[Eternal Student (OP)]

Hi. I'm a newbie here just trying to learn what can and can't be done.

What useful things can be put into a forum post?   I saw a post in the Feedback section about LaTeX.... I'm just going to try some of that out first.



Hopefully that will work.

Questions:     
      1.  Can I preview a post?  I've clicked the preview button at the bottom right and nothing happened.
      2.   Can I insert a small picture in-line with the text,  or do all attachments and insertions just get dumped at the bottom of the post?

Thanks and best wishes to all.

[Halc]

Hi. I'm a newbie here just trying to learn what can and can't be done.

What useful things can be put into a forum post? 

Your LaTex seems to work just fine. You can also post pictures. There's a posting-tips thread pinned in general science.
Welcome to TNS!

Questions:     
      1.  Can I preview a post?  I've clicked the preview button at the bottom right and nothing happened.

The preview appears just above the edit window. You probably have to scroll to see it, but it works fine.

2.   Can I insert a small picture in-line with the text,  or do all attachments and insertions just get dumped at the bottom of the post?

See the tips thread for how to do this. Not trivial, but not difficult either. Posting an existing net image is trivial, but posting an uploaded thing takes a little work.

[Eternal Student (OP)]

Thanks Halc.    I'll check your links next.
I didn't get any notifications that there had been a reply, I assume we just have to check all the threads manually.
You don't have to answer everything, I'll learn, thanks for your help so far.

[Halc]

I didn't get any notifications that there had been a reply, I assume we just have to check all the threads manually.

You can click on your name which gets you to your profile.
Hover on modify-profile and 4th menu item (for me at least) is notifications where I think you can select preferences for getting emails whenever somebody replies to your posts.

I am here frequently enough that I have all that turned off. My inbox is full enough as it is.
I just look at new posts (main page, hover over 'POSTS' at the top where you find Unread posts which shows everything on the site that has a new post since the last time you've marked them all read.
If you're not that active, it might be easier just to turn on notifies or to manually check your topics.

[Eternal Student (OP)]

Hi again.

So, I'm still reasonable new here.  I've just been glancing through what the NakedScientists do.

This is what I think it is:
1.  It's a radioshow.
2.  It's a podcast.

This website seems like it's NOT the main element of the whole operation.
The  ABOUT link in the top bar doesn't entirely work.  We can't meet the team, the sponsors and there is no mission statement.

So, roughly speaking,  what would anyone say the mission statement or general purpose is?
Also, what is your main target audience or demographic?
Focusing just on this forum,  what is different here compared to other science forums?

There's a fair chance you'd also like some info from your users:
1.  I found this site from a recommendation for science discussion forums.  I had no idea it was something to do with a radio show.
2.  I think I'm too old to be in your demographic and wouldn't really like to disclose my age.
3.  Advertising has worked in at least one direction in that the forum has lead me to examine the radioshow.
4.  What seems to be different about this forum is that there is more discussion about topics, rather than just quick answers given.  It seems acceptable to talk around an idea and there is more attention on getting an OP to understand rather than just taking an answer and going away.    I wasn't expecting that at first - since your forum is set up to demand that all new posts are phrased as a question.

[alancalverd]

2.  I think I'm too old to be in your demographic and wouldn't really like to disclose my age.

I'm 76 and still learning, not directly from but more often because of questions and answers that pop up in this forum.
At least one Nobel laureate has told me "if you really understand your subject, you can explain it to a 7-year-old". So this forum is a good test of understanding too!.

Despite being a moderator I'm not entirely sure of the mission statement, but a common factor is not doing other people's homework, but engaging and discussing the science behind the question - hence few short answers and frequent digression into politics, economics and morality.