Discussion Overview
The discussion revolves around the functionality of LaTeX in forum posts, particularly focusing on issues with the preview feature not rendering LaTeX correctly in certain situations. Participants explore the implications of this behavior across different types of threads, including math-related discussions.
Discussion Character
- Technical explanation
- Debate/contested
Main Points Raised
- One participant notes that the preview function shows the source code instead of rendered LaTeX unless there is an earlier post with LaTeX in the thread.
- Another participant explains that this issue is due to the lazy-loading of MathJax, which can be circumvented by following specific steps to ensure LaTeX is rendered in the preview.
- A proposed workaround involves writing random LaTeX code to trigger the loading of the MathJax parser before posting or previewing.
- Concerns are raised about the potential for LaTeX to become gibberish if the page is refreshed or if drafts are saved improperly, particularly when using complex expressions.
- Suggestions are made for a possible solution that would allow users to manually load LaTeX when it is not automatically rendered, including the idea of a button to trigger this loading.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants generally agree on the existence of the issue with LaTeX rendering in previews, but there are differing opinions on the best workaround and potential solutions. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implementation of a more user-friendly loading mechanism for LaTeX.
Contextual Notes
Limitations include the dependence on the presence of LaTeX in earlier posts for proper rendering and the potential for errors when drafts are saved or pages are refreshed.