Diagram does not render
A diagram that will not draw is almost always one of five things, and they are quick to rule out in order.
Start by reloading the page once. It is unsatisfying advice and it resolves a real proportion of cases, because a render that failed on a slow connection succeeds on the second attempt.
#What you are seeing
A blank area where the diagram should be.
An error message instead of the diagram.
A diagram that renders for you but not for someone else.
#Work through these in order
Check | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
Does the source render in the editor? | Open the diagram. If the editor shows the same error, it is a syntax problem in the source rather than a rendering problem. |
Is it a very large diagram? | Generated graphs can exceed the render limits. Filter the source and try again. |
Is it TikZ? | TikZ is disabled until an administrator enables it, and renders more slowly than anything else. |
Is the viewer signed in? | Anonymous readers see the stored preview. A diagram saved moments ago may not have one yet. |
Is a self-hosted renderer configured? | If your site uses one and it is unreachable, diagrams fail rather than falling back. |
#A few things that catch people out
A diagram that renders for you and not for a colleague is usually a permissions question, not a rendering one.
A diagram reference shows nothing when the reader cannot see the source page.
Rendering limits and what anonymous readers get are covered in Reference.
#Related
Most of these take under a minute.
