Question

I’m not asking about converting a LaTeX document to html.

What I’d like to be able to do is have some way to use LaTeX math commands in an html document, and have it appear correctly in a browser. This could be done server or client side.

Answer 1

MediaWiki can do what you are looking for. It uses Texvc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texvc) which ‘validates (AMS) LaTeX mathematical expressions and converts them to HTML, MathML, or PNG graphics.’ Sounds like what you are looking for.

Check out Wikipedia’s article on how they handle math equations here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Formula. They also have an extensive reference on LaTeX and pros/cons of the different rendering types (PNG/MathML/HTML).

MediaWiki uses a subset of TeX markup, including some extensions from LaTeX and AMS-LaTeX, for mathematical formulae. It generates either PNG images or simple HTML markup, depending on user preferences and the complexity of the expression. In the future, as more browsers are smarter, it will be able to generate enhanced HTML or even MathML in many cases. (See blahtex for information about current work on adding MathML support.)

More precisely, MediaWiki filters the markup through Texvc, which in turn passes the commands to TeX for the actual rendering. Thus, only a limited part of the full TeX language is supported; see below for details. …

Pros of HTML

• In-line HTML formulae always align properly with the rest of the HTML text.
• The formula’s background, font size and face match the rest of HTML contents and the appearance respects CSS and browser settings.
• Pages using HTML will load faster.

Pros of TeX

• TeX is semantically superior to HTML. In TeX, ‘x’ means ‘mathematical variable x’, whereas in HTML ‘x’ could mean anything. Information has been irrevocably lost. This has multiple benefits:
  1. TeX can be transformed into HTML, but not vice-versa. This means that on the server side we can always transform a formula, based on its complexity and location within the text, user preferences, type of browser, etc. Therefore, where possible, all the benefits of HTML can be retained, together with the benefits of TeX. It’s true that the current situation is not ideal, but that’s not a good reason to drop information/contents. It’s more a reason to help improve the situation.
  2. TeX can be converted to MathML for browsers which support it, thus keeping its semantics and allowing it to be rendered as a vector.
• TeX has been specifically designed for typesetting formulae, so input is easier and more natural, and output is more aesthetically pleasing.
• When writing in TeX, editors need not worry about browser support, since it is rendered into an image by the server. HTML formulae, on the other hand, can end up being rendered inconsistent of editor’s intentions (or not at all), by some browsers or older versions of a browser.