Simple Mathjax
by Samuel Coskey · Uncategorized
Also makes 2 other plugins · 4K+ installs across the portfolio →
Yet another plugin to add MathJax support to your wordpress blog. Just wrap your equations inside $ signs and MathJax will render them visually.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
C 69/100
Stale
Active installs
4K+
≈4.2K estimated
Momentum
+20%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “equation” and “equations” to your wp.org tags. You rank #6 and #6 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
69 health vs 58 average across 25,737 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →7.9%
of downloads still active
At least 4K of 50.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,769 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 416 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer
4.7★ over 14 reviews, smoothed to 4.23★ and held back under 25 reviews
2 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 416 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
48
Momentum
Holding steady
+0.4
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
40%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
0.0
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| mathjax your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| latex your tag | #5 | #5 | down 1 |
| equations | #6 | #5 | 0 |
| equation | #6 | #5 | 0 |
6 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 4 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Add “equation” and “equations” to your wp.org tags. You rank #6 and #6 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.3K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
1.1y ago
latest release · v2.1.1 · 10 Sep 2025
16
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 73% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “4K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 9 months ago and the previous band took 4.1 years to cross, so the real count is still just over 4K.
Install history since 10 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ tinacious6mo ago
I will preface this review with the statement that I am not a math expert and that I do not personally write LaTeX, though I do understand some basics about the syntax, so take this review with a grain of salt. This is my preferred MathJax plugin. I’ve tried 2 other plugins that can render LaTeX (1 KaTeX, 1 MathJax) and here are some reasons I prefer this one: Custom config: I’m able to provide custom configuration of the window.MathJax object which is very helpful, allowing me to configure custom macros, which I needed to do in order to support dark mode for some of the colourized syntax my client uses. Custom CDN: I’m able to configure the CDN that the plugin pulls from. I experienced a performance issue on one of my client’s pages. Unfortunately this plugin caused the tab to crash on one of my client’s pages (a page with a lot of LaTeX). I was able to debug the issue and see that it was coming from font loading. I don’t know enough about MathJax and LaTeX to understand why the font loading was triggered on this one specific page and not others, but I did see it was related to the font loading. Choosing a Cloudflare URL without fonts instead of the default jsDelivr one with fonts was the workaround I used. I’d provide the specific CDN URLs here but the review guidelines say no URLs allowed. Non-developers would likely have trouble debugging this issue, so it might be helpful if the developer chooses to use a version without fonts by default, or surface the performance risks in the configuration. I’m also not sure what will break by omitting the fonts but LaTeX content seem to be working fine for the time being after providing a custom CDN URL. Supported everywhere: This plugin supports native MathJax syntax anywhere on the site, not just in post and page bodies, and doesn’t require the use of shortcodes. My client uses MathJax in menu links and in page titles so it’s super helpful that this plugin isn’t restricted to post and page content. Out of the 3 MathJax and LaTeX plugins I tried, this one seems to be my preferred version for the time being.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ wengs2.0y ago
The plugin is great, but it’s not compatible with WP6.7, I used math symbols in $xxx$ format in the text, and it still shows $xxx$, no change, it only shows the formula correctly when I use math symbols in $$xxx$$! Still need to wait for the update
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sebasmurgue6.2y ago
This plugin has been very useful for our website. It simply works, and it works well. We have been able to add some customization (for example to number the equations) without problem. I highly recommended it if you want to have MathJax in your wordpress site! This topic was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by sebasmurgue.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ edwardw6.3y ago
Works as expected on 5.4.2!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hrd1236.4y ago
Really like this plugin. It’s quick and very easy to use; the best Latex plugin I’ve tried. I initially had a problem where I only wanted to load the Mathjax on certain pages, and I found the solution was to install a separate plugin which lets you toggle all of your other plugins on and off on each page/post. ‘Plugin Load Filter’ worked for me, but it might not be useful to everyone though.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ars1116.4y ago
I would say that this is the best plugin that renders MathJax! I would recommend it to anyone who needs to use LateX on their website.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ThePhysicist6.5y ago
It’s far superior to the Jetpack built in TeX engine. I am going to be a regular donor to this plugin once my blog gets monetized.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ moonwards6.8y ago
For equations that are inline or in separate paragraphs, it worked like a charm. The formatting doesn’t show up in editing mode, just on the published page. I didn’t use it for anything more complicated, so I’m only giving it 4 stars as things can get a lot more complicated than this, and on that I can’t say how it works.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.1.1 The custom config no longer has the HTML escaping filter applied. 2.1.1
- — Version 2.1.0 Added support for MathJax 4. 2.1.0
- — Version 2.0.1 Bumped the default CDN URL for MathJax 2 to use 2.7.8. 2.0.1
- — Version 2.0 MathJax 3 support, and the default config makes MathJax ignore the new block editor. 2.0
- — Version 1.1 update latest mathjax version, load mathjax in footer instead of header 1.1
- — Version 1.0 send default url to new cdn 1.0
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.2
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Yet another plugin to add MathJax support to your wordpress blog. Just wrap your equations inside $ signs a..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 705 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 2 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-02-17 3K+ → 4K+ up after 1488 days in tier
- 2022-01-21 1K+ → 3K+ up after 768 days in tier
- 2019-12-15 800+ → 1K+ up after 682 days in tier
- 2018-02-01 600+ → 800+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
- M MathJax-LaTeX 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C
-
KaTeX 2K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags C -
WP-KaTeX 700+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D -
LaTeX2HTML 200+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Youngwhan's Simple Latex 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D - W WP QuickLaTeX 4K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Simple Mathjax into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/simple-mathjax" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Simple Mathjax — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Simple Mathjax: 4K+ active installs, 4.7★ (14 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/simple-mathjax
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