Help:FAQ

Navigation

 * How do I find content on this site?

Search is the key tool. Just start typing what you're looking for in the search bar. The search engine is not very intelligent, but there are a number of tweaks we have made to it to get you more quickly to the pages you are looking for. See Help:Search shortcuts.

In addition, you can use the Lookup links on the left sidebar and explore the site in a structured, category tree fashion. This is not very useful because the site has too much content.

Finally, you can browse, clicking on links from one page to the another.

The site also has powerful semantic search capabilities, but these are not very intuitive for casual visitors. However, many links within pages are semantically generated, and by clicking on these links, you can view and modify the semantic queries.

Errors

 * Is the content on this site accurate?

We strive for maximal accuracy, but a lot of content has not been proofread carefully, and the complexity and quantity of content make errors inevitable.

If you think you've found an error, report it in this short external anonymous survey. You can also view a log of some past errors (that stayed on the site for a nontrivial length of time before being fixed) at the error log page.

If you create a login, you can track the error log page and hence be notified when an error (satisfying some criteria) is corrected on the site.


 * If I'm not sure the site is error-free, what's the point in using it?

The site is mostly error-free. Generally, errors are unlikely to be present in the overall flow and gist but may exist in small details such as missing elements from lists, typographical errors in numbers (a 7 instead of an 8), poorly rendered math, etc.

If you're a newcomer to the subject, scrolling through the pages should give you a fairly good idea of the material, and the minor errors (to the extent they exist) probably won't affect you at all since they'll be in details you will not pay much attention to anyway. If you're experienced in the subject, the errors will probably be things you will confidently catch if you notice them, and are unlikely to mislead you.

In most cases, we strive to provide clear explanations and justifications for all statements. For statements that lack justifications, take with a pinch of salt. For any statement that seems fishy, click through on links to further elaboration and see if that further elaboration checks it out. In many cases, we provide implementations in GAP to cross-check or verify statements.

All in all, please use this site to learn material, but if you directly copy from it for either homework assignments or anything mission-critical without doing your due diligence, we don't take responsibility for any errors introduced in your work.

Account creation: why and how?

 * Is there any reason to create an account on this site?

If you only want to surf the site content, you do not need to create a login. All parts of the site, as of now, are visible to users without logins.

To create an account so as to be able to edit pages occasionally or maintain watchlists of pages, please email vipul.wikis@gmail.com with your request. We've disabled automatic account creation due to the large volume of spam account creation.


 * Seriously, is this a 20th century site? You don't support Facebook Connect or OpenID!

We will look into supporting such functionality in the future, but this is not a priority, because the site, as of now, is largely designed for reading, not active interaction.

Features that don't require login

 * I live and breathe this site. Do you have a search plugin?

We have a plugin for Firefox. There are two versions here. We recommend the Go plugin. This offers search suggestions as you type. See also Help:Search shortcuts and Help:Semantic search and browsing to have a really fast search experience on the site.


 * How do I print articles?

The toolbox contains a Printable version option, which you can use to generate a version that is suitable for printing. This does not require a login.


 * I would like to download a large number of the articles. Can this be done?

Go to Special:Export and list all the articles that you want exported (each article name in one line). You can also add all the articles from a particular category. This exports the articles as a XML file. The XML file can be imported into any MediaWiki wiki using the Special:Import feature of that wiki.


 * Can I obtain the articles in other formats?

We are considering a PDF export feature, but as of now, this is not possible. However, there are softwares/extensions that you can install on your browser or computer that can "print" to PDF. Click on "Printable version" and you can then "print" from there to PDF.

Features that require login

 * The math rendering is uneven. Can this be changed?

If you have a login, you can change your math viewing options. Go to Special:Preferences and select the Math part. You can decide the option with which to view math.


 * How do I track articles?

You can click the watch tab at the top of the article you wish to watch, or alternatively, you can directly edit your watchlist. You can also use RSS/Atom feeds to keep track of articles. For this, click the "history" tab at the top of the article, go to the toolbox on the left, and click the links for RSS or Atom.