Why are MathJax images not displaying on my webpage?

[vela]

MathJax supports multiple pairs of delimiters, so it doesn't need to be one size fits all. You could have one set that's easy to type on US keyboards, and another set that's easy to type on non-US keyboards.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What about a double pound sign? Is that ever used in anything?

fyi, if by this weekend we haven't encountered any big problems with the MathJax setup, I will turn the old system off (images are still being generated in case we switch back)

 

[Borek]

Opera still stumbles now and then.

That's not to say you shouldn't switch, you just asked earlier...

 

[Fredrik]

Fredrik, I'm not sure what this Gr key is. We normally use Shift, Ctrl, or Alt to change the character or function of other keys.

Alt Gr is the key to the right of the space bar on my keyboard.

MathJax supports multiple pairs of delimiters, so it doesn't need to be one size fits all. You could have one set that's easy to type on US keyboards, and another set that's easy to type on non-US keyboards.

Good point.

 

[Fredrik]

I've been looking at the keyboard layout page at Wikipedia. It seems to me that almost everyone would find it easy to type the delimiters if we choose

££math££, $math$, §§math§§ and ··math·· for inline (i.e. itex)
$$math$$ and ¢¢math¢¢ for displaystyle (i.e. tex)

I would say that the §,· and ¢ characters aren't really necessary. They are just a minor improvement for Germans, Spaniards, and French Canadians respectively.

 

[tiny-tim]

££math££, $math$, §§math§§ and ··math·· for inline (i.e. itex)
$$math$$ and ¢¢math¢¢ for displaystyle (i.e. tex)

almost every keyboard has $, and either £ € or ¢ next to it,

so how about $$…$$ for tex, and alternatives of ¢¢…¢¢ or ££…££ or €€…€€ for itex ?

though I'd prefer it the other way round, with the default ($$) choice being for itex, and people having to think a bit harder to choose tex … many posts are getting very tall and broken up by repeatedly starting a new line for just one symbol ​

 

[Fredrik]

almost every keyboard has $, and either £ € or ¢ next to it,

so how about $$…$$ for tex, and alternatives of ¢¢…¢¢ or ££…££ or €€…€€ for itex ?

That's certainly acceptable to me. The reasoning behind my suggestion in #250 is that it allows almost everyone to use either Shift+3 for itex and Shift+4 for tex, or Alt Gr+3 for itex and Alt Gr+4 for tex. the Swiss and a few others would have to do it in a different way, but it looks like it would be just as easy for them.

I'd prefer it the other way round, with the default ($$) choice being for itex

The main reason why that idea bothers me a little is that $$math$$ has the same effect as \begin{equation*}math\end{equation*} in a LaTeX document, i.e. it has the same effect as tex tags here.

Uhh...I don't know why MathJax turns that into an image. Click quote to see what I typed.

 

[Redbelly98]

almost every keyboard has $, and either £ € or ¢ next to it...

In U.S., we don't have £ € or ¢. Used to have ¢ on typewriters long ago, but it is not present on computer keyboards here.

What about a double pound sign? Is that ever used in anything?

Sounds like that would work. The # character appears to be common to all keyboards using latin alphabets (N. & S. America and Europe) I have just found there's a wiki page showing standard keyboard layouts for different countries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#United_Kingdom"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#United_States"
etc.

 

[Fredrik]

You guys call # a pound sign? Then what do you call £?

 

[tiny-tim]

The main reason why that idea bothers me a little is that $$math$$ has the same effect as \begin{equation*}math\end{equation*} in a LaTeX document, i.e. it has the same effect as tex tags here.

but would it really matter if newcomers thought they were typing tex but got itex instead ?

In U.S., we don't have £ € or ¢. Used to have ¢ on typewriters long ago, but it is not present on computer keyboards here.

oops! i assumed ¢ was essential in the US!

ok, in that case ¢ is pointless, so instead …

how about $$…$$ for tex, and alternatives of $…$ or ££…££ or €€…€€ for itex ?

(or t'other way round)

 

[Fredrik]

but would it really matter if newcomers thought they were typing tex but got itex instead ?

It wouldn't matter much to anyone. It shouldn't matter at all to newcomers. I would find it a little bit annoying to use $$...$$ in a way that's different from what that code means in actual LaTeX, but I could get used to it.

ok, in that case ¢ is pointless, so instead …

The (admittedly very small) point is to let French Canadians use Alt Gr+3 and Alt Gr+4 instead of Alt Gr+3 and Shift+4. So I don't think they will be too disappointed if we drop that symbol. Similar things can be said about that dot symbol and Spaniards, and the paragraph symbol and Germans.

how about $$…$$ for tex, and alternatives of $…$ or ££…££ or €€…€€ for itex ?

(or t'other way round)

I don't see a use for the Euro symbol. Almost everyone has # and/or £ on the 3 key, and $ on the 4 key. Most (all?) of the ones who don't can still type # and £ as easily as €.

 

[Borek]

Question is - if something else that tex tags is used, what if one day Greg will decide/need to change MathJax to something else? It can potentially make future migration much more difficult (now adding MathJax doesn't require any changes to existing posts).

I guess what I actually mean is "if it ain't broken, don't fix it".

 

[tiny-tim]

I guess what I actually mean is "if it ain't broken, don't fix it".

Hi Borek!

If you use the "bad" Enlish "ain't", then you should also use the "bad" English "broke" (not "broken")!

(although wikipedia claims that this expression dates from 1977, a google book search show plenty of prior usage, including The American school board journal, Volume 166, 1891, at http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=H_YqAAAAMAAJ&q=%22If+it+ain't+broke,+don't+fix+it%22…&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg)

 

[Borek]

I see. I am afraid this is one of these things that may not stick

 

[Fredrik]

Question is - if something else that tex tags is used, what if one day Greg will decide/need to change MathJax to something else? It can potentially make future migration much more difficult (now adding MathJax doesn't require any changes to existing posts).

It would almost certainly be possible to specify what to use as delimiters in that software too, and I don't think we would be completely screwed even if it isn't. We could e.g. run a script that replaces the delimiters that will cause problems with the new software. This would be a bit of a pain, but this pain should be multiplied with the probability that we (actually Greg) will experience it.

 

[vela]

Uhh...I don't know why MathJax turns that into an image. Click quote to see what I typed.

Looks like MathJax processes stuff between \begin and \end even though it's not between delimiters. It worked with equation and array at least.

 

[yenchin]

I have the same problem with Chrome with Vista [on two computers]. Everything just hanged for a minute or so and I couldn't do anything.

This still irritates me

 

[Sybren]

Am I the only person for who the math looks rough around the edges?
I just found, after some searching, a method of producing antialiased typography: it can be done through generated Flash images (these are temporary, and only generate on top of the current equations if Flash is available). This is in my opinion an elegant solution for creating PDF-quality Latex.

Pleae see the link I found: http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/sifr

 

[Fredrik]

Oh no, that site has a picture from when I met Stan Lee:

[PLAIN]http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljfhd0uyTH1qbocrho1_500.jpg

 

[Sybren]

Here is a working example of a serious implementation of Latex in Flash
http://www.fmath.info/latexImplemented.jsp

I would like to know your opinion about possibly implementing such a rendering method on physicsforums, since flash can produce scalable vector graphics, producing fast and high-quality renderings of Latex.

 

[Sybren]

Here are other examples of Latex rendered in flash:
http://www.flashandmath.com/basic/latex/index.html
http://www.tlhiv.org/LaTeX2swf/
http://validi.fi/latex2flash/

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Am I the only person for who the math looks rough around the edges?

It looks just as smooth as normal text to me. This is on Chrome 13, Windows Vista.

 

[Borek]

Am I the only person for who the math looks rough around the edges?

I am afraid so.

 

[Sybren]

I am afraid so.

Problem solved!
I had to turn on my Windows Cleartype.. Maybe helpful information for other people around here, because the rendering is now done by the browser, so quality can variate.

Attached is a comparison with cleartype on/off, it really makes a difference:

 

[Hurkyl]

I see. I am afraid this is one of these things that may not stick

Remember the rule by remembering the horrible pun:

If it ain't baroque, don't fix it!​

 

[micromass]

Oh no, that site has a picture from when I met Stan Lee:

[PLAIN]http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljfhd0uyTH1qbocrho1_500.jpg[/QUOTE]



Can't... stop... laughing... help!

 

[Redbelly98]

Problem solved!
I had to turn on my Windows Cleartype.. Maybe helpful information for other people around here, because the rendering is now done by the browser, so quality can variate.

Attached is a comparison with cleartype on/off, it really makes a difference:

Looks like the problem was there with normal text as well, but the thinner strokes in the math characters made it more pronounced.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

FYI to IE users! Just received this response from a developer:

There are a number of security settings that affect the operation of
MathJax. I did some testing in IE7 (for a different report of the
same issue), and found that there are at least four important settings
that can cause MathJax to not process the page. They are accessible
in the Internet Options menu item (in the Tools Menu) under the
Security tab. If the security setting is set to "High" it sets
disables all four. You can use the Custom Level button to change the
following:

First, you need to make sure "Active Scripting" under the Scripting
section is enabled (near the bottom of the list). This allows
Javascript to run (or not). If Javascript is disabled, MathJax will
not be loaded or run, so this one is critical. Since you are seeing a
javascript error message, I assume this one is enabled for your
limited account.

Second, you need to make sure "Run ActiveX controls and Plugins" is
enabled (or prompted) in the "ActiveX Controls and Plugins" section
(second to last option). This is the setting that is causing the
error that you are reporting. The line you indicate is one where
MathJax is trying to set up MathPlayer (which is an ActiveX control),
and if this setting is disabled, IE throws an error.

Third, you need to make sure "Script ActiveX controls marked safe for
scripting" is enabled (or prompted) again in the "ActiveX Controls and
Plugins" section (last option). It requires a restart of IE if you
change this setting. This is needed in order to allow MathJax to
create an XML parser, which is used in the MathML input jax.

Fourth, you need to make sure "Font Download" is enabled (or prompted)
in the "Downloads" section. This is required for MathJax to use the
web-based fonts. Without this, IE will time out waiting for the first
font, and then fail over to image fonts, so it is not strictly
required, but makes for a better experience.

Currently, whenever the NativeMML output jax is configured, it tries
to register MathPlayer in IE, and whenever the MathML input jax main
code is loaded, it instantiates the XML parser. Since you are using
the TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML configuration, you get the NativeMML output
jax as part of that regardless of the renderer for the page. That is
why you are seeing this error. You can avoid the error for now by
switching to the TeX-AMS_HTML configuration file instead, but this
means you users would have to switch to the MathML renderer manually
in order to use their native MathML support (if any).
I will look into changing the timing of the setup for MathPlayer so
that it will be attempted only when the renderer is explicitly set to
MathML, which should avoid the problem in most cases. It is probably
possible to trap the errors for the second and third settings as
well. But as long as those settings are in place, MathJax will not be
able to use MathPlayer to render mathematics, and it will not be able
to parse MathML input, so some MathJax functionality will be
unavailable.

 

[Fredrik]

Can't... stop... laughing... help!

That's good to hear I almost thought I was the only one laughing when no one showed any appreciation for more than 4 hours.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

FYI the devs have told me that the "Loading ..." messages problem will be fixed in the next release

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

for those having odd/serious mathjax problems run this script and then click the email results button
https://www.physicsforums.com/mathjax/mjp.html

 

[Studiot]

I have sent two emails two whomsoever, immediately before and after pressing the run button on the linked page.

I could see the quadratic formula on the mathjax page, no problem.

Since there has been no improvement to my viewing of formulae I wondered if there had been any progress on my discovery that the problem only arises if the user has limited privileges (as mine and nearly all corporate ones do)?

go well

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I wondered if there had been any progress on my discovery that the problem only arises if the user has limited privileges (as mine and nearly all corporate ones do)?

go well

The devs are aware of this problem and say an update will be released in the next week that should resolve it.

 

[Studiot]

The devs are aware of this problem and say an update will be released in the next week that should resolve it.

Looking forward to it.

All the 4 items in your post #273 have been enabled for a while, to no avail.

 

[Studiot]

Sorry to be a pest but all I ended up with on emailing (clicking the button on the webpage) the mathjax test was two emails in my outlook express box, without recipient.

Now my OE does not work.

I can still transfer these to webmail, but do not know the recipient, please?