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Now that we have MathJax, people are editing old posts to replace compromises with clear mathematical notation. I just approved an edit to this answer. In the Review Suggested Edits queue, selecting "rendered output" did not display correctly rendered MathJax. After I approved the edit, I looked up the answer and found that the MathJax was rendered correctly.

This means answers will display correctly if approved, but the decision to approve has to be made based on MathJax markup, instead of based on rendered MathJax. This makes it much more likely that a mistake will be overlooked.

Some of the MathJax was rendered in the Suggested Edits queue. My first guess is that MathJax surrounded on both sides by whitespace renders correctly, while any MathJax preceded or followed by punctuation fails to render. Putting MathJax inside a quote block also appears to prevent rendering. Both these problems are limited to the Suggested Edits queue, and display correctly once the edit is approved.


Please post an answer if you have experience of this either happening or not happening.

(You can click on the linked edit and answer to see if you get the same problem)

For me, the problem is apparent using Firefox 32.0.3 and Firefox 33.0 on Windows 7. I also checked Internet Explorer 10, and this gives a similar problem except that with Internet Explorer even MathJax surrounded on both sides by whitespace does not render in the Suggested Edits queue. Rendering is still correct after the edit is approved.

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    $\begingroup$ I've been told that this is true on Earth Science (which also has MathJax) too. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 1:02
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    $\begingroup$ Further info: I'm told that this is a problem with both edit reviews and edit history, and happens when the colored part of the diff starts or ends inside a MathJax block. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 2:03
  • $\begingroup$ @MonicaCellio thanks for the info. It's interesting to see a slightly different suggested reason. Hopefully feedback from different browsers and operating systems will narrow this down. At present the difference in behaviour between Firefox and Internet Explorer doesn't quite match either my guess or the one you've been told. I guess either of them could still turn out to be a reason if the additional Internet Explorer problem is unrelated. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 8:31
  • $\begingroup$ I was there person who made the edit. I think that @MonicaCellio comments may point to the source of the problem. The sections replaced were nested in "blockquotes", which alter the background colour. I left these in to preserve the original's style, but I do remember considering removing them. The display which accompanied (at time of) edit worked fine. $\endgroup$
    – abcdefg
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:22

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