Help me choose my template
Not sure which OTTR template is right for you? Answer two quick questions and we’ll point you to the right setup guide.
At a glance
| Template | Best for | Write in | Can also publish to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarto Courses ⭐ | New courses, starting fresh , existing .qmd course files |
.qmd |
GitHub Pages · Coursera · Leanpub |
| R Markdown Courses | Existing .Rmd course files |
.Rmd |
GitHub Pages · Coursera · Leanpub |
| Quarto Websites ⭐ | New websites, starting fresh , existing .qmd course files |
.qmd |
GitHub Pages |
| R Markdown Websites | Existing .Rmd website files |
.Rmd |
GitHub Pages |
| Dashboards | Metrics tracking & reporting | .Rmd |
GitHub Pages |
WarningR Markdown is no longer being actively updated
Posit has shifted its focus to Quarto as the next-generation publishing system for data science. While OTTR’s R Markdown templates remain functional, R Markdown will not receive new features or improvements going forward. If you have existing .Rmd files, they will continue to work but for any new project, we strongly recommend starting 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
Key questions to ask yourself
Courses vs. Websites
- Choose a Course template if you want a sidebar table of contents, chapter-by-chapter navigation, and the option to publish to Coursera or Leanpub.
- Choose a Website template if you want a top navigation bar and a more flexible page structure — like this documentation site.
Quarto vs. R Markdown
- Choose Quarto if you are starting a new project. It is the modern successor to R Markdown, supports R and Python, and is what OTTR recommends for all new content.
- Choose R Markdown if you already have a set of
.Rmdfiles you want to build on, or if your team is already working in R Markdown and a migration isn’t practical right now.
Dashboards
- Choose the Dashboard template if your primary goal is to collect and display metrics — number of GitHub stars, Google Analytics traffic, CRAN downloads, Calendly bookings, and more — powered by the
metricminerR package.
