There is a LaTeX export plugin that hasn't been updated for 4 years and seems to be unmaintained. It would be nice to clean it up and make it fully work with the current DokuWiki version. Further steps could include adding support for BibTeX (or one of the existing BibTeX plugins) so DokuWiki could be used for scientific publishing, note taking etc. (and a LaTeX export is also nice for printing and creating all kinds of good-looking documents). I (michitux) have created a repository at GitHub for DokuTeXit with some tiny improvements, feel free to use it as starting point if you want to.

The idea for this project was born after watching a screencast about researchr, so watching it might give you an idea of the background. There are some things shown there that can't be integrated into DokuWiki, but there are some parts like the citation management that can.

• Panel Administration:
  • Define header of document (packages, new commands, etc)
  • Define footer
  • For scientific publications choose ACM or IEEE template
• All stuffs about Latex:
  • Add new buttons to toolbar (to add some math function or something very specific of Latex but not of DW)
    • There are already existing math plugins, some of them use LaTeX syntax and render it using JavaScript. My suggestion would be to add LaTeX export support to one or more of these plugins in order to not to require external dependencies on the server — Michael Hamann 2012/02/05 15:47
  • Export to latex files or PDF (I like much more the PDF option)
    • What is the best way to do that, convert DW files into Latex files and compile to generate PDF?
    • How can user see the log if happens a error during compilation?
    • My suggestion would be to concentrate on LaTeX (by using a LaTeX renderer that can be taken and extended from dokutexit) and generate the PDF only optionally and offer instead a zip download that contains everything that's needed for generating the PDF (i.e. all referenced images, BibTeX files, …) and as optional option add the possibility to generate a PDF using pdflatex. The log could be displayed in some kind of popup, e.g. using a jQuery ui dialog. — Michael Hamann 2012/02/05 15:47
  • Bibtex page (example if we write a paper at namespace X bibtex page can be locate at X:bib) but if we write a paper which depend some other pages located in other namespace?
    • There are already various BibTeX plugins. I searched for them some months ago and made a small list of them (— Michael Hamann 2012/02/05 15:47):
      • https://github.com/ip1981/dokuwiki-plugin-papers - reads (existing) BiBTeX files and displays data from them or renders BiBTeX code in a page - look pretty simple and clean
      • publist Reads and searches in existing BiBTeX files, a wrapper around bib2tpl
      • refnotes Adds advanced syntax for references inside wiki pages and also a reference database that is built from simple tables inside a certain namespace using a simple (serialized PHP) database. It does not support BiBTeX yet, but it is planned.
      • BiBTeX plugin - reads BiBTeX data that is stored in wiki pages, displays them either as list or displays one single reference from the data, uses a simple template page to display the data for a reference.
      • datatemplate - “Only” a plugin for templates for displaying data that is stored using the data plugin, but look at the Demonstration - it shows mostly what I imagine
    • My (Michael Hamann) ideas concerning BibTeX support:
      • For each reference there is one page it is defined on using BibTeX syntax, the data is stored in some kind of database or also the DokuWiki metadata index
      • A toolbar button allows to quickly insert references, these references link to the page where they are defined on
      • A syntax displaying information about individual citations or for displaying lists of citations
      • There should be a bookmarklet for easily new reference pages for websites or BibTeX snippets from journal pages, wikipedia pages, …
      • The LaTeX export should be supported by generating a BibTeX file containing all references on a page or all references or references that match a certain criteria and for the LaTeX export, these links to reference pages should be replaced by LaTeX citations.

• Compile in cloud
  • Might be an interesting option for offering a quick PDF download that doesn't depend on any external dependencies on the server itself — Michael Hamann 2012/02/05 16:42

• You need to know PHP and experience with LaTeX would be good

• ScribTex

The following people volunteered to “mentor” any new developers taking up this task by answering questions, giving tips and reviewing code:

• Andreas Gohr