truly works or not.  Reviews of the method spread amongst the internet suggest that many have seen success when using the technique. One person found that the Pomodoro Technique was a great solution for monotonous tasks on the to-do list. Knowing that they only needed to work on a task for 25 minutes encouraged them to get started on those dreaded, tedious to-do’s. Another person found success using the Pomodoro Technique and later adapted the method to fit their specific needs. The Pomodoro Technique helped them define a practice of self-discipline to expand on and boost productivity.  But what is it about the Pomodoro Technique that makes it work? Studies suggest that brief mental breaks help keep you focused. Frequent distractions rob us of productivity at work, but the Pomodoro method helps eliminate distractions for more focus in the workplace.  As with any time management strategy, what works best for some may not work well for others. Give the Pomodoro Technique a try and tailor it to your individual needs to ensure it has the most payoff for you.  The advantages and disadvantages of the Pomodoro method As with any time management strategy, the Pomodoro Technique has both benefits and drawbacks to consider before experimenting with it. Let’s take a look at both, starting with the advantages. Advantages of the Pomodoro Technique Break the habit of multitasking  When you follow the Pomodoro Technique, you’ll break the habit of multitasking. While multitasking might seem like a great way to get more done, it’s distracting and actually hinders your productivity. With the Pomodoro method, your goal is to dedicate your focus to any given task at hand — and save the rest of the items on your to-do list for another Pomodoro.  Reduce or prevent feelings of burnout Looking at your neverending to-do list can feel overwhelming and stressful, and working through that list without a strategic plan in place can cause feelings of burnout. The Pomodoro Technique not only encourages frequent breaks but it builds them directly into your schedule for you. You can reduce or prevent stress and burnout by taking full advantage of your breaks when you have them. Reduce procrastination We all procrastinate now and then, but the Pomodoro Technique ignites a sense of urgency in the day, which reduces or eliminates procrastination. There isn’t any time to scroll through your favorite social media platform, grab another snack, stare out the window, or engage in another distraction when you know you only have 25 minutes to complete a task. (Don’t beat yourself up — we’re all guilty of these things!) Disadvantages of the Pomodoro Technique Some tasks take more than 25 minutes  The Pomodoro method is said to be beneficial for tasks like writing, coding, and studying. It also comes in handy when needing to work through some monotonous to-dos like cleaning out your inbox or digging into some administrative items. But some tasks are bound to take more than 25 minutes to complete, which means the Pomodoro Technique may not always work for every type of project or task. If you’re in the middle of a project and are in a solid flow state, you might want to keep working past the 25-minute timer mark, which will interrupt all subsequent Pomodoro scheduling. You know your work styles and productivity best, so you’ll be in charge of making the judgment call on whether you need to work past the timer’s buzz.  Meetings could interfere with your Pomodoro planning  The Pomodoro method sounds particularly beneficial to those who have full control over their schedules. But many career professionals are bound to be interrupted by planned and unexpected meetings. Your meeting schedule could interfere with how you plan your Pomodoros or could interrupt you in the middle of a Pomodoro session.  Every time management strategy comes with advantages and disadvantages, and no method is guaranteed to be one-size-fits-all. Since the Pomodoro method is easy and comes without cost, consider giving it a try to see if it works for you. Remember, you can always tweak it to suit you best.  How to use Wrike to plan your Pomodoros  To set yourself up for success when using the Pomodoro Technique, you’ll want to have a to-do list prepared. A project management tool like Wrike can help you organize your tasks so that you can dive right into your Pomodoros (without wondering what you should start with).  With Wrike, you can: Manage and prioritize your work Use templates to organize and break your projects down into manageable tasks Track your time to understand how you’re spending it Manage workloads with resource management capabilities  You’re on your way to a more productive workday. Start your free trial of Wrike and begin planning your Pomodoros today.

Moore’s Law and the Productivity Problem

As the year draws to a close, developing strategies for how to be more productive and finish the year off strong is on every team’s mind — regardless of department or industry.  According to a study by California-based management platform Redbooth, the month of the year that we are at our most productive is October, followed by November, then September. The fall provides a feeling of a new start for many businesses, with the desire for shiny new productivity tools and aids bringing us back to our school days. But, while a new pencil case or a multi-colored pen can work wonders, today’s organizations are looking to much more sophisticated tools to boost their productivity. Note-taking apps, instant messaging platforms, virtual to-do lists, calendar tools — our desktops are overflowing with software designed to make us our most productive selves. But, with so many conflicting apps clouding our vision, it can often be difficult to get anything done at all.  So, why are we so inclined to constantly invest in new technology, believing it will exponentially increase our productivity levels? This concept is commonly referred to as Moore’s Law, and it’s important to understand it if you’re concerned about your team’s or your own productivity levels. What is Moore’s Law? Let’s start off with a simple enough question: what is Moore’s Law? The origins of Moore’s Law lie in IT and computer hardware. It is the principle that the speed and efficiency of a computer can be expected to double every two years, while the cost decreases by half. Moore’s Law is named after Gordon E. Moore, the co-founder of Intel, who made this observation of exponential growth in 1965.  You will have no doubt experienced Moore’s Law for yourself over the last decade, as the need to purchase a new phone or laptop normally begins to creep up every two years or so. While the technical capabilities of your gadget will have grown hugely, the price largely remains standard. We then begin to fall into a cycle of purchasing new technology as a habit, stretching our view to include phones, computers, exercise aids, entertainment systems, and, yes, productivity tools. Moore’s Law and endless productivity tools Of course, Moore’s Law has huge benefits for the technologically-driven society that we live in. The standards of the technology that we rely on can even be linked to Moore’s Law. The overarching idea of Moore’s Law — that speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of technology is constantly evolving at a rapid pace — could apply to productivity tools and solutions. The need to update and reinvest in the ever-growing ecosystem of productivity tools and software every few years sees many teams losing themselves to too many apps.  In 2015, the average number of cloud applications per company was 73. In 2020, that number had increased to 163. So much so, that 56% of IT executives are now reporting having to use manual spreadsheets to keep track of all their SaaS apps — defeating their productivity goals before they’ve even started. This concept is commonly known as ‘SaaS sprawl,’ a term that refers to the dilemma of an organization’s tech stack being so expansive that it becomes unmanageable and causes visibility problems across departments. $40 billion is estimated to be spent on unused software each year, and the number of apps we are downloading continues to rise.  Many teams believe themselves to be more productive than ever, when really, spending so much time flicking between apps, tools, and software stifles creativity and raises burnout to an all-time high. How your team can effectively invest in productivity If your organization has fallen foul to overindulgence in productivity tools and gadgets, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to empower your teams and teach them how to be more productive without overwhelming themselves with dozens of productivity platforms.  Consider toxic productivity The concept of toxic productivity relates to an unattainable desire for increased productivity, at the expense of other priorities, such as family or health. Toxic productivity is a real issue for many teams, especially if both our personal and work devices are overrun with technology that is constantly drawing us back to working mode. Consider whether your team could benefit from a digital detox of work-related technology, and set boundaries for after-hours work communication. Turn your attention to other methods of increasing productivity There are plenty of ways to increase productivity and wellbeing at work that have nothing to do with technology. For example, has your organization invested in a flexible work structure, allowing employees to choose where they work best? Could your business go the extra mile and trial a four-day workweek? Could your employee recognition programs use some extra love? These are all areas to consider when brainstorming how to be more productive across the board. Making the most of all-in-one technology like Wrike Of course, technology will always be a cornerstone of a successful business, and continuing to use productivity tools in some way at work is non-negotiable. But which tools should you invest in? What are the most important features of work management software that can actually increase productivity by up to 40%? Workflow automation: With Wrike’s custom request forms and automated task assignment, your team will never miss important tasks and details because of a cluttered workspace. App integration: Using so many apps can be tiresome and inefficient, with details and updates often being missed by team members. Wrike’s work management includes over 400 app integrations, so the constant context switching can stop. Single source of truth: Trawling through emails and messaging apps to find important documents and updates is time-consuming and frustrating for teams. Keeping everything organized in one centralized hub, where users can comment, edit, and give feedback, is a life-saver for teams who wish to be more productive. Collaborative features: Whether your team works in-office, remotely, or under a hybrid model, breakdowns in communication are one of the most common challenges to successful projects. Wrike’s collaborative features, including @mentions, real-time editing, and email and chat app integrations means that your team all have the same view, no matter where they are. Want to know more about how Wrike can boost your team’s productivity? Try out a free two-week trial today.

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MoSCoW Prioritization

What is moscow prioritization.

MoSCoW prioritization, also known as the MoSCoW method or MoSCoW analysis, is a popular prioritization technique for managing requirements. 

  The acronym MoSCoW represents four categories of initiatives: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have, or will not have right now. Some companies also use the “W” in MoSCoW to mean “wish.”

What is the History of the MoSCoW Method?

Software development expert Dai Clegg created the MoSCoW method while working at Oracle. He designed the framework to help his team prioritize tasks during development work on product releases.

You can find a detailed account of using MoSCoW prioritization in the Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) handbook . But because MoSCoW can prioritize tasks within any time-boxed project, teams have adapted the method for a broad range of uses.

How Does MoSCoW Prioritization Work?

Before running a MoSCoW analysis, a few things need to happen. First, key stakeholders and the product team need to get aligned on objectives and prioritization factors. Then, all participants must agree on which initiatives to prioritize.

At this point, your team should also discuss how they will settle any disagreements in prioritization. If you can establish how to resolve disputes before they come up, you can help prevent those disagreements from holding up progress.

Finally, you’ll also want to reach a consensus on what percentage of resources you’d like to allocate to each category.

With the groundwork complete, you may begin determining which category is most appropriate for each initiative. But, first, let’s further break down each category in the MoSCoW method.

Start prioritizing your roadmap

Moscow prioritization categories.

1. Must-have initiatives

As the name suggests, this category consists of initiatives that are “musts” for your team. They represent non-negotiable needs for the project, product, or release in question. For example, if you’re releasing a healthcare application, a must-have initiative may be security functionalities that help maintain compliance.

The “must-have” category requires the team to complete a mandatory task. If you’re unsure about whether something belongs in this category, ask yourself the following.

If the product won’t work without an initiative, or the release becomes useless without it, the initiative is most likely a “must-have.”

2. Should-have initiatives

Should-have initiatives are just a step below must-haves. They are essential to the product, project, or release, but they are not vital. If left out, the product or project still functions. However, the initiatives may add significant value.

“Should-have” initiatives are different from “must-have” initiatives in that they can get scheduled for a future release without impacting the current one. For example, performance improvements, minor bug fixes, or new functionality may be “should-have” initiatives. Without them, the product still works.

3. Could-have initiatives

Another way of describing “could-have” initiatives is nice-to-haves. “Could-have” initiatives are not necessary to the core function of the product. However, compared with “should-have” initiatives, they have a much smaller impact on the outcome if left out.

So, initiatives placed in the “could-have” category are often the first to be deprioritized if a project in the “should-have” or “must-have” category ends up larger than expected.

4. Will not have (this time)

One benefit of the MoSCoW method is that it places several initiatives in the “will-not-have” category. The category can manage expectations about what the team will not include in a specific release (or another timeframe you’re prioritizing).

Placing initiatives in the “will-not-have” category is one way to help prevent scope creep . If initiatives are in this category, the team knows they are not a priority for this specific time frame. 

Some initiatives in the “will-not-have” group will be prioritized in the future, while others are not likely to happen. Some teams decide to differentiate between those by creating a subcategory within this group.

How Can Development Teams Use MoSCoW?

  Although Dai Clegg developed the approach to help prioritize tasks around his team’s limited time, the MoSCoW method also works when a development team faces limitations other than time. For example: 

Prioritize based on budgetary constraints.

What if a development team’s limiting factor is not a deadline but a tight budget imposed by the company? Working with the product managers, the team can use MoSCoW first to decide on the initiatives that represent must-haves and the should-haves. Then, using the development department’s budget as the guide, the team can figure out which items they can complete. 

Prioritize based on the team’s skillsets.

A cross-functional product team might also find itself constrained by the experience and expertise of its developers. If the product roadmap calls for functionality the team does not have the skills to build, this limiting factor will play into scoring those items in their MoSCoW analysis.

Prioritize based on competing needs at the company.

Cross-functional teams can also find themselves constrained by other company priorities. The team wants to make progress on a new product release, but the executive staff has created tight deadlines for further releases in the same timeframe. In this case, the team can use MoSCoW to determine which aspects of their desired release represent must-haves and temporarily backlog everything else.

What Are the Drawbacks of MoSCoW Prioritization?

  Although many product and development teams have prioritized MoSCoW, the approach has potential pitfalls. Here are a few examples.

1. An inconsistent scoring process can lead to tasks placed in the wrong categories.

  One common criticism against MoSCoW is that it does not include an objective methodology for ranking initiatives against each other. Your team will need to bring this methodology to your analysis. The MoSCoW approach works only to ensure that your team applies a consistent scoring system for all initiatives.

Pro tip: One proven method is weighted scoring, where your team measures each initiative on your backlog against a standard set of cost and benefit criteria. You can use the weighted scoring approach in ProductPlan’s roadmap app .

2. Not including all relevant stakeholders can lead to items placed in the wrong categories.

To know which of your team’s initiatives represent must-haves for your product and which are merely should-haves, you will need as much context as possible.

For example, you might need someone from your sales team to let you know how important (or unimportant) prospective buyers view a proposed new feature.

One pitfall of the MoSCoW method is that you could make poor decisions about where to slot each initiative unless your team receives input from all relevant stakeholders. 

3. Team bias for (or against) initiatives can undermine MoSCoW’s effectiveness.

Because MoSCoW does not include an objective scoring method, your team members can fall victim to their own opinions about certain initiatives. 

One risk of using MoSCoW prioritization is that a team can mistakenly think MoSCoW itself represents an objective way of measuring the items on their list. They discuss an initiative, agree that it is a “should have,” and move on to the next.

But your team will also need an objective and consistent framework for ranking all initiatives. That is the only way to minimize your team’s biases in favor of items or against them.

When Do You Use the MoSCoW Method for Prioritization?

MoSCoW prioritization is effective for teams that want to include representatives from the whole organization in their process. You can capture a broader perspective by involving participants from various functional departments.

Another reason you may want to use MoSCoW prioritization is it allows your team to determine how much effort goes into each category. Therefore, you can ensure you’re delivering a good variety of initiatives in each release.

What Are Best Practices for Using MoSCoW Prioritization?

If you’re considering giving MoSCoW prioritization a try, here are a few steps to keep in mind. Incorporating these into your process will help your team gain more value from the MoSCoW method.

1. Choose an objective ranking or scoring system.

Remember, MoSCoW helps your team group items into the appropriate buckets—from must-have items down to your longer-term wish list. But MoSCoW itself doesn’t help you determine which item belongs in which category.

You will need a separate ranking methodology. You can choose from many, such as:

• Weighted scoring
• Value vs. complexity
• Buy-a-feature
• Opportunity scoring

For help finding the best scoring methodology for your team, check out ProductPlan’s article: 7 strategies to choose the best features for your product .

2. Seek input from all key stakeholders.

To make sure you’re placing each initiative into the right bucket—must-have, should-have, could-have, or won’t-have—your team needs context. 

At the beginning of your MoSCoW method, your team should consider which stakeholders can provide valuable context and insights. Sales? Customer success? The executive staff? Product managers in another area of your business? Include them in your initiative scoring process if you think they can help you see opportunities or threats your team might miss. 

3. Share your MoSCoW process across your organization.

MoSCoW gives your team a tangible way to show your organization prioritizing initiatives for your products or projects. 

The method can help you build company-wide consensus for your work, or at least help you show stakeholders why you made the decisions you did.

Communicating your team’s prioritization strategy also helps you set expectations across the business. When they see your methodology for choosing one initiative over another, stakeholders in other departments will understand that your team has thought through and weighed all decisions you’ve made. 

If any stakeholders have an issue with one of your decisions, they will understand that they can’t simply complain—they’ll need to present you with evidence to alter your course of action.  

Related Terms

2×2 prioritization matrix / Eisenhower matrix / DACI decision-making framework / ICE scoring model / RICE scoring model

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Complex nonlocal cardiovascular system mathematical modeling

Sep 22, 2014

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Moscow. The Russian Federation

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9 killed in russian aerial attacks on ukraine ahead of g7 summit aimed at slowing moscow's offensive.

Hanna Arhirova

Associated Press

Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency workers rest as they clear the rubble after a Russian missile hit the area, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

KYIV – Russian forces launched new deadly attacks on Ukraine, killing at least nine people on Wednesday, a day before the leaders of countries that are some of Ukraine’s biggest backers were to discuss how to slow Moscow's offensive.

Ukrainian authorities said that along with the nine killed, 29 others, including five children, were wounded when Russian missiles hit an apartment block in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown.

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Zelenskyy said the strike has again proven that "Ukraine, together with its partners, must strengthen its air defenses” — something that he has repeatedly appealed for with Ukraine’s Western partners. The United States has agreed to send another Patriot missile system , two U.S. officials said late Tuesday.

“Modern air defense systems are capable of providing maximum protection of people, our cities, and our positions," Zelenskyy said. “And we need as many of them as possible.”

Earlier Wednesday, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down more than two dozen air targets, including cruise missiles, a Kinzhal ballistic missile and Shahed drones. Several people were wounded, authorities said.

Kyiv’s outgunned and outnumbered forces are battling to hold back the bigger Russian army, which is trying to exploit Ukrainian vulnerabilities. Ukraine has been short of troops, ammunition and air defenses in recent months as the Kremlin’s forces try to cripple the national power supply and punch through the front line in eastern parts of the country.

Ukraine will need to weather the Russian onslaught through the summer, military analysts say, and in the meantime train more soldiers, build fortifications and hope that the provision of Western military aid picks up speed so that in 2025 Kyiv may be able to mount its own offensive.

Several diplomatic events over the next few days are aimed at how to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion or how to bring about an end to the war.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden and the other Group of Seven leaders will gather in Italy for their annual summit to discuss ways to help Ukraine , including how to divert more frozen Russian assets to Kyiv's defense.

Separately, the Biden administration on Wednesday said it had broadened sanctions against Russia by targeting companies that help Moscow's war effort and raising the stakes for foreign financial institutions that work with sanctioned Russian entities.

The more than 300 new sanctions are largely aimed at deterring individuals and companies in countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey from helping Moscow circumvent Western blocks on obtaining key technology. They also threaten foreign financial institutions with sanctions if they do business with almost any sanctioned Russian entity, underscoring the U.S. view that the Kremlin has pivoted the Russian economy on to a war footing .

Biden and Zelenskyy will also sign a bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on Thursday, when they meet on the G7 summit's sidelines, the White House said.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the agreement would not commit U.S. troops directly to Ukraine’s defense, but that it would demonstrate the U.S. supports the people of Ukraine and serve as a “bridge” to when Ukraine is invited to join the NATO alliance — a long-term priority of Zelenskyy’s that alliance members have said will first require an end to the war.

Separately, Sullivan noted that Russian authorities have deported hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians to Russia, including children who have been forcibly separated from their families. He cited reports of Russia listing abducted Ukrainian children on Russia's adoption websites, denouncing it as “despicable and appalling.”

“These Ukrainian children belong with their families inside Ukraine,” Sullivan said. “Russia is waging a war not just against the Ukrainian military — but against the Ukrainian people.”

While the G7 meets in Italy, defense chiefs from the U.S., Europe and other nations will meet Thursday in Brussels for their monthly meeting on Ukraine’s security needs. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host the event.

And this weekend, representatives of nearly 90 countries and organizations, half from Europe, are expected to attend a summit in Switzerland aimed at charting a path to peace between Russia and Ukraine, though Russia won't be attending.

Both sides in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have been reaching out to friendly nations to help keep their armed forces supplied. The war has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides, including more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.

While Ukraine has looked to Western countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned to nations such as Iran and North Korea for help. Unconfirmed reports suggested Putin may soon make a third visit to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un .

Moscow showed no signs of relenting in the war. The Kremlin said Wednesday that Putin met with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, the chief of the military’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, and the commanders of Russia’s five military districts.

A readout of the Tuesday night meeting said the officials presented Putin with “plans to continue the hostilities.”

Fighting along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has in recent months focused on the partly occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces are trying to reach the key hilltop city of Chasiv Yar and other strategic hubs.

Last month, Russian forces also launched an offensive in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, which borders Russia. Putin said he wanted to establish a buffer zone there to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks. The offensive drew some Ukrainian fighters away from Donetsk.

However, Russia’s gains have been incremental and costly.

In the Kharkiv region, Russian units have become bogged down in Vovchansk, Ukraine Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Wednesday on the Telegram messaging app.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Conditionally hidden slides in beamer

When creating a presentation, I sometimes create extra slides that contain additional information, a more thorough explanation, or an extra plot pertaining to certain parts of my talk. These extra slides are usually in a separate PDF and the document is usually only opened if an audience member asks a question or requests information and one of my extra slides supplements my response nicely.

I am wondering if it's possible to insert these slides into my presentation with the two following options:

• The extra slides are skipped when progressing through the presentation unless ...
• I click on a hyperlink placed somewhere on the slide. If clicked, we traverse to the extra slide. From this slide, continuing to the 'next' slide would send us back to the slide that got us here originally.

The above can be accomplished with two (or more) PDFs (one with the presentation, one -- or more -- with the supplemental slides) via hyperref but ideally I would like to only have one document.

I am not familiar enough with ifthen to know if it can be done with that package.

Any help would be much appreciated.

• conditionals

3 Answers 3

See Beamer manual sections 10.7 and 11. Basically, you can use an appendix to make a set of slides after your main presentation (they don't show up in the main ToC). And you can use \hyperlink commands to jump to particular slides (or overlays of slides, even). Short example:

If you need to exclude the appendix slides from the slide counter, see this question .

• Of course. I was definitely over-complicating the problem. That was almost too easy ;) –  user6967 Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 5:30
• If I have \hyperlink{supplemental} in multiple frames then how to go back from the "supplemental content" to the frame from which I clicked the link. One way I can think of is to use the pdf viewer's "previous view" functionality. ( alt + left arrow in adobe reader") –  dips Commented Oct 24, 2013 at 16:46
• 3 Untested, and may be worth a separate question, but does \Acrobatmenu{GoBack}{\beamerreturnbutton{}} give you a button that takes you to the previous view? –  Mike Renfro Commented Oct 25, 2013 at 21:03
• they do not appear in ToC but they do appear in slide show...why –  user3582228 Commented Jun 9, 2021 at 16:00
• @user3582228 that was the goal, yes. A set of slides in the appendix that don't show up in the ToC, but can be clicked into from a specified location in the main presentation. Normally, you'd have a much longer presentation, probably a concluding slide of Thanks or Questions, and you'd have to go past the last slide in the main presentation to see the appendix slides otherwise. –  Mike Renfro Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 17:38

When your extra information is not too long, you could try to use layers.

If somebody asks, you switch between layers in your document. After this, you can switch back to your presentation layer and continue.

This will not help if your additional material contains many slides (you could define multiple layers, but I think it will become complicated).

And you are restricted in the usage of or pdf-viewer.

Result is a one page document:

If you click on Explanation you get (if your pdf viewer support layers):

An alternative solution is to have a button that skips the extra material. This has the disadvantage that you have to remember to press the “don’t show the extra material” button when you get to that slide, but it has two advantages. Firstly, the extra slide is right there next to the main material rather than hidden off in an appendix, which might make it easier to organise your material. But secondly, and more importantly, it means that the “extra material” slide can just be a <2> version of the main slide.

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