# Help:Displaying a formula

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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.

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.

To have math rendered, you have to set `\$wgUseTeX = true;` in LocalSettings.php.

At this writing, the Math extension is installed on Referata, but not every site has a working version. Rendering of mathematical data was originally part of MediaWiki's core suite, but was removed in version 1.18. (Referata's MediaWiki engine currently uses 1.25.5 (d75270f).) Attempts to use [itex]equation[/itex] on the Dixwell Dossier, for instance, will result in an error message:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.)

For every instance of this code, "/home/yaron57/public_html/w/extensions/Math/math/texvc" will appear immediately on top, and the page tabs will float. Therefore, it is not recommeded to use this until a localised patch is delivered.

See this page on the Dungeon Overlord Wiki for a working example within Referata's network.