Remove unnecessary wording in homework thread titles

[jackmell]

Hi,

In the homework forums, each thread listed is followed usually by the wording:

"Homework Statement "

That is, if you go down the line in the listing of homework thread titles, that phrase is the first phrase in the description and it limits actual content of the thread description.

I suggest we truncate that phrase and only list below the thread title, what comes after that in the typical homework thread listing.

The summary of threads in the forum would then offer more descriptive content of the thread.

Ok, just a suggestion.

 

[Evo]

What browser are you using? In my view, "Homework Statement " is not part of the title. It is the beginning of the template in the post.

Can you furnish a screen shot of where you see the template appearing in the title?

 

[jbrussell93]

What browser are you using? In my view, "Homework Statement " is not part of the title. It is the beginning of the template in the post.

I think the OP is talking about when you mouse over the title of the post on the thread listings. It shows the first line or so of the post so you don't have to click it.

 

[jackmell]

What browser are you using? In my view, "Homework Statement " is not part of the title. It is the beginning of the template in the post.

Can you furnish a screen shot of where you see the template appearing in the title?

. . . ugh, like how?

I'm using Internet Explorer. When I'm logged in, I can hover over it and it still reports for most of the threads, that phrase. When logged out, I get a page listing of all the thread titles and underneath each thread title is a one-line description, most often that phrase followed by a few words of the actual question.

 

[mfb]

I guess this is meant:

I'm not sure how much you would gain from a few more words.

 

[jackmell]

I guess this is meant:

I'm not sure how much you would gain from a few more words.

That's not what exactly I'm referring too. Rather when logged-out and you view the page of threads, at least in IE, underneath each thread title, apparently the first line in the thread is reported which in the case of HW, is usually that phrase followed by a small part of what is being stated.

All I'm saying is that it would look a little more professional if that phrase wasn't repeated down the line of thread titles. People looking at the list of threads don't want to be reminded of "the problem statement etc" all the way down the page, but would rather be presented with content. Just my opinion ok.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It is problematic. I'm not sure there is an easy solution other than I may just disable the snippet for homework forums.

 

[mfb]

Ah I see.
Apart from evil JavaScript hacks (or removing the teaser completely there), I don't see a way to get rid of that line.

Edit: Greg was quicker.

 

[jackmell]

Hi,

I see you guys are experimenting with the HW thread titles and are removing the content underneath each title when not logged in. May I say even though that is a reduction in content, it certainly is cleaner-looking.

When logged in and I hover over them, I do get the extra "the problem statement, etc." phrase. Would be nice if that phrase could be removed. Can't just search for the string and remove it before reporting the content?

I hope I'm not being annoying. We really do in my opinion have a first-class science and math forum and little things here and there can make it better right? :)

 

[Mandelbroth]

I hope I'm not being annoying. We really do in my opinion have a first-class science and math forum and little things here and there can make it better right? :)

I'd hardly call it annoying. Some of us feel the same way about that one consistent line of text at the top.

Plus, I can't think of a case where wanting to help this forum would be a bad thing.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I hope I'm not being annoying. We really do in my opinion have a first-class science and math forum and little things here and there can make it better right? :)

I always welcome feedback. Otherwise I have no idea what you guys are thinking :)

I'm considering a few options regarding this topic. Stay tuned.

 

[jedishrfu]

Things I'd like to see are:
- colorizing of source code ala geshi plugin
- tag cloud for trending topics
- support for latex display in the ipad PF app

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Things I'd like to see are:
- colorizing of source code ala geshi plugin
- tag cloud for trending topics
- support for latex display in the ipad PF app

Colorizing of source code is something I've looked into. There aren't any great solutions at the moment.

The tag cloud is on the search page or tag search page
https://www.physicsforums.com/tags.php

 

[berkeman]

When logged in and I hover over them, I do get the extra "the problem statement, etc." phrase. Would be nice if that phrase could be removed. Can't just search for the string and remove it before reporting the content?

Speaking selfishly as a Mentor, I use that info to help my Mentoring of the Homework Help forums. When I mouse over a thread title and see that they are using the HH Template, it makes it more likely that I don't need to click into the thread to check whether they have shown sufficient effort of their own in asking their question.

When I mouse over a thread and see they have not used the Template, I almost always click into see if they are showing effort, or have just pasted in their problem and are hoping someone will do their homework for them. You can imagine what happens then...

 

[jhae2.718]

- colorizing of source code ala geshi plugin

As a (manual) workaround, I've been using the following with the Python Pygments library to do source highlighting:

echo [/color] "$source_code" | pygmentize -l $lang -f bbcode

where $source_code is of course the actual source and $lang is the language name.

 

[Enigman]

It is problematic. I'm not sure there is an easy solution other than I may just disable the snippet for homework forums.

A simple way around would be wrapping it in the [QUOTE.][./QUOTE] tags. The things in quote tags apparently don't show up (in the pop up or in the line seen after logging out.)
I checked with this thread in current events:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=710782

 

[mfb]

A simple way around would be wrapping it in the [QUOTE.][./QUOTE] tags. The things in quote tags apparently don't show up (in the pop up or in the line seen after logging out.)
I checked with this thread in current events:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=710782

Then it would take up a lot of space in each post, and could look confusing (as the content is not a quote).

Putting it in square brackets could work.

[1. The problem statement, ...]