Extension:Math

The Math extension provides support for rendering mathematical formulas on-wiki via texvc and other backends. It was a part of the core MediaWiki software until MediaWiki 1.18, r85706. See also the related bug #14202 on Bugzilla.

Installation
Alternatively, multiple linux distributions provide this extension as packages, see Comparison_of_extensions_in_distributions.

Installation requirements Mathml/LaTeXML

 * Set "$wgMathDisableTexFilter = true;" in your LocalSettings.php or compile texvccheck (it comes already built for linux mediawiki math packages):
 * Note if MW_MATH_MATHML or MW_MATH_LATEXML are selected at a later stage, the mediawiki database update script must be rerun (to prevent a "database query error has occurred" error)

Installation requirements (PNG)

 * If mediawiki does not have write permissions to $wgUploadDirectory, see config items below $wgMathPath $wgMathDirectory $wgMathPath.
 * give your webserver write permissions to these folders (e.g. sudo chown -R www-data:www-data *)
 * Compile texvc (it comes with linux mediawiki math packages):

Configuration settings
There are basically 3 possible configuration options.
 * Local LaTeX image rendering (default in Math 1.0, 1.1, now deprecated)
 * Client-side rendering (uses MathJax)
 * Server-side rendering
 * using LaTeXML-service
 * using Mathoid-service

If multiple modes are enabled, logged in users can set a personal preference in the appearance pane of their user preferences page.

Discussion of pros and cons

 * The choice of the rendering mode heavily depends on the amount of math you wiki uses.
 * Server- side rendering can be done at your server or using a public rendering host
 * latexml.mathweb.org
 * Client-side rendering is slow

Client-side rendering with MathJax
From 1.19/1.20, the Math extension supports rendering via MathJax, a client-side JavaScript library for parsing latex or mathml code and producing in-browser representation using the browser's native support for HTML+CSS, or MathML, or SVG.

This can render math expressions more sharply (using subpixel antialiasing) and larger (scaling up for zoomed view, printing, or high-resolution screens).

Set $wgUseMathJax to enable MathJax rendering mode; it is still somewhat experimental. Users will have a check box on their preferences that will enable MathJax, or set MathJax to the default mode as shown below.


 * Settings (Math 1.1 // MW 1.19 - 1.22)

How to modify the MathJax contextual menu?
 * Settings (Math 1.2 // MW 1.23+)

Server-side rendering with Mathoid (MathML)
Beginning from Math 1.2 // MW 1.23+ you can use a Mathoid server that uses MathJax to convert texvc input on the server side to MathML+SVG rendering. Mathoid is the rendering mode that is going to be used on future Wikipedia. For that the following settings are recommended: Check out Mathoid to find instructions how to run your own Mathoid server. After enabling the MathML rendering mode you have to run the database update script again to create the required table.

Server-side rendering with LaTeXML
A convenient option to render LaTeX is to use the LaTeXML web service. This service converts LaTeX to high quality MathML.


 * Settings (MW 1.22) most or all of the 1.23+ settings also work

A short guide to install LaTeXML on your own server can be found here: Install LaTeXML
 * Settings (Math 1.2 // MW 1.23+)

After enabling the LaTeXML rendering mode you have to run the database update script again to create the required table.

Local LaTeX image rendering (PNG)
To use your local webserver to convert the texvc input to PNG images via a local LaTeX installation and OCAML based translation from texvc to LaTeX you have to install texvc. The prerequisites are the most recent version of OCAML and LaTeX. Most convenient everything can be installed via  from Linux. After that change to the "extensions/Math/math" subdirectory and run make to compile texvc. This method does not require any change to the default configuration. (i.e. you don't need to add anything else to your Localsettings.php beside .)

Plain text
Text mode displays math as the raw LaTeX source. This may be useful for troubleshooting or for text only browsers. Text mode is enabled as an option by default, as MW_MATH_SOURCE in $wgMathValidModes.

List of all configuration settings
The following variables can be defined in LocalSettings.php after calling :

Purging pages that contain equations
Specifying the URL-parameter action=purge does not force the math equation to re-render the math tags. If a complete re-rendering of the math tags is desired the URL-parameter action=purge&mathpurge=true has to be passed. Be aware that this might cause side effects with other pages since the math extension uses the hash of the input TeX-input-string as the caching key. e.g. if you would force the re-rending with mathpurge option for a page containing the equation $E=mc^2$, the new rendering result would be used on all other pages containing $E=mc^2$ after the individual page caches are invalidated.

Error reporting
If something is wrong with the math extension you can report that at bugzilla. In addition you should check how your problem relates to the automated unit tests that are generated from the page mediawikiwiki:Extension:Math/CoverageTest.

MathJax errors
MathJax has more bugs than latex. So please check it it's an MediaWiki Bug or a MathJax problem. If it's a MathJax problem that has been fixed you might consider to port the change to MediaWiki version of MathJax. Therefore a development environment is required. Just cherrypick the change from MathJax and apply it to the modules/MathJax folder in the Math extension. Afterwards you can submit your change for review.

History
MW_MATH_MATHML/MW_MATH_LATEXML was implemented to perform MathML generation instead of texvc because texvc is very poor at creating MathML. See the historic option "MathML if possible (experimental)".