Instiki
Browsers

Here are instructions for setting up various browsers to work with XHTML+MathML and Instiki. I’ve divided them by Operating System and Browser. Generally, all you need to do is install some fonts, and download the most recent version of your favourite MathML-capable browser.

Be forewarned: many older versions of these browsers will not work well, and will display all sorts of MathML rendering bugs. In many cases, there are workarounds for these bugs. But you’ll generally find it simpler to upgrade to the latest version of the browser.

From late-November 2006 to late-February 2008, the nightly builds of Mozilla-based browser have had completely-broken MathML support. So it was vital to stick to either a release version, or a nightly build from mid-November 2006.

Now that the MathML bugs on Mozilla trunk have largely been fixed, the advantages of using the latest builds (particularly their support for the STIX fonts, and enhanced support for SVG) are significant. Until Firefox 3.0 is released, I strongly urge people to use a nightly build of one of these browsers.

Release Browsers (not recommended)

 $ sudo apt-get install latex-xft-fonts ttf-opensymbol

  user_pref("font.mathfont-family", "Math1,Math2,Math4,Symbol");

 user_pref("font.mathfont-family", "CMR10,CMSY10,CMEX10,CMMI10,OpenSymbol");

 user_pref("font.mathfont-family", "CMR10,CMSY10,CMEX10,CMMI10,Symbol");

MacOSX

If you had previously followed the instructions above, unset the font.mathfont-family preference, by deleting the above line from your user.js file, before proceeding.

For all these browsers, you will need to install the following fonts in /Library/Fonts/

• The STIX Fonts

Firefox and SeaMonkey

Download the latest Firefox nightly build or the latest SeaMonkey nightly build.

Camino

Download the latest nightly build. The current release version, Camino 1.52 has ridiculously slow Javascript, making it useless for S5 slideshows.

Install PlugSuit (or SIMBL, for MacOSX 10.4) and megazoomer, which allows you to go to full screen mode by hitting ⌘ -return. Of all the MathML-capable browsers for MacOSX, Camino is the only one which allows you to go into full-screen mode. So, even if you decide to make, say, Firefox, your default browser, you might want a copy of Camino to display S5 slideshows.

Linux

If you had previously followed the instructions above, unset the font.mathfont-family preference, by deleting the above line from your user.js file, before proceeding.

Again, you need to install

• The STIX Fonts

and download the latest nightly build of Firefox or SeaMonkey

Windows

If you had previously followed the instructions above, unset the font.mathfont-family preference, by deleting the above line from your user.js file, before proceeding.

Install

• The STIX Fonts

and then either:

1. Install the latest Firefox or Seamonkey nightly build.

2. Or, install the MathPlayer plugin for IE.

Testing

Whatever you installed, head over to Jason Blevins’s test site, to give your new MathML-enabled installation a workout.