61 votes

Enforcement of Quality Standards

Since this policy was announced, we have witnessed a shift in attitude from the moderators. No longer are users trusted to make their own decisions on what can be posted and what cannot, given their ...
Toby Mak's user avatar
  • 16.7k
39 votes
Accepted

Why are clumsily formulated questions downvoted & closed so much?

Isn't this just a form of gatekeeping, where you only get to ask a question about mathematics if you've already learnt enough of mathematics to rigorously formulate your problem? This question seems ...
Xander Henderson's user avatar
  • 27.2k
32 votes

Is CRUDE healthy?

CRUDE, as described in its description, is an incredibly helpful tool. There is nothing unhealthy about "feedback/discussion/requests of Close/Reopen/Undelete/Delete/Edit for questions and answers on ...
Aloizio Macedo's user avatar
  • 33.6k
25 votes
Accepted

Five close votes is not enough to close a question?

Not all users actually had the close privilege thus there were not five votes to close even though the review-ticket lists more than five reviews with that recommendation. Likely this distinction ...
quid's user avatar
  • 41.8k
23 votes
Accepted

Non-human reviewer

When a user account gets deleted, some of its actions (votes, reviews, etc.) sometimes move to the Community account so they will not be nullified (sometimes we do want these to be nullified, in which ...
Asaf Karagila's user avatar
  • 388k
20 votes

Enforcement of Quality Standards

A week has passed since this post, and I'd like to leave some useful pointers for everyone, which I think will help everyone continue to have a positive experience in the site, and keep the community ...
Pedro's user avatar
  • 120k
18 votes

Is CRUDE healthy?

Updated: put this suggestion at the top, since I felt it became important. Original answer follows below that. My challenge to anyone who "doesn't like CURED": Join the room and take actions at ...
rschwieb's user avatar
  • 150k
18 votes
Accepted

Answer not deleted after six "Recommend Deletion"

Because the post has a positive score. According to Shog9's answer on Is “recommend deletion” secretly a vote to delete? Yes, a sufficient number of delete recommendations (currently 6 on most sites, ...
Andrew T.'s user avatar
  • 136
18 votes
Accepted

Is the "hint" approach creating a perverse incentive?

We should set our standards high enough, that people doing the bare minimum to meet said standards, are still doing an acceptable amount. What those standards should be then is a question of "...
Sidharth Ghoshal's user avatar
17 votes

Enforcement of Quality Standards

The real problem with so-called low quality questions and answers (which are often duplicates) is that the incentive system is set up to encourage it. If a user has several tens or hundreds of ...
Keith Backman's user avatar
17 votes

Are answers given by comments for low-quality questions against the principles stated with the EoQS?

I'd say that answering Questions in comments is strongly discouraged by SE policies generally, not just on Math.SE and not particularly in connection with EoQS. Poor quality Questions often get ...
hardmath's user avatar
  • 36.5k
16 votes
Accepted

Answer review - is it really answered question?

Ask the answerer in a comment to expand their answer a bit, and explain that the idea of the site is that in general an answer is not just a link or a reference to a source that gives an actual answer....
quid's user avatar
  • 41.8k
15 votes

What to do with questions formatted exclusively with a piece of paper, a pen and a camera?

Some decide instead of typing the actual text of the question, typesetting formulae with LATEX and using plotting software, it would be better for them to avoid the effort Okay, hold on. You seem to ...
user2357112's user avatar
  • 2,381
15 votes
Accepted

Why is an answer not deleted even when all reviewers recommend deletion?

In this case the problem is that the score of the post is too high for being deleted in this form. The idea is that apparently there are some that find value in the contribution and so it maybe should ...
quid's user avatar
  • 41.8k
15 votes

Etiquette of bounty on PSQs.

Please don't put a bounty on a PSQ. It is MSE policy not to answer PSQs until they are improved and no longer PSQs. A bounty on a PSQ works against this policy goal. A better approach in this ...
KReiser's user avatar
  • 60.9k
14 votes

Suspensions for low-quality contributions

There are no automatic account suspension. Each suspension is instated by a moderator or SE staff, who fixes the length. There are some basic guidelines but ultimately it is up to the moderator ...
quid's user avatar
  • 41.8k
14 votes

Self-Answer, or Delete my Question?

I disagree that this is only a simple yes/no question. Well the ultimate answer is either yes or no, but you do need justifications. Think, for example, if some user posted another answer saying &...
Arctic Char's user avatar
  • 15.6k
14 votes

Are the curators becoming overbearing in impeding the use of the site by askers/answerers?

Your point boils down to "people should be allowed to create and enable bad content if they want because it doesn't hurt anyone." But it does. Questions on math.se aren't private messages. ...
Alexander Gruber's user avatar
  • 26.5k
13 votes
Accepted

Must low-quality questions be updated with edits instead of comments?

Yes, absolutely! All relevant information must be included in the question. Comments are temporary, and are intended to help improve the question or to leave minor or transient information. Relevant ...
D.W.'s user avatar
  • 3,213
12 votes

Can I try to tell experienced users not to answer bad questions?

As long as your comment is polite, I see no reason why you should not make any appropriate suggestion. However, if you feel that a question is indeed bad, and you have the requisite reputation, then ...
robjohn's user avatar
  • 340k
11 votes
Accepted

What to do about these set theory questions

There are measures that can be taken, and are taken, to stop such things. I am not able to give details, which are not public for obvious reasons, but, e.g., (automatic) checks and restrictions are ...
quid's user avatar
  • 41.8k
11 votes

Is CRUDE healthy?

Is CRUDE healthy? You mean right now!? I dunno. Heck, I don't even know when right now is! Perhaps the more important question is Can CRUDE be healthy? Certainly. Though it would probably be more ...
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauot's user avatar
11 votes

Can we have "2021: a year of EoQS"?

There needs to be an analysis of whether this year's EQOS changes have improved the site or damaged it, and to what extent. If a large part of the community identified a problem and felt something ...
Henry's user avatar
  • 152k
10 votes

Is CRUDE healthy?

I was going to write just a comment, but there are several points to be made here so I decided to promote my 2 cents to an answer. My observations regarding CRUDE, the state of MSE, and this topic: ...
Lord_Farin's user avatar
  • 17.6k
10 votes

Is CRUDE healthy?

No, it's not. Cranks, nuts, newbies, PSQ-askers, PSQ-answerers, rep-farmers, donut-eaters, people making wrong assertions. How can we make them stop doing those things, or get them to leave? A self-...
Dan Brumleve's user avatar
  • 17.6k
10 votes

Is it acceptable to post a "better" version of an existing question?

It depends. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question—as the extensive discussion in comments illustrates. However, I can address the points you raise one by one and explain how they do ...
Wildcard's user avatar
  • 3,019
9 votes

What to do about these set theory questions

Indeed, this is a problem. And when you first note it, you sometimes feel that being a single user (with a single account) it is impossible to downvote, close and delete these votes. But you are not ...
Asaf Karagila's user avatar
  • 388k

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible