Instiki
Browsers

Here are instructions for setting up various browsers to work with XHTML+MathML and Instiki. I’ve divided them by Browser and Operating System. 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.

Now that the MathML bugs in Mozilla 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.

Firefox 3.5, Seamonkey 2.0 and Camino 2.0 offer a mostly bug-free MathML and SVG viewing experience. There are enough lingering bugs in Firefox 3.0, Seamonkey 1.1 and Camino 1.x, that you probably want to avoid them (Camino also had a ridiculously-slow javascript engine). If you’re a Firefox user, upgrade to Firefox 3.5; if you’re a Seamonkey user, upgrade to Seamonkey 2.0.

Cruft

If you’ve been using an older version of any of the Mozilla family of browsers, you probably followed my advice and performed various tweaks to improve the MathML experience in those browsers. It’s time to undo those tweaks.

• If you set a

  user_pref(“font.mathfont-family”, ”…”);

  in your user.js file, edit the file and delete that line. Fire up your browser, and type about:config in the URL bar. Type mathfont into the filter box, and check that the preference has reverted to its (new) default value

Preference Name      Status  Type   Value
font.mathfont-family default string STIXNonUnicode, STIXSize1, STIXGeneral, Symbol, DejaVu Sans, Cambria Math

• Remove the Code 2000 and Code 2001 Fonts, which you may have installed. In rare circumstances, your browser may use glyphs from those fonts instead of the desired ones from the Stix Fonts family.

• Install the STIX Fonts.

Mozilla Browsers

If you had previously set up your browser for use with MathML, follow the instructions above before proceeding.

For all these browsers, you will need to install the following fonts:

• The STIX Fonts

For more information on fonts for MathML, see Fonts for MathML-enabled Mozilla page.

Firefox

Download Firefox 3.5 or a Firefox nightly build.

Seamonkey

Download Seamonkey 2.0 or a SeaMonkey nightly build.

Camino (MacOSX Only)

Download Camino 2.0 or the latest nightly build. The previous release version, Camino 1.6.x had ridiculously slow Javascript and somewhat borked MathML, making it useless for S5 slideshows.

Install SIMBL (or PlugSuit for MacOSX 10.5 or earlier) 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.

Windows Internet Explorer

Install

• The STIX Fonts

and then 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.