Datasets:

bshada

/

3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com

like 0

<p>Is it realistic or thought neccesary to develop a plugin/feature for this site, to automatically add a small info-box about a thingiverse link? An example of this is Apple's 3D touch technology. In theory, the plugin could recogize thingiverse links in questions and answers, replace the link with an image and the author/name of the project.</p> <p>I'm also volunteering myself to help with this if there's interest. (Experience with Thingiverse API)</p>

2016-01-12T22:26:52.990

19

Plugin for Thingiverse based on API?

|discussion|feature-request|

<h3>Technological issues</h3> <p>Stack Exchange works hard for its communities, but there is a limit. If thingiverse changes its API (which it can, and does, do at any time without notice) then anything we build on it has to be modified, and users will be very whiny until it's fixed.</p> <p>If we choose to integrate model viewing or any sort of API integration with an outside service, we will have to make sure the service provides some sort of legacy guarantee minimal API that won't change, and then we will only be able to use that. </p> <h3>Political issues</h3> <p>I would be very uncomfortable endorsing a closed source, commercial service on this site. There are many communities within the world of 3D printing that are very unhappy with makerbot, thingiverse, and their parent company, and encouraging users to use this service may result in pushing away some very valuable experts within the reprap world.</p> <h3>Looking to the future</h3> <p>If we integrate any sort of model library or model viewer, I strongly suggest we choose an open source project the community can heartily endorse. We may link to outside models, but the core API should be servable by stack exchange without license or much maintenance so 1) we don't have to deal with API changes messing us up, 2) we don't rely on outside services that may change their terms of use or API, 3) we don't have to form complicated contract bound relationships with 3rd parties just to get the guarantees we'd need to convince Stack Exchange to invest in a new feature, and 4) we don't become too politically involved such that we disenfranchise users who may have very strong feelings about this subject.</p> <h3>Wait and see</h3> <p>This is the early beta. Let's find out what people link to in questions before dedicating resources to improving the links/plug-ins/oneboxes. It may be that thingiverse objects are linked to frequently, and that it would add value to the site to improve that experience, but it's also just as likely that thingiverse turns out to be infrequently linked and the effort spent now would essentially have been wasted. Let's wait until we have tens of thousands of questions so we can properly evaluate what the community actually uses and needs.</p>

<p>Are questions about 3-D printers and their use in makerspaces allowed, for example, "What are the best practices for the maintenance of 3-D printers in makerspaces?" and "What is the best software based solution for the operation of 3-D printers in makerspaces?" Thanks in advance.</p>

2016-06-12T17:54:26.017

164

Questions about Makerspaces and 3-D Printers?

|discussion|asking-questions|

<p>Overall, you'll want to try and stay away from <em>"What is the best..."</em> type questions. However, I would say that services related to 3D printing should be okay. Please regard <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/67/fdm-printer-that-can-also-mill-and-engrave-whats-in-scope/68#68">Robert Cartaino's</a> response on potential topics. He brings up a good point:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>This is one of those times where I'd say it's not the "name" that defines this site, but the intentions of the community that built it.</em></p> </blockquote> <p>For the questions in mind, I think that questions related to discovering new "Makerspace"-type communities and sites would be appropriate. In the case of your software question. I would definitely highlight some key features, if you can, of what you might be looking for. For example:</p> <ul> <li>Plug and Play software</li> <li>Customizable G-Code</li> <li>Advanced control over parameters</li> <li>Dual-Extrusion capability</li> <li>Compatibility with a print server</li> <li>etc.</li> </ul> <p>Information like this can make or break a <em>"What is the best..."</em> question.</p>

<p>Are questions about online 3-d printing services allowed? For example, if someone needs a prototype and is not so concerned with the actual process of 3-D printing, and the question is around the 'best' online service or recommendations of which company could create the part (based on size, type, or financial considerations) considered on topic?</p>

2016-06-12T18:03:56.287

165

Are Questions about Online 3-D printing services allowed?

|discussion|asking-questions|

<p>As with your <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/164/questions-about-makerspaces-and-3-d-printers">other question</a>, I think the same rules apply. Typically you want to stay away from asking questions about <em>"What is the best..."</em>. Instead, try to present your question as more of a <em>"What is the best... for me?"</em> type question. As I mentioned in your other question, try to provide more details of what you might need. In the case of 3D printing services, I'll use the example of 3D Hubs and MakeXYZ _{(I'm not affiliated at all, just an example)}.</p> <p>A <em>"What is best..."</em> question may be appropriate if the contents of your question contains key characteristics of what you, as an individual, needs out of the service. For example:</p> <blockquote> <p>I need a part printed, but I also need this key feature machined and coated. I've looked at 3D Hubs and MakeXYZ, which (at this point) would be able to perform all of these operations for my part?</p> </blockquote> <p>On the opposite perspective:</p> <blockquote> <p>I want to start providing 3D printing services, but I have a CNC router and some other woodworking machines that I'd like to provide services for as well. Which might be better for me, 3D Hubs or MakeXYZ?</p> </blockquote> <p>In each example, there is more of an emphasis on what you need as an individual. Another user can take the answers with a grain of salt and best apply the answers to their own situation in the end. </p>

<p>My flag history shows that </p> <ul> <li>6 "spam" flags aged away without review.</li> <li>3 "rude/abusive" flags aged away without review.</li> <li>2 "not an answer" flags were raised in February and are still pending. It's now April.</li> </ul> <p>All this suggests that current moderators do not have enough time to handle flags. I think the site should try and get a couple more.</p>

2018-04-01T02:46:26.263

259

Should this site get additional moderators appointed?

|discussion|moderators|flagging|

<p>Some new moderators were appointed yesterday, see <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/135/pro-tem-moderator-announcement">Pro Tem Moderator Announcement</a>. Hopefully the new moderators can keep up the sterling work that the previous moderators have provided up to now... :-)</p> <p>After a minor marathon session of clearing the backlog, all flags have now been cleared. Hopefully in a way that keeps everyone happy:</p> <ul> <li>Some (one or two) questions were migrated to Engineering or Blender, after requests were thrown over to moderators on other sites, and some others were left "as is", as they have garnered some answers here on 3D Printing. </li> <li>Some short/terse answers (which were useful/informative) have been converted to comments, others (which were not so helpful) were deleted.</li> <li>Some sprawling comments threads/chats have been shortened/deleted</li> <li>Some "additional information" comments have been moved into the questions to which they pertain</li> <li>Some "issue resolved" updates to questions have been turned into community wiki answers</li> </ul> <p>No information has hopefully been lost. If anything seems to have gone missing, please leave a comment below.</p>

<p>What is the difference between <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/post-production" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;post-production&#39;" rel="tag">post-production</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/post-processing" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;post-processing&#39;" rel="tag">post-processing</a>, or are they synonyms? Should they be merged?¹</p> <p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/post-production" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;post-production&#39;" rel="tag">post-production</a> has no description whatsoever.</p> <p>After looking at <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/70710/what-are-tag-synonyms-and-merged-tags-how-do-they-work">What are tag synonyms and merged tags? How do they work?</a>, We can make <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/post-processing" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;post-processing&#39;" rel="tag">post-processing</a> the master and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/post-production" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;post-production&#39;" rel="tag">post-production</a> the slave <strong>synonym</strong>. This would seem to be a logical relationship given the number of questions tagged respectively. This relationship can be easily removed, if deemed to be incorrect.</p> <p>If, after some time, everyone is happy with this arrangement, then the two will be <strong>merged</strong>.</p> <p>Does that sound like a plan and does anyone have any objections..?</p> <hr> <p>¹ This question was moved from my answer to <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/151/naming-convention-for-tags-with-camelcase-or-pre-fix#answer-269">Naming convention for tags with CamelCase or Pre-Fix</a></p>

2018-06-06T14:32:50.050

270

What is the difference between post-production and post-processing?

|discussion|status-declined|tags|

<p>These are <strong>NOT</strong> the same in a manufacturing, which 3D printing is primarily considered a part of.</p> <p>Post-Processing typically refers to additional steps that must/can be done to produce the nominally desired part. These steps can include deburr, grind, and other additive/subtractive processing on the physical part.</p> <p>Post-Production typically refers to any steps that typically do not "produce" or alter the dimensions of the product. These steps can include final visual and dimensional inspection, packaging, and sometimes even shipment.</p> <p>I would not recommend creating a synonym, but merely updating the definition of both terms.</p>

<p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5097/anet-a8-reading-739c-from-the-extruder-thermistor#answer-6143">This answer</a>, from a new user, to the question, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5097/anet-a8-reading-739c-from-the-extruder-thermistor">Anet A8 reading 739°C from the extruder thermistor!</a>, quite clearly should have been posted as a question and referred back to the OPs question. The answer appears to have been provided by <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5097/anet-a8-reading-739c-from-the-extruder-thermistor#comment9139_6143">Toonis, in a comment</a>. </p> <p>Any idea as to how an answer can be converted to question, and then have the comment converted to an answer - without having to resort to the poster of the answer delete the answer and have them re-post it as a question, and then get Toonis to submit an answer?</p> <p>Obviously, mods do not have a <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19288/how-to-stop-the-question-as-an-answer-problem#answer-19289">big magic button</a> to do this automatically... and it would seem that <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/25752/official-policy-on-questions-posted-as-answers#answer-25760">we have to delete it</a>, and ask the new user to post a <em>new</em> question. See also <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/68529/is-it-acceptable-to-post-questions-to-the-op-as-an-answer">Is it acceptable to post questions to the OP as an answer?</a></p>

2018-06-10T19:06:26.537

274

Hotend question posted as a answer

|discussion|asking-questions|

<p>I think the way to go would be to migrate the answer (and its comments) to comments of the question.</p> <p>As for Toonis' answer in the comment. I don't think that there is a way to create an answer for someone else. Functionality like that could be abused to achieve higher reputation. It's up to Toonis to create his/her own answer.</p> <p>However, it is seen site-wide where users will create an answer attributing to the comment of another user. I think it is unspoken law that you remove your answer if the user ever creates their own answer. Ultimately, there are some users that just don't care about the reputation, so they would prefer to use the comments instead.</p> <p>So, don't be afraid to create your own answer off of someone else's comments. Having explicit answers in the system will only make our site stronger.</p> <p>Hit me up on <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/49795/the-heat-element">The Heat Element</a> chatroom (specifically for 3D Printing Mods) and I can walk you through these steps.</p>

<p><em>Please note; Due to its very nature, this post is very subjective and is <strong>not</strong> intended to be a definitive list of categories. It is merely an attempt to offer one perspective of what has been suggested, and to ask &quot;How should we move forward?&quot;</em></p> <hr /> <p>Sometimes it is a bit hard to see the wood for the trees...</p> <p>Following on from tjb1's meta post, <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/134/post-closing-issues">Post Closing Issues</a>, it seems like we should widen the scope and be less strict about what is, and what is not, on-topic. What do people think? What additions, if any, should be made? Are there things that definitely should be on the list, that aren't currently?</p> <p>So, with respect to our <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic">On-topic page</a>, which needs updating, in order to get an idea of what people have been asking (&quot;why has my question been closed?&quot;/&quot;why is X not allowed&quot;), I've gone through the Meta questions and come up with a list of questions that mentioned the words &quot;<a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/search?q=ask">ask</a>&quot; and &quot;<a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/search?q=topic">topic</a>&quot;. I then pulled out the questions relating to specifically what types of questions can/can't be asked.</p> <p>A number of them seem to be able to be labeled as duplicates (inasmuch as they asked more or less the same thing), and so I have attempted to group them according to their suggestion request. The full list is at the bottom of this post.</p> <p>Even though I went through both lists twice - also, I didn't read <em>every</em> question and answer listed below fully - <em>there may be some suggestions that I have missed</em>. Please feel free to either suggest a change, or edit this post directly and add any that have gone astray (in that respect, maybe this question should be a wiki?).</p> <p>Whilst we maybe don't want to change the aim of the site too much (as doing so may put off some regular users), maybe the scope needs to broaden slightly, as to have a wider appeal and be more <em>inclusive</em>.</p> <p>BTW, a useful post to read is <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6/what-should-our-documentation-contain">What should our documentation contain?</a></p> <p>Any thoughts, questions, additional suggestions that have not already been posted, agreements, or disagreements?</p> <h3>Update</h3> <p>The list below was integrated into the on-topics page, on the 8^th June 2019. See <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/413/on-topic-has-been-updated-finally">On-topic has been updated - finally!</a> for <em>further</em> discussion.</p> <hr /> <h3>TL;DR - Suggested topics</h3> <p>In the list below,</p> <ul> <li>Italics are used for notes</li> <li>Strikethrough is used for definitive no-go topics</li> </ul> <p>Whilst there may be <em>some</em> overlap, duplication and/or mis-categorisation, the list of suggested on-topics seems to be, essentially:</p> <ul> <li>Recommendations (Hardware and Software) <ul> <li><em>Note: Usually banned from SE - with the exception of <a href="https://hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com/">Hardware Recommendations</a></em></li> <li><strike>General Shopping - <em>opinion based</em></strike></li> <li><strike>First printer - <em>opinion based</em></strike>, <em>see <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/278/best-first-printer-closed-wiki">&quot;Best first printer&quot; wiki/blog/closed-question</a></em></li> <li>Best printer <ul> <li><strike>Overall - <em>opinion based</em></strike></li> <li>For specific task - <em>opinion based but allowable, although <strong>speed</strong> as a task is in a <strong>very grey area</strong>... this question <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10204/fastest-fdm-printer">Fastest FDM printer?</a> was closed for being opinion-based</em></li> </ul> </li> <li>Best software <ul> <li><strike>Overall - <em>opinion based</em></strike></li> <li>For a specific task - <em>opinion based but allowable</em></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li>Software issues <ul> <li>Firmware</li> <li>Tools</li> <li>Coding/Compiling firmware (see <strong>Misc - Coding</strong>)</li> <li>3D modelling (<em>same as <strong>CAD</strong>?</em>)</li> </ul> </li> <li>Websites (<em>could come under <strong>Software</strong> and/or <strong>Tools</strong></em>) <ul> <li>Recommended sites <ul> <li>for knowledge</li> <li>for models</li> <li>for online tools</li> </ul> </li> <li>Issues with web based tools</li> </ul> </li> <li>CAD <ul> <li>Needs to show relevancy to 3D printing! (See Meta questions)</li> <li><em>Overlap with SE.Blender?</em></li> </ul> </li> <li>Printer DIY <ul> <li>Repair and maintenance (<em>both commercial and DIY repair of both commercial and DIY printers</em>)</li> <li>Construction</li> <li>Mechatronics</li> </ul> </li> <li>Components (<em>could come under <strong>Printer DIY</strong></em>) <ul> <li><em><a href="https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/244366/how-do-i-tell-if-my-thermistors-are-10k-or-100k">Thermistors</a> is a good example, see note ¹ below</em></li> <li>Help and Recommendations</li> </ul> </li> <li>Electronics <ul> <li>Printer related electronics</li> <li>Common electronic gotchas</li> </ul> </li> <li>Print Services</li> <li>Scanning <ul> <li>Also 3D Reconstruction (<a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/172/is-a-question-about-software-to-create-models-on-topic">example</a>)</li> <li>Software (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8057/resources-on-getting-horus-ciclop-scanners-to-work">example</a>)</li> </ul> </li> <li>Bio-printing</li> <li>3D Models <ul> <li>Feasibility</li> <li>Availability</li> </ul> </li> <li>Sharing recommended settings</li> <li>Legal issues <ul> <li>Copyright (i.e. <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/164/can-i-print-my-own-lego-bricks">Lego</a>)</li> <li>Guns/Weapons</li> <li>Insurance (i.e. fire damage)</li> </ul> </li> <li>Manufacturers <ul> <li><strike>Best manufacturer - <em>opinion based</em></strike></li> </ul> </li> <li>Materials <ul> <li>Filament</li> <li>ABS</li> <li>PLA</li> <li>PETG</li> <li>etc.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Makerspaces</li> <li>Medical <ul> <li>Materials for medical use</li> <li>Medical quality printing</li> <li>Medical applications for 3D printed objects</li> </ul> </li> <li>Health <ul> <li>Closely related, and may overlap with safety</li> </ul> </li> <li>Safety <ul> <li>Fumes</li> <li>Print material suitability for foodstuffs</li> </ul> </li> <li>Non-3D Printing related <ul> <li>CNC (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10709/spindle-dc-motor-and-drill-bit-specifications-for-circuit-etching-cnc-machine">example</a>), (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10610/using-both-gcode-and-gbr-files-in-a-hybrid-3d-printer-circuit-etching-machin">example</a>)</li> <li>Laser (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6214/laser-engraver-with-smoothie-ramps-1-4-or-awc708c">example</a>)</li> <li>Routers</li> <li>Vacuum Forming</li> <li>Parts assembly (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3711/are-there-many-assembly-type-3d-printers">example</a>)</li> </ul> </li> <li>Misc <ul> <li>Not strictly 3D related, see <strong>Non-3D Printing related</strong> above</li> <li>Anything 3D related <ul> <li>Connecting 3D printed parts - <em>For example, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/54/what-is-the-best-way-to-connect-3d-printed-parts">connecting 3D printed parts</a> is currently off-topic</em>²</li> <li>Coding - <em>For example <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3109/how-to-build-own-cura-gui">How to build my own Cura GUI?</a> - Coding Ultimaker Cura question, migrated to SO</em>³</li> </ul> </li> <li>Other <ul> <li>FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication)</li> <li>FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)</li> <li>SLA (Stereo Lithography)</li> <li>DLP (Digital Light Processing)</li> <li>SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)</li> <li>DLMS (Direct Laser Metal Smelting)</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <hr /> <p><strong>Notes</strong></p> <p>Admittedly, there will be overlap with some other SE sites and whilst we need to avoid the <em>too-broad-black-hole</em>, we should also welcome all things that are 3D Printer related, so as to keep all relevant knowledge in a central location.</p> <p>¹ WRT <strong>Components</strong>, and taking the <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/177/why-was-the-question-about-thermistors-migrated">thermistors meta question</a> as an example, my first thought is that questions like this should remain, as they are pertinent to 3D Printing, otherwise we <em>could</em> theoretically end up compartmentalising printers and migrating off a lot of stuff to SE. Electronics, SE.Engineering, SE.Hardware Recommendations, etc.</p> <p>² The same applies to the <strong>Misc/Anything 3D related</strong>, in particular the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/54/what-is-the-best-way-to-connect-3d-printed-parts"><em>Connecting 3D parts</em> question</a>. Yes, as some of the comments state, you could remove the 3D printer part and then it is basically an engineering question. However, when taken as a whole, this question <em>is</em> pertinent to 3D printing of large models, in parts.</p> <p>³ Also under <strong>Misc/Anything 3D related</strong>, Coding Ultimaker Cura <em>is</em> a SO type question, but it is <em>also</em> 3D printer specific</p> <hr /> <h3>Additional suggestions in the future</h3> <p>Instead of posting a new question, it <em>might</em> be a good idea to post an additional answer, containing the suggestion, to this question - in order to keep everything grouped together. This will save on the pain of having to go through all of the Meta questions as I have just done.</p> <p>However, that might mean that the suggestion request would not have such prominence that it would do if the suggestion was posted independently as its own question... So (at the risk of duplication), if a new question/suggestion is posted, then it could be a good idea to also copy that new post and add it as an answer below.</p> <hr /> <h1>Meta Suggestions</h1> <p>These are the meta questions that I used to create the categories above:</p> <h2><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/search?q=ask">ask</a> - 89 questions <em>in total</em></h2> <h3>General scope questions</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6/what-should-our-documentation-contain">What should our documentation contain?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/138/what-is-our-scope">What is our scope?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/239/what-is-your-opinion-on-se-meta-post-regarding-questions-that-cross-community-li">What is your opinion on SE Meta post regarding questions that cross Community lines?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/74/how-do-we-get-more-traffic-to-the-site">How do we get more traffic to the site?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/6/what-should-our-documentation-contain">What should our documentation contain?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Recommendations</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/219/ask-about-recommendation">Ask about recommendation</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/103/is-a-novice-question-on-a-specific-printer-allowed">Is a novice question on a specific printer allowed?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5/how-do-we-handle-recommendations">How do we handle recommendations?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/77/discussions-type-x-3d-printer-is-good-are-acceptable">Discussions type: X 3d printer is good? are acceptable</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/159/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-endless-best-first-printer-posts">Is there any way to prevent endless &quot;best first printer&quot; posts?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/219/ask-about-recommendation">Ask about recommendation</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/179/another-approach-to-solving-purchase-questions">Another approach to solving &quot;purchase&quot; questions</a></li> </ul> <h3>Software</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/172/is-a-question-about-software-to-create-models-on-topic">Is a question about software to create models on-topic?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Software Suggestion</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/252/software-suggestion-question">Software Suggestion Question</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/101/questions-about-software-and-websites">Questions about software and websites?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/185/are-software-recommendation-questions-allowed-here">Are software recommendation questions allowed here?</a> - <em>not in the <strong>ask</strong> list, but relevant here</em></li> </ul> <h3>CAD</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/204/the-fine-line-between-3d-and-cad">The fine line between 3d and CAD</a> <ul> <li>Followup: <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/501/cad-questions-review">CAD Questions - Review</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3>Misc</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/21/are-questions-that-tangentially-involve-3d-printing-on-topic">Are questions that tangentially involve 3D printing on topic?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/147/hobbyist-machine-questions-on-topic">Hobbyist Machine questions On-Topic?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/217/generalized-questions-allowed">Generalized questions allowed?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/69/fff-fdm-vs-everything-else">FFF/FDM vs... everything else?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/67/fdm-printer-that-can-also-mill-and-engrave-whats-in-scope">FDM printer that can also mill and engrave -- what&#39;s in scope?</a></li> </ul> <h3>CNC</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/182/wondering-why-cnc-questions-in-general-are-not-welcome-here">Wondering why CNC questions in general are not welcome here</a></li> </ul> <h3>Printer not working:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/210/how-to-handle-why-is-int-my-printer-working-questions">How to handle &quot;Why is in&#39;t my printer working?!&quot; questions</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/83/what-about-mystery-problem-troubleshooting-requests">What about mystery-problem troubleshooting requests?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/129/repairing-3d-printer">Repairing 3D printer</a></li> </ul> <h3>Discovering 3D Printing</h3> <ul> <li>null</li> </ul> <h3>Print services</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/141/are-questions-from-people-who-lack-knowledge-of-3d-printing-looking-to-discover">Are questions from people who lack knowledge of 3D printing looking to discover how to have something printed on-topic?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/165/are-questions-about-online-3-d-printing-services-allowed">Are Questions about Online 3-D printing services allowed?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Model Feasibility</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/212/is-3d-printing-se-appropriate-for-getting-feedback-on-feasibility-of-a-model">Is 3D Printing SE appropriate for getting feedback on feasibility of a model?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Model Availability</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/260/are-questions-about-availability-of-3d-models-on-topic">Are questions about availability of 3D models on-topic?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Scanning</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/180/does-this-reworded-question-meet-the-se-requirements">Does this reworded question meet the SE requirements?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Bio Printing</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/123/bio-printing-questions-okay">Bio-Printing Questions Okay?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/138/what-is-our-scope">What is our scope?</a> - <em>not in the <strong>ask</strong> list, but relevant here</em></li> </ul> <h2><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/search?q=topic">on-topic</a> - 56 questions <em>in total</em></h2> <h3>Sharing Settings through out the community</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/145/are-questions-about-sharing-settings-on-topic">Are questions about sharing settings On Topic?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Printer construction - DIY</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8/are-questions-discussing-printer-construction-internals-and-firmware-on-topic">Are questions discussing printer construction, internals, and firmware on-topic here?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Legal issues</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/32/are-questions-involving-legal-issues-and-3d-printing-on-topic">Are questions involving legal issues and 3D printing on-topic?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/412/closing-questions-about-knock-off-printers">Closing questions about knock-off printers</a></li> </ul> <h3>Filament/Materials</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/80/why-are-you-voting-to-close-this-question">Why are you voting to close this question?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/281/could-this-printing-material-recommendation-question-be-or-shaped-to-be-valid-on">Could this Printing Material Recommendation Question be or shaped to be valid on 3D SE?</a> - <em>not in the <strong>on-topic</strong> list, but relevant here</em></li> </ul> <h3>Laser</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/246/adding-a-laser-tag">Adding a &#39;laser&#39; tag?</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/404/is-laser-etching-specifically-a-question-linked-below-considered-to-be-on-topi">Is laser etching, specifically a question linked below, considered to be on topic?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Thermistors</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/177/why-was-the-question-about-thermistors-migrated">Why was the question about thermistors migrated?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Makerspaces</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/164/questions-about-makerspaces-and-3-d-printers">Questions about Makerspaces and 3-D Printers?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Mechatronics</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/138/what-is-our-scope">What is our scope?</a> - <em>not in the <strong>on-topic</strong> list, but relevant here</em></li> </ul> <h1>Actual questions (not meta)</h1> <h2><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=closed%3Ayes">Closed</a> - 73 questions <em>in total</em></h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3109/how-to-build-own-cura-gui">how to build own cura gui?</a> - <em>Coding Ultimaker Cura question, migrated to SO: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40909403/how-to-build-own-cura-gui">How to build own Cura GUI?</a></em></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/54/what-is-the-best-way-to-connect-3d-printed-parts">What is the best way to connect 3D printed parts?</a> - <em>General Mechanical issue</em></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6338/interesting-project-for-a-child">Interesting project for a child</a> - <em>Opinion based, but it was a HNQ</em></li> </ul> <h3>Scanning</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5699/is-there-any-public-and-reasonably-accurate-3d-scan-from-a-cray-2-computer">Is there any public and reasonably accurate 3D scan from a Cray-2 computer?</a></li> </ul> <h3>Laser</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10010/laser-is-engraving-the-negative-space">laser is engraving the negative space</a></li> </ul> <h3>Legal</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10200/3d-printer-part-clones-from-china-legality">3D printer part clones from china - legality</a></li> </ul> <h3>Recommendations</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10204/fastest-fdm-printer">Fastest FDM printer?</a></li> </ul> <h2>Deleted</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/326/understand-and-developing-firmware-ide-help">Understand and developing firmware - IDE help</a> - <em>Setting up a development environment</em></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5836/whats-the-least-amount-of-money-i-can-spend-to-get-a-decent-printer">What's the least amount of money I can spend to get a decent printer?</a> - <em>Shopping</em></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5742/designing-a-safe-and-crush-proof-pokemon-playing-card-box-using-a-3d-super-elips">Designing a Safe and Crush-proof Pokemon playing card box using a 3D Super-Elipsoid</a> - <em>Migrated to Engineering: <a href="https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/21885/designing-a-safe-and-crush-proof-pokemon-playing-card-box-using-a-3d-super-elips">Designing a Safe and Crush-proof Pokemon playing card box using a 3D Super-Elipsoid</a></em></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8057/resources-on-getting-horus-ciclop-scanners-to-work">Resources on getting horus/ciclop scanners to work?</a></li> </ul>

2018-06-13T12:15:56.867

276

Game plan - What is on-topic?

|discussion|asking-questions|scope|

<p>I propose that we add <strong>Direct Ink Writing (DIW)</strong> and <strong>Melt Electro-Writing (MEW)</strong> to the list of on-topic subjects at <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic</a></p> <p><a href="https://labs.wsu.edu/mpml/projects/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Direct Ink Writing</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Direct-Ink-Writing (DIW) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing method heavily utilized in meso- and micro-scales. In DIW, the liquid-phase “ink” is dispensed out of small nozzles under controlled flow rates and deposited along digitally defined paths to fabricate 3D structures layer-by-layer.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/melt-electrowriting-where-are-we-now/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Melt Electro-Writing</a></p> <blockquote> <p>MEW utilizes an electric field uniquely coupled with AM technology for the controlled deposition of a molten polymer jet, which rapidly solidifies into a fiber. These submicron fibers can be consistently laid on top of each other, resulting in the ability to direct-write complex and multi-scaled architectures and structures, and overcoming the resolution challenge that a majority of other additive manufacturing technologies encounter.</p> </blockquote> <p>My request to have these additive manufacturing techniques added to the list of on-topic subjects is driven by the facts that:</p> <ol> <li><p>These are valid Additive Manufacturing processes; and</p> </li> <li><p>The company for which I work, <a href="http://hyrel3d.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hyrel 3D</a>, has customers (mostly at universities) using these processes.</p> </li> </ol>

<h3>TL;DR</h3> <p><em><strong>One thing that I did see was that the closed questions, also seem to get automatically deleted. This is a shame because some of them have interesting/informative answers. So this raises the question that whilst, yeah, close the obvious shopping answers, should the associated information/knowledge that resides in the answers be lost, or not displayed, because the question was auto-deleted? Is there a close-but-don't-delete flag?</strong></em></p> <hr /> <h3>Preamble</h3> <p><em>Admittedly, this is a bit of a slippery slope, and I certainly am <strong>not</strong> advocating that all closed questions get re-opened but I was going through [some of] the closed questions last night and it is a shame that a few were closed due to the narrow (maybe strict?) guide lines that were set initially. If I get time, I might add a new section to the meta post, <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/276">Game plan - What is on-topic?</a>, for new topics pulled from some select closed questions.</em></p> <h3>Beachcombing the closed question pile</h3> <p>I have been browsing a number of <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=closed%3Ayes">closed questions</a> and came across a lot of &quot;Best first printer&quot; type questions, which are off-topic, admittedly, but they had some good answers. I think those sorts of questions get people to want to answer, for whatever reason (pride/emotion in demonstrating their own first printer, good/bad experiences, what have you...). Maybe, instead of closing <em>all</em> of them, it is worth having just one example question, such as the example below, so that it <em>has already</em> been asked - then we can legitimately close subsequent similar duplicates, without any loss of information or help.</p> <p>Taking this one as an example, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5836/whats-the-least-amount-of-money-i-can-spend-to-get-a-decent-printer">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5836/whats-the-least-amount-of-money-i-can-spend-to-get-a-decent-printer</a>. It was closed as being too broad. I actually voted to close it as well, although I'm starting to wish that I hadn't. It has some great answers in it and it is a shame that they have been lost.</p> <p>Since having been closed, it has now been <em>automatically deleted</em>. I'm just wondering whether it is worth undeleting it..?</p> <p>I am not 100% sure whether, after undeleting it, then leaving it closed will cause it to be automatically deleted again - isn't there some sort of <em>closed-but-don't-delete</em> flag?</p> <p>If there isn't then would it also have to be re-opened? Which, of course, entails other issues of &quot;Why do we allow certain broad questions to be left open?&quot; or &quot;It's a shopping question!&quot;</p> <p>Regardless, it <em>does</em> seem a shame to have lost those fine (but subjective) answers.</p> <h3>Summing up</h3> <p>So, the point of this post is, should we save this information somewhere, and if so, in what format? I envisage a number of possibilities:</p> <ul> <li>Blog post</li> <li><a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/22228/what-is-a-locked-post">Locked question</a></li> <li><a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/52764/what-is-a-protected-question">Protected question</a></li> <li><a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/tags/featured/info">Featured tagged question</a>¹ (meta only?)</li> <li><a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/tags/faq/info">FAQ tagged question</a>¹ (meta only?)</li> <li>Closed, but not deleted, question - if this is possible</li> <li>A community wiki type post</li> </ul> <hr /> <p>¹ See also <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/133704/what-is-the-difference-between-the-per-site-metas-faq-and-featured-tags">Difference between FAQ and Featured tagging</a></p>

2018-06-14T17:39:58.017

278

"Best first printer" wiki/blog/closed-question

|discussion|closed-questions|

<p>I've thought about this in the past as well. I'd be curious if anyone from the Stack Team has any issues with the following format:</p> <p>1) This functionality needs to be explicitly outlined in our On-Topic page!</p> <p>2) Any of these types of questions should be created by a moderator and immediately "converted to wiki" (see mod options)</p> <p>3) The question should outline an expected format for the following answers. For example, in the case of "Best Printer" questions:</p> <pre><code>**Make**: {Enter Manufacturer} **Model**: {Enter Model #/Name} **Type**: {Select tag: [FDM,SLA,SLS,DLP, etc]} **Pros**: {Provide details of benefits} **Cons**: {Provide details of downfalls} </code></pre> <p>4) Answers MUST follow the outline provided in the question or risk being deleted.</p> <p>5) (Optional) Answers should be converted to wiki</p>

<p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy-3d-printer" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy-3d-printer&#39;" rel="tag">diy-3d-printer</a> - These seem <em>very</em> similar to me, but I may be wrong.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a> has 7 questions</li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy-3d-printer" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy-3d-printer&#39;" rel="tag">diy-3d-printer</a> has 77 questions</li> </ul> <p>All questions under <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a> could easily be tagged <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy-3d-printer" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy-3d-printer&#39;" rel="tag">diy-3d-printer</a> and still make sense.</p> <p>Merge <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a> into <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy-3d-printer" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy-3d-printer&#39;" rel="tag">diy-3d-printer</a> or not? Delete <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a>?</p> <p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a> has no usage description anyway.</p>

2018-07-05T21:20:54.520

284

Merge diy and diy-3d-printer tags?

|discussion|tags|

<p>I have retagged all of the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a> as <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy-3d-printer" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy-3d-printer&#39;" rel="tag">diy-3d-printer</a> and removed the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy&#39;" rel="tag">diy</a>.</p> <p>In fact, 6 out of the 7 were already tagged <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diy-3d-printer" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;diy-3d-printer&#39;" rel="tag">diy-3d-printer</a>.</p>

<p>Should there be a space between a quantity and its (SI) units?</p> <p>For example:</p> <pre><code>1.56mm </code></pre> <p>or </p> <pre><code>1.56 mm </code></pre> <p>Which is correct?</p>

2018-07-11T16:37:03.453

297

Don't forget the space!

|discussion|

<p>I've been fixing posts for a while for many different editorial reasons, but one of the main issues is the lack of a non-breaking space between the amount and the units.</p> <p>Today however I came across this article, <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2010/12/16/32-gb-versus-32gb-almost-everyone-is-writing-it-wrong/?guccounter=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">32 GB versus 32GB: Almost everyone is writing it wrong</a>, by chance - I was actually looking up SD cards - and it summed up things pretty well. I'll let you read it. </p> <p>However, the rules are as follows:</p> <ul> <li>non-breaking spaces (<code>&amp;nbsp;</code> / <code>ALT</code>+0160) before <em>all</em> SI units, including bytes</li> </ul> <p>Except:</p> <ul> <li>degrees (°), minutes ('), and seconds (") (for angles)</li> </ul> <p>See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units#General_rules" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia: International System of units - Lexicographic conventions</a> :</p> <blockquote> <p>The value of a quantity is written as a number followed by a space (representing a multiplication sign) and a unit symbol; e.g., 2.21&nbsp;kg, 7.3×10²&nbsp;m², 22&nbsp;K. This rule explicitly includes the percent sign (%) and the symbol for degrees of temperature (°C). Exceptions are the symbols for plane angular degrees, minutes, and seconds (°, ′, and ″), which are placed immediately after the number with no intervening space.</p> </blockquote> <p>I must admit that <em>I</em> didn't realise that it applied to °C and %, as well... oops!</p> <hr> <p>In a <strong>comment</strong>, <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> does not work (nor does any HTML). Try <code>ALT+0160</code> - Or on Windows Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar (or on a Mac, type Option+Spacebar).</p> <p>Note that it is best to stick with <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> in <strong>answers</strong> as the other options are <strong><em>impossible</em></strong> to see when editing - so the <code>&amp;nbsp;</code> serves as a nice visual clue.</p>

<p>We have <a href="https://crypto.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/129/a-guide-to-moderating-crypto-stackexchange-yourself-close-voting">an awesome guide on close voting</a> posted by Ninefingers for crypto.SE. I'll just copy it to our meta-<a href="/questions/tagged/faq" class="post-tag moderator-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;faq&#39;" rel="tag">faq</a>, with a few tweaks.</p>

2018-07-18T23:26:49.377

301

A guide to moderating 3dprinting.SE yourself - close voting

|discussion|faq|voting|closed-questions|vote-to-close|

<h3>Rationale: why do we close questions?</h3> <p>There are really two ways to do moderation. If you've been on any of the <code>.moderated</code> newsgroups you'll be well aware that to get a post on there, it needs to undergo a review process first and be accepted. The aim is to keep problem discussions from arising.</p> <p>SE is slightly different - it works the other way. <em>Anyone</em> can ask a question on SE and closing a question is the equivalent of putting that question <em>back into review/improve mode</em>. It's a feedback mechanism designed to react to problem cases only, so the usual business of asking and answering good questions can just... <em>happen</em>.</p> <h3>Why do we close a question?</h3> <p>The philosophy of SE is that each site handles questions on <em>problems you face</em> or things you are trying to understand. The <a href="https://crypto.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">don't ask</a> section of the help center gives you a good overview of things that don't work - to summarise:</p> <ul> <li>Some questions invite arguments or extended debate that suck up time when members could be helping other people.</li> <li>Some questions are too broad, too narrow or have other content problems.</li> <li>Some questions belong elsewhere.</li> </ul> <p>These have been worked out over time and with a lot of experience from Stack Overflow and are, <em>broadly speaking</em> true. Sometimes, exceptions are made - it is always a case-by-case thing.</p> <h3>Is closing like deletion?</h3> <p>No. Actually, deletion is a different concept on SE. Closed questions are put "into improve mode" if you like, and are still visible for <em>anyone</em> to improve. That's the idea. Deleted questions are different — they have a red background and are invisible to all but high reputation users. So deletion is different and solves a slightly different problem.</p> <h3>What are the requirements for closing a question?</h3> <p>If you have 3000 reputation, or 500 reputation on a beta site, you can vote to close any question for the reasons above. More on that in a moment.</p> <p>If you do not have this level of reputation, you will find that under the flag menu, you have an option "this question does not belong here". That will raise a flag for users who can vote to close.</p> <h3>Why can anyone vote to close/reopen?</h3> <p>Firstly, anyone with sufficient reputation can vote to close or reopen (or flag as such, with lower reputation) because it is <em>your site</em>. This is really important - it's about expressing what you feel works and doesn't.</p> <h3>Ok, so how does it work?</h3> <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/qogGL.png" alt="Example close button"></p> <p>Ok, the important piece. Voting to close works like this:</p> <ul> <li>Underneath the question, there will be a close link. When you click on this, you will be presented with a list of options from which you can pick a close reason most appropriate to the situation.</li> </ul> <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/THms0.png" alt="Close vote reasons dialog"></p> <ul> <li>If other people have voted, you will see blue numbers against the reason they chose.</li> </ul> <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/69Kak.png" alt="Other votes"></p> <ul> <li>The exact duplicate page takes you to a page that allows you to specify a question to close as an exact duplicate against.</li> <li>The "off topic" page will present you with two options - one to migrate here, to meta, and one just off topic. At the moment, only moderators can send questions elsewhere, so feel free to cast a vote here and flag if you have a target in mind - we are collecting statistics to build a "migrate to" list, but that is not implemented yet.</li> <li>The other options are straight out closes.</li> <li>Once you pick your option and click "close", your vote is registered. You cannot retract it at this stage, but nobody else, including moderators, will know it was you who voted.</li> <li>If five people agree, the question will be closed. You've seen the effect of these before.</li> <li>Your name, and the name of other closers, will appear on the bottom of the question.</li> </ul> <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/K3F4V.png" alt="Close banner"></p> <h3>How does vote to re-open work?</h3> <p>A closed question has a "reopen" link underneath it. If you click this, a dialog box will ask you if you are sure - click yes and your vote will be registered to re-open the question.</p> <p>Below, you can see an example of the re-open link with two votes registered for re-opening (out of five).</p> <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/syw4O.png" alt="Re-open link"></p> <h3>What happens if I make a mistake?</h3> <p>Don't worry! You can retract your close vote by clicking the “close” button again. This is useful, for example, if the question has been edited since you voted to close. Note that you cannot use this to change the close reason (if you retract a close vote, you can't cast a new one).</p> <p>Furthermore, unless five people agree, or a moderator agrees, the question won't be closed. </p> <h3>Why are some questions closed with fewer votes?</h3> <p>Moderator close votes complete the required vote count immediately, no matter how many people have voted. This applies for both close/reopen votes.</p> <p>Furthermore, closure as duplicate can be faster for two reasons. If the asker agrees that their question is a duplicate, they can validate the closure immediately. This shows a final duplicate close vote from “Community”. Also, if a user with a gold tag badge in one of the question's initial tags votes to close or reopen as a duplicate, this takes effect immediately; in this case a gold tag badge icon appears after the closer's name.</p> <h3>I've seen a closed question and I disagree. What can I do?</h3> <p>Well, one option is to use your re-open vote! You can also always raise a discussion here on meta to seek clarification on why a question is closed and hopefully either a resolution will be reached, or you will get an explanation for the closure. </p> <h3>My name appears on the bottom. Isn't this going to cause problems with other users?</h3> <p>Actually, surprisingly few closed questions generate any response at all.</p> <p>However, if you experience difficulties as a result of closing a question, you can and should contact a moderator via the flag mechanism (which is anonymous). We can then take any necessary action.</p> <h3>How do I find questions I might need to close? What about re-opens?</h3> <p>In the <a href="https://crypto.stackexchange.com/review">review queues</a>, specifically the <a href="https://crypto.stackexchange.com/review/close">close votes queue</a> and the <a href="https://crypto.stackexchange.com/review/reopen">reopen votes queue</a>. These queues are open to everyone who has the close vote privilege. For each question, you get to decide whether to close/reopen or not; enough “no” votes take the question out of the queue. An edit from the queue is a vote to not close or reopen.</p>

<p>There are times when certain standardised comments are called for.</p> <p>Here are some examples (the links go to the various sections below, under the Answers):</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/303/do-we-have-standardised-comments#answer-305">General comments</a></li> <li>Prompting user to accept an answer - <em>in order to clear the unanswered question list</em></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/303/do-we-have-standardised-comments#answer-304">Problems with comments</a> <ul> <li>Answer posted in comments - <em>Solutions to the question posted in the comments, do not show up in searches</em></li> <li>Limiting comments - <em>Additional information, that <strong>may or may not</strong> have been requested is posted in comments, rather than as an edit to the question</em></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/303/do-we-have-standardised-comments#answer-402">Poor quality questions</a> <ul> <li>Ask a good question</li> <li>Unbounded questions</li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/303/do-we-have-standardised-comments#answer-393">Poor quality answers</a> <ul> <li>Short answer - <em>An answer lacking detail, no explanation provided</em></li> <li>Repetition - <em>No new information, the contents of a previously posted answer is repeated by a different user</em></li> <li>Link only answer - <em>Only a link is provided, with no summary, or content, of the link included</em></li> <li>Question posted as answer - <em><strong>Another</strong> question, (possibly) related to the OP's question, is posted as an answer</em></li> <li>&quot;Me too&quot; answer - <em>&quot;I <strong>also</strong> have this issue&quot;</em></li> <li>Edit to a previous answer - <em>user posts second answer with additional information, not realising that there is an edit button for their first answer</em></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p><em>et cetera</em>...</p>

2018-07-19T11:39:44.337

303

Do we have Standardised Comments?

|discussion|faq|comments|

<h1>Questions</h1> <p><em>Please note that if a user is new and has shown some research effort in composing the question, gently guide the new user in completing the question rather than using some of the statements below. If a question needs some more information or an image, use comments or flag for moderator attention if you don't have enough reputation to post comments. We welcome every new member, but not everybody is acquainted with the SE Q/A style (frequently it is assumed that it is similar to a forum of threaded messages).</em></p> <blockquote> <h2>New user, forum style question</h2> <p>Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! SE websites are driven by questions and answers, your question is more a forum style question where you ask for help to start a discussion. Please read the help section, accessible through the button with the question mark at the top right menu.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! SE websites are driven by questions and answers, your question is more a forum style question where you ask for help to start a discussion. Please read the [help] section, accessible through the button with the question mark at the top right menu. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Ask a good question</h2> <p>I would recommend that in addition to reading some highly voted questions to gauge the standard expected, that you take a look at the help section relating to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/asking">asking</a> questions, in particular <a href="https://3dprinting.com/help/how-to-ask" rel="nofollow noreferrer">How to ask a good question</a>, and take the <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/tour">tour</a> for more information on how stack exchange works. Thanks :-)</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>I would recommend that in addition to reading some highly voted questions to gauge the standard expected, that you take a look at the help section relating to [asking](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/asking) questions, in particular [How to ask a good question](https://3dprinting.com/help/how-to-ask), and take the [tour](http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/tour) for more information on how stack exchange works. Thanks :-) </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Unbounded questions</h2> <p>Welcome to SE 3D Printing &lt;username&gt;, but I'm afraid that Unbounded Design Questions are off-topic because there are many ways to solve any given design problem, so questions that ask for a list of approaches, a subjective recommendation on a method (for how to build something, how to accomplish something, what something is capable of, etc.) or shopping selection are off-topic. We prefer <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face</a>. Take a look at <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask">How to Ask</a> &amp; <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/tour">tour</a> for more information on how Stack Exchange works.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Welcome to SE 3D Printing &lt;username&gt;, but I'm afraid that Unbounded Design Questions are off-topic because there are many ways to solve any given design problem, so questions that ask for a list of approaches, a subjective recommendation on a method (for how to build something, how to accomplish something, what something is capable of, etc.) or shopping selection are off-topic. We prefer [practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face](http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask). Take a look at [ask] &amp; [tour] for more information on how Stack Exchange works. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Too localised (?)</h2> <p>As it stands this question is unlikely to help future visitors and may get closed as <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/closed-questions">too localized</a>. While it is useful to have all of the background in one place, could I suggest dividing this up into a series of <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face</a>. See <a href="http://meta.3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/153/is-it-ok-to-ask-for-opinions/154#154">Is it ok to ask for opinions?</a> for more background.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>As it stands this question is unlikely to help future visitors and may get closed as [too localized](http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/closed-questions). While it is useful to have all of the background in one place, could I suggest dividing this up into a series of [practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face](http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask). See [Is it ok to ask for opinions?](http://meta.3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/153/is-it-ok-to-ask-for-opinions/154#154) for more background. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Bad fit questions/Questions by new users for closed for other reasons</h2> <p>Welcome to 3D Printing.SE &lt;username&gt;, but I'm afraid that questions like this really aren't a good fit for a stack exchange site. We prefer <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face</a>. Take a look at <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask">How to Ask</a> and <a href="http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/tour">tour</a> for more information on how stack exchange works. Also, the <a href="http://meta.3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1302/3dprinting-stack-exchange-question-checklist">3D Printing question checklist</a> has good advice on how to write a good question. If you <a href="https://x" rel="nofollow noreferrer">edit</a> your question to fit our community guidelines we can reopen it for you.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Welcome to SE.3DP, but I'm afraid that questions like this really aren't a good fit for a stack exchange site. We prefer *[practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face](http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask)*. Take a look at [ask] and [about] for more information on how stack exchange works. Also, the [*3DP* question checklist](https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/q/340) has good advice on how to write a good question. If you [edit] your question to fit our community guidelines we can reopen it for you. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Old question, no accepted answer - With multiple answers available</h2> <p>Have you found &amp; fixed the problem? If any of the answers helped you to get an answer to your question or come to your own conclusions then please do vote &amp; accept an answer (using the tick button next to it). This helps us reduce the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered">unanswered questions list</a> &amp; stops the question from being bumped once in a while. If you found another answer (than those already posted), please add that answer (&amp; accept after 48 hours) to share your experience with the community. If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Have you found &amp; fixed the problem? If any of the answers helped you to get an answer to your question or come to your own conclusions then please do vote &amp; accept an answer (using the tick button next to it). This helps us reduce the [unanswered questions list](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered) &amp; stops the question from being bumped once in a while. If you found another answer (than those already posted), please add that answer (&amp; accept after 48 hours) to share your experience with the community. If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Old question, no accepted answer - With multiple answers available (alternative)</h2> <p>Hello @[UserName], I noticed your question has been up for a while now. Have any of the answers below been able to solve your question? If so, would you mind accepting the appropriate answer. If not, what is missing so that we may help you further? Also, if you have figured it out on your own, you can always answer and accept your own solution. Thank you.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Hello @[UserName], I noticed your question has been up for a while now. Have any of the answers below been able to solve your question? If so, would you mind accepting the appropriate answer. If not, what is missing so that we may help you further? Also, if you have figured it out on your own, you can always answer and accept your own solution. Thank you. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Old question, no accepted answer - If there is only one answer</h2> <p>Have you found and fixed the problem? If so, has the answer below led you to the solution? Please vote to accept the answer so this question is not bumped up once in a while and can be removed from the unanswered question list. You may even add your own solution and accept that after 48 hours! If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Have you found and fixed the problem? If so, has the answer below led you to the solution? Please vote to accept the answer so this question is not bumped up once in a while and can be removed from the unanswered question list. You may even add your own solution and accept that after 48 hours! If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Old question, no answer</h2> <p>Unfortunately, up to now, no answers are given on your question! Have you found an answer yourself? If so, you may add your own solution and accept that after 48 hours. If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question so other people may help you find an answer. You can even decide to delete the question. We need to reduce the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered">unanswered questions list</a> to graduate from the Beta stage.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Unfortunately, up to now, no answers are given on your question! Have you found an answer yourself? If so, you may add your own solution and accept that after 48 hours. If you have not been able to address the problem please update your question so other people may help you find an answer. You can even decide to delete the question. We need to reduce the [unanswered questions list](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered) to graduate from the Beta stage. </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Self answered but not accepted any answer</h2> <p>Good to see you solved the problem and took the time to share it with us! Please accept your answer so that it does not pop up to the top of the queue once in a while. This also will help us reducing the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered">unanswered questions list</a>.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>C&amp;P ⎘</strong></p> <pre><code>Good to see you solved the problem and took the time to share it with us! Please accept your answer so that it does not pop up to the top of the queue once in a while. This also will help us reducing the [unanswered questions list](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered). </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Multiple questions post</h2> <p>Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! SE websites are driven by questions and answers, your question contains multiple questions which makes it more difficult to answer as there are multiple answers. Please read the [help] section, accessible through the button with the question mark at the top right menu and read [ask]. Please split up your question by adding the other questions in a separate question!</p> </blockquote> <p>C&amp;P ⎘</p> <pre><code>Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! SE websites are driven by questions and answers, your question contains multiple questions which makes it more difficult to answer as there are multiple answers. Please read the [help] section, accessible through the button with the question mark at the top right menu and read [ask]. Please split up your question by adding the other questions in a separate question! </code></pre> <blockquote> <h2>Cross-posted question</h2> <p>Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! I see that you have cross-posted this question on another Stack Exchange site. Cross posting is frowned upon, please see <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/64068/is-cross-posting-a-question-on-multiple-stack-exchange-sites-permitted-if-the-qu">Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site?</a>. Please delete one of copies of the question.</p> </blockquote> <p>C&amp;P ⎘</p> <pre><code>Hi and welcome to 3D printing.SE! I see that you have cross-posted this question on another Stack Exchange site. Cross posting is frowned upon, please see [Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/64068/is-cross-posting-a-question-on-multiple-stack-exchange-sites-permitted-if-the-qu). Please delete one of copies of the question. </code></pre>

<p>Other Stack Exchange sites have a chatroom where people can ask simple queries, exchange technical ideas, raise concerns about SE posts, clarify points (where comments are not sufficient), or just for an informal chat.</p> <p>Do we have such a chat room?</p>

2018-07-30T12:03:05.780

307

Do we have a chatroom?

|discussion|chat|

<p>Yes, in fact there are two public chatrooms:</p> <ul> <li>One, <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/34216/the-hotbed-3d-printing">The Hotbed - 3D Printing</a> chatroom, which was created here: <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/49/what-should-be-the-name-of-our-chatroom">What should be the name of our chatroom?</a>. This has a number of achieved chats, and was active up until the start of 2018</li> <li>Two, <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/79830/public-3d-printing-room">Public 3D printing room</a>, which was created in June and which is currently our most active.</li> </ul>

<p>We were offered to <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/314/can-we-get-mathjax-enabled">get MathJax enabled</a>.</p> <p>Now, we need to decide on which character to have text between them parsed into MathJax! So please either add your suggestion or cast your vote!</p>

2018-09-06T10:39:30.503

341

Which character to use to activate MathJax?

|discussion|status-completed|mathjax|

<p>Dollar works in isolation. See:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/AhPfX.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/AhPfX.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p> </blockquote> <p>However, two (seemingly unrelated) dollar signs <em>will</em> cause a problem, see <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/315381/weird-behaviour-when-using-two-2-signs">Weird behaviour when using two (2) $ signs?</a>, such as this:</p> <pre><code>* Build a $1 Billion home ([Mukesh Ambani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilia_(building))) * Build a $1.2 Billion Yacht ([Roman Abramovich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(yacht))) </code></pre>

<p>Tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/nylon" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;nylon&#39;" rel="tag">nylon</a> exists already, but I think it would be incredibly useful to have a TPE/TPU tag and a tag for all flexibles as a category.</p> <p><strong>EDIT:</strong> It has come to my attention that the tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/flexible" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;flexible&#39;" rel="tag">flexible</a> already exists. I still would like to see a tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/tpu" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;tpu&#39;" rel="tag">tpu</a> though.</p>

2018-10-07T04:57:07.030

346

Can we create a filament tag for flexibles? (TPE/TPU)

|discussion|tags|

<p>From <a href="https://rigid.ink/blogs/news/172062855-what-is-the-difference-between-tpe-and-tpu-flexible-filament" rel="nofollow noreferrer">What is the difference between TPE and TPU Flexible Filament?</a></p> <blockquote> <p>TPE = ThermoPlastic Elastomer</p> <p>TPU = Thermoplastic PolyUrethane, which is a type of ThermoPlastic Elastomer</p> </blockquote> <p>which is as 0scar has already stated, i.e. TPU ∈ TPE. It goes on to say:</p> <blockquote> <p>Although technically classed under the ThermoPlastic Elastomer spectrum, the full name for TPU is ThermoPlastic Polyurethane. This isn’t especially new in industry, but until recently wasn’t commonly available in 3D printing.</p> <p>However recently it’s growing a lot more popularity among printers. While on the surface very similar to TPE, but TPU 3D printing has some notable differences.</p> <p>TPU is very similar in elasticity and other mechanical properties to TPE. Although it is very slightly more rigid, at Shore 94A-95A. This makes it a little easier to print in printers that don’t usually print the original, softer TPE 3D printing filament well, as the slight more rigidity is easier for the extruder mechanism to handle.</p> </blockquote> <p>So they don't seem <em><strong>exactly</strong></em> the same. I dunno, I'm not sure. However, we apparently have the tags already, so that isn't a major issue anymore.</p> <p>With regards to the synonym aspect: Are the questions going to to be the same, i.e. will the same issues happen to both TPU and TPE, or will TPU have special, particular issues? If the latter, then a synonym maybe isn't a good idea.</p> <p>Regarding <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/flexible" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;flexible&#39;" rel="tag">flexible</a>, I wonder if it is necessary. Aren't we trying to reduce the number of filament tags? See <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/59/fixing-the-filament-tags">Fixing the filament tags</a>. If having <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/flexible" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;flexible&#39;" rel="tag">flexible</a> will help in this direction then all well and good, otherwise, maybe it isn't.</p> <p>However, I'm not a filament expert. You can decide what you want to do and if you need me to do it, message me in chat or leave a comment.</p>

<p>For those who did not know, linking to off-site content in answers is a no-go at SE sites unless you provide context. From <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer">help</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>Provide context for links</strong><br>Links to external resources are encouraged, but please add context around the link so your fellow users will have some idea what it is and why it’s there. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the target site is unreachable or goes permanently offline.</p> </blockquote> <p>What about linking to off-site content for questions? <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask">How do I ask a good question?</a> is not clear about that.</p> <p>A question on meta.stackexchange reads: <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/94807/auto-ban-questions-that-use-pastebin">"Auto-ban questions that use pastebin?"</a>. This hints to banning people that use external linking in their answer.</p> <p>I can image for large sites (hundreds to thousands questions a day) or specific sites (about programming) you definitely want a method to shift the quality of questions. But we are small. Furthermore, it is sometimes necessary (as the OP does not have the knowledge, and we don't have the overview) to ask for the complete file (e.g. configuration.h or G-code). You sure don't want people to post their complete configuration.h or G-code file into the question.</p> <p>As links to off-site content seem to die over time, what can we do best to preserve the information for the question?</p>

2018-12-06T14:52:09.683

371

Is linking (temporary) to external content a no-go at 3D Printing.SE?

|discussion|

<p><em>Copied from chat</em></p> <hr> <p>I agree about the posting of the entire configuration file or G-code in a question is too big to fit, etc. What is really needed, and I've thought this for a long time, is a SE sanctioned version of PasteBin [functionality]. A persistent scrapbook/scratchpad site internal to SE (like the i.stack.imgur.com site) where <em>over-sized</em> chunks of code/configs/text can be pasted, without it being an external link (which carry the inherent risk of link death). That would be the correct solution, and I don't understand why that hasn't been set up. Seems odd to me.</p>

<p>Copyright is a delicate subject. SE has a strict policy regarding copy pasting other people's text. Correctly citing parts or rephrasing in your own words mitigates this.</p> <p>What is SE policy for questions containing screenshots of pirated software? What should we do? It must be clear that such practices shouldn't be allowed or endorsed at <code>3DPrinting.SE</code>.</p>

2019-05-02T20:29:02.757

397

Pirated software screenshots in question; what is SE policy?

|discussion|stackexchange|etiquette|

<p>See this question, <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/208610/is-it-okay-that-questions-mention-illegal-downloads">Is it okay that questions mention illegal downloads?</a></p> <blockquote> <p>It's none of our business, really, and more importantly, as you're proving right now, it's nothing but a distraction from the meat of the question. What would you have SE, Inc. do, anyways?</p> <p>The appropriate action is to edit that information out of the question, since it (almost certainly) has no bearing on the technical issue, which might also be faced by someone else who does not have a pirated copy.</p> </blockquote> <p>The second answer to that question more or less states that if the user isn't asking how to download or hack, but just has a basic issue with the software, which <em>a licensed user would also encounter</em>, then it isn't a problem... apparently.</p>

<p>As the question states, should <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bed" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;bed&#39;" rel="tag">bed</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/build-plate" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;build-plate&#39;" rel="tag">build-plate</a> be merged? Basically, both tags refer to the same part of the printer; <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bed" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;bed&#39;" rel="tag">bed</a> should be a synonym for <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/build-plate" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;build-plate&#39;" rel="tag">build-plate</a>.</p>

2020-01-04T22:37:11.370

466

Should we merge tag "bed" and "build-plate"?

|discussion|tags|

<p>It should not be about merging of tags, rather we should come up with a proper terminology to identify the correct parts of the &quot;build platform&quot;.</p> <p>Basically, every printer consists of a frame with some sort of guide rails¹ moving a carriage. On this carriage a build surface is attached where the printer prints the print on; it is always the top of the stack. Note that this can be e.g. a moving Y-axis² or moving Z-axis carriage³. In some cases the carriage is missing and there is just a static mounting, then it's a platform instead⁴. It is basically irrelevant if the build surface is glued to the stack or removeable in some way or another.</p> <p>Between the carriage and the build surface you can have have a stack of multiple elements: a structure or structures, a plate, plates or matts, insulation, etc. This <strong>whole</strong> assembly of elements make up the build platform, an example is shown below.</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/M3xCs.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/M3xCs.png" alt="Proposed build platform terminology" /></a></p> <p>Note that the linear support can be mounted in Y or Z direction. To tag the elements that make up the <em>build platform assembly</em>, a proposed solution can consist of the following terms for subassemblies:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/z-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;z-axis&#39;" rel="tag">z-axis</a> or <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/y-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;y-axis&#39;" rel="tag">y-axis</a> in combination with <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/carriage" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;carriage&#39;" rel="tag">carriage</a>,</li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/platform" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;platform&#39;" rel="tag">platform</a> (to support printers that have a solid platform, e.g. Hyrel/Delta)</li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/heated-bed" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;heated-bed&#39;" rel="tag">heated-bed</a> (aluminium bed or a silicone matt), which can have a</li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/glass-print-surface" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;glass-print-surface&#39;" rel="tag">glass-print-surface</a>, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/pei-print-surface" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;pei-print-surface&#39;" rel="tag">pei-print-surface</a>, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/buildtak-print-surface" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;buildtak-print-surface&#39;" rel="tag">buildtak-print-surface</a>, etc. possibly augmented with the additional tag of <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/removeable-print-surface" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;removeable-print-surface&#39;" rel="tag">removeable-print-surface</a> or <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/magnetic-print-surface" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;magnetic-print-surface&#39;" rel="tag">magnetic-print-surface</a>.</li> </ul> <h2>Annotations</h2> <ol> <li>The rails often take the shape of rods and bearings, linear rails of V-slot profile.</li> <li>Carthesian Portal or Cantilever printers</li> <li>CoreXY like the Hypercube</li> <li>Delta Printers</li> </ol>

<p>Without going into the specifics (because I don't know them) E3D got into a bit of hot water with the name of their new Hermes extruder and determined that just renaming the extruder to Hemera would make life easier. Is there a way to change <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/e3d-hermes" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;e3d-hermes&#39;" rel="tag">e3d-hermes</a> to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/e3d-hemera" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;e3d-hemera&#39;" rel="tag">e3d-hemera</a> and perhaps make the former synonymous with the latter?</p>

2020-01-06T20:42:59.053

467

So it looks like [tag:e3d-hermes] should be changed to [tag:e3d-hemera]

|support|tags|

<p>Yes it is possible to rename tags, but it would indeed be better to create a synonym as the extruder has had the Hermes name for a while. This means the Hermes tag will be replaced by the Hemera tag after adding/confirming the tag in the question.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Update:</strong></p> <p>Has been done, there where only 2 questions.</p>

<p>There's been a bit in the news about persons 3d printing parts to help in the COVID19 pandemic, but as mentioned in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahgoehrke/2020/03/29/fda-oversight-emerges-for-additive-manufacturing-resources-in-pandemic-response/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Forbes article</a>,</p> <blockquote> <p>Community response is high, but also in short supply is often the knowledge of exactly what will help, and how and where to deploy that help. 3-D printing random designs found online might feel helpful, but if those designs don’t meet usage criteria or aren’t produced in satisfactory environments, ultimately it’s often just a waste of plastic. </p> </blockquote> <p>So are questions related to which parts I should print to be most helpful be on topic? Or questions about where I can find guidance on the best support?</p>

2020-03-30T14:02:32.340

478

Are questions about how I can help in the COVID19 crisis on topic?

|discussion|asking-questions|

<p>I don't think that specific question how and where you can help printing parts for the COVID-19 pandemic are of value for the future. But, problems with printing, settings, orientation, etc. are on-topic.</p>

<p>Several questions are related to first layer calibration or issues: I found 43 of them with "first layer" in the title alone, 150 with "first layer" anywhere (no duplicates).</p> <p>I propose adding a "first-layer" tag to more easily retrieve said questions.</p> <p>I already applied it to my latest question without thinking about it, but I can remove it if desired.</p>

2020-04-03T16:59:03.920

480

New tag: first-layer

|discussion|tags|

<p>I think the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/adhesion" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;adhesion&#39;" rel="tag">adhesion</a> tag should be used instead.</p>

<p>Which are some of the most active online communities (regardless of platform) that regularly deal / talk/debate / etc with printing in general?</p> <p>I'm especially interested in ones focused heavily on DIY and UV printing</p> <p>I'd love some recommendations if you have any!</p>

2021-01-22T10:58:03.483

509

Online printing related communities

|discussion|

<p>Ok, as for January 2021 few links I had on hand are:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/3dprinter/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Reddit r/3dprinter - 3D Printer</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/FixMyPrint/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Reddit r/FixMyPrint - Get help to diagnose and fix 3D print problems</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.soliforum.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SoliForum - 3D Printing Community</a></li> <li><a href="https://community.ultimaker.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ultimaker Community of 3D Printing Experts</a></li> <li><a href="https://reprap.org/forum/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RepRap Forum</a></li> </ul> <p>These are where I personally landed and found something useful when surfing/troubleshooting, and they seem to be actually active. You can query Internet and find many more, but they are not yet on my list <em>(which is of some value, or not :) here I am nodding to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15399/online-printing-related-communities#comment28989_15399">Trish' comment</a>)</em>.</p>

<p><em>Yeah, it's a bit long, apologies. But I feel it is worth bringing up.</em></p> <p>Many questions are actually <a href="/q/83/">troubleshooting questions</a>. You may try to answer them to unblock the concerned who stuck, but number of possible causes, which mean many degrees of freedom... so sometimes you can only guess. Also about skills of the asking person (sign me up). Definitely nothing to complain about, there is learning curve and its laws. But these guess-answers will often lead to:</p> <ul> <li>opening an discussion in comments, not very promising because of limited and not-so-interactive nature of comments,</li> <li>abandoning the question by disheartened user, who may find it too hard, misleading, or even <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/28/answers-that-dont-answer-the-question">not answering the question</a>.</li> </ul> <p>So:</p> <ol> <li><p><strong>Should we propose a chat</strong> to discuss doubts and do troubleshooting, when comments start growing? Is it accepted practice in the process? Is it good in your opinion?</p> </li> <li><p>Troubleshooting is very specific and rather short-living discussion. <strong>What chat room to use the best?</strong> I suppose that creating new room for each issue should be avoided. So far I could not learn the real nature of <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/79830/public-3d-printing-room">Public 3D Printing Room</a> (yet?), but to me it seems proper for higher-level subjects (of some wider use, for community, etc.).</p> <p>So maybe it would be better to have a separate chat(s) for ad hoc troubleshooting. Maybe to revitalize <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/34216/the-hotbed-3d-printing">The Hotbed</a> for such purpose? This name even sounds appropriate for all the urgency and surgery ;)</p> </li> <li><p>If the question contents sounds more like panic button press, rather than effect of understanding to the reasonable limits with conscious research, should we propose <strong>switching to chat immediately</strong> instead of throwing hints and discouraging prompts? I am aware that few of us is going to assist for longer period, but still it more transparent and better then in comments, and there is a change for more people to join in and even take over the subject. Great chance to mix skills and specialities, instead of trying to offer half-answers.</p> </li> <li><p>More interactive approach would lead to more successful answers. This will help growing this community by having <strong>more users coming back</strong>, with increasing awareness - I suppose this is key factor. It's easier to summarize results of colloquial chat as a question improvement or as an answer, than write literary paragraph with all possibly important details (and then you have to read all of it back and forth). It would be also more convenient to remind of accepting answers or even voting due to gratitude - which made in comments seems to have an opposite effect (sometimes like admonishing; lifeless automated reminders work much better for such reasons).</p> </li> </ol>

2021-02-02T03:12:05.947

512

Troubleshooting questions - suggesting redirection to the chat?

|discussion|site-promotion|comments|chat|new-users|

<p>Moving discussions to chat is automatically suggested when the amount of comments is becoming too high. This is a separate chat between the discussing users, but not limited, I've entered many of those rooms later to pitch in. The generic <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/79830/public-3d-printing-room">Public 3D Printing Room</a> can be used for any 3D related problem, discussion or a friendly hang-out chat.</p> <p>Chat requires a 20 reputation. <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/196/remember-to-vote">Hence the voting is key</a>, this is what is killing us, too less people feel the urge to put in a vote. Currently we have only <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users?tab=Voters&amp;filter=all">15 users</a> that have voted more than 500 times. Special <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/badges">badges</a> (Moderation Badges) are to be earned, e.g.</p> <ul> <li>[Civic Duty] -&gt; Vote 300 or more times (awarded only 18 times to date!)</li> <li>[Electorate] -&gt; Vote on 600 questions and 25% or more of total votes are on questions (awarded only 7 times to date!)</li> <li>[Vox Populi] -&gt; Use the maximum 40 votes in a day (awarded only 29 times to date!)</li> </ul> <p>If the question is from a new user and half decent we should vote up to reward the question so that the user is able to enter the chat. Similar for answers, I've seen answers that are good but still not receive the votes and attention the answer should receive. Voting doesn't cost anything. If you don't agree with an answer, you could also withhold your vote and only down vote if something is completely wrong.</p> <p>I know that various members are already trying to limit the amount of comments and invite people to discuss further in chat. Please continue to do so, this may lead to updating the question and the answer!</p>

<p>I've just noticed this Meta post, <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/364007/280335">Testing three-vote close and reopen on 13 network sites</a> and I wondered whether we should employ it here, and what do other people think?</p> <p>We are a smallish site, with a smallish number of active users (although it isn't <em>that</em> small, and is slowly growing over time, it should be noted). We don't have a problem with review queues building up <em>except</em> with the close votes. Some questions do seem to hang around for a while in the close queue.</p> <p>The problem with the close vote review queue requiring 5 votes when there is a <em>limited</em> number of active reviewers (where two of which are moderators) is this: If a moderator votes, then the question is automatically closed, even if there aren't 5 votes - if a moderator casts the first vote to close then the question is closed straight away, without waiting for another four votes - so the vote is not democratic, but instead, dictatorial in nature. As such, moderators tend to not vote, unless the question blatantly needs closing (i.e. spam, vulgarity, etc.).</p> <p>There are ways around this problem:</p> <ul> <li>sock puppets (moderators have a fake account to cast votes only in the review queue), or;</li> <li>waiting for four votes and then a moderator casting the fifth vote (or waiting for three votes and then moderators agreeing (behind the scenes) to cast the final two votes, etc.)</li> </ul> <p>However, these aren't ideal, and just shortening the queue might make things better. This need not be a permanent change, I guess, so if this site, for some reason, eventually exploded in popularity, the review queue <em>could</em> go back to five votes (but I'm not 100 % sure about that, see the SE.Meta post above to check).</p> <p>So... should SE.3DP jump on the &quot;three votes to close&quot; train? Or are things OK as they are? What do other users think? <em>Please</em> leave a comment or answer.</p> <p>To make things super simple, and if you don't have time to write a comment or answer, you can just vote on the <strong>Yes</strong> answer or the <strong>No</strong> answer.</p> <h3>End of voting date</h3> <p>To give this vote an end point, and not make it so opened-ended, I guess we should tally a &quot;final&quot; vote on the 1^st July 2021 - which is May 6 (trial start date) plus 45 days (length of trial) plus a little bit more. As we can't join the trial halfway through, there isn't much point to tallying up the votes before that.</p> <p>At that point Catija will be sent the results.</p>

2021-05-14T02:49:36.517

519

Does this 3D Printing site want only three votes to close (or should we stick with five)?

|discussion|status-completed|closed-questions|

<p>It's been almost a whole year since this was escalated this to the Community Team, so I apologize for the delay in actually processing the request! But the good news is <strong>you now officially only need 3 close votes to close a question on 3D Printing SE!</strong></p> <p>After looking at the data, I think it's clear that there's no reason for y'all to have this set at 5. Thank you so much for bearing with us while we got to this request.</p> <p>We'll check back in with you all in a few months to see how things are going — if things are going great, we may not post an update but please feel free to leave a comment if you want us to post something.</p> <p>Here's some basic stats of how things look:</p> <p>Over the last two years, you've had heavy fluctuations in effectiveness, when looking into what percentage of questions that received at least one flag or vote to close actually ended up getting closed. As you can see, the effectiveness is in the 60%~100% range — the good news is that the numbers of posts this represents are relatively small (always under 20 posts per month).</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/iT5UH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/iT5UH.png" alt="Graph showing the percentage of handled tasks, as described in the paragraph above" /></a></p> <p>The graph below, however, does show something that is a bit more concerning:</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/922SP.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/922SP.png" alt="Graph showing all closed posts, posts closed by the community, and posts closed by the moderation team. The line representing posts closed by the moderation team matches the line of all closed posts on almost all of the reporting period" /></a></p> <p>This shows that the moderation team is doing the bulk of the closing, which can be problematic because the mods shouldn't be making these decisions on their own, even with other users weighing in. To add a bit more nuance, though, it looks like the moderation is not <em>single-handedly</em> closing the posts, but rather stepping in to aid the community on a big chunk of cases — the graph below shows which vote the moderators cast, to close posts:</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6DeBm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6DeBm.png" alt="Graph showing the amount of times mods cast the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th vote to close questions on the site" /></a></p> <p>When working on this project, Catija had found two primary use cases for this change:</p> <ol> <li>When too many items are going unhandled (not unclosed, just unhandled)</li> <li>When the moderators are doing the bulk of the closing/reopening.</li> </ol> <p>Because the mods here are casting the bulk of the final close votes, the first graph looks good (at least in the months where 100% effectiveness is reached). However, this creates an imbalance between closing and reopening as the mods now have to be really thoughtful about reviewing for reopening.</p> <p>So, my hope is that changing this to three votes to close/reopen will take some of the workload off the mods and also increase the number of posts that find their way to be reopened - assuming it's worth reopening them!</p>

<p>Related to the recent question, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/q/18141/4762">How to determine the firmware and firmware version of a Frankensbox fx-800?</a> and given that:</p> <ol> <li>The Frankensbox FX-800 is a <em>rebranded</em> Dedibot DF3;</li> <li>The support for the Frankenbox appears to be, to say the least, somewhat lacking in the useful department;</li> <li>There is <em>slightly</em> more useful support available for the Dedibot DF3 to be found on the web.</li> </ol> <p>Would it be sensible to make the existing <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/frankensbox-fx-800" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;frankensbox-fx-800&#39;" rel="tag">frankensbox-fx-800</a> tag, actually an <em>synonym</em> of a new tag (say <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/dedibot-df3" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;dedibot-df3&#39;" rel="tag">dedibot-df3</a>), which, in addition to any brief summary of the DF3, also makes reference to the FX-800 being a rebranded DF3?</p> <p>This linking of aliases <em>might</em> help people, who are looking for information on the Frankensbox, realise that they should widen their searches to include the DF3.</p> <p>Does this aliasing fit in well with our recent reorganisation of tags for printer models and brands?</p>

2021-09-28T03:29:23.603

530

Frankenstein's synonym

|discussion|tags|

<p>A synonym is a solution to let people choose the tag they think is the correct one (the synonym), but gets converted to another tag (the target).</p> <p>From <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/suggest-tag-synonyms">3D Printing Stack Exchange -&gt; Help center -&gt; Privileges</a>:</p> <blockquote> <h2>What happens when a question is asked using a synonym?</h2> <p>Any tags that match active synonyms will be automatically and silently changed from their original as-entered form to the tag that the synonym points to.</p> </blockquote> <p>The downside is that there is no predefined synonym to choose from! (drop-down list)</p> <p>E.g. if you make a synonym tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/frankensbox-fx-800" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;frankensbox-fx-800&#39;" rel="tag">frankensbox-fx-800</a> for the target tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/dedibot-df3" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;dedibot-df3&#39;" rel="tag">dedibot-df3</a>, the user creating the tag to the question needs to be exactly typed in as <code>frankensbox-fx-800</code>, i.e. there is no pop-up for suggestions of the tag you are about to use. So, when the OP enters <code>fx800frankensbox</code> or <code>frankensbox-fx800</code> this might not work, and the user is not presented with the <code>frankensbox-fx-800</code> option...</p>

<p>We got <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/314/can-we-get-mathjax-enabled">MathJax enabled</a>. Today I learned that there is even more! We could have <a href="https://worldbuilding.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/9710/can-we-extend-mhchem-support-in-mathjax-to-include-physical-units?cb=1"><strong>support for Physical units</strong> enabled as part of the mhchem package</a>! We use physical units <strong>a lot</strong> and demand the SI formatting. Let me quote from Worldbuilding:</p> <blockquote> <p>Chemistry Stack Exchange is obviously the main consumer of this feature and has a <a href="https://worldbuilding.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/9710/can-we-extend-mhchem-support-in-mathjax-to-include-physical-units?cb=1">nice FAQ on its use</a>. The chemists get two things that we don't:</p> <ul> <li><code>\require{mhchem}</code> is implicit... you get support automatically without having to require it explicitly.</li> <li>They get physical unit formatting via <code>$\pu{273.15 K}$</code>, which currently renders as a grumpy error on WB.SE and WB meta that looks [with only mhchem enabled] like this <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/NyXoU.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/NyXoU.png" alt="mathjax markup error" /></a></li> </ul> </blockquote> <p><strong>Can we have that too? Pretty please?</strong> I am tired of having to type <code>$273.15\ \text{K}$</code> and such, especially if it is complex things in the unit!</p>

2022-05-08T19:12:53.590

537

Can we get mhchem support?

|feature-request|status-completed|mathjax|formatting|

<p>The deed is done. Behold! In all its glory:</p> <p><span class="math-container">$$\pu{273.15 K}$$</span></p>

<p>I'm aware I cannot ask for recommendations and I'm not interested into. But I'm looking for a specific feature of a 3D printer and since my primary language is not English I'm not sure which is the correct word (or words) to describe such a feature.</p> <p>My question would be like this: &quot;I'm looking for an enclosed 3D printer that allows to load a common 1 kg filament bobbin. Do these bobbins rely on a specific standard? How to filter out the printers that match my request when making a Google search?&quot;</p> <p>Is this question acceptable for you?</p>

2022-09-11T14:38:45.753

554

Am I allowed to ask the correct name for a specific feature?

|support|asking-questions|

<h2>Part identification is on topic</h2> <p>We have had questions about what the specs for a motor were, we had some about replacement parts.</p> <h2>Spool sizes are on topic</h2> <p><strong>Bobbins, reels or spools</strong> have almost standard sizes, because manufacturers buy them in bulk from China. Typical sizes I found looking on Alibaba (a website that connects manufacturers and wholesalers) are 0.33, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 3 kg, most feature the same outer diameter but different spool widths, which allows easier packing. If there is a standard for those would be totally on topic.</p>

<p>I have a question about my 3D Printing Stack Exchange post: <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/22984/what-measures-can-be-implemented-to-ensure-equitable-access-to-personalized-trea">What measures can be implemented to ensure equitable access to personalized treatments using 3D printing?</a></p> <p>I usually ask questions on the &quot;Today's Featured Site&quot;, but on the 3D Printing site, I have lost the battle. Currently, I have asked just two questions on this site. This one I have asked on January 23. The other, currently deleted question, I have asked on February 13. Both the questions were closed as opinion-based. Then, I have keep on making new edits until I get a question that is good for this site. Now, in my latest edit to the other question, I try to add sourced content to clarify, but the community marks it as spam and offensive, and deletes and protects the question. So, I need to edit both the questions to make it answerable for the site. So, I have requested for an appeal here. I really cannot live without a question with the original date as February 13. Look at Facebook. When I post something on Facebook, I can change the date and time of that post to an earlier date or time. I wish that StackExchange would have a similar feature.</p> <p>What is something more specific I can ask about personalized medicine and consumers?</p> <p>I really need to edit both the questions into practicable answerable questions.</p>

2024-02-21T02:10:28.860

602

Appeal request for my two questions

|support|editing|

<p>First let me say, thanks for trying to participate in the site.</p> <p>As the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">help</a> states:</p> <blockquote> <p>You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.</p> </blockquote> <p>Unfortunately, neither of your questions fit that criteria.</p> <p>Therefore, the community voted to close.</p> <p>Thereafter, any subsequent edits did not help the questions to address the initial reasons for closure (as explained more fully below)</p> <hr /> <p>The first question about the medical applications, as I had already explained in the comments, was not suitable for a Q&amp;A site:</p> <blockquote> <p>I would imagine that there are a number of on-going research projects. However, research across the various fields of medicine seems rather a broad area. As such, any comprehensive answer would need to be really long, and just a list of links to projects - a list that would be continually changing as time goes by. For that reason, it doesn't seem that your type of question is particularly suitable, as it currently stands, for this site - it is just too broad a question. If you could narrow the scope of the question (to a particular field) then that might make it easier to answer appropriately</p> </blockquote> <p>I then aggregated the links from a deleted answer, that appeared to answer your initial edit of your question, into a couple of comments, so that you could at least see them.</p> <p>I then explained:</p> <blockquote> <p>Maybe all of the links (and associated abstracts), in these comments, could be put into one single wiki-type answer that anyone could contribute to... that is a possibility. However, that would/could still result in a never-ending list answer that gets bigger and bigger and which would/could end up breaking Stack Exchange's Q&amp;A format. On the other hand, if multiple answers were posted, how could you select the accepted answer..?</p> </blockquote> <p>I now realise that I mis-spoke when I said:</p> <blockquote> <p>If you could narrow the scope of the question (to a particular field) then that might make it easier to answer appropriately</p> </blockquote> <p>As the issue would still remain, regardless of scope - except that the list of linked papers would be a little shorter.</p> <p>Apologies for having got your hopes up, and your futile scope edits.</p> <hr /> <p>The second question was opinion based, <em>initially</em> asking about materials. Subsequent edits just <em>changed the subject upon which the opinion was asked</em>, from materials, to UX or UI (?), then to cost (for which you got a range of opinions in the comments), back to UX/UI and then finally an opinion on Octoprint. This last &quot;Octoprint&quot; edit contained a link to an unrelated product listing page (upon which octoprint was somewhere near the bottom), hence the spam flag.</p> <hr /> <p>To re-iterate the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">help</a>, neither of these questions seem to be based on actual problems that you face, but rather the start of a <em>discussion</em>. Discussions are, unfortunately, out of scope of Stack Exchange, as a Q&amp;A site.</p> <p><strong>Please also be aware that after a system-determined number of failed edits and re-open votes, the system (not the community or moderators) could implement a question ban or suspension. In order to avoid this, please try to ask <em>&quot;practical, answerable questions&quot;</em> and not opinion-based discussion based topics.</strong></p> <p>Besides that if you continually edit the sense, or topic, of a question, then users will get confused, fatigued, or &quot;turned off&quot;, as some comments have indicated. So, please, try to plan your question in advance so that multiple subsequent edits aren't required.</p> <p>If you really need an answer to your two questions, then I would like to quote <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/a/181/4762">this answer</a>, from a (sort of) related question:</p> <blockquote> <p>Unfortunately, I don't think that the Stack Exchange network is a good fit for the type of question you're asking. Your question was flagged as <strong>primarily opinion-based</strong>. Essentially, the question you're asking is a poll or survey which the design of the Stack Exchange sites don't properly support. Here are some more appropriate solutions for what you're asking for:</p> <ul> <li>Bring up your poll in <a href="http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/34216/the-hotbed-3d-printing">3D Printing SE Chat</a></li> <li>Create a <a href="https://www.google.com/forms/about/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Google Form</a> to conduct and analyze the survey</li> <li>Any other survey/form style site such as <a href="https://www.typeform.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TypeForm</a> or similar</li> </ul> </blockquote>

<p>I'm dissapointed in the size of the active community on this site, considering how long the site has been active (<a href="https://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/82438/3d-printing">https://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/82438/3d-printing</a>) and how mainstream 3D printing is. It's visible on the amount of views and votes that questions get, and the lack of answers on many questions. As well as a handful of users that are usually involved. It's unfortunate, I for example really like the (also relatively small) Information Security Stack site which is much more active.</p> <p>I thought of ways to get people to even know about the existance of this site:</p> <ul> <li>Posting links to this site on other sites such as when posting a make, or object on Thingiverse and Printables</li> <li>Using it more commonly in YouTube comments or other comments to link to answers or questions that are applicable in the context</li> <li>Question Migration from more popular sites such as StackOverflow, below are some examples of search queries that result in many (not all) questions that belong to this site instead: <ul> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=3d+printing">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=3d+printing</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=3d+print">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=3d+print</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=stl+obj">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=stl+obj</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=ender+3">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=ender+3</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=klipper">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=klipper</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=gcode">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=gcode</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=creality">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=creality</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=octoprint">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=octoprint</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=prusa">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=prusa</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=cura+slicer">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=cura+slicer</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=marlin">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=marlin</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=bed+leveling">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=bed+leveling</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=pla+filament">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=pla+filament</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=print+filament">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=print+filament</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=thingiverse">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=thingiverse</a></li> <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=grabcad">https://stackoverflow.com/search?q=grabcad</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p>I think migration (also from other sites) is perhaps the most effective for multiple reasons. As I believe the user is notified, also more relevant content is available on this site making it easier found when using search engines. What are your thoughts on this, why isn't this community bigger and more active, did it used to be, what was already tried?</p> <p><em>Also, not enough up and downvoting decreases the quality of this site a lot, since it's much harder to distinguish good quality from lower quality content.</em></p>

2023-11-22T15:41:13.487

582

Migrating questions to grow this site into a bigger and more active community?

|discussion|

<p>As one of the Quintarchy of users that managed to get more than 10000 Rep here, and someone that was very active like 2 years ago I can tell you a tale that might exemplarify why migration <em>can</em> help, but doesn't happen a lot:</p> <h2>A tale of 3 Printers</h2> <p>My tale of 3D printing began with a silly question about <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4849/how-do-i-3d-print-fair-dice">perfect 3D printed dice.</a> Which, actually <strong>didn't</strong> star here: it was migrated from RPG.SE over here. It made me aware of the place. I made that question back then way before I had my own printer, but after a couple of material science classes that discussed pretty much the contents of the answer to the question and I tried to apply it to a hobby. It brought me to another hobby I would soon pick up: About christmas I bought my first printer, a TronXY X1. It was cheap, it was a tinker machine with a crazy wobbly gantry out of the box and I re-engineered <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2275654" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a gantry slider</a> for it that turned out to act like a spring on itself and keep the gantry with a little load and thus straight. It was a project in itself. In July 2018 I finally took my step to buy an Ender 3. The version 1, but not the very first production run. I started to look up trying to get an inductive probe running, so I figured out <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6342/what-voltage-does-the-creality-ender-3-run-at">voltage first</a>, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6358/inductive-sensor-in-24-v-machine">then a setup</a>, and came to a hiccup: I needed to update Firmware.</p> <p>That firmware update sent me down the drain: I had never worked with firmware before, and half the answers were very cryptic to me as a beginner. But I sat down with Greenonline in chat and we went on a deep dive into what actually was the board in the machine I bought, and how to actually install firmware on it. It was a crazy few days for me, and I learned more between the bouts of feeling overwhelmed and seeing some success and waiting for an arduino to actually flash the firmware! It led to a flurry of questions: starting by <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6399/recalibrating-home-position">recalibrating</a>, trying to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6654/how-to-install-a-hex-firmware">install hex firmware</a>, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6657/export-firmware-as-a-hex">making my own hex file</a> for a modified firmware, and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6685/how-to-install-new-atmega-firmware-via-the-isp-pins">flashing the board</a> before going full circle. Many of these questions would not be amiss on Adruino or Stack Overflow, but their context was always dealing with my printer.</p> <p>The Ender3 had just about as hefty a learning curve as dealing with the mechanical wobble of the TronXY X1 at first. But I had this community (and chat) as my support. Why was the learnign curve so hefty? Well, the initial V1 was not good. It was cheap, it had problems. <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6807/sudden-underextrusion-on-ender3">Like the Z-endstop is from the factory misaligned,</a> I ruinied <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7960/how-to-clean-up-my-build-plate-for-a-new-build-surface">about 5 or such glue on surfaces</a>, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8466/what-is-thermal-runaway-protection">Thermal Runaway PRotection wasn't flashed by default</a>, the extriuder lever breaking could not be seen easily, leading me down to esoteric questions that to me now read like <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10986/how-to-calculate-the-proper-layer-height-multiples">&quot;Why the F... is my Layer height wrong?&quot;</a> and only some week after I noticed the break and got an aluminium replacement, firmware needed another upgrade to turn on <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/10571/how-to-activate-power-loss-recovery-in-marlin">Power Loss recovery after the TRP upgrade did lack it</a> (though it never saw use - crazy stable power net here)... I even started the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/knowledgebase">Knowledgebase tag</a> to make some of the most common-appearing questions easily findable. A Hotend swap required <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/18720/how-to-properly-run-a-pid-tuning-and-update-the-firmware">a PID Tune</a> (which I only documented about a year later!)...</p> <p>And then my Ender3 v1 broke as I moved it. The extruder stepper driver just fizzled. So I bought an Ender3 V2, put it together but out of the box swapped the extruder for the aluminium one, and... I kind of realized that I had no more questions that I either hadn't learned or asked about previously and that the Ender3 V2 was out of the box and much more user-friendly. It just... <strong>worked</strong>. Sure, it does not come with mesh bed leveling, its firmware isn't perfect, but it just worked.</p> <p>3D printing had changed <strong>so much</strong> over the years since I started as a 3rd generation hobbyist (as in: 1st Gen was Reprap, 2nd gen was parts kits, 3rd gen is early (ca pre-2019) printers and now... we are way deep in Gen 4 or 5 printers that actively build on the problems of their predecessors. The tech is much more mature, and I am much more knowledgeable.</p> <h2>migration issue</h2> <p>Now, my tale began with <strong>one</strong> migration. But that is an exception. We got a couple questions that were really ill fits. I helped to establish the benchmark test: &quot;Does the question claim that it's for 3D printing?&quot;. But often the questions have no clear target.</p> <p>There's Blender, but most often that didn't fit. There's engineering, but often the question was not about either. In fact, most questions did not fit <strong>any</strong> stack we knew about.</p>

<p>In addition to this: <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/428/is-photogrammetry-and-3d-scanning-on-topic">Is photogrammetry and 3D scanning on-topic?</a></p> <p>Shouldn't this site be called &quot;3D manufacturing&quot; or something broader? As 3D printing suggest only &quot;printing&quot; and not everything related to 3D printing such as 3D scanning or even 3D designing. I suppose that is off-topic? Is this scope defined somewhere?</p> <p>Is everything related to (or for the purpose of) 3D printing such as 3D scanning using photogrammetry, NeRF or other techniques as well as 3D designing in-scope on this site?</p> <p>I think both 3D scanning as well as 3D designing should be on-topic here.</p>

2023-11-01T09:54:26.140

577

Is everything related to (or for the purpose of) 3D printing such as 3D scanning as well as 3D designing in-scope on this site?

|discussion|scope|

<p>Regarding 3D scanning and design.</p> <h2>3dprinting.stackexchange.com</h2> <ul> <li>14 results - <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=photogrammetry">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=photogrammetry</a></li> <li>0 results - <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=NeRF">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=NeRF</a></li> <li>251 results - <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=blender">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=blender</a></li> <li>19 results - <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=%223d+scan%22">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=%223d+scan%22</a></li> <li>279 results - <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=cad">https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/search?q=cad</a></li> </ul> <h2>blender.stackexchange.com</h2> <ul> <li>151 results - <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=photogrammetry">https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=photogrammetry</a></li> <li>2 results - <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=NeRF">https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=NeRF</a></li> <li>500 results - <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=blender">https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=blender</a></li> <li>79 results - <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=%223d+scan%22">https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=%223d+scan%22</a></li> <li>436 results - <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=cad">https://blender.stackexchange.com/search?q=cad</a></li> </ul> <p>What an overlap. I really think that for those communities should merge to create one big &quot;3D&quot; site (manufacture or &quot;print&quot;, scan, design).</p>

<p>Currently, pure CAD questions are out of scope of our Stack, but we have quite some cases that edge, where the question about the CAD is about how to make a model printable or design principles or such.</p> <p>Where do we draw the line in the sand? <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/204/the-fine-line-between-3d-and-cad">This was once discussed in 2016, but no conclusive answer defined.</a></p>

2021-01-16T15:38:49.223

501

CAD Questions - Review

|discussion|

<p>It is good that you found that original question. It <em>was</em> added to the <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/276/game-plan-what-is-on-topic">What's on topic meta question</a>, but that area of the topic list doesn't seem to have been particularly well hammered out. If you look at the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic">What's on topic help page</a>, it does state:</p> <blockquote> <p>Blender - whilst there may be some overlap with <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/">SE.Blender</a>, <strong>if the question is related to 3D printing then it is on-topic</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Maybe the whole line needs re-wording to be less Blender centric..?</p> <p>Regarding the question that caused this issue to be raised again, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15335/how-to-combine-difference-with-concatinate-object">How to combine difference with concatinate object</a>, I must admit that initially I agreed with <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15335/how-to-combine-difference-with-concatinate-object#comment28882_15335">Mick's comment</a> that it was probably on-topic. However, following <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15335/how-to-combine-difference-with-concatinate-object#comment28885_15335">your comment</a>, I wholeheartedly agree that any CAD question <em>really should</em> have some 3D printing element attached, in order for it to fit on this site (as the On-topic help page implies).</p> <p>So, in short, you are indeed correct, and backed up by the what's on-topic help page.</p> <p>In addition, the on-topic help page needs a slight clarification, such as:</p> <blockquote> <p>If a CAD question is related to 3D printing then it is on-topic. However, general CAD questions, if there is not a 3D printing angle, are not on-topic. Likewise, with Blender - whilst there may be some overlap with <a href="https://blender.stackexchange.com/">SE.Blender</a>, if the question is related to to 3D printing then it is on-topic.</p> </blockquote>

<p>&quot;Does anybody&quot; questions are, to me, a sign of especially poor writing: They ask about mere existence, and then the answer always can be yes, as there will be one experimental setup that did exactly that.</p> <p>But it is impossible to prove a negative, so such questions stay unanswered or attract poor answers.</p> <p>So, what should we do about them?</p>

2020-12-26T14:38:01.347

497

What do we do about "Does Anybody do/have X?"?

|discussion|

<p>Encourage them to rewrite, and if they have the solution, encourage them to write an answer and accept it. The question can be closed by voting so that the author can rewrite the question and add more information (based on some comments of high reputation members and mods), if that doesn't work, the question could be deleted.</p>

<p>So, recently I was looking at an answer, I clicked on the vote up button because it was good and then noticed I already had. The score changed to 2 and I un vote-upped it. Is this supposed to happen? The answer is <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/11580/xyz-davinci-3d-printer-constantly-jamming?answertab=oldest#tab-top">here</a></p>

2020-04-19T03:24:29.057

483

Am I supposed to be able to vote up twice?

|bug|down-votes|up-votes|

<p>Remember that you aren't the only one voting on questions and answers, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users?tab=Voters&amp;filter=all">more people do</a>, actually, voting is the way to show your appreciation.</p> <p>It can happen that if you upvote, somebody else might have done that too since you loaded the page. So after voting, the counter would have increased by 2 as if you did that, but in fact it is just more people voting while your page hasn't been refreshed yet. The system won't allow you to vote multiple times.</p> <p>Please <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/196/remember-to-vote">remember to vote often</a>! That is much appreciated!</p>

<p>to make reading tags easier, I propose to swap <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/lcdscreen" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;lcdscreen&#39;" rel="tag">lcdscreen</a> to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/lcd-screen" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;lcd-screen&#39;" rel="tag">lcd-screen</a>, in line with <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/x-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;x-axis&#39;" rel="tag">x-axis</a> and others.</p>

2020-02-29T14:15:31.480

474

Tag Rename: lcdscreen -> lcd-screen

|discussion|tags|

<p>For better readability, the tag has been updated to include a hyphen: <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/lcd-screen" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;lcd-screen&#39;" rel="tag">lcd-screen</a>.</p>

<p>Half a year passed since <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/430/tag-maintenance-summer-2019">Tag Maintenance Summer 2019</a>. A lot was done, some wasn't, so cleanup and rinse and repeat: Let's do some tag maintenance, especially regarding printers to make them easier to read. Use an answer to propose a change, merge or split. Discussions for each change should go into the comments of each change.</p> <p>Some things are easier than others: </p> <ul> <li><strong>Renaming</strong> a tag can be done with mod tools.</li> <li><strong>Alias/Synonyms</strong> are reasonably quick, often follow along renaming</li> <li>Some tags need <strong>manual (separation)</strong>. Sifting through what is and what isn't this tag has to be done to separate the stuff. It can be noisy to the front site but has to be done.</li> </ul>

2019-12-08T10:24:03.447

453

Tag Maintenance Winter 2019

|discussion|

<h1>Prusa</h1> <p>Status:<strong>Done</strong></p> <p>Type: Re-tag</p> <p>In light of correcting tags to the official names <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/prusa" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;prusa&#39;" rel="tag">prusa</a> should be <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/prusa-research" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;prusa-research&#39;" rel="tag">prusa-research</a></p>

<p>We should do some tag maintenance, especially regarding printers to make them easier to read. Use an answer to propose a change, merge or split. Discussions for each change should go into the comments of each change.</p> <p>Some things are easier than others: </p> <ul> <li><strong>Renaming</strong> a tag can be done with mod tools.</li> <li><strong>Alias/Synonyms</strong> are reasonably quick, often follow along renaming</li> <li>Some tags need <strong>manual (separation)</strong>. Sifting through what is and what isn't this tag has to be done to separate the stuff. It can be noisy to the front site but has to be done.</li> </ul>

2019-08-31T08:00:48.233

430

Tag Maintenance Summer 2019

|discussion|

<h1>Manufacturer: Monoprice</h1> <p>Status: <strong>Done</strong></p> <p>This tag (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/monprice" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;monprice&#39;" rel="tag">monprice</a>) is used for tagging questions regarding various printer types while the tag itself is the manufacturer. In analogy to the other printer tags and types these should be re-tagged with the proper printer types.</p> <p>The tag appears to be used 52 times, of which 27 times used this year. Printers that are tagged under the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/monoprice" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;monoprice&#39;" rel="tag">monoprice</a> manufacturer tag are:</p> <ul> <li>Monoprice Architect</li> <li>Monoprice Select Mini (v1/v2)</li> <li>Monoprice Maker Select</li> <li>Monoprice Maker Select Plus</li> <li>Monoprice Maker Ultimate</li> <li>Monoprice Mini Delta</li> <li>Monoprice Dual Extrusion</li> </ul>

<p>This is actually an odd question for me, so let me explain it as best I can...</p> <p>After logging back into the Stack Exchange Network after some time, I got a notification stating that my 3D Printing Stack Exchange Profile has had 10 reputation deducted.</p> <p>Now, after reading the 'Read more' link provided by Stack, I still fail to understand why I have this entry on my reputation change sheet. I don't recall voting to close anyone's profile on the Stack Exchange (that's just being cruel IMHO)</p> <p>Attached is a screenshot of my reputation change sheet.</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/uhlcq.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/uhlcq.png" alt="Reputation change"></a></p> </blockquote>

2019-06-19T14:58:43.977

418

Why do I have a 'User was removed' entry on my reputation change sheet?

|discussion|support|

<p>A user's account was deleted, for whatever reason. Therefore, any votes that they had cast in the past were automatically deleted, and any associated reputation changes were lost. A lot of other people, across many SE sites, also lost a lot of reputation on 25/05/2019 as the user, whose account was removed, was a frequent voter.</p> <p>See the answers to <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/328646/change-the-criteria-for-vote-retention-upon-account-removal">Change the criteria for vote retention upon account removal</a>.</p> <p>I know nothing more than that. I did mention it in [chat], see <a href="https://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/50474487#50474487">this post</a>.</p>

<p>I don't want to ask off-topic and opinion questions here, but I would like to find a cadre of others dialing in their devices. Any ideas?</p>

2019-04-22T21:06:47.520

394

Where to find others with Prusa3D i3m3s/MMU2s printer?

|discussion|

<p>There is a lot of activity on Reddit related to 3D printing and the Prusa printers.</p>

<p>I think we all had this issue in the last years:</p> <p>As we learn and grow our own knowledge, things we once considered hard become easy.</p> <p>Now, our answers often address issues that are <em>pretty easy</em> to fix by tweaking <strong>simple things</strong> like...</p> <ul> <li>leveling the bed</li> <li>fixing the settings in the slicer</li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7591">replacing a broken endstop for a new part</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/8064">correct replacement nozzle</a></li> <li>pretty 2/3rd of the questions in <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/troubleshooting" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;troubleshooting&#39;" rel="tag">troubleshooting</a></li> </ul> <p>At other times, we clearly go into <strong>advanced</strong> repairs and fixes, for example:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/6660/8884">flashing firmware</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6399">small alterations of the firmware</a></li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6358">installing new capabilities to a printer</a></li> <li>most of the remaining 1/3rd of <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/troubleshooting" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;troubleshooting&#39;" rel="tag">troubleshooting</a>, usually for the points above</li> </ul> <p>And then there are at times rather <strong>complicated</strong> things, for example:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/7662">sifting through the firmware to find when one function is actually called</a></li> <li>the remaining <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/troubleshooting" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;troubleshooting&#39;" rel="tag">troubleshooting</a> turns out the be this, because of the oddity of the problem.</li> </ul> <h2>Call</h2> <p>Let us make a rough guideline what rough level of expertise we expect from a common user and how to address the required level of details in answers!</p>

2019-02-04T16:51:03.030

388

What do we consider Simple/Advanced/Complicated things to fix on a machine and how to tell the asker?

|discussion|answers|

<p>I like the points raised in this question as well as the ordering/organisation of the fixes/tasks, but it would really depend on the user and where they are coming from (as @0scar says "the level of expertise of the tinkerer"). </p> <p>As a case in point, (as well as playing devil's advocate) seeing as I still (rather embarrassingly) haven't got around to actually finish <em>building</em> any physical printer, but I <em>have</em> extensively rummaged around in the various firmware out there (as well as coming from an programming/Arduino background), currently I'd, rather ironically, find the <strong>advanced</strong> and <strong>complicated</strong> fixes easier to do than the <strong>simple things</strong> that you listed. </p> <p>However, I know that I'm not representative of the average <em>just-bought-a-printer-and-now-have-a-problem</em> type user and for those users, your list and ordering probably makes much more sense. The ordering would also be equally valid for a <em>printer-builder</em> user, as they are for a <em>straight-out-of-the-box</em> user, I guess.</p> <p>However, I don't know if we can <em>expect</em> any user of the site to have any <em>particular</em> certain level of expertise. I guess that can only be ascertained by the reading of their question and how they answer any follow up questions that might get raised, in the comments. Only thereafter could any answers be tailored to best match their level of understanding.</p> <p>So, I guess what I'm saying is that a guideline would be good/interesting/cool to have, be what happens if a certain user doesn't have that rough level of expertise which is expected? We would still have to play it by ear, as we have been doing so, I think is the answer.</p> <p>Does that make sense, or did I go off at a tangent or miss the point completely?</p> <hr> <p>As an afterthought, I guess that the <em>new</em> <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/knowledgebase" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;knowledgebase&#39;" rel="tag">knowledgebase</a> tag would/could also play a part here too, inasmuch as we could point users to questions/answers that deal with well-trodden paths to fix such common/simple/basic tasks.</p>

<p>Below are the review queues for ELU, ELL, and 3DP:</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/08pBy.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="ELU"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/08pBy.png" alt="ELU" title="ELU"></a> <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0yOo4.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="ELL"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0yOo4.png" alt="ELL" title="ELL"></a> <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BG0xj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="3DP"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BG0xj.png" alt="3DP" title="3DP"></a></p> <p>Is there some reason that the order here is not the same across sites?</p>

2019-01-08T12:31:49.840

380

Why is our moderation queue order different from the other sites I have access to?

|feature-request|bug|

<p>The order is different because this is a beta site. They're shown in the order of reputation required to access them (and then alphabetical).</p> <p>So First Posts and Late Answers are always at the bottom (requiring 500 reputation on graduated sites and 350 on beta sites like 3D Printing). On beta sites, Close Votes and Reopen Votes are next (at 500 reputation), followed by Low Quality Posts and Suggested Edits (1000 reputation) at the top. On graduated sites, it's the other way around: Low Quality Posts and Suggested Edits at 2000 reputation, and Close Votes and Reopen Votes at 3000 reputation.</p> <p>Or, as <a href="https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/346651/4751173">Shog9 put it</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>They're ordered <em>first</em> by the minimum reputation needed to access the queue, and <em>then</em> alphabetically by the name of the queue.</p> <p>The purpose of this ordering is to keep the list as consistent as possible <em>until your privilege-level changes</em> - the hope is that folks use this as their primary means of accessing the queues, and as such we're not forcing reviewers to override their muscle-memory every time they go to access a specific queue - a worthy design goal for a menu that appears on just about every page of the site.</p> </blockquote>

<p>There are quite a few questions that are centered around homing or problems with homing. Currently we have no tag in place to identify such questions. You see that people choose the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/y-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;y-axis&#39;" rel="tag">y-axis</a> or <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;axis&#39;" rel="tag">axis</a> instead (note that the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/x-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;x-axis&#39;" rel="tag">x-axis</a> also does not exist), to me this is too generic. A <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/homing" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;homing&#39;" rel="tag">homing</a> in combination with the relevant axis would define the issue perfectly.</p> <p>Please share your thoughts on:</p> <p><strong>Should we add the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/homing" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;homing&#39;" rel="tag">homing</a> tag?</strong> </p> <p>This would require some (re-)tagging of existing questions and might require the need for tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/x-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;x-axis&#39;" rel="tag">x-axis</a> as tags for Y and Z already exist.</p>

2019-01-08T07:57:02.277

379

Should we add a [homing] tag?

|discussion|tags|retagging|

<p>Yes I do think we need such a tag (<a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/homing" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;homing&#39;" rel="tag">homing</a>), homing is a specific action that should be identified as such. I've added the tag to a specific question on homing and will go through the questions to re-tag other questions. Also, the tag <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/x-axis" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;x-axis&#39;" rel="tag">x-axis</a> is also very beneficiary. </p>

<p>Whilst looking at the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/tags/synonyms">list of synonyms</a> I see that <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/machanics" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;machanics&#39;" rel="tag">machanics</a> is a synonym of <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/mechanics" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;mechanics&#39;" rel="tag">mechanics</a>.</p> <p>Is <em>machanics</em> a thing, or a typo? If the latter then surely that tag should be deleted, as we shouldn't attempt to accommodate typos (common or otherwise) with synonyms.</p>

2018-09-03T22:23:18.913

331

What are machanics?

|discussion|tags|

<p>Done and deleted machanics (nothing was tagged by it anyway)</p>

<p>We have two tags: <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support&#39;" rel="tag">support</a> &amp; <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support-structures" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support-structures&#39;" rel="tag">support-structures</a> </p> <p>These two are essentially the same thing. Even the abbreviated tag-wikis are pretty much saying the same thing. IMHO, we should combine the two tags as they are superfluous. </p> <p>There was the Meta question: <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/q/168/11242">support-material / support-structures Tag unification?</a> which was about combining <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support-material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support-material&#39;" rel="tag">support-material</a> &amp; <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support-structures" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support-structures&#39;" rel="tag">support-structures</a> which was turned down, but this request is quite different.</p>

2018-09-03T21:49:01.497

329

Tag synonym: support & support-structures

|support|tag-synonyms|

<p>The tags <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support&#39;" rel="tag">support</a> &amp; <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support-structures" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support-structures&#39;" rel="tag">support-structures</a> are in fact referring to exactly the same thing!</p> <p>Furthermore, the meaning of support can be interpreted differently (i.e. helping out).</p> <p>I support renaming/merging the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support&#39;" rel="tag">support</a> labelled questions to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support-structures" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support-structures&#39;" rel="tag">support-structures</a>. This implies that the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support&#39;" rel="tag">support</a> tag is removed and it could be reinstated at any time by new questions. Users with enough reputation can remove the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support&#39;" rel="tag">support</a> tag if it gets recreated and we could create a synonym later. </p> <p>In my humble opinion, the best solution may be to rename <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support&#39;" rel="tag">support</a> to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/supports" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;supports&#39;" rel="tag">supports</a> and then make it a synonym for <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/support-structures" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;support-structures&#39;" rel="tag">support-structures</a>!</p>

<p>I see a number of people writing "CURA", when I have always called it "Cura". So I started to wonder if CURA was a <em>capitalised</em> acronym, like LiDAR or NATO (but not like radar or laser).</p> <p>I had a look and the Wikipedia entry, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cura_(software)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cura (software)</a> doesn't appear to suggest that.</p> <p>So I wondered if it was a marketing thing.</p> <hr> <p>After all, over on SE.Arduino, <em>lots</em> of people write "Arduino UNO" - I myself did so to, for a long time, until Nick Gammon <a href="https://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/13839/can-i-use-analogreadresolution-on-an-uno-or-leonardo#comment25114_13839">picked me up on it</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6piXl.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="Uno not UNO"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/6piXl.png" alt="Uno not UNO" title="Uno not UNO"></a></p> </blockquote> <p>I <em>think</em> that the reason that I did was that the Arduino pages write it in that way (arguably incorrectly) and it just seems to be a branding/marketing ploy.</p> <p>So, is this the same sort of thing with CURA? I am just wondering where it started and came from?¹</p> <hr> <p>¹ As one does on a boring rainy Sunday morning :-)</p>

2018-08-19T10:09:55.410

321

Which is it - CURA or Cura?

|discussion|

<p>As of version 4 the splash screen has changed, also the branding/naming of the product throughout Ultimaker's website.</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/1eX3U.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/1eX3U.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p> <p>Technically it is not <em>CURA</em> or <em>cura</em>, it is <em>Ultimaker Cura</em>.</p>

<p>I'm seeing a current trend towards many questions only receiving a single answer, and according the the <a href="http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/82438/3d-printing">Area 51</a> stats, we ought to have an <em>average</em> closer to 2.5. Granted that some questions are really only in need of a single (obvious) answer, I think we're missing something here.</p> <p>I've seen a few questions with 'answers in the comments', which is understandable if a user wants to make a drive-by quick tip, but we should really be encouraging them to try and come back later to get the points due to them.</p> <p>Are users put off by an expectation that a wrong answer might lose them rep? Or by an overly high (assumed) expectation for making an answer?</p> <p>What can we do to raise ApQ, without dropping answer quality significantly?</p> <p>Some thoughts from IoT meta on why <a href="https://iot.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/291">more answers are good</a>.</p>

2018-08-15T16:12:32.347

317

Encouraging more answers per question

|discussion|

<p>Something to realize is, ApQ is one of the least dependent factors for graduation. I don't think this site lends to having a huge amount of ApQ's, because usually there is only going to really be one answer which will work. I think the ApQ category was based more towards the programming/tech sites. I mean, when programming, there's almost ALWAYS going to be more than one way to answer a question.Then when you look at other sites where there is advice given, like Travel.SE or Law.SE, you could possibly see a plethora of answers for each of their questions. Then you take WorldBuilding.SE and it's a whole new level.</p> <p>IIRC, when Mechanics.SE graduated, we had sub 2.0 ApQ. I don't think 3D's is out of line with that and it isn't going to hurt the site for graduation.</p> <p>While multi-ApQ is not a bad thing, it only works if the question deserves it. If the question isn't answered correctly or if there might be something else which could be the answer, then multi-ApQ is an awesome thing. To make answers for answer sake, just to boost the ApQ, that can be ugly. A much better idea is (IMHO), to upvote good Q/A's and downvote bad ones.</p> <p>I completely agree with moving the site forward, but my suggestion is to move it forward in the right direction by putting energy where energy is needed. </p>

<p>Our site is dealing with electronics and practical engineering, so we use formulas in questions and answers on occasion, most usually when we have to figure out electronic ratings. </p> <p>When we talk about the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/760/analytic-equations-to-make-algorithm-of-3d-printer">design</a> or <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/631/how-are-delta-movements-calculated">function</a> of printers more than "rule of thumb", we need complex math. When we estimate <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4472/how-is-the-print-time-of-an-object-to-be-printed-estimated?s=4%7C17.5425">print times</a> formulas could be used to illustrate the calculations. When we want to estimate the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6557/is-the-110m-length-accurate-for-3-0mm-1k-spool">length of a spool of filament</a>, we need math. When we discuss <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/5155/8884">movement paths</a>, we also come into need for 3D geometry which can be simplified by using non-carthesian coordinates or functions - which in turn need manual typing of greek letters or proper formulas to be displayed well. </p> <p>Up to now I have been typing LaTeX formulas in online converters and copy paste the link to the image generated formula. This is quite labor intensive, especially since the SE does support built in MathJax.</p> <p>A recent <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/a/6540/5740">answer</a> showed LaTeX/MathJax code in the answer, but that did not render into an actual formula image as it is not enabled.</p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Supply voltage $ U_S = 12V \or 24V $</li> <li>Logic Voltage $ U_L = 5V $</li> <li>Sensor Voltage $ U_sens = U_L$</li> <li>Temperature control (Hotend/Bed/Cooling fans) $ U_T = U_S$</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Why can't we enter formulas directly in posts?</p>

2018-08-03T20:27:00.687

314

Can we get MathJax enabled?

|discussion|feature-request|status-completed|formatting|mathjax|

<p>$$\text{3D Printing Stack Exchange} \subset \text{Stack Exchange sites that use MathJax}$$</p> <p>There are <a href="http://data.stackexchange.com/3dprinting/query/879802/mathjax-inline" rel="nofollow noreferrer">~17 posts</a> that could use an edit. Most of those are prices that have been converted into MathJax. You can fix that by escaping the dollar sign:</p> <pre><code>$ =&gt; \$ </code></pre> <p>I'll work on those edits myself, but I'd love to get some help.</p>

<p>If you use the favourites function and have accumulated a number of favourites, I am sure that, over time, you will look back and think, "Why on earth did I favourite that question?" This is obviously because there is no functionality to add a comment.</p> <p>Apart from either having a piece of paper, or a textpad document that you use to cross reference the URLs/question titles with notes (tedious and liable to get lost or confused), how can I keep track of why I clicked on the favourite star?</p>

2018-08-01T15:11:14.910

311

All of my favourites look the same!

|support|

<p>From <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75944/favorites-improvements-search-categorize-personal-tags-add-note-favorite-a">Favorites improvements - search, categorize, personal tags, add note, favorite answer</a>, you might find that <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75944/favorites-improvements-search-categorize-personal-tags-add-note-favorite-a#answer-251234">this answer</a> could help you tremendously.</p> <p>ᔕᖺᘎᕊ has written a very useful stack app. I have been using it for over a month now, and have found it invaluable, and tbh, I don't know how I functioned before installing it.</p> <p>The stack app is available here: <a href="https://stackapps.com/questions/6215/favourites-enhancer-tag-favourites-and-add-personal-notes">Favourites Enhancer: Tag favourites and add personal notes</a></p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/n2phT.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="GIF"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/n2phT.gif" alt="Gif" title="GIF"></a></p> <p>You will need to install <a href="https://tampermonkey.net" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tampermonkey</a> (or Greasemonkey), and I've tested it on Opera and Firefox, and it works fine on both. </p>

<p>There must be a subtle difference, that I can't quite see, between <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;material&#39;" rel="tag">material</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/print-material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;print-material&#39;" rel="tag">print-material</a>.</p> <p>The print-material tag clearly states that it is different from material:</p> <blockquote> <p>Print-material, in comparison to the tag 'material', helps to specify that the question is concerned with the material the print itself is made from. This includes 'filament' as a subgroup but also SLS polymers for example.</p> </blockquote> <p>Where as <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;material&#39;" rel="tag">material</a> states, more or less, the same thing:</p> <blockquote> <p>For questions about compatible 3D printing materials.</p> <p>For questions regarding 3D printable materials such as whether a material is capable of being 3D printed, optimal 3D printing parameters (ie. extrusion temp), mechanical properties of materials, etc.</p> </blockquote> <p>To me, even though <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/print-material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;print-material&#39;" rel="tag">print-material</a> states that it differs from <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;material&#39;" rel="tag">material</a>, I can't really see the difference, <em>unless</em> material is a superset of print-material, and not only confined to being printed, but also construction of a printer (i.e. acrylic, wood, steel, aluminium, etc.). If the latter, then the description of <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;material&#39;" rel="tag">material</a> is a bit misleading and may require expansion.</p> <p>Can someone explain?</p>

2018-07-06T17:00:02.433

289

Difference between material and print-material tags

|discussion|tags|

<p>I agree, there's not much difference inherently between these two tags. However, we could try to direct the use of <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;material&#39;" rel="tag">material</a> to more general (not necessarily 3D printed material) vs the obviously focused <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/print-material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;print-material&#39;" rel="tag">print-material</a>.</p> <p>Or we could just merge them into the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/print-material" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;print-material&#39;" rel="tag">print-material</a> tag (my vote).</p>

<p>If you look at the existing tags there are tags for printer brands/types and tags for mechanical 3D printer types (e.g. Delta or Prusa, which actually is a brand and a mechanical type...). </p> <p>Do we need to create tags for every printer out there or list them by type?</p> <p>My reasoning for creating tags for all brands/types is that people that have a problem with their printer search on their printer brand/type and the problem. E.g. people with an Anet A2 will most likely not search for "Display of my Prusa i3 clone is not working, help!", I rather think it contains the "Anet A2 in the phrasing". I do however think that that we should create synonyms to the mechanical type like Prusa, Delta, CoreXY, Cartesian. </p> <p>Please share your ideas and suggestions in the answers.</p>

2018-07-06T11:49:56.123

286

Tagging for printer specific brand and type

|discussion|tag-synonyms|tagging|

<p>Ah, I think I see, and I may have initially misunderstood. I had understood (in the chat) that you wanted a tag for <em>each</em> make/model, but, in fact, you would rather link each make/model back to a printer type, so</p> <pre><code>P3Steel -&gt; Prusa Kossel -&gt; Delta </code></pre> <p>Is that right? </p> <p>If so, then I am not so sure. I would want to keep some of the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/p3steel" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;p3steel&#39;" rel="tag">p3steel</a> questions to be specific to P3Steel and not just general <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/prusa" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;prusa&#39;" rel="tag">prusa</a> issues.</p> <p>Likewise, some <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/kossel" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;kossel&#39;" rel="tag">kossel</a> issues are specific to the Kossel and not to all <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/delta" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;delta&#39;" rel="tag">delta</a> printers.</p> <p>In some cases I would agree that your reasoning is correct, but not in all cases. In the cases where you are right (such as the example that you cite), then the question would just need retagging correctly, but not require linking all of a particular printer's make/model related questions (via the <em>synonym-ising</em> (?) of the tag) back to that particular printer's type.</p> <p>Does that make sense? Have I understood correctly?</p> <p>As an example, if you have a generic question about a ANet A2 printer, that actually concerns <em>all</em> cartesian printers, but especially Prusa, you would have to manually tag that question <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/aneta2" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;aneta2&#39;" rel="tag">aneta2</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/prusa" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;prusa&#39;" rel="tag">prusa</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/cartesian" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;cartesian&#39;" rel="tag">cartesian</a>, so that it gets grouped in such a way, where Cartesian, Prusa and AnetA2 are subsets of the previous (super)set. I don't think you can internally link the tags, if you see what I mean, that mechanism doesn't exist. </p> <p>Likewise, if you have a generic question about a ANet A2 printer, that actually concerns <em>all</em> prusa printers (but <em>not necessarily</em> all cartesian printers), you would have to manually tag that question <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/aneta2" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;aneta2&#39;" rel="tag">aneta2</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/prusa" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;prusa&#39;" rel="tag">prusa</a> and <em>maybe</em> <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/cartesian" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;cartesian&#39;" rel="tag">cartesian</a>.</p>

<p>With respect to this question, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/6041/how-can-you-both-reliably-print-and-remove-your-item-without-breaking-it-when-de">How can you both reliably print and remove your item without breaking it when detatching it?</a>, the OP rightly states the following:</p> <blockquote> <p>ps. I didn't find (and I can't make one), for what I think would be, the correct tag(s) for this post. Please forgive me.</p> </blockquote> <p>Does anyone have a good suggestion regarding this? Should the question be re-tagged? Is a new tag even required? </p> <p>The question is currently tagged under <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/print-quality" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;print-quality&#39;" rel="tag">print-quality</a> and <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bed-leveling" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;bed-leveling&#39;" rel="tag">bed-leveling</a>. Are these sufficient? They don't really seem appropriate. Is there an already existing tag that would fit?</p> <p>I thought of <code>tag:object removal</code>, <code>tag:print removal</code> or <code>bed scrapping</code>, but they all sound a bit off (except, maybe, for <em>print-removal</em>). What is the technical term (if there is one), for those in the know, for this activity? </p>

2018-06-04T10:45:41.683

266

Tag required for "object removal from print bed"

|discussion|status-completed|tags|

<p>imho that could be a <code>post-processing</code> category/tag.</p>

<p>I can't find an answer to this question on the "mother" meta website; hope this is not related to my choice of words in the search box. </p> <p>The statistics of the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/">3D Printing</a> on <a href="http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/82438/3d-printing">Area51</a> show that only few items (questions and visits per day) are not up to par and need work. Do those need to reach a level of let's say "okay" before the site can loose the Beta stage?</p> <p>I'm interested to know what would be the requirements to get out of the Beta stage.</p> <hr> <p>Update September 5, 2019:</p> <p>It appears that the <em>"visits per day"</em> is <em>"excellent"</em> with close to three thousand visits. The "questions per day" still lack behind with a 3.0 value (<em>"needs work"</em>) while more than 5 is considered "healthy". All further stats seem to be <em>"okay"</em> or <em>"excellent"</em>.</p>

2018-05-25T07:45:52.050

264

What does it take to get out of Beta stage?

|discussion|status-completed|

<p>One thing that I noticed about the stats for this site when I first came across it was how high the number of registered users and visits is, compared with the number of active users and questions.</p> <p>For some time, I felt the site had either picked up some bad stats, or was in the final stages of fading away. I think things are a little more normal now though.</p> <p>It seems that we still have a bit of a problem with becoming sticky for lots of users. We're at 151 200 rep users (out of 10k), and <a href="https://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/94224/internet-of-things">IoT</a> is at 149 out of 7k, so it seems maybe we're not too far apart. The big difference seems to be the number of views. 1.2k per day on IoT, and 2.8k here (maybe expected since views depend on visibility of the site spreading over time).</p> <p>Are people really coming here and finding answers to their questions? Are they coming here and asking a single question? Are we on the wrong end of cheap printers with poor support, holding back the really interesting questions?</p>

<p>I've just had one recent comment flag declined on a noisy comment.</p> <p>This comment was a reply to a deleted '+1' comment, and said, simply:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1477/how-to-optimally-make-a-3d-model-of-an-object-using-photos/1486#comment2055_1486">@FrankL Thanks!</a></p> </blockquote> <p>When you go to post a comment, you see this:</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rh88N.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rh88N.png" alt="see blockquote below"></a></p> <blockquote> <p>Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. <strong>Avoid comments like "+1" or "thanks".</strong> (emphasis mine)</p> </blockquote> <p>And <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/15292/294691">Jeff Atwood said to flag these</a>.</p> <p>So I flagged the +1 comment, which was automatically deemed helpful. I then flagged the remaining thanks to that comment as 'no longer needed'. So... why was it declined?</p>

2017-07-24T11:55:02.873

242

Why was this flag on a 'thanks' reply to a deleted +1 comment declined?

|support|flagging|comments|

<p>That action didn't appear in the moderator activity history, so I'm not exactly sure how it was handled. Regardless, I agree and have deleted the comment.</p>

<p>We have, now, assertained that <em>inlined videos</em> (for want of a better description) are currently turned off (disabled) for SE 3D Printing, but can be turned on at any time, and there is no need to wait for the site to exit Beta, see <a href="https://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/226/is-the-inlining-videos-capability-turned-off-on-this-site">Is the &quot;inlining videos&quot; capability turned off on this site?</a></p> <p>The question now is, should we enable it?</p> <p>I have seen a few (2?) cases where the OP has linked to a video in order to succinctly describe their issue. As Ecnerwal points out in <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4153/help-understanding-bridge-settings#answer-4157">their answer</a> to <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4153/help-understanding-bridge-settings">Help understanding bridge settings</a>, watching videos, and in particular having to click on a link to watch them, can be somewhat onerous. Having the video inlined, <em>might</em> make it less so.</p> <p>BTW, I don't know what [backend or UX] disadvantages there would be to switching it on, although there are these <a href="http://3dprinting.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/226/is-the-inlining-videos-capability-turned-off-on-this-site#answer-400">cautionary tales</a>.</p>

2017-06-06T16:14:10.127

230

Should we turn on "inlined video"?

|discussion|feature-request|status-completed|

<p>It actually seems like a user from 3D Printing SE - @markshancock - has asked this exact question <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/296832/what-are-the-limitations-in-beta/296833#296833">over at the general Meta</a>. (Nice work, @markshancock!)</p> <p>As pointed out by <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/296834/326646">Jason Cs answer</a>, it basically seems like we have to make a case why we need it to the SE moderation team, so that they can decide whether to activate it or not. </p> <p>In general, I think inlining videos makes sense for our site, since both the questions and answers often can end up with a video link with some descriptive text. Examples include questions of printers with strange behavior, and answers of how to do XYZ in Fusion 360 answered as a Youtube link. In both of these cases, what would otherwise be a mere "link only answer" would get much more substance. </p>

<p>I have just edited a new post, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4153/help-understanding-bridge-settings">Help understanding bridge settings</a>, so that the video would be &quot;inlined&quot; and playable in the post itself¹.</p> <p>However, the video does not show up, and only the raw link (<code>https://youtu.be/HaeCBru3mOI</code>) is displayed:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/f7jmC.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/f7jmC.png" alt="Only raw link is visible" /></a></p> </blockquote> <p>This is the markup:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ukkfG.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ukkfG.png" alt="Markup of post" /></a></p> </blockquote> <p>I have used the <em>same</em> markup method, for inlining the video clip as this post, <a href="https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/34121/is-atc-communication-subject-to-fcc-profanity-regulations">Is ATC communication subject to FCC profanity regulations?</a>, on SE.Aviation:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/kgTCg.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/kgTCg.png" alt="Markup on SE.Aviation" /></a></p> </blockquote> <p>and there the video clip is inlined:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/LrHrI.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/LrHrI.png" alt="Post on SE.Aviation showing inline video clip" /></a></p> </blockquote> <hr /> <h3>TL;DR</h3> <p>Is video inlining disabled on SE.3D Printing, or is it because we are still beta?</p> <p>If it can be enabled , then should/could it be enabled?</p> <p>I personally think it would be useful to enable it, and save a few mouse clicks (and RSI) having to open the video in another tab/window etc. What do other people think?</p> <hr /> <p>¹ See <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/121209/allow-embedded-html5-youtube-video?rq=1">Allow embedded HTML5 YouTube video</a></p>

2017-05-29T18:35:41.533

226

Is the "inlining videos" capability turned off on this site?

|discussion|feature-request|status-completed|

<p>A note of caution, <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/c/moderators/questions/257#answer-261">this post</a> on the Stack Moderators site, Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2's post, <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/c/moderators/questions/257">How do you request embedded video for your site?</a> - As mods can only follow these links I've included the content below:</p> <blockquote> <p>I don't know how exactly to request it, but I do want to point at one pretty big downside.</p> <p><strong>The player is pretty darn big.</strong> Plus, my experience is that it has a tendency to eat CPU cycles for breakfast.</p> <p>I looked at the numbers <a href="https://space.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/883/are-there-ways-to-make-posts-with-images-better-for-low-connect-speed-users-doe/885#comment3547_885">about a year ago over on Space Exploration Meta</a>. What I found was:</p> <blockquote> <p>Loading <a href="https://space.stackexchange.com/q/21891/415">https://space.stackexchange.com/q/21891/415</a> without using the browser cache downloads 7642 KB for me just now. Of that, <code>www.youtube.com</code> is responsible for 3182 KB and <code>i.stack.imgur.com</code> another 2729 KB. Excluding just the embedded images and the video-related downloads leaves about 1.7 MB to be downloaded. That's still a sizable chunk of data for what basically amounts to a few pages of text, but not quite as extreme as 7.6 MB.</p> </blockquote> <p>So one video embed adds about 3 MB download for everyone viewing the post, regardless of whether or not they are in any way interested in the video. (I think the video itself is downloaded on demand, so if someone actually watches the video, that adds even more data, but at that point at least they have some interest in it.) In situations where connections are metered by the megabyte, this can add up quickly, and is something that should be kept in mind before turning on this feature. Not everyone is on a fast, no-extra-charge-per-megabyte connection.</p> <p>(Yes, I'm big on keeping text as mostly text. I'm old-fashioned in that regard.)</p> </blockquote> <p>Also <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/c/moderators/questions/257#answer-260">this post</a>:</p> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Are there any downsides to having embedded video (performance or otherwise)?</p> </blockquote> <p>Yep, <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/279637/295232">performance could be an issue</a>. Also, malicious users could post links to videos with ... questionable ... content (though this could be alleviated by requiring some reputation to post embedded videos, just as some sites do with pictures).</p> </blockquote>

<p>On reviewing the question, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/4148/how-can-i-solve-syntax-error-for-the-following-code-in-python-2-7">How can I solve syntax error for the following code in Python 2.7?</a>, it seemed to myself, and others, that it should be migrated to StackOverflow.</p> <p>When flagging a question to be off topic because it belongs to another Stack Exchange, you can only choose the 3D Printing Meta. Why?</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/HqwrG.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/HqwrG.jpg" alt="Migration flagging dialog"></a></p> </blockquote>

2017-05-28T23:03:46.663

224

Flagging a question for migration

|discussion|flagging|

<p>Use the flag "In need of moderation attention" and then specify why it should be migrated and where to. It doesn't always work, depending on the length of time that the question has been posted for and some other factors, but often it does work.</p> <p>The answer to "Why?" is simply because it hasn't been set up by the moderators. Generally, a specific migration "pathway" has to be agreed between sites, I think, and only then is that particular SE site <em>manually added</em> as an option to the migration dialog. There is a post, from a few years ago, on SE.Arduino - See <a href="https://arduino.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2340/why-does-the-migrate-dialog-only-list-arduino-meta">Why does the migrate dialog only list Arduino Meta?</a>. </p> <p>Actually, I was mistaken, although, I am sure that I heard the above from someone, somewhere. Apparently, it is because SE 3D Printing is still in beta:</p> <blockquote> <p>I think it is because we are "only" a Beta site. Once we graduate, I think more migrating options become available.</p> <p>As a moderator, I can migrate to other sites, and have done in some cases. I usually ask their moderators first, and quite often they decline to accept them. However migration does happen.</p> <p>I think there is some rule that Beta sites don't get to migrate to other sites. I'm not quite sure why such a rule exists (it would seem more logical for it to be the other way).</p> </blockquote> <p>See also, from SE Robotics, <a href="https://robotics.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1287/closing-a-question-only-option-for-another-site-is-robotics-meta">Closing a question - only option for another site is Robotics Meta</a>.</p> <blockquote> <h3>Migrating to an arbitrary stack exchange site</h3> <p>This is only an option for ♦ moderators, so instead of voting to close the question ^&dagger; you should flag it for moderator attention ^&ddagger; with a suggestion of where it should be migrated.</p> <p>On established sites, migration paths are created to allow migration without moderator approval, but any migrations outside of those pathways still have to be handled by a moderator. The reason for this is because...</p> <h3>This specific question</h3> <p>This question would not be a good candidate for migration. We try not to migrate questions which would just be closed on the target site for another reason. In this case, it is a very broad question. It could be edited to be a more <em><a href="https://robotics.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask">practical, answerable questions based on actual problems faced</a></em> but that may invalidate the existing answer, which is pretty good, given the limitations of the question.</p> <p>If neither <a href="https://cs.stackexchange.com/">Computer Science</a> nor <a href="https://dsp.stackexchange.com/">Signal Processing</a> want this question, I'm happy for it to remain on <em>robitics</em>, since there are robotic applications of the answer to this question.</p> <p>&dagger;_{<em>close > off-topic because... > This question belongs on another site in the Stack Exchange network</em>}</p> <p>&ddagger;_{<em>flag > in need of moderator intervention</em>}</p> </blockquote> <p>See also <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/296832/what-are-the-limitations-in-beta">What are the limitations in Beta</a>, in particular <a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/296832/what-are-the-limitations-in-beta#answer-296833">animuson's answer</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>Beta sites don't have default migration paths (although moderators can still migrate to/from).</p> </blockquote>

<p>This question may require migration to Meta.SE, as it could be a site-wide "bug", but I thought that I would test the waters here, to see if there is an obvious explanation.</p> <p>I noticed that a question of mine had been modified, on April 16, by "Song Khmer" <strike>in the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/unanswered">unanswered questions list</a>, when sorted by votes</strike>¹:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/nY7mi.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/nY7mi.png" alt="Modification listed"></a></p> </blockquote> <p>However, when checking the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/posts/3015/revisions">revision history</a>, the April 16 edit, by <em>Song Khmer</em>, is not shown. The last modification was the "https everywhere" edit, three days prior:</p> <blockquote> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/p5B9M.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/p5B9M.png" alt="No apparent modification"></a></p> </blockquote> <p>I've not noticed the behaviour before. What is going on? Is it a bug, or something really obvious that I can't see? </p> <p>Was it a rejected edit? If the latter, then should it really be shown in the Unanswered question list? Shouldn't the modifications listed in the Unanswered questions list, actually only be accepted modifications/edits?</p> <hr> <p>¹ The unanswered list, and the sorting, are irrelevant to the actual issue.</p>

2017-05-10T17:05:36.850

222

An invisible modification

|bug|

<p>Regarding the "invisible modification", there is technically a modification made multiple times by the user <strong>Song Khmer</strong> (now destroyed). This user was posting nonsense to your question by copying text from your question and posting it as an answer.</p> <p>The reason you probably did not see this in the revision history is:</p> <p>1) it wasn't a direct edit to your question</p> <p>2) I believe only moderators can see deleted posts.</p> <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/2VAiLs.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/2VAiLs.png" alt="enter image description here"></a> <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/2VAiL.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">click here for full view</a> of deleted posts</p> <p>I'm pretty sure that anytime someone posts an answer or edits your question, the post raises the modified flag. In this case, when the user was posting answers it would properly flag the post. But, the flag remained even after the answers were deleted (there were 3 answers).</p>

<p>There is a <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/printing-powder" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;printing-powder&#39;" rel="tag">printing-powder</a> and a <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/metal-powder" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;metal-powder&#39;" rel="tag">metal-powder</a> tag.</p> <p>The respective use of each tag, to date, is as follows:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/printing-powder" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;printing-powder&#39;" rel="tag">printing-powder</a> 2</li> <li><a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/metal-powder" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;metal-powder&#39;" rel="tag">metal-powder</a> 1</li> </ul> <p>One of the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/printing-powder">printing-powder</a> tagged questions is closed, and the other is also tagged <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/metal-powder">metal-powder</a>, and both questions were about metal-powder.</p> <p>Therefore, should the two tags be merged, as (currently), they both refer to the same thing, namely, <em>metal powder</em>?</p> <p>I guess that, as there is other printing powders available, the <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/printing-powder" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;printing-powder&#39;" rel="tag">printing-powder</a> tag could be left in-situ, but why not remove it, and if it is subsequently required, <em>then</em> let it be recreated?</p> <p>[and/or]... remove the double tagging from this question, <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/2667/why-cant-powder-based-3d-printing-techniques-create-enclosed-or-hollow-structur">Why can't powder-based 3D printing techniques create enclosed or hollow structures?</a></p>

2017-02-01T16:40:45.223

215

Merge [printing-powder] and [metal-powder] tags?

|discussion|tags|tag-synonyms|

<p>In my opinion it should not. There is a distinction. If someone said powder printing to me, I would think of powder + glue printers. Metal powder is pulverized metal that are bound with an insanely expensive laser.</p> <p>That said no everyone will tag with that distinction in mind. Which has little to no impact. </p> <p>It could also be argued that it is a subset. IE I see a Java tag on SO. I also will use Android. Or I might use an FDM tag here with a PLA tag.</p>

<p>Seeing too many terrible questions lately asking along the lines of "My printer was working, now it is not! Help!" With no provided information. As we are a growing group I do not want to just close them and say you suck at using our site... but I am finding that these questions end up orphaned.. I usually recommend that they try a forum and that they could ask a more specific question in the future.. </p> <p>I did come across this one <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41815424/how-can-i-write-post-method-using-retrofit-for-json#comment70820978_41815424">Stack overflow</a></p> <blockquote> <p>put on hold as off-topic by jonsca, ρяσѕρєя K, R. Zagórski, Shikkediel, EdChum 8 hours ago</p> <p>This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:</p> <p>"Questions seeking debugging help ("why isn't this code working?") must include the desired behavior, a specific problem or error and the shortest code necessary to reproduce it in the question itself. Questions without a clear problem statement are not useful to other readers. See: How to create a Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example." – jonsca, ρяσѕρєя K, R. Zagórski, Shikkediel, EdChum If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.</p> </blockquote> <p>I am thinking that we could use a solid message like that, outlining exactly what they need to do, without is having to write it out every time. It is not shown in the copy (hence the link) but there are links in that message.</p> <p>Thoughts? How can we make this happen?</p>

2017-01-24T17:27:29.223

210

How to handle "Why is in't my printer working?!" questions

|feature-request|

<p>I've added a custom off-topic close reason. It needs another moderator to buy off, but it goes as follows (pretty much copied what you outlined in your question):</p> <blockquote> <p>Questions seeking troubleshoot help ("My printer was working, now it is not! Help!") must include information on 1) expected behavior, 2) actual behavior, and 3) what steps have been taken to troubleshoot already. Exceptions can be made after communication in Meta or Chat.</p> </blockquote> <p>Thank you for bringing this up.</p>