Re: -- Draft unofficial <sci.math> FAQ. Comments please.
- From: quasi <quasi@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:24:32 -0500
On Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:15:46 +1300, Ken Pledger
<ken.pledger@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Recent discussions gave me the idea of posting some general advice
(especially for newbies) once every few weeks. I've tried to use
straightforward language for the sake of posters who are not native
English speakers.
Please suggest improvements to any part of it, including the
title. (The title will not begin with "-- ", so that regulars can more
easily ignore it.)
Title: How to post messages to the <sci.math> news group.
These notes are not official in any way, but if you are new to
this group you may find them helpful.
1. Messages posted to <sci.math> may be about mathematics at any
level. Please don't post OT (off-topic) messages about other things.
Questions about mathematical statistics may be posted here, but
you may prefer to try the <sci.stat.math> or <sci.stat.edu> news group.
2. The title should show what is in your message. For example, "--
Differentiating trig functions" is a good title, but "-- I can't solve
this problem" is a bad title.
Also, the two dashes and a space at the beginning of each title
help some people to separate your message from commercial spam.
3. Typing mathematical formulae may not be easy.
Use "^" for powers, for example a^3 for "a cubed".
Use plenty of brackets/parentheses. For example, 5e^2x could mean
(5e)^(2x) or ((5e)^2)x or 5(e^2)x or 5(e^(2x)).
Use plenty of spaces. For example, x + y = 6 is easier to read than
x+y=6.
For more details about typing formulae, see the <alt.algebra.help> FAQ
at <http://aah.ryan-usa.com/node15.html>.
4. This news group is open to everybody, and some people have bad
manners. Try to stay polite yourself. There are still plenty of people
who want to discuss mathematics without rude arguments. I hope you
enjoy being one of them.
Ken Pledger.
Nice -- clear, simple, well written.
A few suggestions ...
Perhaps include some discussion in the FAQ as to how to quote replies.
Since how to actually do that varies from newsreader to newsreader,
rather than clutter up the FAQ with newsreader-specific instructions,
maybe just give a link to another document which gives discusses the
topic and gives sublinks, one for each of the main newsreaders.
Hopefully, some user who knows how to quote correctly using a
particular newsreader will volunteer to write instructions for that
newsreader.
Along the same lines, maybe include a suggestion that, to get a sense
of the most common styles for posts, both new posts and replies, to
spend a little time reading the posts of those who appear to be the
"regulars".
But all in all, I think having an FAQ is a fine idea. While it may not
make all of our perceived problems completely disappear, given time,
it may reduce them substantially ("one user at a time"). Also, when a
new user arrives, oblivious to the various conventions, someone could
include, as part of their reply, a link to the FAQ.
quasi
.
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- From: Ken Pledger
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