3
$\begingroup$

I’m not sure if anyone is encountering this problem with the latest version of Mathematics Stack Exchange. It always turns out that whatever appears in the preview window as I type a question or an answer looks different from the final product. I invest a lot of effort to make all of my lines appear as ‘justified’ as possible so as to make reading more pleasant (e.g. sentences aren’t cut off prematurely due to some mathematical expression that’s too long to fit the remaining space but also too short to justify its placement between a pair of $$ symbols), but with the latest version, I can’t do this anymore.

Is anyone bothered by this, and if so, what can be done to restore the isometry from preview to published post?

$\endgroup$
8
  • $\begingroup$ This came-up in an answer on the thread on the site update. Personally, I am not bothered by it; I consider it almost as a feature. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    May 12, 2015 at 18:42
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, they broke this in the latest site update. It was perfect for years (except in the early days). Now it is worse than it ever was. It is quite disappointing that they are now ignoring this. $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    May 12, 2015 at 19:09
  • $\begingroup$ @Bill: Hi Bill. Do you know if there’s anybody I can talk to so that this issue won’t be ignored much longer? $\endgroup$
    – Berrick Caleb Fillmore
    May 12, 2015 at 20:21
  • $\begingroup$ I'm currently working on this issue, I will post a fix as soon as I can $\endgroup$
    – Stéphane
    May 13, 2015 at 7:45
  • $\begingroup$ @BerrickCalebFillmore I pushed a fix, it will be live after our next production build. The preview should look the same as the actual post now. $\endgroup$
    – Stéphane
    May 13, 2015 at 15:01
  • $\begingroup$ @Stéphane: Hi Stéphane. Thank you for your attention. As of this moment, is the problem fixed, or do we have to wait for the next production build? $\endgroup$
    – Berrick Caleb Fillmore
    May 13, 2015 at 18:30
  • $\begingroup$ @BerrickCalebFillmore It is now (since a few hours) $\endgroup$
    – Stéphane
    May 14, 2015 at 8:23
  • $\begingroup$ @Stéphane: Thanks! It definitely works now. By the way, I’m curious to know when the next production build will take place. $\endgroup$
    – Berrick Caleb Fillmore
    May 14, 2015 at 18:54

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4
$\begingroup$

As pointed out by quid, this was reported shortly after the site's UI update.

Given that since then nothing has been done about this, I think a workaround is in order. For example. you can edit an answer on the sandbox for long, complex posts. (I think that besides colour, meta renders identical to main.)

I also thought of the possibility of a deleted self-answered question dummy, where you subsequently edit the answer. However, either it is impossible to edit an answer to a deleted question (?), or otherwise such edits will probably bump the dummy question, which is also undesirable. Perhaps others can give further insight in the functioning and desirability of this workaround.

$\endgroup$
6
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Not a workaround but perhaps a cure: look a the site on "mobile." $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    May 12, 2015 at 19:19
  • $\begingroup$ @quid I'm sorry, but I miss your point. $\endgroup$
    – Lord_Farin
    May 12, 2015 at 19:47
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ For which view do you propose to do optimisation for linebreaks and other layout details? And who guarantees that things will not change a bit in the future? Sorry for being cryptic. My opinion is it is a bad idea to do layout tweaks. Keeping the semnatics correct and not worrying much about the rest, is the way to go in my opinion, for this type of context. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    May 12, 2015 at 19:50
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Even on the desktop site, the text layout is quite likely to not be consistent across people using different computers with different operating systems, different browsers, different sets of fonts installed, and different font rendering technology. Best to just stop worrying about it. $\endgroup$
    – user856
    May 13, 2015 at 5:18
  • $\begingroup$ @quid: Well, folks, it seems that the problem has been rectified. $\endgroup$
    – Berrick Caleb Fillmore
    May 14, 2015 at 18:55
  • $\begingroup$ @BerrickCalebFillmore I only hope you will not go overboard with your layout activities. Some of your posts are completely broken (on mobile). $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    May 14, 2015 at 21:34

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .