The very first trouble I faced, while moving the blog from WordPress.com hosting to WordPress.org, was due to a bug in WordPress’s OPML importer. The ‘importer’ messed up with all LaTeX equations on this site — just by deleting a single but very important string from all LaTeX codes. If you are really moving your WordPress content from one blog to other and you have mathematical codes or any other type of coding like C, Perl, PHP and Unix stuffs, then you must read this otherwise you may face the same issues like me. The WordPress OPML importer deletes backslash$“\” from all your posts/pages and media descriptions. A math-blogger knows how important is the backlash for LaTeX/TeX typesetting.$ $The post, which looked like this earlier changed into this after I imported it.$

What did I after the mess?

At first sight, I thought it was some ‘connection error’ or a ‘temporary importing’… I tried to re-import the OPML file. After that, I tried ‘exporting’ the file again from WordPress.com blog and imported to this, once again.  After all the things I tried, including a new WordPress.com Importer, the results were the same. Incorrect parsing of formulas were everywhere and I had to correct all of them.  I had to re-edit each and every mathematical formula which should have a backslash in it. Since backslash is used to define all special characters and the formatting in equations — which are about 30% of total math-content— you need to waste a lot of time correcting them. To save time, I decided to copy all the content from WordPress.com drafts to WordPress.org editor. This manual editing took six-random days to bring blog back on the track.

Where is the fault?

The exported .xml file is correct and backslashes are still in that, as you can see here:

This means they were deleted during the import . Just in case, I thought someone from the importer team will correct it, hence I opened a support ticket on WordPress forums, but the support-response was a nil.

WordPress LaTeX to MathJax?

WordPress LaTeX (known as WPLaTeX) is a part of Jetpack for WordPress developed the Automattic. It render the LaTeX codes into png files and increases load on the server. MathJax works on JavaScript and it doesn’t make that much of load on the servers, as it works directly from the browser, i.e., if your browser supports simple javascript, you can enjoy mathjax. 🙂 I decided to use MathJaX instead of WPLaTeX due to dark and printable parsing of formulas. WPLaTeX looks very ugly on print.

Secondly, zooming the webpages made the WPLaTeX images look even worse, which wouldn’t happen with MathJax. MathJax formulas can be interacted by right-click and zoomed for better viewing  by double clicking a formula. $Third, when you write math… you need to type ‘dollar’ sign followed by ‘latex’ and then again a ‘dollar’ sign. I hated writing ‘latex’ again and again. MathML is better and quicker in this respect. So, the move became mandatory. There are incorrectly parsed formulas on MY DIGITAL NOTEBOOK? I have tried my best to keep all formulas clean and correct, but mistake is a prominent human nature. If you see an equation which is incorrectly parsed (usually shown as red colored or in rectangles), then please contact me to get them fixed. END NOTES: Feel free to ask questions, send feedback and even point out mistakes. Great conversations start with just a single word. How to write better comments? 3 comments 1. هولدن says: great i love your blog a lot. 2. mahamood says: hi is there no way other than copying and pasting, with mathjax. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. You May Also Like Claim for a Prime Number Formula Dr. SMRH Moosavi has claimed that he had derived a general formula for finding the$ n$-th prime number. More details can be found here at PrimeNumbersFormula.com and a brief discussion here at Math.SE titled “Formula for the nth prime number: discovered?” SOME MORE EXCERPTS ARE HERE: Cloud Computing Intro The much talked about Cloud Computing promises to change the way Information Technology People look at delivering IT and the way business people perceive it. This one is now a general and important part of IT. Why is “Cloud” connected to Computing?$ The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that’s often used to represent the Internet…

There are hundreds, even thousands of strategies that can work for your company. Each of these strategies aims to help improve your engagement with your clients and raise the consciousness of the people about your brand. A successful marketing campaign is essential for your business to thrive. So, how do marketers know which strategies work and which don’t? Through data…

3 Tips to Save Money on Music Equipments?

As a beginner, it is very easy for you to get overwhelmed when buying your first set of music equipment. This also means that you may spend a significant amount of money if you do not know exactly what you need. Currently, there are so many software and hardware options available in the market. This will make it even harder…

6 Modern POS Apps to Supercharge & Modernize Small Retail Businesses

E-commerce continues to contribute and drive growth for economies around the globe. As consumers demand more options for satisfying a hunger for a more enjoyable life, businesses are set to continuously profit as long as they can supply the demand. In addition, with the prevalence and greater ease of access to high-end mobile technologies, advanced distribution channels and startups pushing…

4 Types of Software that You Need for Businesses Undergoing Growth

Growing as a business is a big step. You have made it past your first hurdle and have finally solidified your brand. Expansion, however, does not wait. You either have more orders coming in or more offers and the demand for your business or service grows until you can no longer keep up. You can either force demand down, but…