Support Home > Writing > Beautiful Math with LaTeX

Beautiful Math with LaTeX

LaTeX is a powerful markup language for writing complex mathematical equations, formulas, and more. Jetpack combines the power of LaTeX and the simplicity of WordPress to give you the ultimate in math blogging platforms.

To enable this feature, visit Jetpack → Settings → Writing in your site’s WP Admin. Scroll down to the Composing section and toggle on the Use the LaTeX markup language to write mathematical equations and formulas option.

Using LaTeX

To include LaTeX (\LaTeX) code in your post, use the following:

$latex your-latex-code-here$

So, for example,

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

produces

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

LaTeX Error

If your LaTeX code is broken, instead of the equation, you’ll see an ugly yellow and red error message.

We can’t provide support for LaTeX syntax, but there are plenty of useful guides elsewhere online. Or a quick post in our forums might find you a solution. One thing to keep in mind is that WordPress puts all of your LaTeX code inside a LaTeX math environment. If you try to use LaTeX that doesn’t work inside the math environment (such as \begin{align} ... \end{align}), you will get an error:

\LaTeX&s=X

LaTeX Size

You can change the size of the LaTeX by specifying an s parameter after the \LaTeX code.

$latex \LaTeX&s=X$

Where X goes from -4 to 4 (0 is the default). These sizes correspond to \LaTeX‘s font size commands:

s= font size Example
-4 \tiny \LaTeX
-3 \scriptsize \LaTeX
-2 \footnotesize \LaTeX
-1 \small \LaTeX
0 \normalsize (12pt) \LaTeX
1 \large \LaTeX
2 \Large \LaTeX
3 \LARGE \LaTeX
4 \huge \LaTeX

LaTeX Colors

WordPress tries to guess the background and foreground colors of your site and generates the LaTeX image accordingly. But, you can change the colors. You can specify bg and fg parameters after the LaTeX code to change the background and foreground colors, respectively. The colors must be in hexadecimal RGB format: ffffff for white, 0000ff for bright blue, etc.

$latex \LaTeX&bg=ffcccc&fg=cc00ff&s=4$

\LaTeX

LaTeX Packages

WordPress.com uses standard LaTeX with the following packages:

  • amsmath
  • amsfonts
  • amssymb

More Information

For more information about LaTeX, you can visit LaTeX documentation site and TeX Resources by American Mathematical Society.

Privacy Information

LaTex is deactivated by default. You can toggle it on Jetpack → Settings → Writing page.

Data Used
Site Owners / UsersNone. Site VisitorsNone.
Activity Tracked
Site Owners / UsersNone. Site VisitorsNone.
Data Synced (Read More)
Site Owners / UsersWe sync a single option that identifies whether or not the feature is activated. Site VisitorsNone.
  • Table Of Contents

  • Contact Us

    Need more help? Feel free to contact us.