Math.SE Comment Templates -

Here’s a list of common comments for Math.SE newbies.

I’ve posted them on WordPress.com, but I often got typos after updating that page. Without version control, it’s hard to find out the cause of such error.

Questions lacking context

[Welcome to Math.SE!](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/11168/290189) Please read [this post](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/9960/290189) and the others there for information on writing a good question for this site. In particular, people will be more willing to help if you [edit] your question to include some motivation, and an explanation of your own attempts.

Questions not written in MathJax

[Welcome to Math.SE!](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4928/290189) Please use MathJax.  For some basic information about writing math at this site see e.g. [basic help on MathJax notation](/help/notation), [MathJax tutorial and quick reference](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/5020/290189), [main meta site math tutorial](//meta.stackexchange.com/a/70559/259305) and [equation editing how-to](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1773/290189).

Newbies’ combo

[Welcome to Math.SE!](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/11168/290189) [Please use MathJax.](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4928/290189)  For some basic information about writing math at this site, see [MathJax tutorial and quick reference](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/5020/290189) and [equation editing how-to](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1773/290189). Please read [this post](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/9960/290189) for writing a good question.

Newbies’ pic-question

To avoid excedding the upper limit of 500 characters, I’ve copied and pasted several comments and combined them into one.

[Welcome to Math.SE!](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4928/290189) Please use MathJax and see [MathJax tutorial](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/5020/290189). Please [don't use pictures for critical portions](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/20529/290189) of your post. Pictures may not be legible, cannot be searched and are not viewable to those who use screen readers. Please read [this post](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/9960/290189) for information on writing a good question. People will be more willing to help if you [edit] your question to include an explanation of your own attempts.

Image posts

Please do [not use pictures for critical portions](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/20529/290189) of your post. Pictures may not be legible, cannot be searched and are not viewable to some, such as those who use screen readers.

Text images / Scanned pages from books

Please do [not use pictures for critical portions](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/20529/290189) of your post. Pictures may not be legible, cannot be searched and are not viewable to some, such as those who use screen readers. [Scanned pages from books are discouraged on SE network](//meta.stackexchange.com/q/155600/259305). Questions should contain sufficient context so that it is [answerable with the text alone](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1807/290189).

Displaystyle in question title

I have changed the formatting of the title so as to [make it take up less vertical space](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/9686/290189) -- this is a policy to ensure that the scarce space on the main page is distributed evenly over the questions.  See [here](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/9730/290189) for more information. Please take this into consideration for future questions. Thanks in advance.

One question per post

Please, post only [one question in one post](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/7132/290189). Posting several questions in the same post is discouraged and such questions may be put on hold, see [meta](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/6464/290189).

Fractions in indices and exponents

Please [don't use `\frac` in exponents or limits of integrals](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/5057/290189). It looks bad and confusing, and it rarely appears in professional mathematics typesetting.

Accept answers

After you ask a question here, if you get an acceptable answer, please [consider "accept" the answer](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/4945/290189) by clicking the check mark $\checkmark$ next to it. This scores points for you and for the person who answered your question. You can find out more about accepting answers here: [How do I accept an answer?](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/3286/290189), [Why should we accept answers?](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/3399/290189), [What should I do if someone answers my question?](//math.stackexchange.com/help/someone-answers).

Notify question writer for a $\LaTeX$ edit

[Welcome to Math.SE!](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/8588/290189) I have tried to improve the readability of your question by improving the [$\rm \LaTeX$](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/5020/290189) code. It is possible that I unintentionally changed the meaning of your question.  Please proofread the question to ensure this has not happened.

Wrong tags

Some commonly misused tags.

Probability Theory

[Probability theory](//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability_theory) is [about the measure-theoretic foundations](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/8587/290189) of stochastics.  The tag ([tag:probability-theory]) should be used for questions concerning this subject, not for questions about calculating a specific probability.  Use ([tag:probability]) instead, see also [meta](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/q/1686/290189).

Functional Analysis

The tag ([tag:functional-analysis]) is [intended for questions about infinite dimensional vector spaces](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/8587/290189), there is a separate tag for ([tag:functional-equations]); see the [tag-wiki](https://math.stackexchange.com/tags/functional-analysis/info) and the tag-excerpt. (The tag-excerpt is also shown when you are adding a tag to a question.)

Algebraic Geometry

The tag ([tag:algebraic-geometry]) is intended for questions in a [branch of mathematics called algebraic geometry](//math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/8587/290189) (see the [tag-wiki](https://math.stackexchange.com/tags/algebraic-geometry/info).) The tags ([tag:algebra-precalculus]) and/or ([tag:geometry]) should be used for basic problems that involve both algebra and geometry.

My SQL script for searching old comments

You may execute my comment search by user and keyword by clicking the link.