\parindent not influencing the first paragraph

Question

I have a nasty issue with my thesis. I want to accommodate space before paragraph with \setlength{\parindent}{<insert number and unit>}. When I do this without a title, I get through just fine, but when I include the title, things start go wrong. Here is the MWE:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}

\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[UTF8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[slovene]{babel}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage{parskip}
\usepackage{tabu}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{url}
\usepackage{float}

\usepackage{blindtext}

\setlength{\parindent}{1cm}

\makeatletter
\setlength{\@fptop}{0pt}
\setlength{\@fpbot}{0pt plus 1fil}
\makeatother

\pagestyle{fancy}
\lhead{blah}
\rhead{\leftmark}
\cfoot{\thepage}

\begin{document}
    \begin{titlepage}
        \clearpage
        \thispagestyle{empty}
        \title{Blah blah}
        \author{blah}
        \date{12. april 2017}
        \maketitle
        \tableofcontents
        \thispagestyle{empty}
    \end{titlepage}

    \section{blah 2}
    I have a paragraph. Now, why won't this paragraph move. I don't know, I hope you do. Now let's see.

    Oh dear, still the same problem. I want the first paragraph to have the same space too! What can I do?
\end{document}

Now, for many people, this may seem just right, but not for me. I want a space before the first pargraph as well. I'm guessing that the \parindent function itself is built so that it doesn't have an effect on the first paragraph (my guess is pretty solid as I read multiple PhD theses in such format). But my aesthetic sense disagrees. Can anyone accommodate the \parindent definition so it will suit my needs (I don't know how to do it myself). Please help me, I want my thesis to look as good as possible.

Thank you. Problem solved. Any tips on writing my PhD (you already made one, so I consider you very experienced)? — God bless, Apr 15 '17 at 17:30
potential duplicate: How can I indent the paragraphs which follow a heading? — barbara beeton, Apr 15 '17 at 17:36
@GregorPerčič My PhD was written “a few” years ago and I couldn't even use TeX. :-O — egreg, Apr 15 '17 at 17:43
Oh, that must have been sad. You basically know every bit of TeX and LaTeX. Why couldn't you write your PhD with it? — God bless, Apr 15 '17 at 17:51
The Western typographic tradition is NOT to indent the first paragraph after a title. Your aesthetic might need revising. — Peter Wilson, Apr 15 '17 at 17:55
I know it's not traditional, but it fits better with my aesthetic senses. My university allows both. Of course, no indent is more popular among my colleagues as Times New Roman is favoured above Computer Modern. But as long as it fits me better and is allowed I won't restrain from using the preferred choice. — God bless, Apr 15 '17 at 20:26

\parindent not influencing the first paragraph

0 Answers0