Questions tagged [new-users]
Questions that deal with general issues regarding new users and their assimilation into the Math Stack Exchange community.
104
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How to guide users re PSQs
I’ve reviewed a fair slug of the discussion here on the meta about so-called problem-statement questions (PSQs). I know that some of us disdain them and that others defend them. I also know from ...
- 2,223
32
votes
2
answers
802
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Ideal onboarding for MathSE
As a community, we expect new users of the site to do a lot of work before making their first post (which is on average a new question). They have to
make an account and sign up,
be at least somewhat ...
- 93k
11
votes
3
answers
871
views
Closing new users questions without comments.
I saw some questions in my close votes review queue that were asked by new users and had 4 close votes (and eventually got closed) without any answer or comment at all and without any comment ...
- 6,745
25
votes
2
answers
1k
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What can we do to deny bot-users a platform for their content?
I hardly ever visit Meta so forgive me if this has been addressed already. I just wanted to flag an issue:
The user Statistics Tutorial is a bot. So far I have deleted, along with other community ...
- 44k
4
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0
answers
138
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Standard response to "homework" questions [duplicate]
Does there exist a boilerplate response to comment on questions that consists of a problem with no effort at a solution (as might be posed by a student posting a problem from a problem set)?
- 1,399
4
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Proposal: Require first time question askers to pass a short quiz on how to ask a good question, before posting their first question
Given the large number of first time question askers who evidently do not really read the advice on how to ask a good question, I propose:
The site should require first time question askers to take a ...
- 26.7k
1
vote
1
answer
542
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The ever rising barrier to entry of Mathematics SE
Recently, I have been going over the accounts of a few users (using since 2 years or more) here and sorting questions by newest. I found that, usually, most people's oldest questions or answers weren'...
- 12.8k
3
votes
0
answers
234
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Implementing a fill-in-the-blank type structure for new users asking questions
A notable problem on this site seems to be PSQs from new users. In order to encourage better questions, I suggest implementing a fill-in-the-blank type structure for new users asking questions. Once a ...
user1082389
9
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1
answer
715
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How to respond to newbie answer.
I came across a late answer by a new user to a question, which I link here; and I have a dilemma how to respond.
The formatting was pretty bad (read: non-existent), so I edited it and commented, ...
- 6,670
-10
votes
2
answers
481
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Are the curators becoming overbearing in impeding the use of the site by askers/answerers?
I see one dimension into which MSE users might be partitioned into two parts, is into the "asker/answerers" and the "curators".
Asker/answerers view the site as a place for those ...
- 9,349
6
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answers
267
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A Beginner and the Problem with the 50 Reputations Requirement
I have just started studying calculus and sometimes have questions which are super easy for the most members of the site.
I had a question and did not want to ask it because a similar one was already ...
- 133
16
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3
answers
878
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About a possible change of instructions to ask a question, for beginners.
It's a well known problem that a new user often doesn't ask a question properly, e.g. asks a PSQ.
Perhaps the user can be suggested to check just this
table, (to begin with), instead of the current 2 ...
- 534
16
votes
0
answers
478
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Calling attention to the Staging Ground, a new site area under development to help new users
Recently Stack Exchange is developing a new area of the website called the Staging Ground, and the announcement is now a featured post on Meta.SE. Having searched the meta and a couple of chatrooms ...
- 2,330
4
votes
0
answers
168
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Feature request to help new users [duplicate]
I had this thought the other day on what was concerning new users the most, and one thing I noticed was how new users' questions were regularly downvoted. Being a new user means being exposed to many ...
- 1,876
23
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1
answer
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Is there a shorter and more opinionated version of "How to ask a good question?" that we can direct new users to?
The advice in how to ask a good question is good, but reading through the whole thing takes a while and, IMHO, requires some familiarity with the site to interpret. It also presents the reader with ...
- 12k
4
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1
answer
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"You can only post once every 40 minutes."
Dear all friendly mathematicians,
When I tried to post my question on this site - I saw
"You can only post once every 40 minutes."
Is there a restriction on that in general? Or is that due ...
- 627
-10
votes
1
answer
212
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Should “specific-user” tag not be removed from Meta?
It seems that the tag specific-user is almost never used on Meta sites; for example, Meta.SE or Physics Meta does not have such a tag. In my opinion, this tag should be removed because of the ...
- 750
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1
answer
179
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Part 2- Let us introduce non mandatory tests for new users
Some approximately 100 days before I posted a similar question explaining a mandatory test for new user to get more familiar with site working however it was highly disagreed in form of downvotes. Let ...
user876009
3
votes
1
answer
93
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Making the tour mandatory before asking questions?
I have had a SE account for some time now so forgive me if this policy is already in place.
I am curious if the tour is mandatory prior to asking questions? If not, has this ever been considered? Is ...
- 6,201
12
votes
2
answers
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Am I, as a comment flagger, a waster of the moderators' time?
Preamble
I am a novice SE user, a toddler. In this post I want to criticize some moderator actions, which seems risky and futile, regarding unwritten policies on the meta; however, just for the record,...
- 750
77
votes
1
answer
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Downvoting newbie user's questions
I found this post today. Yeah, I agree that this question has been asked many times before but isn't 9 downvotes for a new user a bit too intense? I think mass downvoting newbies will only harm the ...
- 12.8k
0
votes
1
answer
179
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Accidentally editing without knowing a question was closed in the review queue made a question unable to be reopened. New feature to prevent this.
I have seen this large issue with this website which can endanger the new user:
It was accidentally done that one edited the question of another user whose question was already closed, but then had ...
- 12.6k
23
votes
1
answer
628
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Advise new users to stay engaged with their question
A number of times recently I've seen a new user drop a simple question (some bad, but some OK questions), and it's got some misunderstanding of what they're working on or a confusing explanation, ...
- 40k
21
votes
2
answers
924
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Mathematics or rules : prioritizing content of first replies on improvable posts
I have found myself bewildered by a meldrum-conundrum, and I suggest a way of getting out of it.
So let's say we have a new user, a person who is getting used to the site and thus should be afforded a ...
0
votes
0
answers
78
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Improving MathJax experience for beginners
I don't know if this has already been discussed here on the meta, but since most of these 'MathJax Tutorial' have been meant for beginners, wouldn't it make sense if they could comment asking their ...
- 350
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votes
0
answers
190
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Not much community on this site for new members
I joined this community because I often visited MSE when I wanted to find ideas for the intuition behind theorems and definitions. Currently I'm a mathematics graduate student and I often feel that ...
- 737
2
votes
0
answers
84
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Can the Intro to new mathSE users be refined to improve the quality of new-user-mathSE queries?
After I specified this meta mathSE query's title, I noticed (in the drop down box) the meta mathSE query: Can the site design be improved to be more welcoming. That query is actually coming from the ...
- 38.2k
4
votes
0
answers
92
views
Adding the link of the MathJax tutorial in the Tour and/or the sidebar (bulletin) displayed when one is going to ask a question
Can we include a prominent link to MathJax in the Tour, a suggested here, and on the sidebar (bulletin) that displays on the right side when one is going to ask a question, as suggested in the ...
- 534
42
votes
2
answers
4k
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How to avoid downvotes for beginner's questions?
I just asking this because of a question I asked a couple of minutes ago. I am still new to sequences and series, just started to study the subject today on my own and I tried to solve some exercises. ...
- 889
21
votes
3
answers
2k
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Short and helpful advice on using MathJax on the site ...
The point of this question is to give people a chance to draft their best MathJax tips for new users. Perhaps this question will stand alone as one of the places to go. Perhaps the material in the ...
- 101k
1
vote
0
answers
69
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Button for "First Posts" MathJax-based review
When I review "First Posts" questions, a lot of reviews consist of pointing out new users on using MathJax by leaving a comment. Can't we establish a button which automatically creates a ...
- 2,414
2
votes
0
answers
91
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Notification about math jax for new users
I saw a problem which is common for new users who are using math jax. although they can write formula for example it is not hard to guess to show $x^2$ you should write ...
- 7,014
28
votes
1
answer
672
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Can we have a MathJax tutorial specifically for new users?
This is something that I've had in mind since long time ago, to have a MathJax tutorial for first time users.
Users that never have write using MathJax.
And instead of seeing the whole and giant page ...
user486983
66
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Don't review a first question by simply downvoting it or voting to close it
A fair amount of first questions are of very low quality. Even so, I think that it is not correct, when a user gets one such first post from the First Questions review queue, to simply downvote it or ...
- 433k
21
votes
1
answer
317
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Change the link to search in modal window for the first-time askers
Since March 2020, a modal window with some basic information is shown to a user who is asking their first question, see here: The new ask page is now live on the network! This replaced the older /ask/...
- 54.6k
17
votes
0
answers
313
views
Would a chatroom for new users be feasible?
Several times some users suggested that it might be useful to have a separate chatroom to help new users. (Directing them to various resources, suggesting how their post(s) can be improved, help with ...
- 54.6k
-8
votes
2
answers
197
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Hostility towards new members and treating them disrespectfully like they are total noobs? [closed]
So I asked this question Calculate determinant of a continuant matrix with variable elements? and then it was followed by a half baked 'answer' that should have been a comment at best. There is no way ...
- 295
4
votes
1
answer
69
views
Why are some New Contributors placed into the Low Quality Posts queue, instead of the First Posts queue?
With some frequency, I see posts that I would say could have been in either queue.
Is it decided
somewhat randomly?
with one of the queues in priority?
by some maybe indirect trigger?
in a ...
- 35.4k
6
votes
1
answer
363
views
Linear algebra and linear equations are sometimes confused
It is unfortunate that the term 'algebra' refers to two quite distinct things depending on what level of mathematics you are studying at. While I suppose linear equations such as $2x+8=12$ do ...
- 21.4k
51
votes
13
answers
4k
views
What's the reputation of MathSE among students and more casual users?
StackOverflow has quite the reputation as a toxic site, mostly for being unwelcoming to new users. But what's MathSE's general reputation? For users who are teachers, have you heard any of your ...
- 19k
2
votes
1
answer
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Newcomer Tutorial
I've seen time and time again newcomers coming to this exchange who've clearly not read the rules on how to post a good question to this exchange. I'm unsure how feasible this would be to implement on ...
- 1,549
1
vote
1
answer
113
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Rationale and need for rule barring low-reputation users from inserting images
Occasionally, a new user will ask a question for which a picture is required. Sometimes it's because they don't have the time, energy, or knowledge to convert a handwritten or typeset equation (often ...
- 34.7k
14
votes
3
answers
885
views
My username is forced to change because it is close to that of a well-known user
I received suddenly an email from the Moderation Team:
Hello,
We're writing in reference to your Mathematics Stack Exchange account:
https://math.stackexchange.com/users/798202/user798202
We reset ...
user9464
0
votes
1
answer
93
views
Referring to ones own questions as examples, is it an accepted practice?
Is the following unethical?
I want to refer new users on the website to questions that I have asked. I want to help them to ask better questions by providing my questions as examples.
I am asking ...
- 2,651
0
votes
1
answer
112
views
Edition of formulas from a generic New Contributor for the first post or comment: how do they learn it?
I would like to know as curiosity, or as a reflection or thought that maybe can be useful the following question (I didn't add answers on this site Mathematics Stack Exchange and I don't help to ...
-12
votes
1
answer
291
views
How many times we need to ask about closing quick questions of ✩new users✩ so that something is done about it?
I've searched old questions about the very short time for closing a question and unfortunately there are a lot.
I didn't get all of them (IIRC there was like 10 other pages to check them all) but I ...
user486983
-10
votes
1
answer
335
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Can you please give new users some time to breathe?
I have just logged in on math.stack and I immediately see
Can you guys please provide the answer? [closed]
and then I clicked and I realized that OP asked the question 5 minutes ago
see
Is that ...
user486983
2
votes
0
answers
99
views
What advice do you give to someone who's written an incomplete question below any understanding?
It happened recently and again today (post now deleted) that someone submitted a question with so little content that it was close to impossible to guess anything from it.
We all know that by the ...
- 27.4k
5
votes
1
answer
263
views
Why isn't this person a new contributor?
Not high priority, just a curiosity...but shouldn't this OP be a "new contributor"?
According to What makes a contributor new? and the linked post, I think the OP should be.
The account is 30 days ...
- 35.4k
9
votes
1
answer
547
views
What makes a contributor new?
I notice that this user is currently flagged as a new contributor on the main site (see here for example) despite the fact that he has been a member of MSE for quite a while and has plenty of rep ...
- 3,084