Some tags on StackOverflow have icons, such as
and so on.
Question: Can we have tag icons here at maths.SE?
I mean "can" in the sense of "are we capable of having". I'm not saying we should or should not have this.
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asked Sep 22, 2013 at 19:54
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11$\begingroup$ Note that on SO these icons are actually indications of sponserships/branding. $\endgroup$– user642796Sep 22, 2013 at 20:10
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4$\begingroup$ Oh, I didn't realise that. I guess we won't be having a little Petersen graph next to graph-theory then. $\endgroup$– Douglas S. StonesSep 22, 2013 at 20:12
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5$\begingroup$ I wouldn't see why we couldn't do that. Can't we have non-branding tag photos? $\endgroup$– PyRulezSep 22, 2013 at 20:30
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2$\begingroup$ @DouglasS.Stones: Probably not. I've done a quick check in a few other SE sites, and haven't been able to find icons on any tags (including on arqade.SE which has many tags that would be well-suited for actual branding). Perhaps in the future it would be possible, but I don't think SE would want to do something that might devalue part of their advertising initiative on SO. In the meantime, you could modify the code of this user script to make it display icons of your choosing. (I haven't tried it out, so I have no idea if it works at all.) $\endgroup$– user642796Sep 22, 2013 at 20:43
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$\begingroup$ I think this would be a horrible idea! Think of the arguments and opinions, and also wonder how we night represent, say, the ring theory tag? Or the group theory tag? Real analysis? Number theory? $\endgroup$– user1729Sep 23, 2013 at 9:44
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$\begingroup$ I only intend the above question at the technical level. I'm also unsure if it would be a good idea. It sounds like it won't be possible regardless, so it's somewhat moot whether or not it's a good idea to implement. $\endgroup$– Douglas S. StonesSep 23, 2013 at 10:08
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2$\begingroup$ @user1729 Not every tag needs to be icon'd. I do think it would be incredibly helpful though, for distinguishing tags with new users. For example, a precalculus student may use the graph-theory tag for a question involving the graph of a function. An icon that looks nothing like the graph of a function may cause them to think about this for a second or two longer--enough to encourage them to read the tag wiki. $\endgroup$– apnortonSep 24, 2013 at 2:22
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$\begingroup$ On another note: I really like this idea, and would love to see it turned into a feature request... :) $\endgroup$– apnortonSep 24, 2013 at 2:23
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$\begingroup$ @anorton That is a good point. However, I suspect the most common mix-ups would be abstract algebra and graph theory...but abstract algebra doesn't really have a picture... $\endgroup$– user1729Sep 24, 2013 at 9:31
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5$\begingroup$ "homework is brought to you by wolfram alpha" hm... $\endgroup$– Tobias KienzlerSep 24, 2013 at 15:35
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1 Answer
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Here's what it looks like if we modify Stephen A. Goss's script StackOverflow script (link) to work on maths.SE:
I made these icons myself:
These I "borrowed" off the internet:
These are icons for software:
answered Sep 23, 2013 at 10:34
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$\begingroup$ Nice ones (though combinatorics is a bit too small for me to identify) - I wonder what the SE team's stance on icons for non-free software is... $\endgroup$ Sep 25, 2013 at 7:24
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$\begingroup$ I really like some of these and I think that in addition to looking nice they could help a little for new users not to miss-tag (but mainly I like the way they look) $\endgroup$– BelgiSep 25, 2013 at 11:11
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