Writing math in ascii is a mess.
As we can use latex in the entries it seems strange that one can not write latex in the forums. This would be useful as they are mainly used to discuss math.
Another advantage of this is that hopefully this ability would attract more users to PM, e.g. part of the usenet crowd. We should make it as easy as possible to discuss math. These discussions would be great source material for PM entries.
Another issue I think is current is how the forums should be organized. Currently, there are only 14 forums. The biggest math related being:
I think it would be easier to read these if they (interally) were organized in some way.
I think it would be desirable to have a pedagogical value in reading the forums. Also for new users, Currently, IMHO, the subject range in each forum is too big for this to be the case. – matte 17 April 2005
The system actually has some infrastructure for forum hierarchy. The real issue is settling on a top-level subject system that has complete coverage and that people mostly agree on. I can make the forums at the snap of a finger once I have the subject breakdown. You could accelerate this process the most by proposing one! --akrowne Sun Apr 17 20:34:22 UTC 2005
If people could add new sub-fora at will (like with nested noosphere instances) and maybe sort/label existing threads at will (scholium system style), then this idea seems even more likely to be useful. (I think gmail-style labeling may be better for this than directory-style sorting, since some topics legitimately belong in several categories.) --jcorneli Sun Apr 17 21:57:39 2005 UTC
I agree that users should be able to create new fora and subfora (under the everwatchful eye of an admin). PM should be a comunity. I would start with:
in a "Get Help", "Ask a mathematician" or "Problem corner"-folder. In this fora, messages could be rated with a "type" from:
The type would be similar to type in corrections. This would require some UI for browsing posts with a certain type. Would it be useful if a user could upload a jpg file? This could make discussing geometric problems much easier. --matte 18 April 2005