Getting started with deckroadmap

Overview

deckroadmap adds section-aware roadmap footers to Reveal.js presentations created with Quarto or R Markdown.

The goal is simple: help audiences understand where they are in the flow of a presentation. Instead of only knowing how many slides are left, they can see what has been covered, what section is active, and what comes next.

This vignette shows:

Basic idea

The workflow has two parts:

  1. Define the sections of your presentation with use_roadmap()
  2. Tag slides with matching data-roadmap values

A minimal example looks like this:

library(deckroadmap)

use_roadmap(
  sections = c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps")
)

The function returns an HTML tag with the configuration and dependencies needed for the roadmap footer.

Using deckroadmap in Quarto

In a Quarto Reveal.js document, call use_roadmap() in an R chunk near the top of the file.

By default, you only need to tag the first slide of each section. Later slides inherit the most recent data-roadmap value unless you explicitly change it.

A minimal example:

---
title: "deckroadmap Quarto demo"
format:
  revealjs:
    theme: default
---


``` r
library(deckroadmap)
use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  style = "progress",
  active_bg_color = "#87CEEB"
)
```

## Welcome {data-roadmap="Intro"}

This is the opening slide.

## Why this matters 

Some framing content.

## The problem {data-roadmap="Problem"}

Describe the challenge here.

## What changed 

More problem context.

## Analysis overview {data-roadmap="Analysis"}

Start the analysis section.

## Key findings 

Show results here.

## Recommendation {data-roadmap="Recommendation"}

Explain the recommendation.

## Tradeoffs {data-roadmap="Recommendation"}

Discuss caveats and decisions.

## Next steps {data-roadmap="Next Steps"}

End with the action plan.

## Q&A 

Questions.

Using deckroadmap in R Markdown

The same idea works for R Markdown Reveal.js slides.

By default, you only need to tag the first slide of each section. Later slides inherit the most recent data-roadmap value unless you explicitly change it.

---
title: "deckroadmap R Markdown demo"
output:
  revealjs::revealjs_presentation
---



## Welcome {data-roadmap="Intro"}

This is the opening slide.

## Why this matters 

Some framing content.

## The problem {data-roadmap="Problem"}

Describe the challenge here.

## What changed 

More problem context.

## Analysis overview {data-roadmap="Analysis"}

Start the analysis section.

## Key findings

Show results here.

## Recommendation {data-roadmap="Recommendation"}

Explain the recommendation.

## Tradeoffs 

Discuss caveats and decisions.

## Next steps {data-roadmap="Next Steps"}

End with the action plan.

## Q&A 

Questions.

Tagging slides

The roadmap depends on slide-level section tags such as:

## Analysis overview {data-roadmap="Analysis"}

The values used in data-roadmap should match the section names passed to use_roadmap().

For example, if the roadmap is defined as:

use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Analysis", "Recommendation")
)

then valid slide tags include:

## Welcome {data-roadmap="Intro"}
## Analysis overview {data-roadmap="Analysis"}
## Recommendation {data-roadmap="Recommendation"}

Inheriting section tags

By default, untagged slides inherit the most recent data-roadmap value. This makes it easier to tag only the first slide of each section.

For example:

## Intro {data-roadmap="Intro"}
## More intro content
## Problem {data-roadmap="Problem"}
## More problem detail

In this example, the second slide inherits Intro, and the fourth slide inherits Problem.

Roadmap-free slides

To hide the roadmap on a specific slide, use:

## Break slide {data-roadmap="none"}

This is useful for title slides, divider slides, or transitions where you do not want the roadmap to appear.

Built-in styles

deckroadmap currently includes three built-in styles.

Pill

The pill style is the default polished floating footer.

use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  style = "pill"
)

Minimal

The minimal style has less visual weight and works well when you want simpler signposting.

use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  style = "minimal"
)

Progress

The progress style emphasizes completed, current, and upcoming sections more strongly.

use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  style = "progress"
)

Customization

You can customize font size, position, text colors, and, for the progress style, background colors.

Example: text styling

use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  style = "pill",
  font_size = "14px",
  bottom = "12px",
  active_color = "#2563eb",
  done_color = "#374151",
  todo_color = "#9ca3af"
)

Example: progress colors

use_roadmap(
  c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  style = "progress",
  active_color = "#ffffff",
  done_color = "#ffffff",
  todo_color = "#334155",
  active_bg_color = "#2563eb",
  done_bg_color = "#475569",
  todo_bg_color = "#e2e8f0"
)

Previewing styles

Before rendering a full slide deck, you can preview a roadmap style with preview_roadmap().

preview_roadmap(
  sections = c("Intro", "Problem", "Analysis", "Recommendation", "Next Steps"),
  current = "Analysis",
  style = "progress"
)

This is helpful when experimenting with styles, colors, and section names.

Summary

deckroadmap provides a simple way to add section-aware roadmap footers to Reveal.js slides in Quarto and R Markdown. Define your sections once, tag slides with data-roadmap, choose a style, and optionally preview the result before rendering a full deck.

By default, untagged slides inherit the most recent section, and data-roadmap="none" can be used to hide the roadmap on a specific slide. This small amount of structure can make it easier for audiences to follow the flow of a presentation.