27 votes

Proposal: can we add a tutorial+admission test for new users?

Maybe a more lively tutorial can work. Dynamic version: Static version: Code: \documentclass{beamer} \usepackage{lmodern} \usepackage{graphics} \usepackage{ellipsis} \usepackage{csquotes} \...
CarLaTeX's user avatar
  • 61.1k
26 votes

Should we "educate" (new) users by not answering until...?

Personally I think you should only ask for a MWE if the presence of an MWE would help you to answer the question. A MWE almost always helps even if only to avoid the answerer having to write some ...
David Carlisle's user avatar
23 votes

Should we "educate" (new) users by not answering until...?

I completely disagree with the proposition that we should refrain from answering questions in order to educate new users. I simply don't think it's my job to educate new users about how to ask ...
Paul Stanley's user avatar
  • 18.1k
21 votes

Proposal: can we add a tutorial+admission test for new users?

I think discouraging newbies is a bad idea - we were all newbies once. If I'd faced a test before being allowed my first post I'd probably have gone away (and never known enough to regret that choice)...
Ethan Bolker's user avatar
  • 9,241
20 votes

Proposal: can we add a tutorial+admission test for new users?

The question to be asked is why you are so frustrated. Past first page you wouldn't even see new questions. There is a tendency in the residents; a bit of "come on ask me an interesting question" ...
percusse's user avatar
  • 157k
17 votes

Should we "educate" (new) users by not answering until...?

I would like to tell you what happened to me some time ago. In the beginning, I answered also questions without MWE. One day I answered telling the OP: "Next time, please add an MWE" and he promised ...
CarLaTeX's user avatar
  • 61.1k
15 votes

"Welcome to TeX.SX!" might be misleading as such a website doesn't exist

I don't consider this an issue, since people who see that message are already on this site. The suggestion is not "Go to TeX.SX" or "Visit TeX.SX". As an aside: For those posting Welcome to TeX.SX!...
Werner's user avatar
  • 595k
12 votes

When flagging for close: Adding a reason

The feature you're requesting already exists. When closing as Off Topic, you can add a custom reason if you feel that the default ones are not appropriate. In this case a comment is automatically ...
Alenanno's user avatar
  • 37.1k
11 votes
Accepted

When flagging for close: Adding a reason

Sometimes questions are closed right away, which is unfortunate. SE policy states that closing isn't closing right away, but putting the question on hold, i.e. pressing the pause button. If an ...
Johannes_B's user avatar
  • 24.1k
10 votes

Often referenced questions

Table formatting My table doesn't fit; what are my options? [My table doesn't fit; what are my options?](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/332902) Error with square bracket in table [Error with ...
10 votes

When flagging for close: Adding a reason

I heartily agree that close voters should give reasons, preferably in a comment so that the questioner is engaged in the process and not just informed of the result. Unfortunately, however, this ...
Alan Munn's user avatar
  • 214k
9 votes
Accepted

New User posted a "question" in "Answer" Section which was deleted

The user in question will not see any notifications in their inbox, since their last visit to the site was more than 1 hour after the post was deleted (combination of 1 and 2 below): The only ...
Werner's user avatar
  • 595k
9 votes

Text building blocks

I suggest yet another addition that tries to encourage accepting an answer in case of "Thank you/problem solved"-comments to the answer. The above building blocks only deal with "Thank you"-answers ...
9 votes

Often referenced questions

Indexing and Glossaries Generating External Files (Running makeindex/xindy): Index not created in pdf output, even though idx file is present [Index not created in pdf output, even though idx file is ...
8 votes

Text building blocks

It might be useful to have a short comment explaining why users should not ignore error messages, I propose as first draft the following text -- please feel free to edit Please never ever ignore ...
8 votes

Should we "educate" (new) users by not answering until...?

I once made very bad experiences with a specific user. I asked that particular one several times to post an MWE and he never did. In the end I posted a longish comment that I will never answer any ...
Skillmon's user avatar
  • 56.4k
7 votes

Often referenced questions

Classes General Why should the minimal class be avoided? [Why should the minimal class be avoided?](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/42114) Class options The article class ignores 14pt [The article ...
6 votes

Proposal: can we add a tutorial+admission test for new users?

There's a shared sentiment here that while we want to help guide users to write better questions, we don't want to create a system that becomes a discouraging wall or obstacle to a new user. As has ...
Grace Note's user avatar
  • 101
6 votes

Often referenced questions

Beamer Beamer overlay specifications for a tikzpicture [Beamer overlay specifications for a tikzpicture](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/146908/36296) Shortcuts for \begin{frame} are a bad idea [...
6 votes

Text building blocks

I have a suggestion in case of a question too early put in the Close Votes list: To the close-voters: wait a few days before closing: https://i.stack.imgur.com/KSSY4.png. Let's give the OP time to ...
6 votes

Often referenced questions

Front matter Title page Are there any packages providing collections of title pages? [Are there any packages providing collections of title pages?](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/244399) Showcase ...
5 votes

Often referenced questions

Meta TeX.SE Text building blocks (pre-written common replies) [Text building blocks](https://tex.meta.stackexchange.com/q/430) (pre-written common replies) I've just been asked to write a minimal ...
5 votes

Text building blocks

I have a suggestion for a new building block: the "It didn't work" response. What do you mean by "it didn't work"? Did it fail to compile? What errors did you get? Perhaps you could include your log ...
5 votes

Should we "educate" (new) users by not answering until...?

No, I don't think that they should be some automatism here. When I decide if I want to try to answer a question a lot of factors are involved: my free time, does the question look interesting, do I ...
Ulrike Fischer's user avatar
4 votes

Often referenced questions

Text as text Why not scale elements that contain text [Why not scale elements that contain text](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/425453/36296) Is there any way to do a correct word count of a LaTeX ...
4 votes

Often referenced questions

Additional (math) operators, relations and so on Define additional math operators to be typeset in roman [Define additional math operators to be typeset in roman](https://tex.stackexchange.com/...
4 votes

Why can't I upvote posts when my account is new?

The intent here is to avoid gaming of the system through sock puppets - accounts set up by a user with the intent on using them to cast illegal votes, either on their own posts, or on others. The 15 ...
Werner's user avatar
  • 595k
3 votes

Often referenced questions

Teaching/learning resources, and examples What are good learning resources for a LaTeX beginner? [What are good learning resources for a LaTeX beginner? ](https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/11/) ...
3 votes

Text building blocks

I didn't find a snippet about links pointing to external pages instead of providing a MWE embedded in the question. Links pointing to dropbox/overleaf/bitbuckets can become invalid. Please add a ...

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