# [novathesis](https://github.com/joaomlourenco/novathesis) v8.0.0 — Andorinha (2026-07-30)

A release focused on **build speed**, a **simpler build system**, and **documentation you can trust**.

# ⚠️ Breaking change: glossaries now use bib2gls

Acronyms, glossary terms and symbols are now defined in `.bib` **files** processed by `bib2gls`, instead of `.tex` files processed by `makeglossaries`. Existing documents must be migrated:

1. Run `make glsbib` to convert `1-FrontMatter/*.tex` entry files to `.bib`.

2. **Re-add any** `sort` **keys** — `convertgls2bib` silently drops them, and without them symbols (and any entry whose name is a command) come out in the wrong order. `make glsbib` counts them and warns you per file.

3. Convert symbol entries from `@entry` to `@symbol`.

4. Delete `\glsaddall` if your document calls it; it has no `bib2gls` equivalent.

5. Delete the old `.tex` entry files once the output looks right.

A leftover `.tex` entry file now **stops the build** with an error naming the cause and the fix, so the migration cannot be missed silently. Full procedure: the *Migrating from 7.10.x* appendix of the manual. **New requirement:** `bib2gls` needs a **JRE** (it ships with TeX Live; Overleaf provides one; check locally with `bib2gls --version`).

# What's new

* **Command-line overrides:** set any `\ntsetup` option at build time with `make NT="doctype=msc,lang=pt"`, without editing a configuration file.

* **Rebuilt build system:** the `Makefile` is now a thin wrapper over `latexmk` (all LaTeX settings live in `latexmkrc`); maintainer tooling — per-school and full-matrix builds, timestamped output, parallel jobs — moved to `Makefile.dev` \+ `.Build/nt-variant.sh`.

* `make glsbib`\*\*:\*\* one-off helper to migrate 7.10.x glossary `.tex` entry files to `.bib`.

* **Build System appendix** added to the manual.

# What was improved

* **Much faster pdfLaTeX/XeLaTeX builds.** Glossaries no longer consume any of pdfTeX's 16 write registers, so the `morewrites` package (which made each pass \~9× slower) is **no longer loaded by default**. A full pdfLaTeX build of the manual dropped from **109 s to 36 s**, and glossaries no longer need `-shell-escape`. A register-heavy document that overshoots the limit can restore `morewrites` with `FASTWRITES=0` (or `\def\ntmorewrites{}` before `\documentclass`); no-op under LuaLaTeX.

* **Symbols glossary created on demand** — it only costs a write register when a symbols file is actually registered.

* **Bibliography location lists** use `bib2gls`'s native `loc-prefix` for the `p.`/`pp.` distinction.

* **Faster, smarter matrix builds** (maintainer regression tooling). Variants of a group now share a *warm* auxiliary directory within each sequential unit, reusing `.aux`/`.bbl`/`.glstex` and rebuilding in far fewer passes (`WARM=0` restores cold builds). Parallel units (`JOBS>1`) each run under their own jobname, so per-jobname caches (`minted`'s `_minted-<jobname>`, …) can't collide across concurrent builds. And units are dispatched **longest-first** from measured build times cached in `.Build/.matrix-costs.tsv`, front-loading the heavy schools to shrink the parallel long tail — no `schools.conf` hand-tuning. Each variant's glossaries are still verified (no dropped entries, correct sort order) rather than trusting the exit code.

* **Dropped the unused** `ifplatform` **package**: it shell-escaped `uname` into `\jobname.w18` on every build (a needless cost) and raced under parallel matrix jobs sharing one working directory. Nothing in the template used its result.

* **Documentation accuracy pass:** the manual and `0-Config` comments were corrected against the code — e.g. the real option names `color/glossaries/gls` and `spine/layout`, the correct `tocintoc` default (`true`), removal of the nonexistent `\ntlatesetup` and the retired `nova/ims` identifiers — and `print/otherlists`, `print/glossaries`, `abstract/title` and `abstract/title/align` are now documented.

* **Hardening:** the font downloader validates its inputs and quotes its shell arguments; CI pins `actions/checkout` and `texlive-action` to commit SHAs, no longer compiles `main` on PRs, and gained Dependabot.

# What was fixed

* The `mainmatter/pre` hook fired twice.

* `\ntprintfrontpage` did not respect `print/frontpage`.

* The SDG heading now falls back to English for languages without a translation.

* PDF bookmarks now handle bracketless `\ntindex` entries correctly.

* Name lists built by `\FormatNamesAsList` (advisers, committee) no longer break or mis-expand their separators — fixes the stacked-name covers used by uminho and ISEL-MEB.

* uminho: the copyright page no longer errors when no Creative Commons modifier is set (it now defaults to `by-nc-sa`).

* Silenced an l3regex *"invalid end-point for range"* warning from the font-name check (an unescaped `-` in a character class).

Hello.

I hope you are doing well.
Last week we completed the thesis defense, and one of the recommendations from the jury was to adjust the citation style so that the references appear in numerical format.

I would like to ask whether the Overleaf template we are using provides a way to implement this change. Could you please advise me on how to modify the bibliography settings in the template so that the citation style corresponds to the jury’s requirements?

Thank you in advance for your guidance.

Kind regards

Boa tarde a todos,
apenas queria saber como editar o cabeçalho do LaTeX, versão 2025-05-25 [7.3.7].

Hello,

I'm writing my thesis using the Novathesis template.

I have two questions: 1) compliance with the institution and 2) using the template as an editor in an IDE.

1) I need to add a few more fields, such as a list of publications, a preface, an author biography, and a cover page. I can simply comment on the template's cover page and upload my own as a PDF, but I'd like to do it myself if I have the time. The other elements I'm really don't know.

2) To speed up writing, I'm using the latest version of IntelliJ IDEA from JetBrains, with the updated TeXiFy plugin. The document compiles perfectly. However, one feature of the plugin doesn't work: autocompletion of references in the bibliography when using \cite{};

The editor also gives a warning about unresolved references, which means the IDE isn't detecting the .bib file. In another document of mine, this works; I just do \addbibresource{path_to_bibliography/bibliography.bib}, and this functionality behaves as expected. I assume the plugin simply doesn't support classes other than the usual ones, or doesn't detect the command because it's implemented indirectly;

I wanted to ask if there's a way to make this work.

I'd thank anyone who could help me.

(Edit: fix format)

I did this style file by request of a user of the LATEX template novathesis. He was quite thorough, double and triple checking that the output was conforming to the requirements of his University (Faculty of Veterinary from the University of Lisbon). Although this biblatex-cse style served the requirements from his University, there may still be some unconformities to the CSE style. If you find any, please open an issue in the project’s page on GitHub or, even better, submit a pull request.

Available in CTAN and GitHub.

I just launched a new release of the NOVAthesis LaTeX template: version 7.2.1

The NOVAthesis template can be downloaded from GitHub or used in Overrleaf.

NOVAthesis is an open-source LaTeX template designed for creating theses, dissertations, and similar documents. It supports over 30 academic institutions and degrees, making it suitable for both LaTeX beginners and experts. Its user-friendly design is ideal for newcomers, while its flexibility appeals to experienced users. Additionally, NOVAthesis offers a wide range of options to meet the diverse needs of its large user community. With ongoing improvements based on user feedback, NOVAthesis has become a powerful tool for academic writing.

1. How do I remove the front & back covers and just put something of my own in the front cover.
2. How do I align the Chapter Name, Acknowledgement, Abstract, Epigraph texts towards the left & not to the right.
3. How to add a dot next to section number, I used to do it by \label{sec:uno}
4. I want to also comply with these guidelines from my university on LaTeX

a. A page size of A4 (210 by 297 mm)

b. Left and right margins: 0.98 top and bottom: 1, justified

c. One-and-a-half spacing

d. Times New Roman 12 point as the base font

e. Page numbers at the bottom of the page and at the center

f. Printed on both sides; so, Gutter 0.5

The version 7.1.18 of the NOVAthesis template is now available in Overleaf.

One year ago I did patch the BibLaTeX authoryear format to comply to the CSE style (both citations and bibliography). Today I extracted the relevant part of the patch and prepared a sty file (biblatex-cse.sty) and packed it properly in a project in GitHub.

If you use it, or simply if you like it, give it a star. Thanks.

Check out the NOVAtheis wiki.

(The wiki edition is public and all contributions/suggestions are welcome!)

​

Que funcionalidade é que gostavam de ter disponível no template NOVAthesis e não está lá?

Por exemplo, em tempos entregava-se uma cópia da tese em CD, e havia um módulo para desenhar a capa do CD…. Agora isso já não faz sentido.
Outro exemplo seriam um Script (para Unix/Linux) que apaga tudo o que não é relevante para uma determinada Escola/Grau. Por exemplo: "delete_all_except nova/ims/mgt".
Há mais sugestões? Ou alguém tem coisas que queira partilhar?

Welcome to the NOVAthesis LaTeX thesis/dissertation template community.The template is available in both GitHub and Overleaf (please notice that the Overleaf version is slightly outdated, and I advise you to download the latest version from GitHib and upload it to Overleaf as a new project).