diff --git a/src/converter/lx.jl b/src/converter/lx.jl
index bd4dd077f..c985603db 100644
--- a/src/converter/lx.jl
+++ b/src/converter/lx.jl
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ JD_LOC_EQDICT_COUNTER
 Counter to keep track of equation numbers as they appear along the page, this helps with equation
 referencing.
 """
-const JD_LOC_EQDICT_COUNTER = randstring(JD_LEN_RANDSTRING+1)
+const JD_LOC_EQDICT_COUNTER = "COUNTER_" * randstring(JD_LEN_RANDSTRING)
 
 """
 $(SIGNATURES)
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ Given a latex command such as `\\eqref{abc}`, hash the reference (here `abc`), c
 dictionary `d` has an entry corresponding to that hash and return the appropriate HTML for it.
 """
 function form_href(lxc::LxCom, dname::String; parens="("=>")", class="href")::String
-
     ct = content(lxc.braces[1])   # "r1, r2, r3"
     refs = strip.(split(ct, ",")) # ["r1", "r2", "r3"]
     names = refstring.(refs)
diff --git a/src/converter/md_blocks.jl b/src/converter/md_blocks.jl
index 98bfaad82..526085d09 100644
--- a/src/converter/md_blocks.jl
+++ b/src/converter/md_blocks.jl
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ function convert_mathblock(β::OCBlock, lxdefs::Vector{LxDef})::String
 
         # check if there's a label, if there is, add that to the dictionary
         matched = match(r"\\label{(.*?)}", inner)
+        
         if !isnothing(matched)
             name   = refstring(strip(matched.captures[1]))
             write(htmls, "<a id=\"$name\"></a>")
diff --git a/src/manager/judoc.jl b/src/manager/judoc.jl
index e9c446a49..2dcd5560a 100644
--- a/src/manager/judoc.jl
+++ b/src/manager/judoc.jl
@@ -10,16 +10,19 @@ Keyword arguments:
 * `port=8000`:       the port to use for the local server (should pick a number between 8000 and 9000)
 * `single=false`:    whether to run a single pass or run continuously
 * `prerender=false`: whether to pre-render javascript (KaTeX and highlight.js)
+* `nomess=false`:    suppresses all messages (internal use).
 """
 function serve(; clear::Bool=true, verb::Bool=false, port::Int=8000, single::Bool=false,
-                 prerender::Bool=false)::Union{Nothing,Int}
+                 prerender::Bool=false, nomess::Bool=false)::Union{Nothing,Int}
     # set the global path
     JD_FOLDER_PATH[] = pwd()
     # construct the set of files to watch
     watched_files = jd_setup(clear=clear)
 
+    nomess && (verb = false)
+
     # do a first full pass
-    println("→ Initial full pass... ")
+    nomess || println("→ Initial full pass... ")
     start = time()
     sig = jd_fullpass(watched_files; clear=clear, verb=verb, prerender=prerender)
     sig < 0 && return sig
@@ -27,7 +30,7 @@ function serve(; clear::Bool=true, verb::Bool=false, port::Int=8000, single::Boo
 
     # start the continuous loop
     if !single
-        println("→ Starting the server...")
+        nomess || println("→ Starting the server...")
         coreloopfun = (cntr, fw) -> jd_loop(cntr, fw, watched_files; clear=clear, verb=verb)
         # start the liveserver in the current directory
         LiveServer.setverbose(verb)
@@ -91,9 +94,8 @@ function jd_fullpass(watched_files::NamedTuple; clear::Bool=false, verb::Bool=fa
      pg_foot = read(joinpath(JD_PATHS[:in_html], "page_foot.html"), String)
      foot    = read(joinpath(JD_PATHS[:in_html], "foot.html"), String)
 
-    # reset page variables and latex definitions
+    # reset global page variables and latex definitions
     def_GLOB_VARS!()
-    def_LOC_VARS!()
     def_GLOB_LXDEFS!()
 
     # process configuration file
@@ -104,27 +106,26 @@ function jd_fullpass(watched_files::NamedTuple; clear::Bool=false, verb::Bool=fa
     indexhtml = JD_PATHS[:in] => "index.html"
 
     # rest of the pages, done asynchronously
-    tasks = Vector{Task}()
+    s = 0
     @sync begin
         if isfile(joinpath(indexmd...))
-            push!(tasks, @async process_file(:md, indexmd, head, pg_foot, foot; clear=clear,
-                                             prerender=prerender))
+            s += process_file(:md, indexmd, head, pg_foot, foot; clear=clear,
+                              prerender=prerender)
         elseif isfile(joinpath(indexhtml...))
-            push!(tasks, @async process_file(:html, indexhtml, head, pg_foot, foot; clear=clear,
-                                             prerender=prerender))
+            s += process_file(:html, indexhtml, head, pg_foot, foot; clear=clear,
+                              prerender=prerender)
         else
             @warn "I didn't find an index.[md|html], there should be one. Ignoring."
         end
         # process rest of the files
         for (case, dict) ∈ pairs(watched_files), (fpair, t) ∈ dict
             occursin("index.", fpair.second) && continue
-            sleep(0.001)
-            push!(tasks, @async process_file(case, fpair, head, pg_foot, foot, t; clear=clear,
-                                             prerender=prerender))
+            s += process_file(case, fpair, head, pg_foot, foot, t; clear=clear,
+                              prerender=prerender)
         end
     end
     # return -1 if any task has failed
-    return -Int(any(t->t.result < 0, tasks))
+    return ifelse(s<0, -1, 0)
 end
 
 
diff --git a/src/manager/post_processing.jl b/src/manager/post_processing.jl
index b84c80c02..d19e93af6 100644
--- a/src/manager/post_processing.jl
+++ b/src/manager/post_processing.jl
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ function optimize(; prerender::Bool=true, minify::Bool=true, sig::Bool=false)::U
     print("→ Full pass")
     withpre = ifelse(prerender, rpad(" (with pre-rendering)", 24), rpad(" (no pre-rendering)", 24))
     print(withpre)
-    succ = (serve(single=true, prerender=prerender) == 0)
+    succ = (serve(single=true, prerender=prerender, nomess=true) === nothing)
     time_it_took(start)
 
     #