Help:FAQ

Below are answers to some frequently asked questions.

=About the SlugMath Project=

Who created this site?
This site was created by Martin Weissman, a.k.a. Marty.

Who funds this site?
Funding for the creation of this site was provided by an Instructional Improvement Grant, from the Center for Teaching Excellence at UCSC

This looks like Wikipedia. Is it?
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia] contains over 2.5 million publicly editable English articles. Remarkably, the software and hardware which powers these millions of pages, accessed and edited by people around the world, is relatively small. The open-source, stable, and well-supported software powering Wikipedia is the mediawiki software package. The SlugMath project is powered by the same Mediawiki software, which has proven its reliability and scalability.

In contrast to Wikipedia, the SlugMath project is not publicly editable, and it has a far more rigid structure. Wikipedia might be comparable in structure to a slime mold -- a large organism which succeeds partly from the independence, dedication, and resilience of its parts (over 75,000 active authors). The SlugMath project has a solid skeleton built upon the expertise of a very small group, and further content, while more flexible, is attached carefully to the skeleton.

What's up with the cute yellow slug sitting on top of the pi?
The SlugMath logo (the banana slug on top of the pi at the top-left corner of the screen) was generously created by Jeremy Leavitt at Beach Bum Design. The banana slug is the mascot of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

I want to be a part of the project. What do I do?
Right now, the project is under closed development. But feel free to contact Marty if you would like to participate in the future. There will be ample opportunities for collaborative development in the future.

How can I contact the site administrator
You may contact Martin Weissman by e-mailing "weissman dot marty at gmail dot com".

=Technological Background=

How does this site work?
This site runs on an Apache web server on RedHat Linux. It is powered by the Mediawiki software package, based on PHP and MySQL. It uses extensions to the Mediawiki software, including Semantic Mediawiki, to implement semantic links and queries within the wiki. Some additional extensions and a few hacks have been added for good measure.

What is the semantic web?
The world-wide-web consists primarily of pages and links. Mathematically, it can be simplistically modeled by a directed graph, with nodes for the pages, and edges linking the pages to eachother. A classic example, within wikipedia, is that the page for Berlin is linked to the page for Germany.

A semantic web consists of a collection of pages, with semantic links between them. Mathematically, it is modeled by a labeled directed graph. The canonical example is that, rather than simply a link from the Berlin page to the Germany page, one would like a "semantic link", labelled by the phrase "is the capital of". In such a way, a semantic web contains not only pages with links, but also it contains information about the precise nature of relationships between pages.

The additional information provided by semantic links allows information to be easily queried, and intelligently navigated.

What is Semantic Mediawiki?
Semantic Mediawiki is an extension to the Mediawiki software package, which implements semantic links within wiki-pages. Like the Mediawiki software, the data of pages and links is stored within a MySQL database; however more data is stored, in order to keep track of the semantic nature of the links.

What extensions are being used?
The list of extensions used can be found at the Special:Version page.

=Navigating=

How do I use the User Directory?
=Page Content=

How can I get math to look right in pages?
Rendering mathematics accurately and quickly in web pages is a complex process, and there are numerous ways that this can be done. We have chosen to use the jsMath package to render mathematics within this wiki. The rendering takes place in a number of steps, when you view a page that contains mathematics:
 * The page data is transferred to your computer.
 * A javascript program, called jsMath is transferred to your computer.
 * The jsMath program is run, on your computer, in order to process the page data into proper looking mathematical symbols.
 * You view a very pretty page of mathematical content.

In order to render the mathematical symbols, the jsMath program requires your computer to have certain fonts. It can be set up, via the jsMath control panel, to use four font families, two of which we describe below:
 * The best looking, and fastest for frequent users, are the "Native jsMath Fonts". You can download and install these fonts on your computer, and they will be used automatically when jsMath renders mathematics.
 * Without downloading these fonts, you can use the "Native Unicode Fonts", which are already in place on most computers. This option does not require any additional installation, though you must select this option from the jsMath control panel.
 * If you are on a page with mathematical content, the jsMath control panel is accessible by clicking the small gray rectangle labelled by "jsMath", in the bottom right corner of the window.

For optimal experiences, we recommend using Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome. Especially, Google Chrome runs very quickly, with an extremely fast javascript engine.

What do the colors mean in proofs?
We have chosen to use special colors and layout in mathematical proofs, to maximize logical clarity. This includes the following:
 * Green backgrounds at the beginning of a proof, to state the initial hypotheses.
 * Red backgrounds at the end of a proof, to state the conclusion.
 * Blue backgrounds at the beginning of a proof by contradiction, to state the initial supposition, which will later be contradicted.
 * Gray backgrounds to describe the cases, in a case-by-case or inductive argument.
 * Nested proofs, to keep track of sub-arguments.

How can I use semantic links to aid navigation?
From any page, click on the left sidebar link, labelled "browse properties". Clicking on this link will display "semantic links" related to the content, including logical reliance. One can use these links to figure out the deductive structure of mathematics, tracing back from complicated theorems and definitions back to the basic axioms of set theory.

How can I search for information?
=Creating and Editing Pages=

This section will be written, when the creation and editing of pages is no longer limited to the site creator.

How do I use forms to add new content?
=For Students=

I'm not allowed to edit, but I found an error!
=For Faculty=

How can I use the SlugMath project to make a publication exhibit?
=For Visitors=