RStudio Cheat Sheets

The cheat sheets make it easy to learn about and use some of our favorite packages. They are published in their respective PDF versions here: https://www.rstudio.com/resources/cheatsheets/, some are also available in the RStudio IDE under Help-Cheatsheets.

This repository contains the source Apple Keynote files or the current, archived and translated versions.

The cheat sheets use the creative commons copyright. Please see the LICENSE document for more details.

Translations

If you wish to contribute to this effort by translating a cheat sheet, please feel free to use the source Keynote file. To submit a translation, please use a Pull Request via GitHub or email it to us at info@rstudio.com with the subject "Translated Cheatsheet".

Tips for making a new cheat sheet

Keep these tips in mind when creating a new cheat sheet:

1. RStudio cheat sheets are hosted at https://github.com/rstudio/cheatsheets. You can submit new cheat sheets to the repository with a pull request.

2. The files keynotes/0-template.key and powerpoints/0-template.ppt are official templates that contain some helpful tips.

   Tip. You may find it easier to create a new cheat sheet by duplicating the most recent Keynote / Powerpoint cheat sheet.

3. The cheat sheets are not meant to be text documents. Ideally, they are scannable visual aids that use layout and visual mnemonics to help people zoom into the functions they need. As an analogy, think of a cheat sheet as more like a well organized computer menu bar that leads you to a command than a manual that documents each command.

4. The cheat sheets use a cohesive, black and white printer friendly theme (which is what you see in the sheets), so please stay close to the appearance of the existing sheets.

5. It's already baked into every cheat sheet and the template, but you should include a Creative Commons Copyright on each side of the sheet to make them easy to repurpose.

6. Budget more time than you expect to make the sheets. So far, I've found this process to be the least time consuming:

   • Use the package web page and any vignettes to identify which functions to include (I try to include anything that doesn't seem trivial.)

   • Organize the functions into meaningful, self-explanatory groups.

   • Think about how to visualize the purpose of each function.

   • Think about what key mental models, definitions, or explanations the cheat sheet should contain in addition to the functions.

   • Sketch out several possible layouts for the sheet. Take care to put the more basic and/or pre-requisite content above and to the left of other content. Try to keep related content on the same side of the page.

   • Type out all of the explanations and function definitions. Lay them out. Verify that everything fits. White space is very important. Use it to make the sheet scannable, even if it means smaller text.

   • Making the visuals is the most time consuming part, so I usually save them for last.

   • Tweak until happy.

7. Pay attention to the details!

Final tip: Edit the text to be very concise - rely on diagrams where possible.