why is there no way to check if a question has been asked before or one similar?

Question

mathteacher1729 · Answer

This makes sense.  "Mathematics" is a very broad topic, and it would be nice if users had to select the topic they were asking about: 

Arithmetic (add , subtract, multiply, divide whole numbers, fractions, decimals...etc.)

Algebra ( graph linear equations, solve an equation, simplify an expression, etc.)

Of course, most students do not seem advanced enough to be able to tag their questions appropriately, so maybe letting other users tag posts might be a worthy idea?

amistre64 · Answer

hmmm .....  the other spectrum is this i think:

If they could determine the answers they are seeking from a static enviroment; then they would have been able to gleen it from using a search engine alone.

The openstudy environement allows an interaction between participants in such a way the the intricate obstacles can be overcome thru dynamic channels of communication.

just a thought :)

mathteacher1729 · Answer

>If they could determine the answers they are seeking from a static enviroment; then they would have been able to gleen it from using a search engine alone.

I partially agree with this statement, but I don't know that it is fully relevant to whether or not posts should be tagged.  One of the advantages of tagging posts is that it would allow students to find and have conversations about "problems like mine".  Additionally, helpers such as yourself would be better able to go directly to topics which they feel most qualified to address (or topics which strike their mathematical mood that day).

shadowfiend · Answer

Amistre has nailed it; we've answered the question of why it's not a priority for us to add search, and that's it: we believe OpenStudy provides value through the evolving real-time nature of answers here. Thus, search is less important.

That said, we consider tagging separate, and as a way to feed answerers questions they want to answer, as mathteacher has phrased it. That's why we consider it higher priority, though we still haven't figured out how exactly we want to do it.