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Edit 3: it happened again this morning (Jul 7, 2013): slow TeX rendering in short answers. But everything is fine again now...

Edit 2: I have just tried to edit the same answer again on the same computer and with the same browser. It is still a bit slower than for short answers, but only a tiny little bit. Everything is fine now...Note that I did not restart, nor reboot anything (computer/browser) in between.

Edit: as indicated, by @ˈjuː.zɚ79365, the reason seems to be that I was editing a fairly long answer, in which case a solution is to work on it elsewhere. I have edited long answers without a problem before, and I have encountered the problem before on short answers. So I guess I'll leave the question open.

My computer is a 2009 iMAC, operated by Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 with processor 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. My browser is Chrome Version 27.0.1453.93.

I am aware of that thread which asked the same question in 2011. But we are in 2013, so I guess the website has technically evolved a bit in between. So maybe there are new reasons.

I have just added a 5 line paragraph to an answer on the main site. It took me about 45 minutes...The answer box was essentially frozen the whole time. I would type a few characters which would appear about 30 seconds later... Here on meta everything works normally.

It happened before, not so often I must say, when I was using different operating systems and different internet connections.

I am not complaining, I find that MSE works remarkably well in general. I am just curious about what causes this: heavy traffic, maintenance, just my system...? How long should I wait on average to make sure everything works well when I come back?

I have read the answers on the similar questions, so maybe I'll try these bookmarks to disable rendering: see robjohn's answer. But I could not find answers to the two questions I ask in the previous paragraph.

Thank you.

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  • $\begingroup$ It never happened to me. The only issue I encounter some times is that the math won't render, but that only happens after several weeks of not rebooting. Once I reboot everything works fine. $\endgroup$ – Git Gud Jun 20 '13 at 15:37
  • $\begingroup$ @GitGud Interesting, thanks. I'll try rebooting. $\endgroup$ – Julien Jun 20 '13 at 15:39
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    $\begingroup$ The processing of both Markdown and MathJax prior to posting happens in your browser, not on the server. I think the problem was that your answer had a large number of formulas already, all of which were reprocessed every time you pressed a key. I can imagine that a Javascript engine with slightly leaky memory can perform poorly in such a case. ... When entering or editing a very long answer, I prefer to type it up elsewhere and paste to the answer box. $\endgroup$ – ˈjuː.zɚ79365 Jun 20 '13 at 15:40
  • $\begingroup$ @ˈjuː.zɚ79365 I see, thank you. $\endgroup$ – Julien Jun 20 '13 at 15:43
  • $\begingroup$ as @ˈjuː.zɚ79365 indicated, this happens in your browser. So it will help to also indicate which operating system you are using, which browser (and version) you are using, and whether you are using a fairly new computer. (There's a noticeable difference in response time between my 2012 quad-core desktop and my 2009 netbook...) $\endgroup$ – Willie Wong Jun 20 '13 at 16:02
  • $\begingroup$ @WillieWong You're right, thanks. I've edited. $\endgroup$ – Julien Jun 20 '13 at 16:08
  • $\begingroup$ I recall this behaviour (to a lesser extent) as well, and even on short answers. My set-up is Win 7/Chrome latest; my PC is high-end. (As remarked, restarting one's browser cq. computer is a good first attempt for "solving" one's problem.) $\endgroup$ – Lord_Farin Jun 20 '13 at 16:15

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