Crash Course in LaTeX

Basics: Lists & Footnotes

Bulleted lists: Type like this:

\begin{itemize}
  \item This is the first point.
  \item This is the second point.
\end{itemize}

to look like this:

This is the first point.
This is the second point.

Itemized lists: You can also have the items numbered:

\begin{enumerate}
  \item This is the first point.
  \item This is the second point.
\end{enumerate}

looks like this:

This is the first point.
This is the second point.

Nested lists: You can place one type of list in another, like so:

\begin{enumerate}
  \item This is the first point. \begin{itemize}
    \item Sub-point one.
    \item Sub-point two.
  \end{itemize}
  \item This is the second point.
\end{enumerate}

looks like this:

This is the first point.
- Sub-point one.
- Sub-point two.
This is the second point.

Notes:

The indenting makes no difference here (or anywhere in LaTeX!)
The subpoints are in a different style because they are at the second "level." You can nest up to four levels of lists, in any combination of the two types (bulleted and itemized.)

Changing style of numbers in lists: You can chage the symbol for itemized or number style for itemized lists. For example,

\renewcommand{\labelitemi}{+}

changes the first level of itemized lists to using a + sign. The level labels for the types of lists are:

Levels into the list	Itemized lists	Enumerated (numbered) lists
1st level	`\labelitemi`	`\labelenumi`
2nd level	`\labelitemii`	`\labelenumii`
3rd level	`\labelitemiii`	`\labelenumiii`
4th level	`\labelitemiv`	`\labelenumiv`

The styles of numbered lists are:

Command	Example
\arabic	1, 2, 3, ...
\roman	i, ii, iii, ...
\Roman	I, II, III, ...
\alph	a, b, c, ...
\Alph	A, B, C, ...

Examples of changing enumeration styles:

Command	Examples
`\renewcommand{\labelenumi}{\arabic{enumi}.}` (Change the top level enumberation)	1. 2. 3.
`\renewcommand{\labelenumii}{(\roman{enumii})}` (Change the second level of enumeration)	(i) (ii) (iii)
`\renewcommand{\labelenumiv}{< \Alph{enumiv} >}` (Change the fourth level of enumeration)	< A > < B > < C >

Where do you put commands to change the list types? I put mine in the header, but you can override the default or what you put in the header anywhere in the document.

Can I "pause" the list and resume it easily? Yes. Go to this LaTeX FAQ for details. It requires that you download a small package, but this is free and easy to install.

Footnotes

Adding a footnote in text is easy. For example:

The article\footnote{Haptonstahl, 2002.} was pretty good.

shows the text "The article¹ was pretty good." and adds a numbered footnote at the bottom of the page reading "Haptonstahl, 2002."

If you want to add a footnote in a "forbidden mode" like in math mode, tables, or boxes, you have to do it in two easy steps. At the place you want the little superscript number (in the equation, for example) put

\footnotemark

Then, right after the "forbidden mode" ends, put the text of the footnote in the command

\footnotetext{The text of the footnote goes here.}

Admittedly, if there are multiple footnotes in the same "mode," this can get a little messy, but it can be done. Check the appropriate references. Suffice to say it can be done.

Endnotes: Use the footnote commands as above. If you want all of the footnotes displayed in their own section at the end of the document -- endnotes -- then add this to the header:

\usepackage{endnotes}
\let\footnote=\endnote

and near or at the end of the document (before \end{document}) put this where you want the endnotes to appear:

\theendnotes