marginnote always on right side of the page

Question

My documentclass is book, so I've got an even and odd sides. I like that the equation number are always aligned on the right side - independent of the page (even/odd). I started using marginnotes. I wanted to do the same, that the notes are always on the right side of the page? How do I do that?

Answer 1

Here's one possible solution patching (with the help of the etoolbox package) the LaTeX kernel command \@addmarginpar:

\documentclass[twoside]{book}
\usepackage[centering,marginparwidth=2.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\@addmarginpar}{\ifodd\c@page}{\ifodd\c@page\@tempcnta\m@ne}{}{}
\makeatother
\reversemarginpar

\begin{document}

\chapter{Test Chapter One}
\section{Test Section}
\lipsum[2]\marginpar{test marginnote one}
\lipsum[2-4]\marginpar{test marginnote two}
\lipsum[2-4]\marginpar{test marginnote three}
\lipsum[4-5]]\marginpar{test marginnote three}
\lipsum[6]

\end{document}

With this layout for marginnotes, it's convenient to activate the centering option for the geometry package; further adjustments might be needed so that marginnotes on even pages can be correctly displayed on a printed document.

The above code provides a solution for the standard LaTeX \marginpar command; if \marginnote (from the marginnote package) is used instead of \marginpar to produce the margin notes, then the internal macro \@mn@@@marginnote will have to be redefined:

\documentclass[twoside]{book}
\usepackage[centering,marginparwidth=2.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{marginnote}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\makeatletter
\long\def\@mn@@@marginnote[#1]#2[#3]{%
  \begingroup
    \ifmmode\mn@strut\let\@tempa\mn@vadjust\else
      \if@inlabel\leavevmode\fi
      \ifhmode\mn@strut\let\@tempa\mn@vadjust\else\let\@tempa\mn@vlap\fi
    \fi
    \@tempa{%
      \vbox to\z@{%
        \vss
        \@mn@margintest
        \if@reversemargin\if@tempswa
            \@tempswafalse
          \else
            \@tempswatrue
        \fi\fi
          \rlap{%
            \ifx\@mn@currxpos\relax
              \kern\marginnoterightadjust
              \if@mn@verbose
                \PackageInfo{marginnote}{%
                  xpos not known,\MessageBreak
                  using \string\marginnoterightadjust}%
              \fi
            \else\ifx\@mn@currxpos\@empty
                \kern\marginnoterightadjust
                \if@mn@verbose
                  \PackageInfo{marginnote}{%
                    xpos not known,\MessageBreak
                    using \string\marginnoterightadjust}%
                \fi
              \else
                \if@mn@verbose
                  \PackageInfo{marginnote}{%
                    xpos seems to be \@mn@currxpos,\MessageBreak
                    \string\marginnoterightadjust
                    \space ignored}%
                \fi
                \begingroup
                  \setlength{\@tempdima}{\@mn@currxpos}%
                  \kern-\@tempdima
                  \if@twoside\ifodd\@mn@currpage\relax
                      \kern\oddsidemargin
                    \else
                      \kern\evensidemargin
                    \fi
                  \else
                    \kern\oddsidemargin
                  \fi
                  \kern 1in
                \endgroup
              \fi
            \fi
            \kern\marginnotetextwidth\kern\marginparsep
            \vbox to\z@{\kern\marginnotevadjust\kern #3
              \vbox to\z@{%
                \hsize\marginparwidth
                \linewidth\hsize
                \kern-\parskip
                \marginfont\raggedrightmarginnote\strut\hspace{\z@}%
                \ignorespaces#2\endgraf
                \vss}%
              \vss}%
          }%
      }%
    }%
  \endgroup
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\chapter{Test Chapter One}
\section{Test Section}
\lipsum[2]\marginnote{test marginnote one}
\lipsum[2-4]\marginnote{test marginnote two}
\lipsum[2-4]\marginnote{test marginnote three}
\lipsum[4-5]\marginnote{test marginnote three}
\lipsum[6]

\end{document}

Answer 2

Further to my comment a few days ago, if you are using the version of the marginnote package dated 2018/04/13 (or newer, at the time of writing), then you need to redefine \@mn@@@marginnote in a different but entirely analogous way.

For those who want to understand what's going on, the code below (and in the answer above) is the half of the definition from marginnote that handles marginnotes in the right hand margin (note the commented-out line \if@tempswa below is what used to find whether we're using an odd or even page: I left this line in to help anyone who is curious).

So, the code below, inserted in your preamble, should be compatible with marginnote versions since April 2018.

\makeatletter
\long\def\@mn@@@marginnote[#1]#2[#3]{%
  \begingroup
    \ifmmode\mn@strut\let\@tempa\mn@vadjust\else
      \if@inlabel\leavevmode\fi
      \ifhmode\mn@strut\let\@tempa\mn@vadjust\else\let\@tempa\mn@vlap\fi
    \fi
    \@tempa{%
      \vbox to\z@{%
        \vss
        \@mn@margintest
        \if@reversemargin\if@tempswa
            \@tempswafalse
          \else
            \@tempswatrue
        \fi\fi
        %\if@tempswa
          \rlap{%
            \if@mn@verbose
              \PackageInfo{marginnote}{xpos seems to be \@mn@currxpos}%
            \fi
            \begingroup
              \ifx\@mn@currxpos\relax\else\ifx\@mn@currxpos\@empty\else
                  \kern-\dimexpr\@mn@currxpos\relax
              \fi\fi
              \ifx\@mn@currpage\relax
                \let\@mn@currpage\@ne
              \fi
              \if@twoside\ifodd\@mn@currpage\relax
                  \kern\oddsidemargin
                \else
                  \kern\evensidemargin
                \fi
              \else
                \kern\oddsidemargin
              \fi
              \kern 1in
            \endgroup
            \kern\marginnotetextwidth\kern\marginparsep
            \vbox to\z@{\kern\marginnotevadjust\kern #3
              \vbox to\z@{%
                \hsize\marginparwidth
                \linewidth\hsize
                \kern-\parskip
                \marginfont\raggedrightmarginnote\strut\hspace{\z@}%
                \ignorespaces#2\endgraf
                \vss}%
              \vss}%
          }%
      }%
    }%
  \endgroup
}
\makeatother

Answer 3

I met the same question recently, and I found a simple solution in geometry manual. All I need is to add the option asymmetric.

\documentclass[12pt]{book}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{verbose, a4paper, twoside, showframe, asymmetric}

\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

\begin{document}

\chapter{}

Hello, \LaTeX.
\marginpar{Hello, \TeX.}

\newpage

Hello, \LaTeX.
\marginpar{Hello, \TeX.}
\end{document}