nLab meta
n Forum FAQ

This is a page to keep notes on syntax and other oddities of the nForum.

How do I make links to the nLab?

Use the same syntax that you do here, e.g. [[HomePage]] links to HomePage and [[nlabmeta:HomePage]] links to HomePage on nlabmeta.

How do I get math?

To get $x^2$ at the forum, type either <latex>x^2</latex> or $$x^2$$. The first is longer to type, but it works in preview mode while the second doesn’t. Note that although the second uses double-dollars, it is not typeset displayed but rather inline.

How do I type square brackets?

Double square brackets get interpreted as wikilinks back to the n-lab. To produce actual double square brackets, you need to write them as SGML character entities: opening brackets are [ and closing brackets are ] in SGML. (One on either side is enough to break the wikilink code, although you should be consistent when typing several double brackets on one line.)

On the Lab, as long as they are not at the beginning of a line, you can just “escape” them, with a backslash: “\[\[foo\]\]” produces “[[foo]]”. (At the beginning of a line, “\[” signals the start of a numbered equation.) In fact, you need to backslash-escape even single square brackets “\[foo\]” produces “[foo]”, whilst “[foo]” produces “foo”.