ProjectsVectraChangelog

Changelog#

All notable changes to Vectra are documented on this page.

Vectra follows a simple versioning scheme during early development. Public template interface changes, layout changes, documentation updates, and maintainer-facing design changes should be recorded here.

[Unreleased]#

Changed#

  • Replaced the custom source-available license with the LaTeX Project Public License, version 1.3c or later.
  • Added LPPL maintenance, generated-document, contribution, and official-version guidance.
  • Standardized the project name as Vectra.
  • Moved the maintained project documentation and example previews to yixuanhuang.com/projects/vectra/.
  • Removed the repository-local docs/ directory.

[0.2.0] - 2026-06-30#

Added#

  • Added publication groups for organizing publications into categories such as Preprints, Conference Papers, Journal Articles, Workshop Papers, and Patents.

  • Added publication notes for explanatory text such as equal contribution notes.

  • Added updated publication entry format:

    [C1] Authors. Title. Venue, Year. Location. [Links]

  • Added support for publication locations.

  • Added inline bracket-style publication links, such as [Preprint], [Code], [DOI], [PDF], and [BibTeX].

  • Added indexed talk entries with right-aligned dates:

    [T1] Title. Event, Location. [Links]       Date

  • Added talk groups for organizing talks by type, such as Invited Talks, Conference Presentations, Seminars, and Posters.

  • Added indexed media entries with right-aligned dates:

    [M1] Title. Outlet. [Links]       Date

  • Added media groups for organizing interviews, press coverage, podcasts, and articles.

  • Added role-grouped teaching entries with right-aligned terms:

    Role
Institution, Course Title. [Links]       Term

  • Added inline bracket-style links for talks, media, and teaching records.

  • Added custom header contact links through \VectraAddContactLink.

  • Added custom header text items through \VectraAddContactText.

  • Added configurable header width through \VectraSetHeaderWidth.

  • Added adaptive right metadata columns for two-column entries.

  • Added indexed two-column layout support with hanging indentation for talks and media.

Changed#

  • Updated publication entries from the v0.1.0 four-field format to a richer seven-field format:

    \VectraPublicationEntry
    {Prefix}
    {Authors}
    {Title}
    {Venue}
    {Year}
    {Location}
    {Links}

  • Standardized scholarly and public-facing record links as inline bracket-style links.

  • Updated talks to use indexed compact academic record formatting with dates in the right metadata column.

  • Updated media entries to use indexed compact record formatting with dates in the right metadata column.

  • Updated teaching entries to use role-grouped compact records with terms in the right metadata column.

  • Reorganized spacing design around semantic entry categories:

    • Major entries: Education, Research Experience, General Experience, Projects.
    • Record entries: Publications, Talks, Media, Teaching.
    • Compact entries: Awards, Service, Certifications.
    • Skill entries: Skill groups.

  • Updated right metadata layout so dates, terms, and short metadata use natural width instead of a fixed-width column.

  • Updated header contact wrapping so contact items remain intact and separators are omitted at line breaks.

  • Updated academic CV examples to include publications, talks, media, and teaching sections.

  • Updated documentation for publications, talks, media, teaching, header customization, and adaptive metadata columns.

Fixed#

  • Fixed undefined control sequence errors caused by layout helpers being used before definition.
  • Fixed inconsistent top alignment between indexed left records and right-side dates in media and talk entries.
  • Fixed contact separator wrapping so lines do not end or begin with |.
  • Fixed spacing behavior for group headings that appear immediately after a section title.
  • Fixed link spacing behavior so inline links do not inherit unwanted whitespace from source line breaks.

[0.1.0] - 2026-06-28#

Added#

  • Initial Vectra repository structure.
  • Source-available custom license.
  • Plain-language usage policy.
  • Citation metadata through CITATION.cff.
  • Modular LaTeX template architecture under src/.
  • Main Vectra document class: src/vectra.cls.
  • Core style modules:
    • vectra-design.sty
    • vectra-core.sty
    • vectra-fonts.sty
    • vectra-colors.sty
    • vectra-accessibility.sty
    • vectra-layout.sty
    • vectra-header.sty
    • vectra-footer.sty
    • vectra-sections.sty
  • Personal CV directory under cv/.
  • User-editable profile, settings, and section files.
  • Minimal example document under examples/minimal/.
  • Academic CV example document under examples/academic-cv/.
  • Documentation directory under docs/.
  • Build system using Makefile and latexmk.
  • Root-level latexmkrc configuration.
  • Git ignore rules for LaTeX build artifacts and generated output.
  • Output directory placeholder for generated PDFs.

User-Facing Template Features#

  • Added semantic CV commands for:
    • profile information
    • PDF metadata
    • education entries
    • research experience entries
    • general experience entries
    • project entries
    • publication entries
    • award entries
    • service entries
    • skill groups
    • certification entries
  • Added optional field handling for entry commands.
  • Empty optional fields are omitted automatically without creating blank lines, placeholder labels, or extra spacing.
  • Added support for structured bullet lists through VectraBullets.
  • Added date mode support:
    • today
    • fixed
    • none
  • Added footer mode support:
    • full
    • simple
    • none
  • Added structured footer layout with:
    • left update date
    • centered name
    • right page number
  • Added text-based contact header with automatic omission of empty contact fields.
  • Added support for email, website, GitHub, LinkedIn, ORCID, phone, location, and title fields.

Design and Layout#

  • Established the default Vectra Academic Compact style.
  • Adopted a single-column academic CV layout with right-aligned metadata.
  • Added fixed-width right metadata column for dates and locations.
  • Added subtle section rules for improved scanability.
  • Selected Charter as the default font.
  • Used black text and black links for a print-friendly academic appearance.
  • Avoided icon-based contact formatting in the default style.
  • Tuned page geometry for improved academic CV readability.
  • Increased bottom margin to provide better footer breathing room.
  • Tuned header spacing, including compact spacing between contact links and the first section.
  • Tuned section spacing for consistent section-to-section rhythm.
  • Reduced section-to-first-entry spacing for a more compact section opening.
  • Added dedicated Education entry spacing for improved visual balance.
  • Standardized normal entry spacing for Research Experience, Projects, and Publications.
  • Added compact spacing for Awards, Service, and Certifications.
  • Added skill-group spacing for dense technical skills sections.
  • Standardized bullet list spacing by removing itemize's default top spacing.
  • Added explicit entry-to-bullet spacing.
  • Added line struts inside entry blocks to reduce visual spacing differences caused by descenders such as g, y, p, and q.
  • Added trailing entry-gap tracking and cancellation before new sections so that section-to-section spacing remains consistent.

Personal CV#

  • Added modular personal CV structure under cv/.
  • Added personal profile and PDF metadata configuration.
  • Added sections for:
    • Education
    • Research Interests
    • Research Experience
    • Selected Projects
    • Awards and Honors
    • Leadership and Service
    • Technical Skills
    • Certifications
  • Updated research experience content for multi-arm tabletop rearrangement planning.
  • Added Outstanding Graduating Undergraduate to Awards and Honors.
  • Updated GitHub and website references to use yixnhuang.

Examples#

  • Added minimal example demonstrating the smallest recommended Vectra document structure.
  • Added academic CV example demonstrating a research-oriented academic CV structure.
  • Added example profile, settings, education, experience, research interests, projects, publications, awards, service, and skills files.
  • Used fictional example data in public examples.

Documentation#

  • Added README.md with project overview, quick start, repository structure, features, usage notice, license summary, and citation information.
  • Added /projects/vectra/licensing/ with plain-language allowed and prohibited uses.
  • Added /projects/vectra/quick-start/.
  • Added /projects/vectra/user-guide/.
  • Added /projects/vectra/maintainer-guide/.
  • Added /projects/vectra/design/.
  • Added /projects/vectra/licensing/.
  • Documented maintainer-facing spacing parameters in vectra-design.sty.
  • Documented the fixed-design philosophy and user-editable content workflow.
  • Documented empty optional field behavior for CV entries.
  • Documented footer design and date modes.
  • Documented build commands and project structure.

Build and Compatibility#

  • Added Makefile targets:
    • make cv
    • make minimal
    • make academic
    • make examples
    • make all
    • make clean
    • make clean-output
    • make distclean
  • Added TEXINPUTS handling in the Makefile for local builds.
  • Added Overleaf-compatible input path handling in entry-point main.tex files.
  • Configured pdfLaTeX as the default build engine.
  • Added machine-readable PDF support through Unicode mapping for pdfLaTeX.
  • Added PDF metadata support through Vectra profile commands.

License#

  • Added Yixuan Huang Non-Commercial Attribution Template License Version 1.0.
  • Clarified that Vectra is source-available, not distributed under a conventional open-source license.
  • Clarified that generated CVs and resumes do not require visible attribution.
  • Clarified that users may edit personal CV content and publish generated PDFs.
  • Clarified that template source redistribution, republication, repackaging, resale, and derivative template publication are not permitted.
  • Clarified that sharing Vectra should be done by citing or linking to the official repository.