## zepdrix one year ago TUTORIAL: How to get your question answered quickly in the Math Section.

1. zepdrix

$$\rm \color{#2f972f}{\textbf{How to get your question answered quickly in the Math Section:}}$$ $$\rm \textbf{1.}$$ Do not include $$\rm\color{#CC0033}{\textbf{Medal!!}}$$ or $$\rm \color{#CC0033}{\textbf{Will fan!!}}$$ in your question. I can't speak for everyone, but I really don't care if you give me a medal. I just enjoy helping people. I don't need to be bribed into it. (Seriously though, I skip right past the Medal/Will Fan posts every time). $$\rm \textbf{2.}$$ Include $$\rm \color{#0097FF}{\textbf{the actual question}}$$ in the header. $$\rm \color{#0097FF}{\textbf{I need help!!}}$$ is not descriptive enough. If the question is too long to fit into the header, or requires a bunch of LaTeX and won't look good there, then at the very very least, put your $$\rm \color{#0097FF}{\textbf{subject}}$$ into the header. If I see something about $$\rm \color{#0097FF}{\textbf{statistics, z score blah blah blah,}}$$ a subject which I have no knowledge of, then at least I won't have wasted your time by looking and being unable to assist you. $$\rm \textbf{3.}$$ $$\rm \color{#8400b2}{\textbf{Be involved in your question.}}$$ (This is the most important point). It's hard to know exactly where you're having trouble if you don't communicate it. Besides that, based on the code of conduct, I'm not allowed to give you a direct answer. If you follow along, step by step, I have no problem leading you to the answer. But I need to know that $$\rm \color{#8400b2}{\textbf{you}}$$ understand how we got there. $$\rm \textbf{4.}$$ Include something about $$\rm \color{#fa8072}{\textbf{calculus}}$$ in the header. Most math geeks love calculus, myself included. You put that one little word in your header and watch how many people flock to your question! lol Ok that last one is a little bit of a joke, but whatever. I'm sorry that I don't have any tips for the other subjects. Math is the only thing that makes sense to me. $$\large\rm \color{#468499}{\textbf{(⌐▨_▨)}}$$ I'm not sure why I called it a tutorial lol. I figured I could get away with putting this in the math section if I did. And I think I just wanted to rant a little bit XD lol

2. sidmanfu

thanks for the tip @zepdrix

3. steve816

Sorry, I deleted it.

4. zepdrix

Everyone so quiet XD No opinions on these weird points I'm making? lol

5. Empty

Hahahaha yeah totally true. I am always willing to help someone if they've put effort in, although this is basically your step 3, I'll just say it: I'm only willing to put in at least as much energy as you have put into solving your problem unless I specifically find your question interesting (which is pretty much why step 4 is there, calculus is interesting! haha) Really though, I want to help people who want to understand and learn, no matter what level they're at.

6. anonymous

Regarding the fourth point... Maybe we should consider replacing those silly titles with tags, like "integral calc", "differential calc", "probability", etc to indicate what topics users are more likely to help with? Seriously though, integrals are like catnip for me (barring the one-step trivial ones).

7. zepdrix

Hmm tags would be super cool :)

8. zzr0ck3r

I hate calculus

9. zepdrix

GASP $$\LARGE \quad\color{blue}{\text{:O}}$$

10. misty1212

nothing is more boring than finding anti derivatives it is a silly task almost all functions do not have a closed form for an anti derivative

11. anonymous

Definite integrals with obscure closed forms are where it's at.

12. anonymous

thx :)

13. wmj259

Nice post. Well said, and very cleanly thought about. I also have these concerns, maybe if openstudy had like a beginners tutorial that all new accounts have to view through.

14. abdullah1995

people giving out direct answers need to be banned from this site >_>

15. triciaal

agree! topic and /or course level with question would help tags instead of area of expertise would get too complex; even though I am tired of saying I am not a stats person I still help sometimes I tend to skip questions where the person "mass tags" When the session is interactive there is no time limit to make sure everything is clear. If I feel the help was appreciated I will be ready to answer more questions for that person or solicit help on behalf of that person.

16. triciaal

@wmj259 great idea for a beginner's tutorial. For the past few weeks I have been directing a lot more people to "find more subjects" and I reminded people it is against the code of conduct to give direct answers.

17. hartnn

or you can add some interesting/cheesy lines in the header! like "How is this even possible!" or "Most difficult Math question ever!" or "A Puzzle to Puzzle you" or .... if you add "whats 1+1" in the header, and actual question in the comments, it will attract mods in your question, which are by the way, gr8 helpers ;)

18. ParthKohli

19. wmj259

@triciaal, I agree, Its a good idea to expand helpers range of topics/subject.

20. Astrophysics

@ParthKohli loll

21. jim_thompson5910

Another thing that's really helpful is posting a screenshot or image of the full problem. Nothing eats up more time than posting something like 1+x/y and asking "is it really $$\Large \frac{1+x}{y}$$ OR is it really $$\Large 1+\frac{x}{y}$$?". Sure you can use parenthesis to further clarify, but when it's a really complicated expression or involves math notation that's not easy or possible to type out, an image is ideal. As the saying goes, a picture says 1000 words. Also, posting a pic of the work done so far is desirable too. That way they don't have to retype out everything again.

22. zepdrix

hah :D well said jim jim

23. AlexandervonHumboldt2

yay! time to report this zerdix

24. AlexandervonHumboldt2

*repost

25. AlexandervonHumboldt2

lol

26. zepdrix

:3 lol sucks that we don't have like a "sticky" page for tutorials :D

27. AlexandervonHumboldt2

yeah :(