OTTR - Website and Online Course Tools

OTTR (Open-source Tools for Training Resources) is a set of tools and templates to help you make websites, online courses, and dashboards more easily (and for free)!

Not sure? Help me choose →

Quarto vs. R Markdown

OTTR templates come in two flavors based on which document format you use to write content: R Markdown (.Rmd) and Quarto (.qmd).

Quarto is the next-generation successor to R Markdown, developed by Posit. It supports R, Python, Julia, and Observable JS, and offers a more consistent syntax and better cross-language support. It is the recommended choice for new projects and existing .qmd files.
R Markdown is a widely used format that combines plain text, Markdown formatting, and R code chunks into a single document. It has a large ecosystem and is a solid choice if you already have .Rmd files or are following older OTTR tutorials.

If you’re starting fresh or already have .qmd files, go with a Quarto template. If you have existing .Rmd content or are working with a team already using R Markdown, the R Markdown templates are a fine choice.

R Markdown is no longer being actively updated

Posit has shifted its focus to Quarto as the next-generation publishing system. R Markdown remains functional but will not receive new features. For any new project, start with a Quarto template.

Resources for Quarto-fying your content:

quartify: an R package that automates conversion of R Markdown files to Quarto
Transitioning from R Markdown to Quarto: a practical guide from Openscapes

Browse OTTR examples

Why Use OTTR?

Benefits for all OTTR options

No software installation

Work in GitHub without installing a local publishing tool.

Preview before publishing

Automatically preview content on GitHub before it goes live.

Built-in checks

Automatically check spelling, customize your dictionary, and periodically check for broken links.

Flexible publishing

Customize branding, include code, and avoid version differences with Docker containers.

OTTR in Action

How to Cite OTTR

Please cite the OTTR manuscript.

BibTeX formatted citation

@article{ottr,
  author = {Candace Savonen, Carrie Wright, Ava M. Hoffman, John Muschelli, Katherine Cox, Frederick J. Tan and Jeffrey T. Leek},
  title = {Open-source Tools for Training Resources – OTTR},
  journal = {Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education},
  volume = {31},
  number = {1},
  pages = {57-65},
  year = {2023},
  publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
  doi = {10.1080/26939169.2022.2118646},
  URL = {https://doi.org/10.1080/26939169.2022.2118646},
  eprint = {https://doi.org/10.1080/26939169.2022.2118646}
}