Woudn't a MathML or LaTeX plugin for the wiki handle it much better?

-- [RadomirDopieralski], 2006-12-15

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+1 to this one, too.

-- JanneJalkanen

It would but it goes against [Cover the common things people need|Goals]. IMO, it is very common.

Let's be bold and include the markup in [Creole0.4].

-- [EricChartre], 2007-01-11

Can you maybe backup your opinion with some actual examples?

I, for one, feel inconvinced -- haven't seen superscript in other context than math and chemistry for ages.

-- RadomirDopieralski, 2007-01-11

In a non mathematical context, I use it mostly for units of measurement i.e. square meter m^2^. I also use it for orders of magnitude and to express large numbers 1,342 x 10^14^.

-- [EricChartre], 2007-01-11

So you mean units like "m²" and "m³" and large numbers like 1,342e14? :)

I'd use a math extension to get 1,342×10^14 though, if the notation is important, or even an image if you want to present specific typography. We must remember that this is markup for wikis, not general-purpose typesetting program -- as long as you can get the meaning across, the presentation is not that important.

Hey, how about an extension to Creole that turns "1,342e14" scientific notation into "1,342×10^^14^^" one? Mathching thses numbers with an regexp should be simple. Or even an extension to calculate on the fly expressions like "3*40-12". And a rule that turns "m2" into "m²". Or even an extension that adds the "^^" and "~~" for "<sup>" and "<sub>"... Creole is extensible.

-- RadomirDopieralski, 2007-01-11

Unicode already has superscript and subscript numbers. All you need is a way to type or insert them. I can do it on my computer… I guess it depends on the software you have available.

-- AlexSchroeder