This is great but I must know: does stackexchange allow automatic rendering of latex formulas like wordpress? If not then I think this one is going to have a hard time taking off.

From http://sbseminar.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/math-overflow/ :

> There’s currently no LaTeX support. Obviously, this is the top-priority feature. This definitely won’t be implemented until the Stack Exchange software is out of beta, but it will probably be implemented shortly thereafter. In the meantime, do your best. You’re welcome to type raw LaTeX, use basic html (e.g. Ω and x₁), or whatever you would normally write in email.

Update: They have turned on jsMath, so formulas are now available, see http://mathoverflow.net/questions/16/how-do-i-typeset-mathem...

This is a very neat idea, but the lack of support for latex, or any other way to create mathematical expressions is a bit of a letdown.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/516406/latex-equivalent-t... lists a bunch of possible options that would be rather trivial to integrate (either a modified version of Markdown, or the editor)

MathML is coming in webkit. It shouldn't be long before most browsers have support for that spec.

What is one's motivation to start a stackexchange site? Sure, you want to make the obscure community you like better, but $130/mo is kind of a lot. Is there any reasonable way to recoup the money?

I've emailed FogCreek about this a few days ago, and they stated that Stack Exchange is geared towards corporations currently, but they have been getting a lot of emails about offering a lower cost versions for a more hobby centered site (think photography). They do allow for custom HTML to be added into parts of the site, so you could add ads to generate some revenue.

It's also worth noting that Stack Exchange is free during the beta period (because they haven't implemented the code for fees, Joel had stated that in one of the Stack Overflow podcasts)

* They do allow for custom HTML to be added into parts of the site*

But I suppose adding your own ads will be supported when it's out of beta? Otherwise paying the price and having no way to generate revenue seems a little useless...

Visiting for the first time I was sure to see more high school geometry and first year calculus questions. I am delighted to see a much deeper discussion taking place.

For comparison with your competition look at

http://www.mathlinks.ro/

http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/ (both sites point to the same forum)

They support LaTeX rendering and are already quite well known.

I wish you success. It will be cool to have something like HackerNews for math only.

I'm inclined to think mathoverflow will be more researchy in character than these other sites, which have a math competition tilt. (which means mathoverflow has won me over)

Also, there are some pretty high powered math problem solvers who are active on math overflow, eg reid barton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_W._Barton (one of the top performers in the history of the putnam among other things)

That second link looks totally awesome; thanks!

The odd thing is that they are paying for beta software (I assume) that has features that link to incomplete pages. I don't get how that's acceptable to a paying customer honestly.

See: http://mathoverflow.net/issues

Beyond that, this Math site is an awesome concept and exactly why they made Stack Exchange.

stackexchange is free during beta.

Here's an idea: filterable categories for StackExchange, instead of a new site every week.

Allowing new sites with individual branding is how they make their $$