Question
Answer and Explanation
Updating the default R QMD (Quarto Markdown) template involves customizing the template files used by Quarto when creating new documents. Here's how you can do it:
1. Locate the Default Template Directory:
- First, find the location where Quarto stores its default templates. This location might vary depending on your operating system and Quarto installation.
- A common location is within the Quarto installation directory. Look for a directory named something like templates or formats.
2. Identify the Specific Template:
- Determine which template you want to modify. For example, the default Markdown template might be named default.qmd or something similar. If you're unsure, creating a new Quarto project and examining its files can help identify the relevant template.
3. Copy the Template to a Custom Location:
- Instead of directly modifying the files in the Quarto installation directory, it's better to create a custom template directory. This will prevent your changes from being overwritten during Quarto updates.
- Create a new directory (e.g., my_quarto_templates) where you'll store your custom templates. Then, copy the default template file (e.g., default.qmd) into this directory.
4. Modify the Template File:
- Open the copied template file in a text editor and make the desired changes. This could include modifying the YAML frontmatter (for metadata), adding custom CSS or JavaScript links, or changing the document's overall structure.
- For example, to add a default author to the YAML frontmatter, you might modify the template like this:
---
title: "Untitled"
author: "John Doe"
date: today
format: html
---
5. Tell Quarto to Use Your Custom Template:
- To instruct Quarto to use your custom template, you'll need to configure the --template option when creating new documents.
- For example:
quarto create my_document.qmd --template my_quarto_templates/default.qmd
6. Set a Default Template via Configuration (Optional):
- For convenience, you can set a default template in your Quarto configuration file (_quarto.yml or similar), so you don't have to specify the --template option every time.
- In your configuration file, you can specify the template path:
project:
default-template: my_quarto_templates/default.qmd
By following these steps, you can effectively update and use custom R QMD templates for your Quarto documents. Remember to test your template thoroughly after making changes to ensure it behaves as expected. Is there anything else I can help you with?