Instiki allows several different choices of markup language. Each Web can have its own choice of markup.
XHTML-Capable Markup Options
With any one of these choices, content is sent as application/xhtml+xml to compatible browsers. That means you can include inline SVG on your pages. If you see the cool Logo, that’s a signal that an XHTML-capable markup is in operation.
All of these are based on Maruku, and use its enhanced Markdown syntax.
Markdown+itex2MML
This is the default option. It uses itex2MML and allows you to type itex equations, which are turned into MathML for display in capable browsers. In other browsers, MathJax is used to render the MathML. On math-heavy pages, MathJax can be somewhat slow, and its capabilities are somewhat limited, but it is admirably consistent across platforms.
Markdown+BlahTeX/PNG
This option renders your equations to PNG pictures, instead of MathML. Setup is a little more complicated, and the rendering is not as nice, but you don’t need a MathML-capable browser to see the equations.
Markdown
If you don’t need equation-support, choose this option. Then $ has no special meaning (instead of being used to delimit equations).
HTML Markup Options
If you select one of these options, your content is sent as text/html, which means no equations, and no SVG support. These are included, largely for legacy reasons.