# Discourse for Academic Use Features (Done and to be Done)

(xiasummer) #1

I want to have a special topic about how to use Discourse for Academic Use.

• Markdown Supporting.

• Html Supporting

• OneBox Feature

• MathJax Supporting with plugin.

 - git clone https://github.com/kasperpeulen/discourse-mathjax


I have to say it was conflict with another plugin “iframe”. If you have iframe plugin, you have to delete it.

Also another plugin can do it:

• DOI resolver
• Print long topic to PDF, etc
• CCS support

# Want to have

You can reply me about the functions that you think are important for academic use in discourse and whether it has been developed already or in developing.

Questions regarding Discourse features
(xiasummer) #2

• Oneleaf?

(David Taylor) #3

I’m assuming you mean overleaf, not “oneleaf”?

Google drive & Dropbox also onebox in the same way.

(xiasummer) #4

Sorry, I think it is

which supports Latex Collaborative Writing and Publishing.

What is one-leaf, seems to be a forum.

http://www.oneleaffarm.com/

(Christoph) #5

Excellent idea to start this topic!

I’d consider a highlighting plugin (or even as a core function) extremely useful for the academic context, but also for other communities where posts might be a bit longer so that highlights would be a great way of finding the most important parts of those posts. I proposed the highlighting feature in more detail here:

(xiasummer) #6

Actually I’m really wondering What do we need for academic use?

For different areas, the tools are so different.

Like in Physics, Math, we just need Latex and some curving tool.

In Computer science, maybe the coding tool? or we may need some “Select as the right answer” tool in bug fix questions like in the stackoverflow

In Chemistry, we may need some drawing tool?

In Logic, we may need the logical icons?

As a matter of fact, I think it is quite good to have markdown and latex and the other tools listed befor

But how to make people come and discuss on the web? How to provide the best service when talking about academic problems?

By the way, it is very good to have a highlight tool

(xiasummer) #7

Hi, I found a list.

I’m wondering how many of these tools can be and should be integrated into Discourse.

http://openmetric.org/tool/

(Christoph) #8

How about a literature database that makes it easy to include references in posts?

A few thoughts on such a literature plugin:

1. I guess there is no point in creating a database in discourse from scratch, given existing solutions such as zotero, mendeley, endnote and (hopefully soon) Citavi Web.
2. To start with, I think the focus should be on supporting zotero, since it’s free and open source (and perhaps there will never be a need to support anything else).
3. My idea would be that the plugin acts as an interface between a dedicated zotero database and the discourse forum.
4. Starting with an empty db, a user who wants to add a reference (via a button in the editor) gets the option to add a new reference (not sure if this should be done with a dedicated discourse ui or simply using the existing zotero ui, but the user should not have to leave discourse to do it)
5. Once there are records in the db, users can search them and paste them into their post while editing.
6. The citation style should probably be fixed via a site setting (cite setting )
7. There should be a dedicated bibliography page where all db records are listed in alphabetical order with to all the posts where the respective item is cited.

Now, the last point is where it becomes tricky: Since this type of linking is analogous to how discourse already works, the best way to achieve this might be to create a post for every reference, but I’m not sure about this, since there should only be one record for each item and that should be in zotero, I suppose.

But it would also be conceivable that the zotero database is used merely as a way of quickly insert text which would then live a life of its own, without any links, but that would defeat the purpose of making it easy to find all posts citing a specific text.