In GO site some feature are supported more and this is also required for making the GO PDFs look nice. Main one here is Latex which can be accessed from the "fx" button in the toolbar or if you are already familiar with it (most Good colleges do follow Latex) then you can simply type latex content with in \$-\$. Some other points are

  1. Do not use subscript-superscript option. This is only for naive users. Others can use Latex like \$x_n\$ or \$x^n\$ which will be rendered as $x_n$ and $x^n$ respectively.
  2. For images you can take screenshot of the actual source or draw in PowerPoint and upload them. For graphs (for DFA and others) you can use this site. Mathpix is a nice tool to convert image to Latex

  3. For tables, there is a Table option in editor. Table border can be hidden by Right-click on the created table - Properties and then make Border 0. If you’re comfortable with latex arrays, that’s the best option for Table. 

  4. Never use space for aligning - instead use Tables, Lists etc.

  5. Never user subscript/superscript - they are for naive users. Instead type \$x_2\$,\$x^2\$ which will render as $x_2$ and $x^2$ respectively. These are latex commands and render nicely. For multiple chars do with {} like \$x_{small}\$.

  6. For equations also use latex. There is fx button in the editor which is useful if you do not know Latex commands.

  7. Most symbols can be used just by typing the symbol name preceded by "\" like \sin for $\sin$, \exp for $\exp$, \log for $\log$, \alpha for $\alpha$, \delta for $\delta$, \Delta for $\Delta$,\theta for $\theta$, \Theta for $\Theta$,\sigma for $\sigma$,\Sigma for $\Sigma$, \sum for $\sum$,\implies for $\implies$, \because for $\because$,\therefore for $\therefore$,\forall for $\forall$, \exists for $\exists$, \times for $\times$, \to for $\to$, \subset for $\subset$, \neq for $\neq$ etc. 

  8. Some of the other useful symbols are \vee for $\vee$, \cup $\cup$, \cap for $\cap$, \wedge for $\wedge$, \neg for $\neg$, \; for single space, More symbols

  9. For options (A, B, C, D) in MCQs, use numbered lists and then right click-> Properties -> select Upper Alpha Style.

  10. Even for any other lists either use the Bulleted List or Numbered Lists from the Editor.

  11. Use fx for whole equation and not just for symbols -- i.e., use like $n^{th}$ and not n$^{th}$ and \$E=x^2\$ and not E=\$x^2\$

  12. In fx \sin, \cos, \min, \max, \ln, \log etc. are to be used for math function names.

  13. In fx, to get space we can do \; or type inside \text{my text}. \quad. \qquad can be used for extended space. But use this only when strictly needed.

  14. Try to avoid -> and instead use $:$ or \implies.  Also instead of A) try using A. or (A)

  15. For numbering any equation you can use \qquad \to (1) which should give $\qquad \to (1)$

  16. Anything between $$ is taken as equation (fx). So, to type \$, do enter \\.$

  17. The words between any numbers, equations, matrices etc should be in \text{} or should be out of $-$. Words are not allowed inside $$.

  18. Never use \underline{+} for $\pm$. It should be \pm always.

  19. For C and SQL codes one can use the <> option in the Editor. It supports alignment with tabs and does syntax highlight. After selecting a tab size please use CTRL+Z to restore the previous alignment.

  20. Install Grammarly browser plugin to ensure your sentences are grammatically correct. At least after every “Hence”, “Therefore”, “So” etc. please add a comma.

  21. To align equations using Latex you can also use  \ begin{align} ... \end{align} environment inside \$-\$ or \$\$-\$\$ and align using '&'. For example:
    \$\$ \ begin{align} \text{Total} &= n + (n -1) + (n - 2) + (n - 2) +\cdots+ 1\\&= \frac{n(n+1)}{2}\end{align}\$\$
    will be rendered as $$\begin{align} \text{Total} &= n + (n -1) + (n - 2) + (n - 2) +\cdots+ 1\\&= \frac{n(n+1)}{2}\end{align}$$

In GATE Overflow we make use of MathJax library for Latex. So we do not have the full feature of Latex, but it supports whatever we need. You can see here for more nice Latex options.

For quick start to learn Latex completely any do your reports and thesis in Latex, please see https://www.sharelatex.com/learn/Learn_LaTeX_in_30_minutes


Some common mistakes while using Mathjax

  1. Using \sum – $\sum$ for \Sigma – $\Sigma$
  2. Should never write x \$ + \$ y. It must be \$x + y \$ (Symbols and equations together)
  3. Should not write large sentences under \$\text{} \$. It must be used only for a word or a couple of words maximum. 
  4. \$\mid \$ must be used for $\mid$ split and not | because that automatically adds the required spaces around
  5. using \mathbb for $\mathbb P$, as $P$ is not a Alphabet.
  6. using \left\{  \right\} for  braces $\left\{  \right\}$
  7. For limits we should use \$\displaystyle \lim_{x \to 0} x+1\$ which will render as $\displaystyle \lim_{x \to 0} x+1$
  8. Need to use \displaystyle for alingment \displaystyle\sum^{\infty} _{k=0} – $\displaystyle\sum^{\infty} _{k=0}$
  9. Need to use \leq – $\leq$ and \geq – $\geq$ but not \underline < – $\underline <$ or \underline > – $\underline >$
  10. Instead of … we need to use \dots in between $$ – $\dots$ 
  11. There is a difference between \int\limits_{-\infty }^{\infty } and \int_{-\infty }^{\infty }
  12. Any text in italic can be added using the editor, rather than using \textit{}, as it creates the line breaks

Conventions we follow:

 Conventions are the rules which we follow but not necessarily standard. Some are

  1. No \bigg usage for large braces but \left before and \right at end to get the correct brace size
  2. No headings in answers or questions
  3. Bulleted list for giving grammars or multi line points so that they look better
  4. The words between any numbers, equations, matrices etc should be in \text{} or out of $$.
  5. Always the Upper and Lower Romans should be in \text{i} i.e. $\text{(i)}$
  6. Inside the $-$ Mathjax environment, bold text should not be used due to a PDF render issue. Inside Matchjax, $\textbf{}$ can be used for bold text.
  7. We can use \frac and \dfrac for fractions. \dfrac should be used for equations in questions and \frac should be used for options.
  8. Other than \text we have \textit, \textrm, \textsf, \textsm etc which can be used accordingly.

This PGFPLOT manual can be used for drawing Tikz images which is used for most of the GATE questions.

posted Nov 14, 2017 edited Aug 7, 2022 by
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