AoPS Wiki:FAQ

Shortcut: A:FAQ

This is a community created list of Frequently Asked Questions about Art of Problem Solving. If you have a request to edit or add a question on this page, please make it here.

General

Can I change my username?

AoPS can typically only change usernames for privacy reasons (e.g., your current username reveals personal information).

Why can't I change my avatar?

You must be a user for two weeks before being able to change your avatar. You can get another avatar by downloading a picture you like and changing the dimensions via computer; however, it's really hard to get a good-looking picture under the size limit. Instead, you could visit one of the many avatar shops to get one (try searching "avatar shop" in other forums on the community page).

Something looks weird (e.g., blurry, missing line, etc.)

This is likely due to your browser zoom level. Please make sure your zoom level is at 100% for correct rendering of the web page. If it is at 100% and still doesn't look right, try a refresh or hard refresh. If it still shows up, follow the instructions here to submit a bug report about it in Site Support.

Can I make more than one account?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Multiple accounts (multis) are banned on AoPS. Having more than one account leads to issues of not remembering on what account you did what. Using multiple accounts to "game" the system, (e.g. increase rating for posts or in online games) or to attempt to spam without consequences will lead to bans on all accounts associated with you. If you have already made additional accounts, please choose one account and stop using the others.

What software does Art of Problem Solving use to run the website?

• Search: Solr
• Wiki: MediaWiki
• Asymptote and are generated through their respective binary packages
• Videos: YouTube
• PyWindow: Skulpt

All other parts of the website are custom built.

Can you make an AoPS App?

No. Contrary to popular opinion, any app built would be less functional than the website. Any features missing on the website in phone view would also be missing in an app as an app doesn't magically make the screen bigger. In addition, the logistics and costs involved are too great.

Blogs

How come I can't create a blog?

One needs to have at least 5 posts in order to make a blog.

How do I make my blog look nice?

Many AoPSers make their blogs look nice by applying CSS, which is a high-level stylesheet language. This can be done by typing CSS code into the CSS box in the Blog Control Panel.

Alcumus

How is rating computed?

The rating is more of a prediction of what percentage of problems in the topic the Alcumus engine believes you will get correct. As you get more and more correct, the rating will go up slower and slower. However, if you are predicted to get most correct, and you miss one or two problems, the rating, or prediction of percentage correct, will go down.

I am stuck on a problem, and changing the topic does not change the problem.

Alcumus provides review problems to make sure you still recall information learned from the past. You may not skip these problems. You will need to answer the problem before moving on.

Why can't I change topics?

Alcumus provides review problems to make sure you still recall information learned from the past. You are not able to skip these problems. You will need to answer the problem before the topic changes to the currently selected topic.

Contests

Where can I find past contest questions and solutions?

In the Contests section.

How do I get problems onto the contest page?

Make a topic for each question in the appropriate forum, copy/paste the urls to the National Olympiad. Your problems may eventually be submitted into the Contest page.

What are the guidelines for posting problems to be added to the contests section?

Refer to the guidelines in this post.

Why is the wiki missing many contest questions?

Generally, it is because users have not yet posted them onto the wiki (translation difficulties, not having access to the actual problems, lack of interest, etc). If you have a copy, please post the problems in the Community Section! In some cases, however, problems may be missing due to copyright claims from maths organizations.

Where are all of the mock contests?

User-generated mock contests are now in its separate subforum, AoPS Mock Contests. Please use that forum for creating, hosting, participating in, or recruiting writers/test solvers for mock contests.

How can I host a mock contest?

See posts on writing a mock contest and Tips for Organizing a Mock Contest.

LaTeX and Asymptote

What is LaTeX, and how do I use it?

is a typesetting markup language and document preparation system. It is widely used for typesetting expressions containing mathematical formulae. See LaTeX:About.

How can I download LaTeX to use on the forums?

There are no downloads necessary; the forums and the wiki render LaTeX commands between dollar signs.

How can I download LaTeX for personal use?

You can download TeXstudio here or TeXnicCenter here

Where can I find a list of LaTeX commands?

See here.

Where can I test LaTeX commands?

Sandbox or TeXeR. You can also use our Test Forum.

Where can I find examples of Asymptote diagrams and code?

Search this wiki for the <asy> tag or the Forums for the [asy] tag. See also these examples and this article (click on the images to obtain the code).

How can I draw 3D diagrams?

See Asymptote: 3D graphics.

What is the cse5 package?

See here. The package contains a set of shorthand commands that implement the behavior of usual commands, for example D() for draw() and dot(), and so forth.

What is the olympiad package?

See here. The package contains a set of commands useful for drawing diagrams related to olympiad geometry problems.

AoPSWiki

Is there a guide for wiki syntax?

See wiki markup, AoPS_Wiki:Tutorial, and Help:Contents.

What do I do if I see a mistake in the wiki?

Click "edit" and correct the error.

Miscellaneous

Is it possible to join the AoPS Staff?

Yes. Mr. Rusczyk will sometimes hire a small army of college students to work as interns, graders, and teaching assistants. You must be at least in your second semester of your senior year and be legal to work in the U.S. (at least 16).

What is the minimum age to be an assistant in an Art of Problem Solving class?

You must have graduated from high school, or at least be in the second term of your senior year.

AoPS Acronyms

• AFK- Away from keyboard, inactive
• AoPS- Art of Problem Solving
• AIME- American Invitational Mathematics Examination
• admin(s)- Administrator(s)
• AMC- American Math Competitions
• AMO-USA Mathematical Olympiad
• ATM- At the Moment/Automated teller machine
• brb- Be right Back
• BTW- By the way
• CEMC - Centre for Mathematics and Computing
• Combo - Combinatorics (Counting and Probability)
• C&P or C+P or CP - Counting and Probability or Contests and Programs
• cbrt - Cube Root
• DHR - Distinguished Honor Roll
• EBWOP- Editing by way of post
• FF- Fun Factory/Frivolous Forum
• FTFY - Fixed that for you
• FTW- For the Win, a game on AoPS
• gg- Good Game
• gj- Good Job
• glhf-Good Luck Have Fun
• gtg - Got to go
• HR - Honor Roll
• HSM - High School Math Forum
• ID(R or E)K-I Don't (Really or Even) Know
• ID(R or E)C-I Don't (Really or Even) Care
• iff-If and only if
• IIRC- If I recall correctly
• IKR- I know, right?
• IMO- In my opinion (or International Math Olympiad, depending on context)
• IMHO- In my humble/honest opinion
• JK- Just Kidding
• JMO- United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad
• lol- Laugh Out Loud
• MC- Mathcounts, a popular math contest for Middle School students.
• NFL- Not for long/No friends left/National Football League
• NHL-National Hockey League
• mod(s)- Moderator(s)
• MOEMS- Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools
• MO(S)P- Mathematical Olympiad (Summer) Program
• MSM- Middle School Math Forum
• NIMO-National Internet Math Olympiad
• NT- Number Theory
• OBC- Online by computer
• OMG- Oh My Gosh
• OMO-Online Math Open
• OP- Original Poster/Original Post/Original Problem, or Overpowered/Overpowering
• QED- Quod erat demonstrandum, Latin for "Which was to be proven"; some English mathematicians use it as an acronym for Quite Elegantly Done
• QS&A- Questions, Suggestions, and Announcements Forum
• ro(t)fl - Rolling on the floor laughing
• smh - Shaking my head/somehow
• sqrt - Square root
• Sticky- A post pinned to the top of a forum - a thing you really should read
• ToS- Terms of Service - a thing you really should read
• USA(J)MO- USA (Junior) Mathematical Olympiad
• V/LA- Vacation or Long Absence/Limited Access
• WDYM- What Do You Mean?
• WIP- Work in Progress
• WLOG- Without loss of generality
• WOOT - Worldwide Online Olympiad Training
• wrt- With respect to
• wtg - Way to go
• tytia- Thank you, that is all
• ty- Thank you
• ttyl- Talk to you later
• xD- Bursting Laugh
• TL;DR- Too long; don't read
• yw- You're welcome

FTW!

Please see the For the Win! FAQ for many common questions.

School

What if I miss a class?

There are classroom transcripts available under My Classes, available at the top right of the web site. You can view these transcripts in order to review any missed material. You can also ask questions on the class message board. Don't worry, though, classroom participation usually isn't weighted heavily.

Is there audio or video in class?

There is generally no audio or video in the class. The classes are generally text and image based, in an interactive chat room environment, which allows students to ask questions at any time during the class. In addition to audio and video limiting interactivity and being less pedagogically effective, the technology isn't quite there yet for all students to be able to adequately receive streaming audio and video.

What if I want to drop out of a class?

For any course with more than 2 classes, students can drop the course any time before the third class begins and receive a full refund. No drops are allowed after the third class has started. To drop the class, go to the My Classes section by clicking the My Classes link at the top-right of the website. Then find the area on the right side of the page that lets you drop the class. A refund will be processed within 10 business days.

For my homework, there is supposed to be a green bar but it's orange, why?

For the bar to turn green, the writing problem must be attempted. Once it is attempted the bar will turn green.

I need more time for my homework, what should I do?

There is a "Request Extension" button in the homework tab of your class. This will automatically extend the due date to 2 days after the normal deadline. If you want more time you need to ask for it in the little comment box, stating the reason why you want the extension, and how much time you want. This request will be looked at by the teachers and they will decide if you get the extension or not. Note that you can only use this button 3 times. After, you will need administrator approval.

Otherwise, you can send an email to extensions@aops.com with your username, class name and ID (the number in the class page URL after https://artofproblemsolving.com/class/) and reason for extension. Someone should get back to you within a couple days.