Numbers after paragraph breaks turn into 1's

Question

Numbers after paragraph breaks all turn to 1.

1. Number 1 in the list.

paragraph break

1. 2 in list.. or is it?

paragraph break

1. <- I swear I labelled this 3..

paragraph break

some characters 4. A workaround is to place some character before the number

Answer 1

It's not LaTeX; because you are starting a new paragraph with no left indentation, this resets the counter. It would happen if you have text instead of LaTeX.

If instead of a new paragraph with in-line equations you do a display equation, it works fine:

1. Numbered one, followed by $$equation$$ $$\LaTeX$$
2. Number two. $$\mbox{More }\LaTeX$$
3. Number Three. $$\mbox{Even more \LaTeX.} 1\neq 3.$$

This was achieved with:

   1. Numbered one, followed by `$$equation$$`
$$\LaTeX$$
   2. Number two.
$$\mbox{More }\LaTeX$$
   3. Number Three.
$$\mbox{Even more \LaTeX.} 1\neq 3.$$

But if I place a new paragraph and start over, what happens?

1. Even though I numbered it 4, it still shows up as 1.

If you start a new paragraph without any justification on the left, still the same problem.

1. I numbered it five.

The source that produced this was:

But if I place a new paragraph and start over, what happens?

   4. Even though I numbered it `4`, it still shows up as `1`. 

If you start a new paragraph without any justification on the left, 
still the same problem.

   5. I numbered it five.

However, even with inline equations, if you place the appropriate justification, it works out fine.

1. Number one, followed by an equation

   $\LaTeX$

2. Number two. Followed by another equation.

   $1\neq 2$.

3. And another, giving me three

   $1\neq 3$.

But woe if I start left-justified: then

1. I get a one again.

Obtained by typing:

However, even with inline equations, if you place 
the appropriate justification, it works out fine.

   1. Number one, followed by an equation

   $\LaTeX$

   2. Number two. Followed by another equation.

   $1\neq 2$.

   3. And another, giving me three

   $1\neq 3$.

But woe if I start left-justified: then

   4. I get a one again.

Notice the justification.

Answer 2

It's not a matter of TeX at all. The formatting engine, Markdown, thinks you've ended your list when you start a new paragraph; the next time it encounters a numbered item, it starts a new list beginning with "1." again.

Here are several workarounds.

1. Indent your new paragraph by a number of spaces.

   This will be treated as a new paragraph within the same list item.

2. If you just want $$\LaTeX$$ on a new line, you can do a display equation like $$\LaTeX$$.

Sometimes, you really do want to specify your own numbering. For that, you have to escape the period following the number. Then Markdown will treat it as a regular paragraph, which is less than optimal, but at least it will leave your number alone. So 42\. becomes

42. The answer to life, the universe, and everything.

and not

1. The answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Answer 3

Not anymore!

Numbered lists can now start with any positive integer. (Zero, negative numbers, and infinite ordinals are still not allowed.) The existing posts still render as they were, but will re-render according to the new Markdown version if they are edited.

Copy-pasted from the question:

---

Numbers after paragraph breaks all turn to 1.

1. Number 1 in the list.

paragraph break

2. 2 in list.. or is it?

paragraph break

3. <- I swear I labelled this 3..