Tips for post formatting, markdown, mathematical expressions, etc

General
1

Feel free to post here (reply to this message) to do formatting tests, share how to type something complicated, etc.

2

If you want to write math on this forum, it’s totally fine to write something like like 2^k - 3^x = 331. Totally fine.

If you want to format in a more appealing way, such as:
\cfrac{3^x - 2^x}{2^k - 3^x} = m has no integer solutions with k>2
then type in the style of LaTeX:
$\cfrac{3^x - 2^x}{2^k - 3^x} = m$ has no integer solutions with $k>2$
To write an actual dollar sign, as in “$5”, escape it by typing “\$5”. Linebreaking inside $…$ sometimes causes rendering errors, sometimes not.

To write hyper-linked text like:
Check out Math Kook
type this:
Check out [Math Kook](https://www.youtube.com/@mathkook)

1 Like
3

Is there some guide or instructions fir writing math, formatting in general really, on this site. I have been unable to get most of it to work so far. Its frustrating and makes conveying ideas hard.

4

@demoncherub Feel free to post any tests on this channel if you like. The general formatting is a variant of “markdown”. I also had to Google around to figure out the syntax. I don’t do much with it, mostly just inserting linebreaks. For math, you can look up “latex” – it’s a way to logically write down the structure of a math expression by typing linear text only, instead of using an equation editor. If you’re not familiar with latex, you might try learning just enough to format some famous equations like Fermat’s Last Theorem. Basically, you put the latex-math-expression inside two dollar signs, as shown in the post above.

5

I did find this, a discourse math plug in guide. [Math Plugin] (Discourse Math - Plugin - Discourse Meta)

1 Like
6

Latex is largely used in Wikipedia and you will find a number of helpful guides in various languages:

There are also easy to use interactive pages like

that generate latex formula on the fly, as well as more elaborate mathematical objects (matrices, …):

\begin{pmatrix} 1 & x \\ x & \sqrt{x} \end{pmatrix}^{n}

Your ideas will no longer be limited, except maybe by your imagination.

Sometimes, it is more convenient to select a paragraph within a post containing a relevant expression in Latex on this forum, then click on “Copy Quote”, paste it in your own post and reedit the formula as needed.

1 Like
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\begin{matrix} \color{gray} \mathbf{0} & \color{orange} \mathbf{1} & \color{orange} \mathbf{2} & \color{orange} \mathbf{3} & \color{orange} \mathbf{4} & \color{orange} \mathbf{5} \\ \color{orange} \mathbf{1} & 000 & 000 & 000 & 000 & 000 \\ \color{orange} \mathbf{2} & 000 & 000 & 000 & 000 & 000 \\ \color{orange} \mathbf{3} & 000 & 000 & 000 & 000 & 000 \\ \color{orange} \mathbf{4} & \boxed{000} & \boxed{000} & \boxed{000} & \boxed{000} & \boxed{000} \\ \end{matrix}