Math troubleshooting

Starting 3 June 2011 Wikidot uses MathJax as the math processing engine for LaTeX-style equations. The wiki syntax for math remains unchanged, however the math equations are no longer processed on the server and served as .png images, but rather parsed in the browser itself.

MathJax provides great compatibility with LaTeX, but is more strict. What seems to be a warning for LaTeX, is often an error in MathJax.

Here are tips if your equations do not work as expected

Syntax errors

  • Equations that fail parsing completely [Math Processing Error] most likely contain syntax errors.
  • Make sure you close parenthesis correctly, e.g. this code will not work without the closing \right.:
\begin{eqnarray}
f(x) = \left\{
\begin{array}{ll} x & x \geq 0 \\
0 & x < 0 \end{array}
\right.
\end{eqnarray}
(1)
\begin{eqnarray} f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} x & x \geq 0 \\ 0 & x < 0 \end{array} \right. \end{eqnarray}
  • Double super- or subscript do not work. An expression like C_5 H_1_0 will fail. Use C_5 H_{10} instead. It's clearer anyway.
  • Do not use newlines (\\) within equation environment where they have no meaning.
    They do work fine within eqnarray though: use [[math type="eqnarray"]].

Unsupported symbols

  • \bm (bold math) is not supported, use \boldsymbol instead.
  • \framebox is not supported, use \boxed and \mbox instead.
    [[$ \framebox{some text} $]] would be the same as [[$ \boxed{\mbox{some text}} $]]: $\boxed{\mbox{some text}}$
  • \color does not work like a switch.
    To color an expression, use \color{green}{qwerty} instead of {\color{green} qwerty}.
  • \hline is not supported everywhere. Do not use it where not applicable.
    Wikidot can produce horizontal lines without math, just use ----.
  • Expressions in red (as in $\sin x \cdot \cosx$) mean that they are unknown or unsupported by MathJax.
    Previously such expressions just produced silent warnings and were skipped from output. With MathJax they are clearly marked, so you can see what causes the problem and fix it. Here the mistake is a missing space between \cos and x.
  • Sometimes an extra pair of braces is required, e.g. \sqrt\frac{y}{x} will not work, while \sqrt{\frac{y}{x}} will.

Still have problems?

First, check out the Wiki syntax documentation: Math.

If you still have problems, we will gladly help you with transition to MathJax. Please add a comment to this page if you need assistance with your equations.

Add a New Comment
page revision: 6, last edited: 08 Jun 2011 13:08
EditTagsDiscuss (8) History Files Print Site tools+ Options
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License