WordPress Plugins That Help You Write Code

If you write about WordPress, Javascript, CSS, HTML/XHTML, mathematics, calculus, science, research, and a lot of other code, programming, and calculations, you are going to need to be able to write code in your blog. I can tell you from personal experience, this is a painful and…extraordinarily frustrating process, to be nice about it.

Since writing code in my own WordPress blogs is a part of my day-to-day blogging, I thought I’d share with you some of the WordPress Plugins that help you write code and equations in your blogs during my month long series on WordPress Plugins

Have you ever posted this:

< the_content(); ?>

And ended up with this:

< the_content(): ?>

Or ended up with nothing or screwing up your entire post page?

That’s just a few of the headaches and problems that come from trying to put code inside a blog post.

When you put code in a WordPress blog, it will do one of two things. It will try to use the code as code, something you do not want it to do, or more likely turn it into the last example, converting various elements of the code to HTML character entities.

You have three options for displaying code on your WordPress blog.

1. You can write it manually.
2. Use a code converter online program.
3. Use a WordPress Plugin to help you convert the code as you write or when you save and publish your post.

To learn how to do it manually, you will need a text editor and to read Writing Code in Your Posts in the WordPress Codex for full version blogs or Signatures and Writing Code and Math for the Masses for WordPress.com blogs.

To use an online converter program, you could use any of the following:

• WordPress Encode HTML Entities
• HTML Code Converter
• Tamba2’s Simple Code Converter
• HTMLizer Data
• FoxInternet – Keyboard HTML Character Entities Converter
• Forret HTML Character Entities Converter

To use a WordPress Plugin, well, since this is month long series on WordPress PluginsWordPress Plugin Month, I found a lot of options for you.

WordPress Plugins To Help You Write Code

There are a variety of WordPress Plugins which help you write code on your WordPress with ease. I’ve broken them down into three different types.

• Code Converter WordPress Plugins: These simply convert the code you write into code that will display in your browser. Nothing more.
• Syntax Highlighters: These will convert your code but they will also highlight different code elements with color such as <?php the_content(); ?> to make it easier to read.
• Specialized Language Code Converter WordPress Plugins: These will convert code on your blog to match the typical format of your programming code language. You use a code language like CSS, you would use <pre lang="css"> to designate the language type. Examples of other languages include actionscript-french, actionscript, apache, applescript, asp, acadlisp, cfm, c_mac, c, delphi, diff, div, dos, d, eiffel, freebasic, gml, html4strict, ini, java5, java, javascript, matlab, mysql, oracle8, pascal, perl, php-brief, php, python, qbasic, robots, ruby, smarty, sql, vb, visualfoxpro, xml and many more.

All of these will convert your code into something the web browser can interpret and display as code on your page. Some Plugins offer more features than others. You need to choose the one that will best meet your own blog’s needs.

The Plugins will typically convert whatever is in your blog post wrapped in the <code> or <pre> tags.

Code Converter WordPress Plugins

The following WordPress Plugins will only help you convert programming languages and codes into something that can be displayed on your blog’s post in WordPress. Most of these will convert anything in a <code> or <pre>, and/or will add a button to the quicktags button bar to allow one button adding of code that is automatically converted.

In general, these will only help you convert HTML, XHMTL, CSS, Javascript, and other web-based programming languages. They are not for mathematical equations.

• WordPress Plugin: Code Autoescape
• Decoder Button WordPress Plugin
• WP-SimpleCode WordPress Plugin
• WP-UnFormating WordPress Plugin
• SemCodeFix WordPress Plugin
• Semicolon Code Markup WordPress Plugin
• QuickCode WordPress Plugin
• Preserve Code Formatting WordPress Plugin

Snytax Highlighter WordPress Plugins

These WordPress Plugins will convert code into something the browser can read, and offer the ability to color different areas of your code to help it be more readable. These are excellent for bloggers who publish large chunks of code as they tend to make the code more readable. Many of the Plugins listed under Specialized Language Code below also include syntax highlighting, however, these only convert simple HTML/CSS code, not various programming languages.

Some allow a lot of customization, others only a little.

• Code Highlighter
• IG:Syntax Hiliter WordPress Plugin
• Flash Text Formatter WordPress Plugin

Specialized Language Code Converter WordPress Plugins

All of these will convert code, but the conversion code isn’t as simple as turning < into <. These deal with specialized programming or mathematical equations and formulas. Many also feature syntax highlighting.

If you specialize in a specific programming language, check the different Plugins to find the one that will meet your needs.

• Latex Render WordPress Plugin
• FigureRender WordPress Plugin (LaTex)
• BibTeX WordPress Plugin (BibTeX/LaTeX)
• WP-dp.SyntaxHighlighter: Source Code Syntax Highlighting Plugin
• WordPress Mimetex plug-in (modified)
• MimetexRender WordPress Plugin
• ItexToMathML WordPress Plugin (LaTeX input into XHTML+MathML)
• Dahnielson MimeTeX WordPress Plugin
• MimetexParser WordPress Plugin (LaTex)
• Chemical Formula Formater WordPress Plugin
• PHP Math Publisher WordPress Plugin
• SyntaxHighlighter WordPress Plugin
• Dean Lee Code Highlighter WordPress Plugin
• Illustrender WordPress Plugin
• Coding WordPress Plugin

More WordPress Plugins and Tips for Writing Code in Your Blog

Writing code in your WordPress blogs isn’t easy, but I’ve collected some tips to help you write code in your blog.

Bibtex, Latex, XML, HTML, RDF, Eclipse and WordPress offers an indepth look at the various methods of using various code producing Plugins in WordPress and other documents.

LaTeX in WordPress is a blog dedicated to Latex Render WordPress Plugin as well as all things mathematical, and offers great tips, Plugins, information, and resources for using LaTeX in WordPress.

The guide for IllustRender features some amazing mathematical illusions that are possible using the Plugin and similar LaTeX Plugins.

Tyler’s Wrapping Text Inside PRE Tags is a great article with tips on how to use CSS to style your <pre> tag to do some line wrapping. I reviewed this technique in Wrapping Text Inside PRE HTML Tags.

Other helpful articles include:

• LatexRender Guide
• Math Wiki – Tex Tutorial
• MimeTet Quickstart Guide
• LaTeX in WordPress
• The LaTeX Project
• ASCIIMathML.js: Translating ASCII Math Notation To Presentation MathML
• XHTML pages with standard MathML and SVG
• Enrii – Write HTML or PHP Codes in WordPress (Basic)
• Zorched – WordPress Code Formatting
• Flip Tomato – When did Math-phobes take over the Blogosphere?
• MathML Software – Browser plugins, scripts and extensions
• Jeff McNeill – MathML, TeX, LaTeX, TeXvc, MimeTeX, oh my!

Are you using a mathematical, syntax highlighting, or code converter Plugin I haven’t mentioned? Please share which one you use. And if you have used any of these, some tips and insights would be nice, too, to help people choose which one works best for you.

Related Articles

• Wrapping Text Inside PRE HTML Tags
• HTML, CSS, PHP, and More Cheat Sheets
• Finding Your CSS Styles in WordPress
• CSS and Web Page Design List of Resources
• When the Blog Breaks: Fixing Your Broken Blog
• More Must-Have Bookmarklets Than You Can Swing a Browser At
• Free Text Only Editors for Templates, PHP, HTML, CSS, and More
• Writing Code in Your Posts
• Signatures and Writing Code in WordPress.com Blogs
• WordPress.com Blogs: Math for the Masses

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