Thread for your website-related questions

[Nathaniel]

Nathaniel, can I run this? It gets all Life RLEs from the oscillator discussion thread. I've already tested it on pages 1 and 2.

(Already replied on Discord, but just replying here too for consistency/visibility.)

Yep, go ahead! For anyone else wondering: scraping scripts like this are generally fine, but please ask first (as was done here).

[GUYTU6J]

Is it possible to have phpBB supports for formatting LaTex? It would be nice to be able to write formulae and build tables in the posts.

[silversmith]

I think that rule 3b should be adjusted to allow, if not encourage, keeping the discussion of a rule in the thread it originally began. This would prevent fracturing the information that has been collected about that rule, or at least clarify the exceptions.

Would it be reasonable to change the rule to something like "Do not post in topics that have been inactive for over a year without good reason, such as posting about a rule in a pre-existing topic for that rule."?

[TYCF]

What is a user page on LiveWiki used for?

[confocaloid]

What is a user page on LiveWiki used for?

I think you could use it to write something about yourself (for example mention your discoveries), if you would like to. That's optional. Some editors do that. Some editors leave the page empty.

I think that rule 3b should be adjusted to allow, if not encourage, keeping the discussion of a rule in the thread it originally began. This would prevent fracturing the information that has been collected about that rule, or at least clarify the exceptions.

Would it be reasonable to change the rule to something like "Do not post in topics that have been inactive for over a year without good reason, such as posting about a rule in a pre-existing topic for that rule."?

I think it is not limited to threads dedicated to rules. Basically, any thread with a specific stated purpose could be an exception -- when there is an existing thread to collect some specific kind of information, it's better to bump the existing thread, rather than create a duplicate thread.

[silversmith]

I think it is not limited to threads dedicated to rules. Basically, any thread with a specific stated purpose could be an exception -- when there is an existing thread to collect some specific kind of information, it's better to bump the existing thread, rather than create a duplicate thread.

I agree. Additionally, it seems like this policy would be more aligned with the current "cultural norms" of these forums. For example, posts already tend to be accumulated by topic in broad, old threads in a way that works well, such as:

• Thread for your unsure discoveries
• Thread for your Useless Discoveries
• Catalyst Discussion Thread
• Thread for basic questions
• Miscellaneous Discoveries in Other Cellular Automata

[pzq_alex]

Is it possible to have phpBB supports for formatting LaTex? It would be nice to be able to write formulae and build tables in the posts.

For now a workaround is to embed picures from the web using Zhihu's LaTeX API:



(Quote this post to see how. You need to escape plus signs etc. )

[unname4798]

[quote=pzq_alex post_id=164954 time=1691844669 user_id=2680]
[quote=GUYTU6J post_id=164602 time=1691255478 user_id=1664]
Is it possible to have phpBB supports for formatting LaTex? It would be nice to be able to write formulae and build tables in the posts.
[/quote]

For now a workaround is to embed picures from the web using Zhihu's LaTeX API:

[img]https://www.zhihu.com/equation?tex=n^2%2B1[/img]

(Quote this post to see how. You need to escape plus signs etc. )
[/quote]

[TYCF]

What does the underlined iff mean in LiveWiki?
(They look like {{iff}} in editing mode)

Like the one in https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Strobing_rule .

[hotdogPi]

What does the underlined iff mean in LiveWiki?
(They look like {{iff}} in editing mode)

Like the one in https://conwaylife.com/wiki/Strobing_rule .

Hovering over anything with that type of underline shows some extra information (in this case, the definition of "iff").

[TYCF]

Thank you!

This there a way to close a topic?

[C28]

Is there any sort of guidelines/requirements for making a "LifeWiki:Did you know/" page?

[dvgrn]

Is there any sort of guidelines/requirements for making a "LifeWiki:Did you know/" page?

Not really. I believe a good plan would still be to read through the LifeWiki Did-You-Knows thread, then post a candidate did-you-know or two and see if you get any good feedback.

These DYK entries tend to get added in small batches, since it's a little fiddly and irritating to make all the changes needed to add them one at a time.

[TYCF]

What is a "Bot" or a "Spider"?

[hotdogPi]

What is a "Bot" or a "Spider"?

A bot is an automated computer program that does stuff.

A spider is a c/5 spaceship, unless you're looking at the skyscraper thread in the sandbox, in which case it refers to actual spiders.

[dvgrn]

A spider is a c/5 spaceship, unless you're looking at the skyscraper thread in the sandbox, in which case it refers to actual spiders.

Heh, or a spider is also a bot that crawls the Web to index stuff for search engines.

[TYCF]

What is a "Bot" or a "Spider"?

A bot is an automated computer program that does stuff.

A spider is a c/5 spaceship, unless you're looking at the skyscraper thread in the sandbox, in which case it refers to actual spiders.

A spider is a c/5 spaceship, unless you're looking at the skyscraper thread in the sandbox, in which case it refers to actual spiders.

Heh, or a spider is also a bot that crawls the Web to index stuff for search engines.

I mean the users in the forum whose username ends in [[bot]] or [[spider]].

[hotdogPi]

As in who's currently online right now? Yes, they're automated web scrapers. For example, I just looked and saw "Bing [Bot]"; this probably has to do with search indexing.

[TYCF]

As in who's currently online right now? Yes, they're automated web scrapers. For example, I just looked and saw "Bing [Bot]"; this probably has to do with search indexing.

Yes, Thank you!

[Haycat2009]

As in who's currently online right now? Yes, they're automated web scrapers. For example, I just looked and saw "Bing [Bot]"; this probably has to do with search indexing.

Yes, Thank you!

Why are there weirder and weirder bots every time? An hour ago, I saw "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" and last week I saw "Baidu [Spider]" and "C/5 [Spider]". I also saw "Minibot [Bot]". Can you tell me what is going on???

[unname4798]

As in who's currently online right now? Yes, they're automated web scrapers. For example, I just looked and saw "Bing [Bot]"; this probably has to do with search indexing.

Yes, Thank you!

Why are there weirder and weirder bots every time? An hour ago, I saw "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" and last week I saw "Baidu [Spider]" and "C/5 [Spider]". I also saw "Minibot [Bot]". Can you tell me what is going on???

They are accidental.

[Haycat2009]

Yes, Thank you!

Why are there weirder and weirder bots every time? An hour ago, I saw "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" and last week I saw "Baidu [Spider]" and "C/5 [Spider]". I also saw "Minibot [Bot]". Can you tell me what is going on???

They are accidental.

So what do they do? I know that Baidu is to gather information for the Baidu search engine, but what are "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" "C/5 [Spider]" and "Minibot [Bot]" supposed to gather info for?

[TYCF]

Why are there weirder and weirder bots every time? An hour ago, I saw "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" and last week I saw "Baidu [Spider]" and "C/5 [Spider]". I also saw "Minibot [Bot]". Can you tell me what is going on???

They are accidental.

So what do they do? I know that Baidu is to gather information for the Baidu search engine, but what are "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" "C/5 [Spider]" and "Minibot [Bot]" supposed to gather info for?

Also, there is one called Google [Bot].

[MEisSCAMMER]

What is the pattern on the wiki logo?

[TYCF]

Why are there weirder and weirder bots every time? An hour ago, I saw "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" and last week I saw "Baidu [Spider]" and "C/5 [Spider]". I also saw "Minibot [Bot]". Can you tell me what is going on???

They are accidental.

So what do they do? I know that Baidu is to gather information for the Baidu search engine, but what are "Mr Turtle facts [Bot]" "C/5 [Spider]" and "Minibot [Bot]" supposed to gather info for?

And "Majestic-12 [Bot]" .