How can I get all paragraphs in a block to have a hanging indent?

Question

I have a manual bibliography (i.e. not bibtex) that I'd like to indent with hanging indent (only second, third, etc, lines). Ideally, I'd like not to have to do this with a command on each line, but for the whole block, like \begin{hangingindent} and \end{hangingindent}. How do you do that?

I've provided an answer to a similar question at Opposite of \parindent — A.Ellett, Dec 07 '13 at 03:12
In the case of a bibliography, I wonder if a list environment wouldn't make more sense? Though that would require issuing \item for each entry, I guess. — cfr, Dec 07 '13 at 03:23
\hangindent=2em does what I want, but only for the next paragraph. But I want it to apply to all paragraphs in a section. — Jonathan, Dec 07 '13 at 03:32
Try: \usepackage{hanging} and \begin{hangparas}{<indent amount>}{<after line number>} ...\end{hangparas}`. — jon, Dec 07 '13 at 04:50

A.Ellett · Answer 1 · 2013-12-07T05:43:14.223

Perhaps a list environment is all you need?

\documentclass{article}

\newenvironment{hangingpar}[1]
  {\begin{list}
          {}
          {\setlength{\itemindent}{-#1}%%'
           \setlength{\leftmargin}{#1}%%'
           \setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}%%'
           \setlength{\parsep}{\parskip}%%'
           \setlength{\topsep}{\parskip}%%'
           }
    \setlength{\parindent}{-#1}%%
    \item[]
  }
  {\end{list}}

\usepackage{lipsum}


\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}

  \begin{hangingpar}{2em}
  \lipsum[1-5]  
  \end{hangingpar}

  \vspace{2ex}

  But, \lipsum[6-7]

\end{document}

enter image description here

Alternatively, you could define an environment as follows:

\newenvironment{hangingparII}[1]
  {\setlength{\leftskip}{#1}%%
   \setlength{\parindent}{#1}%%
  }
  {\par}

This approach is not quite equivalent to the first. \leftskip handles the horizontal placement of displayed math differently from how a list environment handles things as the following MWE illustrates.

\documentclass{article}

\newenvironment{hangingpar}[1]
  {\begin{list}
          {}
          {\setlength{\itemindent}{-#1}%%'
           \setlength{\leftmargin}{#1}%%'
           \setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}%%'
           \setlength{\parsep}{\parskip}%%'
           \setlength{\topsep}{\parskip}%%'
           }
    \setlength{\parindent}{-#1}%%
    \item[]
  }
  {\end{list}}


\newenvironment{hangingparII}[1]
  {\setlength{\leftskip}{#1}%%'
   \setlength{\parindent}{-#1}%%'
  }
  {\par}

\usepackage{lipsum}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}

  \begin{hangingpar}{3em}
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut
  purus elit, vestibu- lum ut, placerat ac, adipiscing vitae,
  felis. Curabitur dictum gravida mauris.  Nam dui ligula,
  fringilla a, euismod sodales, sollicitudin vel, wisi.
  \[
    \sin^2(x) + \cos^2(x) = 1
  \]
  Morbi auctor lorem non justo. Nam lacus libero, pretium at,
  lobortis vitae, ultricies et, tellus. Donec aliquet, tortor sed
  accumsan bibendum, erat ligula aliquet magna, vitae ornare odio
  metus a mi. Morbi ac orci et nisl hendrerit mollis. 

  Suspendisse ut massa. Cras nec ante. Pellentesque a nulla. Cum
  sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes,
  nascetur ridiculus mus. Aliquam tincidunt urna. Nulla
  ullamcorper vestibulum turpis. Pellentesque cursus luctus
  mauris.
  \end{hangingpar}      

  \begin{hangingparII}{3em}
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut
  purus elit, vestibu- lum ut, placerat ac, adipiscing vitae,
  felis. Curabitur dictum gravida mauris.  Nam dui ligula,
  fringilla a, euismod sodales, sollicitudin vel, wisi.
  \[
    \sin^2(x) + \cos^2(x) = 1
  \]
  Morbi auctor lorem non justo. Nam lacus libero, pretium at,
  lobortis vitae, ultricies et, tellus. Donec aliquet, tortor sed
  accumsan bibendum, erat ligula aliquet magna, vitae ornare odio
  metus a mi. Morbi ac orci et nisl hendrerit mollis. 

  Suspendisse ut massa. Cras nec ante. Pellentesque a nulla. Cum
  sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes,
  nascetur ridiculus mus. Aliquam tincidunt urna. Nulla
  ullamcorper vestibulum turpis. Pellentesque cursus luctus
  mauris.

  \end{hangingparII}      

\end{document}

enter image description here

I upvoted you, but how can this be applied to thebibliography environment? — karlkoeller, Dec 07 '13 at 09:56
Is there a way to make hangingpar not indent after a \\\ but not indent otherwise? — Geremia, Mar 07 '24 at 22:37

karlkoeller · Answer 2 · 2013-12-07T10:01:44.963

Redefining thebibliography with the help of \parshape can be a solution.

Add these lines to your preamble and adjust the length of \listindent to your needs.

\newlength\listindent
\setlength\listindent{50pt}
\newlength\labellength

\let\oldthebibliography\thebibliography
\let\oldendthebibliography\endthebibliography
\renewenvironment{thebibliography}[1]
 {%
  \settowidth{\labellength}{#1}\addtolength{\labellength}{1em}%
  \oldthebibliography{#1}%
  \parshape=2%
    \labellength \linewidth%
    \listindent \dimexpr\linewidth-\listindent+\labellength\relax%
  }{%
   \oldendthebibliography%
  }

MWE:

\documentclass{article}

\newlength\listindent
\setlength\listindent{50pt}
\newlength\labellength

\let\oldthebibliography\thebibliography
\let\oldendthebibliography\endthebibliography
\renewenvironment{thebibliography}[1]
 {%
  \settowidth{\labellength}{#1}\addtolength{\labellength}{1em}%
  \oldthebibliography{#1}%
  \parshape=2%
    \labellength \linewidth%
    \listindent \dimexpr\linewidth-\listindent+\labellength\relax%
  }{%
   \oldendthebibliography%
  }


\begin{document}

\begin{thebibliography}{9}
    \bibitem{item1} text text text text text text text text text text text text text
     text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
     text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
    \bibitem{item2} text text text text text text text text text text text text text
     text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
     text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text
\end{thebibliography}

\end{document}

Output:

enter image description here

How can I get all paragraphs in a block to have a hanging indent?

2 Answers2