« first day (2861 days earlier)      last day (1106 days later) » 

theHigherGeometer
theHigherGeometer
5:03 AM
How about breaking that first paragraph in a different spot, to help the bold stand out more:
"Welcome to MathOverflow! We welcome your questions about **research-level mathematics**.

For general questions in mathematics, use other sites.
To improve the chances of your question getting an answer make sure that it:

* Includes the necessary background and has an informative title. (See also: [How to write a good MathOverflow question?](meta.mathoverflow.net/q/882))
* Is properly formatted - use [MathJax (TeX-like syntax)](meta.mathoverflow.net/q/3763) for writing mathematics.

Before you post, [search the site](mathoverflow.net/search) to make sure your question hasn’t been answered
Gah, that didn't work. Try this
"Welcome to MathOverflow! We welcome questions arising during **original research in mathematics**.
For general questions in mathematics, use other sites.
To improve the chances of your question getting an answer make sure that it:

* Includes the necessary background and has an informative title. (See also: [How to write a good MathOverflow question?](meta.mathoverflow.net/q/882))
* Is properly formatted - use [MathJax (TeX-like syntax)](meta.mathoverflow.net/q/3763) for writing mathematics.

Before you post, [search the site](mathoverflow.net/search) to make sure your question hasn’t been…
 
b_jonas
b_jonas
5:56 AM
@TimCampion I like the general idea where you have to write a short motivational paragraph to an admin to register an account, but not favourite math joke in particular. Most math jokes suck. They're just not funny.
 
 
8 hours later…
Tim Campion
Tim Campion
2:08 PM
@theHigherGeometer Thanks, I kind of like these! For the second one, I slightly worry that "questions arising during original research in mathematics" might scare off somebody who has a good math question arising from, say, physics or computer science research. I might be overthinking it...
@b_jonas Oh for sure. Math jokes are more about camp than about actually being funny. I think the biggest danger with switching to a system like the nForum's would be that the mods would start to forget what actual humor looks like after reading all these jokes :)
Back when we had a "math jokes" question (it's been deleted, but you can see it if you have enough rep), the title question was actually "Do good math jokes exist?". One answer in the comments (in my view the correct answer) was along the lines of "judging by the answers here, no."
 

« first day (2861 days earlier)      last day (1106 days later) »