In the database run update queries that insert at least a space before and after the brakets or greater smaller. For the answer options a query may look like: UPDATE question_answers SET answer = REPLACE(answer, '&lt;' , ' &lt; ' ) WHERE answer LIKE '%$$%&lt;%$$%' AND NOT answer LIKE '%$$% &lt; %$$%' ; for the question text this may look like: UPDATE question SET questiontext = REPLACE(questiontext, '&lt;' , ' &lt; ' ) WHERE questiontext LIKE '%$$%&lt;%$$%' AND NOT questiontext LIKE '%$$% &lt; %$$%' ; These queries fix such issues for < and only in questions and answer options. Tex can be used in many other places too and of course that doesnt fix all the possible issues.