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I like the idea that MO.net is for "Questions of interest to mathematicians." , and "Not for homework help."
I think if these (or similar) slogans were displayed MORE CONSPICUOUSLY, we'd get fewer people wasting their and our time asking questions we don't want to see.
Also or instead, perhaps a very conspicuous "Please read the Basic Ettiquette section of the FAQ before asking a question" is in order (along with a clearly labeled Basic Etiquette section). It will mean that anyone who violates the FAQ is doing something they have been explicitly asked to find out they shouldn't do, so they have a weak moral position and can't justifiably say "oh sorry, I didn't know".
Places to put the slogan(s): At the top of every page, or just on the "Ask Question" or "You Answer" sections? At the moment, the MO.net display is relatively free of imperatives, so I think there has to be room somewhere...
Thoughts?
I've added this just below the title bar when you ask a question:
Please read the FAQ (especially the first two sections) before asking a question!
Homework questions will not be tolerated.
I don't think we need to worry about "unwelcome posters" have a 'strong moral position'. We just need them to not post in the first place, and when they do, allow the clean-up process to be as painless as possible.
Overall, I think the current situation is near perfect! We have a low rate of homework/lame questions (yes, I'm even counting last weekend), and the community processes to downvote, flag as spam, and close work extremely quickly. We're always going to have some of these questions -- that's a price we should happily pay in order for new members of the mathematical community to be able to quickly join in and become established.
Remember for anyone proposing extra hurdles (etiquette quiz, reputation thresholds for posting) that you're already in! Think about how the process would work if you wanted to introduce your colleague down the hall to MO. In fact, go try it now, and see if it changes your perspective on the interface for new users!
Maybe I've spent too long on the intertubes, and have low standards.
@Anton: "Homework questions will not be tolerated." seems a bit too harsh, especially since it sounds be a bit offensive to well-behaving users (presumption should be of innocence, not guilt) and may confuse humble people.
I've seen questions contain the line, roughly, "Of course if this question is too easy for Math Overflow, I'll gladly delete it". Now the striking thing is that those questions are usually good. Yet if we stress something like "homework not tolerated" those people might arrive to a mistaken conclusion that they are not welcome.
The posts that offend people are by people who don't read the FAQ, so it's far from given that they will read, understand, and heed the warning you posted. I'd rather change it --> "Please note that our questions should be of interest to research mathematicians" or something to that effect.
There's a old post by Joel on the design + rules for the Joel on Software Forum -- the precursor to Stack Overflow, and he explains it as:
And I thought, 99.99999% of the people who read that sign ain't gonna be misbehavin', and the misbehavors couldn't care less what the sign says. So the net result of the sign is to make honest citizens feel like they're being accused of something, and it doesn't deter the sociopaths at all, and it just reminds the good citizens of New Jersey endlessly that they're in Newark, Crime Capital, where sociopaths get on the train and do Unpleasant Things and Make a Scene and have to be Put Off and the Police Summoned.
The whole post, by the way, is a great explanation for the reasons behind social design of Stack Overflow and thus directly applicable to us.
By the way, that post seems to correctly identify the problem with soft questions that (sometimes seems to) plague us and propose a technical solution of not bumping up threads which, ironically, was reversed in Stack Overflow:
Q. Your list of topics is sorted wrong. It should put the topic with the most recent reply first, rather than listing them based on the time of the original post.
A. It could do that; that's what many web-based forums do. But when you do that certain topics tend to float near the top forever, because people will be willing to argue about H1B visas, or what's wrong with Computer Science in college, until the end of the universe. Every day 100 new people arrive in the forum for the first time, and they start at the top of the list, and they dive into that topic with gusto.
The way I do it has two advantages. One, topics rapidly go away, so conversation remains relatively interesting. Eventually people have to just stop arguing about a given point.
Two, the order of topics on the home page is stable, so it's easier to find a topic again that you were interested in because it stays in the same place relative to its neighbors.
I think it's a good point that "HW will not be tolerated." is probably a little harsh. Something like "Remember that MO is not a place for homework questions."
I guess I should post an update since I've changed the phrasing:
Please read the FAQ (especially the first two sections) before asking a question!
In particular, remember that Math Overflow is not the place to post homework questions.
Nice! I'd say the more conspicuous, the better... in my browser the text appears greyed-out.
Also, I was thinking it would help to make more of the text clickable and inviting, and near the start of the sentence... something along these lines:
Please read the FAQ (especially the first two sections) before asking a question!
For homework-level questions, click here for websites that might help. Math Overflow doesn't like homework.
<a href="http://mathoverflow.net/faq#whatquestions">Please read the FAQ</a> (especially the first two sections) before asking a question!
<br>
<a href="http://math.berkeley.edu/~critch/MO_not_for_homework_help.html">For homework questions, CLICK HERE</a> for websites that might help.
Math Overflow doesn't like homework.
This way people don't have to think about what to do next, just click. My theory is that most users in a hurry to get calculus answers are in "click mode" until someone solves their homework, whereas people with serious math questions are probably in "think mode" because they're already thinking about how to pose their question :)
Cheers.
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