59
votes
Accepted
What's the reputation of MathSE among students and more casual users?
Here are some of my experiences talking about math.se in the real world.
I knew a well-meaning but struggling sophomore math major who felt too afraid to post a question here. She used the site ...
- 26.7k
47
votes
What's the reputation of MathSE among students and more casual users?
This is THE place. I call this place a "super computer". And it is. It is true that maybe it is a harsh place for newbies, but that is not 100% true. It is harsh only if you ask something ...
- 2,567
41
votes
Accepted
Is there a shorter and more opinionated version of "How to ask a good question?" that we can direct new users to?
Because
solving your immediate mathematical problem is secondary to this website's goal of being a repository of high-quality, useful, searchable mathematical Q&A,
and because
you want to help ...
- 34.3k
38
votes
Don't review a first question by simply downvoting it or voting to close it
Originally intended to be a comment, but I find that it is more of an answer than a comment.
I would suggest modifying the website to force newcomers to read the "Asking a good question" (...
- 1,441
35
votes
Accepted
How to avoid downvotes for beginner's questions?
Added a present the problem bullet point that includes an Edit-Images section.
Added an Edit-Tools paragraph.
In my opinion, the best way to have your query upvoted rather than downvoted is by first ...
- 33.7k
26
votes
Short and helpful advice on using MathJax on the site ...
The goal of this post is to outline the absolute basics of how to typeset mathematics using MathJax, without any prior knowledge assumed.
Introduction: when asking and answering questions, it makes ...
- 18.9k
25
votes
What's the reputation of MathSE among students and more casual users?
I am a person who was "good" at math in high school, but I would definitely consider myself an "enthusiast" rather than a "mathematician". (Somehow I feel that "...
- 10.5k
22
votes
What's with some new contributors flagrantly violating the rules for answering questions?
I want to draw your attention to these two questions:
https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3000195/first-countable-space-is-sequentially-compact-iff-countably-compact
https://math.stackexchange....
- 6,033
16
votes
Down vote for new user
A couple of things
Votes on meta don't mean the same as on the main site. A downvote can mean that people disagree with your position, it doesn't necessarily mean that people don't value your post.
...
- 43.2k
14
votes
Blocking to ask a question for a beginner.
We already do this more-or-less. It's not strictly the Tour but we show this page https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/ask/advice which even has a check-box.
For reference, a link to the post (...
quidMod
- 41.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Hostility towards new members and treating them disrespectfully like they are total noobs?
The comment history on the answer doesn't exactly look good for anyone involved in the discussion. I might suggest, when you feel a little calmer, that you flag it for moderator attention and ask ...
- 6,250
14
votes
Advise new users to stay engaged with their question
This may be a controversial answer, but I think the low investment of users in non homework cases maybe due to the following:
The mathematical maturity of the user is not enough to understand the ...
- 11.2k
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. ...
- 26.7k
13
votes
Accepted
What makes a contributor new?
In the linked posts from the main meta site, it says:
The new indicator works by the age of a user's first visible post.
This could be a question or answer, and the association bonus won't influence ...
- 27.4k
13
votes
Don't review a first question by simply downvoting it or voting to close it
I agree that the First Posts review queue calls upon Reviewers to do more than simply downvote and close. The instructions at the top of that page say:
This is the first question asked by a new user....
- 36.6k
12
votes
Accepted
Show "how to ask" advice before a new user asks a question
This is live; I went with a variation on Normal Human's proposed guidance:
To improve the chances of your question getting an answer, make sure that it:
Uses MathJax formatting for math formulas
Has ...
- 101
12
votes
I'm reviewing many first posts by leaving a comment. Is it OK?
It appears to me that this is definitely behaviour in the spirit of the review system. Therefore you are definitely not doing something wrong.
If this were the Low Quality queue or the Close Votes ...
- 17.7k
12
votes
What's the reputation of MathSE among students and more casual users?
Of the people I know—and some of them are mathematically inclined—Math SE is not super well known. Most of the people are not surprised it exists, but have not specifically used it.
I don't know that ...
- 33.5k
11
votes
What should be the role of *Welcome to MSE*?
I think amWhy's and Isa's comments above point out THE major problem with this for new users: a user needs 20 reputation to participate in chat, and most users who would benefit from talking to ...
- 18.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Rationale and need for rule barring low-reputation users from inserting images
We already had users posting pornographic pictures, or stuff like that. I think that's a good enough reason.
At the very least require someone to add something of possible value to the site before ...
- 390k
11
votes
Question "Integral thank you" asked by an interesting new user
Ananth, I do wonder what you mean by "reputed" users. If you mean the experienced ones on Math.SE, of course they should be role models for new users. Yes, if no one answers a question asked by a new ...
- 1,020
11
votes
New User: Welcome To MSE........
I remember when I joined this site, I did not receive any downvotes on my questions, even though my first question was actually 3 unrelated questions posted as one (not at all intentional).
It was ...
- 947
10
votes
What's the reputation of MathSE among students and more casual users?
I would like to share my view on the two Stack Exchange (SE) sites that I — a high school student — use the most: Mathematics SE and Physics SE. I agree that both sites are vast repositories of ...
- 2,970
10
votes
Short and helpful advice on using MathJax on the site ...
Some Dos and Don'ts based on a little time in the review queues
Do type each equation inside a single pair of dollar signs $...$, or ...
- 34.3k
10
votes
What can we do to deny bot-users a platform for their content?
One characteristic of GPT-generated answers is being confidently wrong. Additionally, Mx. Speaker, an existing answer to this question makes a few errors, some of which I believe warrant correction.
...
- 147
9
votes
Accepted
Why isn't this person a new contributor?
The author of the question you linked has previously posted a question here, on the $18^{\text{th}}$ October. That question was roomba'd today, approximately an hour and a half after the question you ...
- 205k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible