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Math for the Masses

Odd as it may sound, I miss all the equations from my days in grad school, so I decided that what WordPress.com needed most was a hot, niche feature that maybe 17 people would use regularly:

\LaTeX

For those that don’t know, \LaTeX is a typesetting system particularly well suited for documents of a mathematical persuasion. It’s used almost exclusively by many technical, scientific and mathematical disciplines both in academia and industry. It also looks really good; I, among many, consider Donald E. Knuth a personal hero.

For those that do know, it’s now ridiculously easy to include inline \LaTeX formulas in your blog posts.

The syntax is reminiscent of \LaTeX‘s inline math mode: $latex your-latex-code-here$, and it allows you to produce most any equation. For example, the following code

$latex i\hbar\frac{\partial}{\partial t}\left|\Psi(t)\right>=H\left|\Psi(t)\right>$

yields

i\hbar\frac{\partial}{\partial t}\left|\Psi(t)\right>=H\left|\Psi(t)\right>.

Pretty sweet, huh?

To further whet your appetite, these few standards show a bit more about what’s now possible on WordPress.com.

\displaystyle\bar{M}=\frac{kT}{\Xi}\sum_N\left(\frac{\partial Q_N}{\partial D}\right)_{V,T}\lambda^N

G_{ab}^{(1)} = -\frac{1}{2}\partial^c\partial_c \bar{\gamma}_{ab} + \partial^c\partial_{(b}\bar{\gamma}_{a)c} -\frac{1}{2}\eta_{ab}\partial^c\partial^d\bar{\gamma}_{cd} = 8\pi T_{ab}

\displaystyle P_\nu^{-\mu}(z)=\frac{\left(z^2-1\right)^{\frac{\mu}{2}}}{2^\mu \sqrt{\pi}\Gamma\left(\mu+\frac{1}{2}\right)}\int_{-1}^1\frac{\left(1-t^2\right)^{\mu -\frac{1}{2}}}{\left(z+t\sqrt{z^2-1}\right)^{\mu-\nu}}dt

\square

UPDATE: There’s a new LaTeX on WordPress.com FAQ entry that describes the “hidden” size and color options.

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by Mike Adams (mdawaffe)

Posted: Saturday, February 17th, 2007 at 3:22 am. Filed in Uncategorized.
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272 Comments

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Newer Comments »
  1. humbug
    Feb 17th at 3:26 am

    Neat :)

    That will get the geeks around busy for a while!

  2. cleav_
    Feb 17th at 3:26 am

    OH MY GOODNESS.

    THANK YOU VERY MUCH WP!!!

  3. Pingback: blogwaffe » What I did today
  4. tamino
    Feb 17th at 3:31 am

    Outstanding! Until I saw this note, I thought the only way I could get equations in posts was to do ‘em in LaTeX, make a pdf, create an image file, and insert the image file. Now I can do it in native LaTeX.

    Thanks.

  5. ..::porjai::..
    Feb 17th at 3:34 am

    as a grad school of economic student, its a pretty good typesetting.

    good job.
    thanks load!

  6. charleslemark
    Feb 17th at 3:34 am

    nice addition…
    but i think i will not use it for a long time (maybe forever) hehehe…

  7. curtisschweitzer
    Feb 17th at 3:39 am

    This. is. so. hot.

    I would encourage folks to try out TeX or LaTeX for document composition as well- it produced unmatched typographical coolness.

  8. unintendedpurpose
    Feb 17th at 3:40 am

    You wanna scare me???

    That´s serious?

    OUT OUT!! http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/desktop_diversions/images/dilbert_demons_800x600.jpg

    Anyway, you´re all doing quite nice -sometimes kinda ‘geeky’- stuff… but keep on , doing so!

    Greeting from Germany MIC
    unintended purposes, ya know ?! ;-)

  9. Carson Sasser
    Feb 17th at 3:40 am

    Great! Before retiring I was a mathematician for the Air Force. We used LaTex in producing technical reports. Not that I write that many equations any more though.

  10. Ponder Stibbons
    Feb 17th at 3:48 am

    Thank you so much.

  11. Anita Marie
    Feb 17th at 3:54 am

    Math? Math?!NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Wasn’t it Beavis and Butthead that said…”man I hate numbers there are too many of them”
    Make them go away!

  12. opinionated indian
    Feb 17th at 4:00 am

    u guys are amazing. One cool feature after another…only if you’d allow javascript or some other way to earn money only in the sidebar that’d just be all I ever needed.

  13. katm
    Feb 17th at 4:09 am

    Wow.

    That’s really cool. Not something I’d ever use in my blog, but still cool.

    (OMG, am I that much of a geek????)

  14. fracas
    Feb 17th at 4:25 am

    I’ll just get right on that you guys, now I can show that troll (who implied I was stupid and a pig) how smart I am by making use of this at fracas.

    LOL.

    Seriously… I’m sure it’ll be more than 17 people who’ll use this. There’s got to be at least 29.
    ;-)

    Keep up the good work.

  15. nobody
    Feb 17th at 4:26 am

    oh whata surprise !!!!!

    thx

  16. EclecticGeek
    Feb 17th at 4:34 am

    That is pretty sweet. Now, I just have figure out a way to get this into my blog. I’m thinking stats perhaps… ;)

  17. Pingback: LaTeX no Wordpress.com « Sfair
  18. ocanto
    Feb 17th at 4:54 am

    Well done, guys!
    Always improving :)

  19. Ryan
    Feb 17th at 5:41 am

    I wish I could say I knew what that equation meant. It seems really sweet for people who could use that, though.

  20. talkislam
    Feb 17th at 5:43 am

    you dudes are awesome, not that i’d have any use for it, but its a very diverse feature, keep em coming!

  21. Jon
    Feb 17th at 5:46 am

    Awesome! Thanks!

  22. Hardliner
    Feb 17th at 5:58 am

    LOL………..

  23. rjlight
    Feb 17th at 5:59 am

    Yes, now I can post all those math jokes I’ve been yearning to post! My new niche–the humor math blog!

  24. blayde
    Feb 17th at 6:01 am

    Wow, if i ever want to show someone how far i’d throw my , i’d use this for calculation

  25. Röttgar
    Feb 17th at 6:07 am

    That’s amazing! Finally I can write about important stuff! ;)

    But what would really be nice: Latex in comments, too. So we can have geeky math talk.

  26. jesch
    Feb 17th at 6:10 am

    yeah. that would be really useful sharing homework with your buddies. lol

    yes, mr.knuth im gonna add you up in my “hero” list as well… no. your consent’s not required. :D

  27. Geminie
    Feb 17th at 6:11 am

    This feature is definitely COOL.

  28. Gray
    Feb 17th at 6:23 am

    can’t wait to try this out!

  29. robertaccettura
    Feb 17th at 6:26 am

    What are the chances of seeing this in WordPress 2.2? Or is this a .com only thing?

  30. Zeon
    Feb 17th at 6:37 am

    Haha, this would be really useful if I posted my homework on my blog :p

  31. mdawaffe
    Feb 17th at 6:41 am

    robertaccettura,

    There is a plugin for the self-hosted version of WordPress that does LaTeX. It’s implementation is different than what we do here on WodPress.com, but the end results are about the same.

  32. Pingback: Psychohistory Wordpress: Easy as PI «
  33. Ice9
    Feb 17th at 7:42 am

    This is a math major’s dream. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!!

  34. Ed Darrell
    Feb 17th at 8:00 am

    Looks like more than 17 people are interested already.

    I hope some of these people come back to alert us to where they’ve used the feature.

  35. Klisiu
    Feb 17th at 8:06 am

    Cool ;)

  36. yournotes
    Feb 17th at 8:27 am

    Great! I’ll never use this since the operands I use are primarily +/-*….

    So when do we get email blogging?

  37. isaid
    Feb 17th at 9:01 am

    This is indeed good news, for uhmm, although i thin kit’s easier to learn differential calculs than LaTeX

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  39. mannar
    Feb 17th at 9:22 am

    Interesting…..i dunno if i will ever use it….but really interesting….

  40. girlfriday
    Feb 17th at 9:25 am

    Excellent. Not that I expect I’ll be using this feature regularly. But I like that I could ;)

  41. Gunnar
    Feb 17th at 9:36 am

    Best. Feature. Ever.

  42. Sha
    Feb 17th at 9:47 am

    Woohoo can now explain the pain in the ass maths questions from my homework on the net!

  43. stelt
    Feb 17th at 10:12 am

    Very nice.
    To make it even better: use img as a backup for browser-based MathML rendering
    And maybe also allow for MathML input

  44. Pingback: LaTeX in WordPress.com at Ejecutive
  45. C4RL05
    Feb 17th at 10:56 am

    Very nice! You guys rock!!!

  46. Nikolakis
    Feb 17th at 11:02 am

    That’s SO amazing! I think of uploading my thesis in chapters now :P

  47. Pingback: formules (LATEX) nu op Wordpress blogs zoals deze « Open source en standaarden op de UT
  48. Sacha
    Feb 17th at 11:49 am

    Super. This will keep me busy for a long while, but then less busy in the long run.

  49. Pingback: LaTeX « MadQuark Blog
  50. Nicola
    Feb 17th at 12:12 pm

    Eeeeeek – maths formula – hides …………

    Looks neat though!

  51. Island in the Net
    Feb 17th at 12:14 pm

    Sweet!

  52. kobak
    Feb 17th at 12:18 pm

    Amazing. Thanks for the plugin link too.

  53. Christoph Wagner
    Feb 17th at 1:00 pm

    yeah, thats cool:)
    Thx people!
    Now I can blog about my university math problems and hope someone helps me;)

  54. northcountrygirl
    Feb 17th at 1:03 pm

    nice. well, kind of. as a former english major, my first inclination is to say BAH!! and GO AWAY!! but as a former MBA student who did “ok” in finance and economics, i can say, “well, that’s something i can’t figure out (but sure do wish i could).”
    :)

  55. Pingback: LaTeX su Wordpress.com « Ferra’s Corner
  56. rumours
    Feb 17th at 1:55 pm

    WP is Amazing :mrgreen:

  57. boliviafteroffice
    Feb 17th at 2:05 pm

    Nice tool! Thnx!

  58. jerjer
    Feb 17th at 2:07 pm

    Although I don’t understand the equation at all. I still think its a good step forward !!
    Well done !!

  59. Jojo
    Feb 17th at 2:20 pm

    Looks like the masses are happy.

  60. Brian
    Feb 17th at 2:56 pm

    Something I will never need to use. :)

  61. cedison
    Feb 17th at 3:02 pm

    As a mere high school math teacher in the inner city we don’t use those symbols much, nay ever. But my math degree, which lies comatose in my mind, sings with the inherent niftyness. Thanks.

  62. David W. Boles
    Feb 17th at 3:03 pm

    Brilliant and killer! Thanks for providing this important, if esoteric, feature.

  63. austria
    Feb 17th at 3:03 pm

    That’s what i’ve missed since I use WordPress!

  64. jonny
    Feb 17th at 3:03 pm

    dude, this is the shizzle! thanks! it works very well.

  65. S. Weasel
    Feb 17th at 3:04 pm

    My brain just exploded.

  66. dpcough
    Feb 17th at 3:32 pm

    uh……

  67. jd2718
    Feb 17th at 3:50 pm

    Thanks, I needed that.

  68. Tripp
    Feb 17th at 4:02 pm

    Perfect timing, I need this for something due tuesdauy.

  69. Pingback: LaTeX on Wordpress « JD2718
  70. Chato Mor
    Feb 17th at 4:14 pm

    I love it! Finally i can share my advanced mathematic ideas with all the world!

  71. Rizwan
    Feb 17th at 4:15 pm

    cool .. might come in handy later on .. are there any tutorials on syntaxes usage !!!

  72. Pingback: LaTeX no WordPress.com - Definitivo « Portal do Bruno
  73. blessed1
    Feb 17th at 4:22 pm

    Thats a wonderful application!!

  74. ccat
    Feb 17th at 4:31 pm

    cool~

  75. yoozeq
    Feb 17th at 4:43 pm

    You guys rock! :) I don’t know if I ever have to use it (probably I will anyway – just because I can:)) but knowing it’s here feels really cool:)

  76. Alec Gullon
    Feb 17th at 4:48 pm

    I can feel myself going weak at the knees.

    Yes I am an unashamable geek. Perhaps now I can use my blog to explain mathematical principles for people. I look forward to seeing this introduced.

  77. helenl
    Feb 17th at 4:52 pm

    Thanks for providing features for people who know what they are. There is no reason we should all think alike or even want to.

  78. ramoody5
    Feb 17th at 5:03 pm

    Man I became dizzy with these formulas

  79. engtech
    Feb 17th at 5:18 pm

    I think I will use this around once, but I’m still very glad it exists.

    thanks

  80. Moridin
    Feb 17th at 5:20 pm

    Even though there is a plugin for this, my vote is on making it a part of the default wordpress installation.

  81. JP Mitchell
    Feb 17th at 5:29 pm

    Does this feature now include the other non-math syntax of LaTeX? Because I’m using LaTeX to typeset my book. It would be nice to do similar things, or at least test them, on a blog.

  82. kalawski
    Feb 17th at 5:42 pm

    Outstanding!

  83. meteo
    Feb 17th at 5:48 pm

    hope i won’t need it, but if i should be unlucky, that’s really great news

  84. yuE
    Feb 17th at 5:55 pm

    ah… i refuse to learn this.

    hmpF~

  85. بهمن
    Feb 17th at 5:58 pm

    Excellent WP boys ;)

  86. Peter Klein
    Feb 17th at 5:59 pm

    Is there a way to make it work in comments?

  87. Coconuts
    Feb 17th at 6:01 pm

    Damn, I just had a geek-gasm. Now I won’t have to manually \LaTeX equations and upload them as pdfs…not that I’ve ever or anything…

  88. hober
    Feb 17th at 6:01 pm

    Do you think you’ll release this as a plugin in its own right?

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  90. hottiehot4
    Feb 17th at 6:21 pm

    thats wierd

  91. leftymarine
    Feb 17th at 6:26 pm

    simply put, WOW!

  92. Pi
    Feb 17th at 6:56 pm

    Cool, people!

  93. bdzuver
    Feb 17th at 6:57 pm

    Recently I wrote article about inserting Latex code with some external code generator which require typing code after certain URL, but now the nightmare is over.

    Thanks!

  94. Naughty Heather
    Feb 17th at 7:31 pm

    MATH! ARGH!!

    I am sure that is impressive but I think my brain just exploded…

    Lol

    Congrats!

  95. Renato
    Feb 17th at 7:35 pm

    This is really cool!

  96. Darmok
    Feb 17th at 7:37 pm

    Incredible! What a great idea!

    Now I must write a mathematics-related post…

  97. sandyblog
    Feb 17th at 8:13 pm

    Awesome!

  98. Kyle
    Feb 17th at 8:16 pm

    Umm, first I have to get past geometry!

  99. matty44
    Feb 17th at 8:25 pm

    Well i’ll sum it up in one word…absolutelyconfusingbutpretycoolforthegeeks

  100. sooperkev
    Feb 17th at 8:32 pm

    I think I may be allergic to latex.

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