1 #LyX 2.0 created this file. For more info see http://www.lyx.org/
7 % DO NOT ALTER THIS PREAMBLE!!!
9 %This preamble is designed to ensure that the document prints
10 % out as advertised. If you mess with this preamble,
11 % parts of the document may not print out as expected. If you
12 % have problems LaTeXing this file, please contact
13 % the documentation team
14 % email: lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org
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58 \pdf_title "Introduction to LyX"
59 \pdf_author "LyX Team"
60 \pdf_subject "LyX-documentation Intro"
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114 \begin_layout Plain Layout
116 If you have comments on or corrections to this documentation, please send
117 them to the LyX Documentation mailing list:
118 \begin_inset CommandInset href
120 target "lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org"
133 \begin_layout Standard
134 \begin_inset CommandInset toc
135 LatexCommand tableofcontents
142 \begin_layout Section
143 The Philosophy of LyX
146 \begin_layout Subsection
150 \begin_layout Standard
151 LyX is a document preparation system.
152 It excels at letting you create complex technical and scientific articles
153 with mathematics, cross-references, bibliographies, indexes, etc.
154 It is very good for working with documents of any length in which the usual
155 processing abilities are required: automatic sectioning and pagination,
156 spell checking and so forth.
157 It can also be used to write a letter to your mom, though granted, there
158 are probably simpler programs available for that.
159 It is definitely not the best tool for creating banners, flyers, or advertiseme
160 nts (we'll explain why later), though with some effort all these can be
162 Here are some examples of what it is used for: memos, letters, dissertations
163 and theses, lecture notes, seminar notebooks, conference proceedings, software
164 documentation, books, articles in refereed scientific journals, scripts
165 for plays and movies, business proposals, presentations \SpecialChar \ldots{}
169 \begin_layout Standard
170 LyX is a program that provides a modern approach to writing documents with
171 a computer by using a markup language paradigm, an approach that breaks
172 with the obsolete tradition of the
173 \begin_inset Quotes eld
177 \begin_inset Quotes erd
181 It is designed for authors who want professional output quickly with a
182 minimum of effort and without becoming specialists in typesetting.
183 The job of typesetting is done mostly by the computer, not the author;
184 with LyX, the author can concentrate on the contents of his writing.
187 \begin_layout Standard
188 Part of the initial challenge of using LyX comes from the change in thinking
189 that you, the user, must make.
190 At one time, all we had for creating documents were typewriters, so we
191 all learned certain tricks to get around their limitations.
192 Underlining, which is little more than overstriking with the
193 \begin_inset Quotes eld
197 \begin_inset Quotes erd
200 character, became a way to emphasize text.
201 You were forced to figure out column sizes and tab stops, and set them,
202 before creating a table.
203 The same applied for letters and other right justified text.
204 Hyphenation at the end of a line required a careful eye and a lot of foresight.
207 \begin_layout Standard
208 In other words, we've all been trained to worry about the little details
209 of which character goes where.
210 Consequently, almost all word processors have this mentality.
211 They still use tab stops for adding whitespace.
212 You still need to worry about exactly where on the page something will
214 Emphasizing text means changing a font, similar to changing the typewriter
216 This is the underlying philosophy of a WYSIWYG word processor:
217 \begin_inset Quotes eld
220 What You See Is What You Get
221 \begin_inset Quotes erd
225 Unfortunately, that paradigm often results in
226 \begin_inset Quotes eld
229 What You See Is All You Get
230 \begin_inset Quotes erd
236 \begin_layout Standard
237 This is where LyX differs from an ordinary word processor.
238 You don't concern yourself with what character goes where.
243 and LyX takes care of the rest, following a set of rules called a
251 \begin_layout Plain Layout
252 To be fair, most recent versions of the most popular office suites now have
253 some sort of style sheets which follow a similar markup method.
254 However, our experience is that they are still rarely used in practice.
259 Let's look at a little example:
262 \begin_layout Standard
263 Suppose you are writing a report.
264 To begin your report, you want a section called
265 \begin_inset Quotes eld
268 Introduction\SpecialChar \@.
270 \begin_inset Quotes erd
273 So, you go into whatever menu it is in your word processor that changes
274 font sizes and decide on a new font size.
275 Then you turn on bold face.
277 \begin_inset Quotes eld
289 \begin_inset Quotes erd
293 Of course, if you later decide that this section belongs someplace else
294 in the document or if you insert a new section before it, you need to change
295 the numbering for this and all following sections, as well as any entry
296 in the table of contents.
299 \begin_layout Standard
300 In LyX, you go to the pull-down on the far left of the button bar and select
306 \begin_inset Quotes eld
310 \begin_inset Quotes erd
316 \begin_layout Standard
318 If you cut and paste the section, it will automatically be renumbered —
320 And if you enter references to that section correctly (by inserting cross-refer
321 ence tags), LyX will automatically update them all throughout the file so
322 that you never, ever type a section number.
325 \begin_layout Standard
326 Now let's look at the problem of consistency.
327 Five days later, you reopen your report and start Section
332 However, you forget that you were using 18
333 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
336 pt bold instead of 16
337 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
340 pt, so you type in the heading for Section
344 4 in a different font from the one you used for Section
349 That problem doesn't even exist in LyX.
350 The computer takes care of all that silly bookkeeping about which thing
351 has what size font, not you.
352 After all, that's what a computer is good at.
355 \begin_layout Standard
356 Here's another example.
357 Suppose you're making a list.
358 In other word processors, a list is just a bunch of tab stops and newlines.
359 You need to figure out where to put the label for each list item, what
360 that label should be, how many blank lines to put between each item, and
362 Under LyX, you have only two concerns: what kind of list is this, and what
363 do I want to put in it? That is it.
366 \begin_layout Standard
367 So, the basic idea behind LyX is: specify
377 \begin_inset Quotes eld
380 What You See Is What You Get,
381 \begin_inset Quotes erd
385 \begin_inset Quotes eld
388 What You See Is What You
393 \begin_inset Quotes erd
397 \begin_inset Quotes eld
401 \begin_inset Quotes erd
404 It's a powerful idea that greatly simplifies the mechanics of writing documents.
405 This is also why LyX isn't so good for creating posters and flyers.
410 want to specify exactly where everything goes, because there are no functional
411 units like paragraphs, sections, etc.
412 This doesn't mean LyX is missing some cool function.
413 It simply means that it isn't the right tool for the job — you don't use
414 a screwdriver to drive in nails.
417 \begin_layout Subsection
418 Differences between LyX and Other Word Processors
419 \begin_inset Argument
422 \begin_layout Plain Layout
426 \begin_layout Plain Layout
439 \begin_layout Plain Layout
446 and Other Word Processors
454 \begin_layout Standard
455 Here's a list of things you won't find in LyX:
458 \begin_layout Itemize
462 \begin_layout Itemize
466 \begin_layout Itemize
468 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
472 \begin_inset space \space{}
486 \begin_layout Standard
487 Tab stops, along with a ruler showing you the position of things on the
488 page, are useless in LyX.
489 The program worries about where things go on the page, not you.
490 Extra whitespace is similar; LyX adds it where necessary, depending on
492 Not being able to type two blank lines in a row will be annoying at first,
493 but it makes more sense once you're thinking in WYSIWYM terms.
496 \begin_layout Standard
497 Here are some things that exist in LyX, but aren't used as you might think:
500 \begin_layout Itemize
504 \begin_layout Itemize
508 \begin_layout Itemize
510 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
514 \begin_inset space \space{}
517 single spaced, double spaced, etc.)
520 \begin_layout Itemize
521 Whitespace, horizontal and vertical
524 \begin_layout Itemize
528 \begin_layout Itemize
529 Typefaces (bold, italic, underline, etc.)
532 \begin_layout Standard
533 Although they exist in LyX, you generally don't need them.
534 LyX will take care of these things for you, depending on what you're doing.
535 Different parts of the document are automatically set in a different typeface
537 Paragraph indenting is context dependent; different types of paragraphs
538 get indented differently.
539 Page breaks get handled automatically, as well.
540 In general, the space between lines, between words, and between paragraphs
541 is variable, set by LyX.
545 \begin_layout Plain Layout
546 There are ways to adjust all of these (only some of which require knowledge
547 of LaTeX), either for a whole document or for a specific location in a
565 \begin_layout Standard
566 Lastly, there are a few areas where we believe LyX (and LaTeX) surpasses
567 many word processors:
570 \begin_layout Itemize
574 \begin_layout Itemize
578 \begin_layout Itemize
582 \begin_layout Itemize
586 \begin_layout Itemize
590 \begin_layout Standard
591 Granted, many modern word processors can handle mathematical symbols, tables,
592 and hyphenation, and many have moved towards style definitions and the
594 However, they've only recently been able to do so, whereas LyX is built
595 upon the LaTeX document preparation system.
596 LaTeX has been around since 1985, and
603 \begin_layout Subsection
607 \begin_layout Standard
608 LaTeX is a document preparation system designed by Leslie Lamport in 1985.
612 \begin_layout Plain Layout
613 The source for the info in this section is
617 , by Helmut Kopka and Patrick Daly, which has an entry in the bibliography
628 It was built up from a typesetting language called TeX, created by Donald
630 TeX takes a sequence of typesetting commands, written in a script in an
631 ASCII file, and executes them.
633 \begin_inset Quotes eld
637 \begin_inset Quotes erd
640 of the printing trade were modeled by Knuth as computer algorithms and
641 incorporated into TeX, hence its excellent printed appearance.
642 What comes directly out of TeX is the portable document format
647 \begin_inset Quotes eld
651 \begin_inset Quotes erd
659 The dvi format is often used for previews and can later be converted to
660 other formats like PostScript.
664 \begin_layout Standard
665 TeX isn't only a typesetting engine; it also allows you to define macros.
666 Most people who use TeX are actually using a macro package which Knuth
667 created to hide a lot of the typesetting details.
668 This is where Leslie Lamport enters our story.
669 He wanted a macro package that was more user- and less typesetter-oriented,
670 with a set of commands that consistently typeset things like sections,
671 tables or math formulas in a uniform, consistent fashion.
672 This is how LaTeX was born.
675 \begin_layout Standard
676 Now, in parallel with the development and growth of LaTeX, other folks were
677 creating their own custom macro packages for TeX, ones to make slides or
678 articles for math journals and so on.
679 Some used the raw TeX facilities to do this, others began modifying LaTeX.
680 To try and unify this mess, a team of LaTeX-nicians began to work on LaTeX2e,
681 the current version of LaTeX, during the late 1980's.
682 This new version of LaTeX has commands which provide an easier-to-use interface
683 to TeX's macro-creating commands, aid in the use of new fonts, and so on.
684 In fact, LaTeX is quite an extensive language in its own right! Users around
685 the world have been creating their own add-ons for LaTeX beyond the standard
689 \begin_layout Standard
690 There are two ways to extend LaTeX: classes and styles.
695 is a set of LaTeX macros describing a new type of document, like a book,
697 There are classes for slides, for physics and math journals\SpecialChar \ldots{}
699 even have a class for their thesis format.
704 differs from a class in that it doesn't define a new type of document,
705 but a different type of
709 that any document can use.
710 For example, LyX controls page margins and line spacing using two different
711 LaTeX style-files designed for these purposes.
712 There are style-files for a whole slew of things: printing labels or envelopes,
713 changing indentation behavior, adding new fonts, manipulating graphics,
714 designing fancy page headings, customizing bibliographies, altering the
715 location and appearance of footnotes, tables, and figures, customizing
719 \begin_layout Standard
723 \begin_layout Description
724 TeX: Typesetting language with macro capability.
727 \begin_layout Description
728 LaTeX: Macro package built upon TeX\SpecialChar \@.
732 \begin_layout Description
733 classes: Descriptions of types of document used with LaTeX\SpecialChar \@.
737 \begin_layout Description
738 styles: Descriptions of the default behavior of particular elements of LaTeX.
741 \begin_layout Description
742 LyX: Visual, WYSIWYM document processor that uses LaTeX to do its typesetting.
745 \begin_layout Standard
746 This section attempts to explain the difference between LyX and a word processor.
747 Simply put, LaTeX is the difference.
748 By using LaTeX as its backend, LyX helps you to think more about
757 The computer then handles
764 \begin_layout Section
765 Navigating the Documentation
768 \begin_layout Standard
769 To make it easier to answer your questions and describe all of the features
770 of LyX, the documentation has been split up into several different files.
771 Each one has its own purpose, as described below.
772 Before you go ploughing into any of those files, however, you should read
773 this chapter thoroughly, since it contains a lot of useful information
774 and commentary that can save you some time.
777 \begin_layout Standard
778 Hopefully, the development of LyX will never stop; so some of the documentation
779 may be incomplete or a bit out of date, though we try to keep up-to-date.
780 Like the rest of LyX, the manuals are the work of a group of volunteers
782 \begin_inset Quotes eld
786 \begin_inset Quotes erd
789 , families, dishes to clean,
794 If you want to help out, be sure to read Section
799 \begin_inset CommandInset ref
801 reference "sec:Contrib"
805 in addition to the rest of this document.
808 \begin_layout Standard
809 Also, please do us a favor – if anything in these manuals confuses you,
810 is unclear, or wrong, don't hesitate to let us know! You can reach the
811 current document maintainers by emailing
812 \begin_inset CommandInset href
814 target "lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org"
820 If you have questions that are not obviously answered in the documentation,
821 and need help fast, there is an active users' mailing list which you can
823 \begin_inset CommandInset href
825 target "lyx-users@lists.lyx.org"
833 \begin_layout Subsection
834 The Format of the Manuals
837 \begin_layout Standard
838 Some of you may have printed out the manuals.
839 Others may be reading them within LyX.
840 There are some differences between the LyX-file and the printed version.
841 In LyX, the title is simply at the top of the document, not formatted on
842 a separate page as in some of the printed versions.
843 Nor are any of the footnotes or the Table of Contents fully visible.
844 To open a footnote, which looks like this:
845 \begin_inset Graphics
846 filename clipart/footnoteQt4.png
851 , click on it with the left mouse button.
852 For the Table of Contents, either click on the grey box or click on the
857 menu, where the contents are displayed automatically\SpecialChar \@.
861 \begin_layout Standard
862 In the printed manuals, all cross-references appear as the actual numbers
863 for a chapter, section, subsection, and so on.
864 In the LyX-file, however, all cross-references appear as a light-grey box
866 \begin_inset Graphics
867 filename clipart/referenceQt4.png
873 If you click on that box with the left mouse button, a dialog box will
874 appear containing a list of all the cross-references in the document.
875 You can go to the referenced section by right-clicking on the box or by
888 in the opened dialog.
889 Going back to where you came from is just as easy.
898 to go back to your earlier location.
901 \begin_layout Standard
902 Now that we've cleared up some of the differences between the printed and
903 LyX-file versions of this file, we can start looking at the format of this
905 You'll occasionally notice things in different fonts:
908 \begin_layout Itemize
913 is used for general emphasis, generic arguments, book titles, names of
914 sections of other manuals, and notes from the authors.
917 \begin_layout Itemize
922 is used for program and file names, LyX code and functions.
925 \begin_layout Itemize
930 is used for menu, button, or dialog box names, and the names of keyboard
934 \begin_layout Itemize
939 is used for people's names.
942 \begin_layout Itemize
947 is used for LaTeX code
950 \begin_layout Standard
951 When we do need to reference keys, we'll use the following prefixing convention:
954 \begin_layout Itemize
955 \begin_inset Quotes eld
963 \begin_inset Quotes erd
973 \begin_layout Itemize
974 \begin_inset Quotes eld
982 \begin_inset Quotes erd
992 \begin_layout Itemize
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1016 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1024 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1027 \SpecialChar \ldots{}
1029 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1037 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1040 are the function keys.
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1058 \begin_layout Itemize
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1158 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1166 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1170 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1178 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1181 : these are the 6 keys that appear above the cursor keys on many PC keyboards.
1183 \begin_inset Quotes eld
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1195 \begin_inset Quotes eld
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1242 both refer to the same key.
1243 Some keyboards label the
1248 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1252 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1256 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1260 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1263 still others have two keys.
1264 LyX treats all of them as the same key, so we'll use
1275 \begin_layout Standard
1276 The list with the currently set shortcuts can be found in the
1287 \begin_layout Subsection
1288 Units used in the Manuals
1291 \begin_layout Standard
1292 To understand the units described in this documentation, Table
1293 \begin_inset space ~
1297 \begin_inset CommandInset ref
1299 reference "tab:Units"
1303 explains all units available in LyX.
1306 \begin_layout Standard
1307 \begin_inset Float table
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1313 \begin_inset Caption
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1316 \begin_inset CommandInset label
1330 \begin_layout Plain Layout
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1559 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
1563 \begin_inset Formula $\approx$
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1586 <cell alignment="center" valignment="top" topline="true" leftline="true" rightline="true" usebox="none">
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1614 <cell alignment="center" valignment="top" topline="true" leftline="true" rightline="true" usebox="none">
1617 \begin_layout Plain Layout
1618 % of original image width
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1807 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
1811 \begin_inset space \thinspace{}
1832 \begin_layout Subsection
1836 \begin_layout Standard
1837 The following list describes the contents of the basic documentation files
1838 that you find in the
1845 \begin_layout Description
1846 Introduction This file.
1849 \begin_layout Description
1850 Tutorial If you are new to LyX, and have never used LaTeX before, you should
1852 If you have used LaTeX before, you should still read the
1856 , starting with the section on
1857 \begin_inset Quotes eld
1860 LyX for LaTeX users.
1861 \begin_inset Quotes erd
1864 (Skimming through the rest of the document wouldn't hurt, either.)
1867 \begin_layout Description
1869 \begin_inset space ~
1872 Guide The primary documentation.
1877 of the basic operation and available features of LyX here.
1878 The main manual assumes that you have read the
1885 \begin_layout Description
1887 \begin_inset space ~
1890 Objects Extension of the
1895 Documents in detail how to use tables, graphics, floats, notes, program
1897 It also includes many tricks of the LaTeX masters.
1900 \begin_layout Description
1901 Math Extension of the
1906 Documents in detail how to typeset any kind of formula.
1909 \begin_layout Description
1911 \begin_inset space ~
1914 Features Extension of the
1919 Documents how to use raw LaTeX commands, additional layouts and special-purpose
1923 \begin_layout Description
1924 Customization A description of advanced LyX features, including how to customize
1925 the overall behavior of LyX\SpecialChar \@.
1926 This includes such things as keybindings, internati
1927 onalization and configuration files.
1928 It also includes information about layout files, which are needed to get
1929 LyX to support LaTeX classes or packages.
1932 \begin_layout Description
1933 Shortcuts Tables of the currently defined LyX shortcuts.
1936 \begin_layout Description
1938 \begin_inset space ~
1941 Configuration A report produced by LyX about your system.
1942 This file contains information on what LyX learned about your installation.
1943 Check it to see if you're missing something you might like to have.
1946 \begin_layout Standard
1947 These files will reference one another as necessary.
1956 information on installation and customization, but refers the reader to
1959 Customization Manual
1961 for more information.
1964 \begin_layout Standard
1965 We'll state again an important point:
1968 \begin_layout Standard
1969 \begin_inset VSpace bigskip
1975 \begin_layout Standard
1977 If you are new to LyX, read the
1986 \begin_layout Standard
1987 \begin_inset VSpace bigskip
1993 \begin_layout Standard
1994 Otherwise, you could needlessly frustrate yourself.
1997 \begin_layout Section
1998 Contributing to the LyX Project
1999 \begin_inset CommandInset label
2008 \begin_layout Subsection
2012 \begin_layout Standard
2013 LyX is mostly written in C++ (the LaTeX importer is written in Python).
2014 It is a large project, and as a result it is not free from bugs, or the
2015 need for improvements in the source code.
2018 \begin_layout Subsubsection
2022 \begin_layout Standard
2023 While using LyX, you may find behavior which you consider a bug.
2024 Crashes, though rare, can happen.
2025 User interface problems are considered major bugs by the LyX team: especially
2026 helpful are indications of parts of the LyX interface you find confusing,
2030 \begin_layout Standard
2031 LyX has a bug tracking system, which you can find at
2034 \begin_inset Flex URL
2037 \begin_layout Plain Layout
2039 http://www.lyx.org/trac/wiki/BugTrackerHome
2047 You should check the bug tracker before reporting any bugs, in case it
2048 has already been reported.
2049 If you have a comment on an existing bug, or wish to report a new bug,
2050 you may either use the bug tracker, or send an e-mail to the development
2052 \begin_inset CommandInset href
2054 target "lyx-devel@lists.lyx.org"
2060 Archives of this list are linked from the main LyX website,
2063 \begin_inset Flex URL
2066 \begin_layout Plain Layout
2078 \begin_layout Standard
2079 A useful bug report will at a minimum include the version of LyX you are
2080 having the problem with.
2081 Accurate, detailed descriptions are preferred - the more time developers
2082 have to spend to pinpoint the source of a bug, the less time they have
2083 for other improvements.
2084 Mention the system and system version on which you are running LyX.
2085 Give the versions of the libraries you have installed on your system, and,
2086 if relevant, the versions of external programs that LyX uses.
2087 If it's a compilation or configuration problem, include the file
2091 , and mention which compiler you are using.
2094 \begin_layout Subsubsection
2095 Contributing fixes and new features
2098 \begin_layout Standard
2099 If you have made changes to LyX's source that you think should become part
2100 of LyX, send your changes as a diff file (in unified format) to the development
2101 list referenced above, along with a change log, and a description of what
2105 \begin_layout Subsection
2106 Contributing to the Documentation
2109 \begin_layout Standard
2110 LyX's documentation is extensive; however LyX is under constant development,
2111 and each new release adds new features.
2112 You may find some documentation needs improvement.
2113 This section describes what to do if you find an error, or have some suggestion
2114 s for improving the documentation.
2117 \begin_layout Subsubsection
2118 Reporting Errors in the Manuals
2121 \begin_layout Standard
2122 If you find a problem with the documentation, send a message to the mailing
2124 \begin_inset CommandInset href
2126 target "lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org"
2132 The documentation team will make any necessary fixes.
2135 \begin_layout Subsubsection
2136 Joining the Documentation Team.
2139 \begin_layout Standard
2140 The LyX Documentation Project, like anything else in the LyX project, can
2141 always use assistance! If you're interested in contributing to the Documentatio
2142 n Project, you need to do the following:
2145 \begin_layout Enumerate
2146 Get the latest LyX source code from
2147 \begin_inset Newline newline
2151 \begin_inset Flex URL
2154 \begin_layout Plain Layout
2156 http://www.lyx.org/trac/browser/lyxgit/lib/doc?rev=master
2164 \begin_layout Enumerate
2174 \begin_inset Newline newline
2177 The point of this exercise is to give you ideas.
2186 are likely to be the most up-to-date of all of the documentation.
2187 You should be able to glean some insights into how we want the manuals
2188 to read and to look.
2191 \begin_layout Enumerate
2192 Contact the team at:
2193 \begin_inset Newline newline
2197 \begin_inset CommandInset href
2199 target "lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org"
2205 \begin_inset Newline newline
2208 to discuss your intended changes and to get some feedback on them.
2211 \begin_layout Standard
2212 The changes you wish to make may range from improving clarity of the text,
2213 to doing major re-structuring of the documentation.
2214 Any and all improvements are gladly received.