LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML and add styling support #44928

alshakero · 2025-08-24T13:17:37Z

Proposed changes:

This switches the LaTeX block to render MathML instead of HTML and renames it to Math. This has many benefits:

1. Works natively in the Jetpack app!
2. No need to render on the client side thus load a 3rd party library. Faster. Safer.
3. No need for client side CSS since <math> comes styled natively.
4. Supported by all browsers.

It also extends the block to support font size, colors, and spacing.

Other information:

Have you written new tests for your changes, if applicable?
Have you checked the E2E test CI results, and verified that your changes do not break them?
Have you tested your changes on WordPress.com, if applicable (if so, you'll see a generated comment below with a script to run)?

Jetpack product discussion

Does this pull request change what data or activity we track or use?

No.

Testing instructions:

Tex format

Apply this.
Sandbox a site and go to /wp-admin/post-new.php
Add a Math block.
Use \int_{x=a}^{y} \frac{df(x)}{dx} \, dx = f(y) - f(a) LaTeX.
Save the page.
It should render the follwing forumla.

MathML

Add a Math block.
Enter <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>f</mi><mo>=</mo><msup><mi>x</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">f=x^2</annotation></semantics></math>
Save the page.
It should render the follwing forumla.

github-actions · 2025-08-24T13:18:37Z

Thank you for your PR!

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- Scheduled release: September 2, 2025
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github-actions · 2025-08-24T13:22:30Z

Are you an Automattician? Please test your changes on all WordPress.com environments to help mitigate accidental explosions.

To test on WoA, go to the Plugins menu on a WoA dev site. Click on the "Upload" button and follow the upgrade flow to be able to upload, install, and activate the Jetpack Beta plugin. Once the plugin is active, go to Jetpack > Jetpack Beta, select your plugin (Jetpack), and enable the fix/latex-block-v2 branch.
To test on Simple, run the following command on your sandbox:

bin/jetpack-downloader test jetpack fix/latex-block-v2

Interested in more tips and information?

In your local development environment, use the jetpack rsync command to sync your changes to a WoA dev blog.
Read more about our development workflow here: PCYsg-eg0-p2
Figure out when your changes will be shipped to customers here: PCYsg-eg5-p2

jp-launch-control · 2025-08-24T13:30:42Z

Code Coverage Summary

7 files are newly checked for coverage. Only the first 5 are listed here.

File	Coverage
projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/edit.js	0/19 (0.00%) 💔
projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/editor.js	0/1 (0.00%) 💔
projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/icon.js	0/2 (0.00%) 💔
projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/math.php	0/7 (0.00%) 💔
projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/save.js	0/5 (0.00%) 💔

Full summary · PHP report · JS report

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Use this label to ignore the check for insufficient code coveage.}

simison · 2025-08-28T12:15:17Z

Are the <math> tags rendered by default with math-style: compact? I would've expected normal instead (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/math-style). In future that could be a setting.

projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/latex/block.json

simison · 2025-08-28T12:25:00Z

There is some issue with background not applied to the grey box but something inside it:

Block selected

Block unselected:

What do you think adding border controls as well? They fit well the use case:

		"__experimentalBorder": {
			"color": true,
			"radius": true,
			"style": true,
			"width": true,
			"__experimentalDefaultControls": {
				"color": true,
				"radius": true,
				"style": true,
				"width": true
			}
		},

simison · 2025-08-28T12:27:38Z

Likely best to remove the grey box entirely since we don't render it on frontend either? I think it's better as plain transparent formula, and folks can add background if they need.

simison · 2025-08-28T12:30:43Z

Worked beautifully on emails as well!

alshakero · 2025-08-28T14:43:24Z

Are the tags rendered by default with math-style: compact? I would've expected normal instead (developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/math-style). In future that could be a setting.

It seems to come from the user agent. So I guess MDN is incorrect or something.

Addressed all the rest. Looks great now.

simison · 2025-08-29T07:01:02Z

projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/edit.js

+
+const LatexPlaceholder = () => {
+	return (
+		<span className="jetpack-math-rendered-placeholder">{ __( 'Write Math…', 'jetpack' ) }</span>


Suggested change

<span className="jetpack-math-rendered-placeholder">{ __( 'Write Math…', 'jetpack' ) }</span>

<span className="jetpack-math-rendered-placeholder">{ __( 'Write math…', 'jetpack' ) }</span>

We try to use sentence case over title case everywhere nowadays.

simison · 2025-08-29T07:01:47Z

projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/edit.js

+			{ ...blockProps }
+			tabIndex={ 0 }
+			role="button"
+			aria-label={ __( 'Edit Math', 'jetpack' ) }


Suggested change

aria-label={ __( 'Edit Math', 'jetpack' ) }

aria-label={ __( 'Edit math', 'jetpack' ) }

simison · 2025-08-29T07:24:03Z

projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/math/edit.js

+						<Text upperCase>{ __( 'Preview', 'jetpack' ) }</Text>
+						{ source.trim() && (
+							<div
+								className="jetpack-math-rendered"
+								style={ style }
+								ref={ r => r !== renderAreaRef && setRenderAreaRef( r ) }
+							/>
+						) }


Suggested change

<Text upperCase>{ __( 'Preview', 'jetpack' ) }</Text>

{ source.trim() && (

<div

className="jetpack-math-rendered"

style={ style }

ref={ r => r !== renderAreaRef && setRenderAreaRef( r ) }

/>

) }

{ source.trim() && (

<>

<Text upperCase>{ __( 'Preview', 'jetpack' ) }</Text>

<div

className="jetpack-math-rendered"

style={ style }

ref={ r => r !== renderAreaRef && setRenderAreaRef( r ) }

/>

</>

) }

I think it looks better hiding the "Preview" until there's some content:

simison · 2025-08-29T07:24:37Z

Otherwise works great, just border getting applied to Placeholder component:

alshakero added 2 commits August 23, 2025 21:31

Update Latex Block to use MathML

d600efd

changelog

815f712

alshakero added the [Block] Latex label Aug 24, 2025

github-actions bot added [Plugin] Jetpack Issues about the Jetpack plugin. https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/ [Status] In Progress labels Aug 24, 2025

github-actions bot added the [Status] Needs Author Reply We need more details from you. This label will be auto-added until the PR meets all requirements. label Aug 24, 2025

alshakero added 3 commits August 24, 2025 15:19

Remove unrelated changes

ecab99d

Remove unrelated changes

c1f1bff

Merge branch 'trunk' into fix/latex-block-v2

0b03f90

alshakero added the [Type] Enhancement Changes to an existing feature — removing, adding, or changing parts of it label Aug 25, 2025

alshakero marked this pull request as ready for review August 27, 2025 18:51

Add styling and typography support

b334296

alshakero marked this pull request as draft August 27, 2025 19:37

alshakero changed the title ~~LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML~~ LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML and add styling support Aug 28, 2025

alshakero marked this pull request as ready for review August 28, 2025 09:34

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/trunk' into fix/latex-block-v2

c8a1602

alshakero requested review from simison and jeherve August 28, 2025 11:27

simison reviewed Aug 28, 2025

View reviewed changes

projects/plugins/jetpack/extensions/blocks/latex/block.json Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Address feedback

b23d547

Rename to Math and allow MathML

12383c2

github-actions bot added the [Block] Math label Aug 28, 2025

simison reviewed Aug 29, 2025

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LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML and add styling support #44928

LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML and add styling support #44928

alshakero commented Aug 24, 2025 •

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	<span className="jetpack-math-rendered-placeholder">{ __( 'Write Math…', 'jetpack' ) }</span>
	<span className="jetpack-math-rendered-placeholder">{ __( 'Write math…', 'jetpack' ) }</span>

	aria-label={ __( 'Edit Math', 'jetpack' ) }
	aria-label={ __( 'Edit math', 'jetpack' ) }

LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML and add styling support #44928

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LaTeX Block: Switch to MathML and add styling support #44928

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Proposed changes:

Other information:

Jetpack product discussion

Does this pull request change what data or activity we track or use?

Testing instructions:

Tex format

MathML

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Code Coverage Summary

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