orz-slides — layouts & syntax

The quick way: the layout picker

In the editor, open the layout button (the grid icon) and pick a layout. On a blank slide it drops the skeleton straight in; on a slide that already has content it inserts the new layout and tucks your old content into a comment so you can copy-paste it into place. The picker offers the most common layouts:

Everything below is what those skeletons expand to — reach for it when you want a custom split, a floating figure, a background colour, or a template variant.

Deck settings

One <!-- deck --> block at the very top sets defaults for the whole deck.

<!-- deck
title: My presentation
theme: paper            # paper · executive · chalk · sage · neon · poppy · architect …
ratio: 16:9             # or 4:3
author: Dr. Yu Wang
footer: My talk · 2026  # shown on normal slides (not title/closing)
transition: fade        # reveal.js transition: none · fade · slide · convex …
-->

Structure templates

Templates are ready-made slides with fixed structure and several visual variants (add v=2, v=3, …). The first # heading is the main line, ## the subtitle, and any remaining text is the meta line.

<!-- slide template=title v=2 -->
# Controlled Polymerization
## RAFT vs ATRP
**Dr. Yu Wang** · 2026

<!-- slide template=section -->
# Part II — Methods

<!-- slide template=outline -->
## Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. Results

Layout presets & regions

A normal slide’s first ## heading becomes its title. Add a preset to split the body into named regions; fill each region with a <!-- @name --> marker. Text before the first marker goes into the primary region.

Add a ratio after the preset, e.g. 2col 3/2 or main-side 1/2.

<!-- slide 2col 3/2 -->
## Results

<!-- @left -->
- Accuracy 92%
- Precision 88%

<!-- @right -->
{{smiles C(=S)(SC)SC}}

Custom splits (advanced)

For anything the presets don’t cover, write the split directly. col and row take a track list (numbers become fr units; auto, %, and px also work) and a { … } list of regions or nested splits — to any depth.

<!-- slide row auto/1 { header; col 1/1 { a; b } } -->
## Dashboard

<!-- @header -->
Top banner across the full width.

<!-- @a -->
Left metric.

<!-- @b -->
Right metric.

Floats place a free box anywhere over the slide (outside the grid):

<!-- @float left=58% top=22% w=36% h=44% z=2 -->
> **Key takeaway:** narrow PDI across all methods.

Speaker notes never appear on the slide:

<!-- @notes -->
Remember to mention the control experiment.

Worked examples

Real splits and what they produce. Each box mirrors the slide’s region grid; the source beside it is exactly what you write. (Drawn from the deck’s own layout test set.)

Header band over two columns

<!-- slide row auto/1 { head; col 1/1 { a; b } } -->
## Dashboard
<!-- @head -->
Full-width banner.
<!-- @a -->
Cell A
<!-- @b -->
Cell B

Three columns, the middle one split into two rows

<!-- slide col 1/1/1 { c1; row 1/1 { c2a; c2b }; c3 } -->
## Comparison
<!-- @c1 -->
Column one.
<!-- @c2a -->
Middle top.
<!-- @c2b -->
Middle bottom.
<!-- @c3 -->
Column three.

Sidebar + a main column with its own header

<!-- slide col 1/2 { side; row auto/1 { mainHead; mainBody } } -->
## Topic
<!-- @side -->
Nav / notes.
<!-- @mainHead -->
Main header.
<!-- @mainBody -->
Main body fills the rest.

A floating figure over two columns

<!-- slide 2col -->
## Result
<!-- @left -->
Background content.
<!-- @right -->
More content.
<!-- @float left=58% top=22% w=36% h=44% -->
> **Key takeaway** sits on top of the grid.

Per-slide options

Add these to any <!-- slide … --> marker.

<!-- slide 2col bg=#0b3d2e t=fade step -->

Footers & overflow

Footers. The deck’s footer: setting shows at the bottom of every normal slide (title, section, and closing slides have none). Override it on one slide with a <!-- @footer --> region:

<!-- slide -->
## A slide with its own footer
Body content.
<!-- @footer -->
Custom footer — this slide only

Overflow. By default a slide’s content scales down to fit so it never spills off the edge. Change that per slide with fit=:

Rich content in any region

Region content is orz-markdown, so the full plugin set works right inside a slide — diagrams, charts, chemistry, QR codes, and math:

On dark themes (chalk, neon) diagrams and charts sit on a soft light panel so they stay legible.

Presenting