LaTeX LaTeX Help for Newbies - Solve Equation Rendering Issue

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rhapsody83
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New users often struggle with rendering LaTeX equations in preview mode on forums, as seen in a recent discussion. The issue arises from the forum's "lazy rendering" feature, which requires a refresh to display equations correctly. Users have suggested that a notification or banner indicating whether the MathJax resource is loaded would help prevent confusion. This problem has been noted in multiple threads over the years, indicating it is a recurring issue for both new and regular users. Improving guidance on LaTeX usage could enhance the overall user experience.
Rhapsody83
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I'm new here and have never used LaTeX before, so excuse my ignorance. I looked up how to include equations in a post and found this link. I cannot get equations to render when clicking preview. I tried copying and pasting this: $$x = \frac {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 -4ac}} {2a},$$ but it stays as raw code when I click preview. Can somebody please tell me what I'm doing wrong?
 
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As you can see it rendered correctly when I posted. Not sure why it did not when I clicked preview as the link I gave said it would?
 
PF uses "lazy rendering" to speed up the initial post. You need to refresh once to get it to render. Welcome to PF! :smile:
 
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Thanks for replying. Now time to go and do some research on how to use LaTeX and to make my first actual post.
 
berkeman said:
PF uses "lazy rendering" to speed up the initial post. You need to refresh once to get it to render.
This needs to be mentioned somewhere in the help section. Or a banner can be shown when creating threads stating whether the MathJax resource has been loaded. Any new user (or the unaware) will be fooled otherwise.

The following are threads that have been posted on this issue in this year:
Not many, but I believe new users can face some trouble. Regular users, who seldom post new threads compared to replying to threads, may also forget and be bewildered. Not complaining or ranting, but I believe a banner stating whether the MathJax resource has been loaded will be helpful when creating new threads.

Edit: Further updated to add more threads to the list.
 
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