Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

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chrisb
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by chrisb »

There is one most minor layout thing:

I would put the first two lines in one paragraph so that the important stuff starts visually sooner:
Welcome here, and thanks for your interest in FreeCAD! We are a small but active community of users and developers. We are eager to assist you, but please read the following before posting.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
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NormandC
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by NormandC »

Makes sense. Done! Thanks!
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by chrisb »

Can an @admin or @NormandC please paste here the bbcode source of the current "IMPORTANT: ..." text in code tags or some other editable form?
I want to translate it for the german forum and want to keep the markups. That is easier if I have it as source.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by jmaustpc »

Norm's first post

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Welcome here, and thanks for your interest in FreeCAD! We are a small but active community of users and developers. We are eager to assist you, but please read the following before posting.

[list=1]
[*][b][color=#0000FF][size=120]Make sure your FreeCAD version is up to date[/size][/color][/b]
Bug fix releases are published a few times a year as needed. Make sure you are using the latest version ([b]0.16 Revision 6706/6707[/b]). [wiki]Download[/wiki]


[*][b][color=#0000FF][size=120]Search the forum first[/size][/color][/b]
Chances are other users had the same problem as you before. The 3 most common questions are covered [url=https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2264&p=170906#p170906]here[/url]. Also have a look at our exhaustive wiki [wiki]FAQ[/wiki], the [url=https://yorikvanhavre.gitbooks.io/a-freecad-manual/content/]FreeCAD Manual[/url] and the [url=http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/]Documentation[/url].


[*][b][color=#0000FF][size=120]Please provide your FreeCAD version info[/size][/color][/b]
Open the [b]Help --> About FreeCAD[/b] menu then click on the "Copy to clipboard" button, and paste its content in the text input area. This will provide us valuable information on your exact version and revision number, your operating system as well as FreeCAD's internal libraries. ([b]Mac users:[/b] the About FreeCAD menu is under the Apple menu.)
Please do not attach a screen capture instead of posting the Help > About FreeCAD information from the clipboard. [color=#FF0000][b]Don't add your FreeCAD info to your signature[/b][/color]. When you change your signature, the forum software shows the updated signature in every post you ever made, obviously this means that over time your version data in a signature would become wrong for all your previous posts.


[*][b][color=#0000FF][size=120]Please provide a complete description of your problem[/size][/color][/b]
The best way to get quick and efficient help is to not spare any details. What workbench and tools are you using? What steps did you take? What was the result? This will avoid back-and-forth exchanges and save time for everybody.


[*][b][color=#0000FF][size=120]Add your FreeCAD file and/or screen captures[/size][/color][/b]
Your FreeCAD file (*.FCStd) can be useful to troubleshoot the problem, and screen captures can also be useful. Under the text input area, click on the [b]Attachments[/b] tab, then click on the [i]Add files[/i] button. (Many different file formats are supported)

Please don't zip your *.FCStd file, it is already zipped. [b]Windows users:[/b] please do not attach screen captures in Word or PDF format. Use the Windows Snipping tool to save your capture as a PNG image. ([url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots]Here's how[/url])

File attachments are limited to 1MB in size. If your *.FCStd file is too big to attach, you can use an online storage service (many are free like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox).[/list]

Thanks for reading! And don't forget to thank those who helped you. We're all volunteers who dedicate some of our precious time to help others and thanks are always appreciated.   ;) 

[b][color=#0000FF][size=120]Useful links[/size][/color][/b]
[list]
[*][url=https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2264&p=170906#p170906]The top rated errors and how to avoid them[/url]
[*][url=https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5236]How to report a bug[/url]
[*][url=https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2264#p64293]How to quote correctly[/url][/list]

[size=85]Revised 04/22/2017 based on [url=https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20396]this topic[/url]. Thanks to bejant, chrisb, DeepSOIC, jmaustpc and sgrogan.[/size]
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by jmaustpc »

My first post about quoting

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[size=150][b][color=#0000FF]How to "QUOTE" another post or part of another post[/color][/b][/size]

You make it hard to follow when you "quote" without the user name, particularly within complex topics. 

If you quote another user properly, it includes their user name within the quote and the system informs the other user that they have been quoted.  

If you have opened a posting window, then just highlight the text you want to quote and click on the "quote" button associated with the post you are quoting...then you will get a quote with the user name automatically included, and it will only include the highlighted text.

If you have nothing highlighted ...then the quote button associated with a specific post will quote the entire post.

If you do not first open a posting window and simply click on the quote button associated with another post, it will open a posting window and insert the complete post as a "quote".

Partial quoting of highlighted text only works if you first open a posting window.
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by jmaustpc »

My second Post about spam

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 [size=200][b][color=#FF0040]Anti-Spam Measures[/color][/b][/size]

In recent years, spam has forced us to introduce the following..... 

[list=1][*] [b][size=150]Anonymous posting had to be disallowed[/size][/b]
That means you now have to register before you can post messages on the FreeCAD forums.

[*] [b][size=150]New users can not send a PM [/size][/b]
A new user can not send a Private Message (PM) to other users until after their first post has been approved.

[*] [b][size=150]First posts are hidden until approved[/size][/b]
Spammers started registering and then filling the forums with spam, so now we have been forced to hide all first posts until a moderator or admin has approved the first post, at least that means that the public does not see these spam posts before they are removed.

[*] [b][size=150]New users can only make one post[/size][/b]
Then the spammers started flooding us with huge numbers of first post, so we were forced to only allow new users to post once, until a pre-set time has expired or their first post has been approved.[/list] 
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by jmaustpc »

Norm's second post frequently asked questions

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[size=150][color=#0000FF][b]Most Commonly Asked Questions[/b][/color][/size]

[list=1][*][i]Q. I exported my model to STL or DXF but all the holes are filled up and fillets are missing.[/i]
[b]A.[/b] Don't select All or use Ctrl + A to export for 3D printing. You typically only need to select the last object at the bottom of the Model tree. 


[*][i]Q. The feature (Pad or Pocket) I added doesn't show.[/i]
[b]A.[/b] Make sure that only the last element in the tree is visible. You can toggle visibility by selecting it in the tree and hitting the space bar. Invisible elements in the tree are greyed out.


[*][i]Q. I have changed the position of my sketch but the change doesn't show up. The values switch always back when closing the dialog.[/i]
[b]A.[/b] The position is controlled by the first sketch only. All other sketches are positioned by the face to which they are attached.[/list]
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by chrisb »

Thanks, the first is done, the others will follow.
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NormandC
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by NormandC »

NormandC wrote: Sun May 13, 2018 8:29 am I'm starting to wonder if we shouldn't provide more file sharing alternative suggestions in the forum rules post. Those one-time sharing services can be useful when you don't want to register an account. There are more acceptable and respectable services out there, possibly some of them open source.
What prompted this reflection is that a few users have used File Dropper, which annoyingly places shady adverts on top of the Download button. Those ads will display a big nice green button for downloading some crap, and if you don't watch out you may inadvertently click that button instead. See a screen capture here: https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... 99#p233403

bejant wrote: Sun May 13, 2018 1:50 pm And I think it should be mentioned not to use any file hosting site where we helpers have to register before we can download your file.
Agreed, like Grabcad.

What we could do is to split the suggestions between ones requiring registration (Dropbox, Google Drive) and those that don't.

I'll try to find some time to hunt for such services. Suggestions are welcome.
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bejant
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Re: Revise the "IMPORTANT: Please read first before asking for help" sticy topic?

Post by bejant »

NormandC wrote: Sun May 13, 2018 4:59 pm ones requiring registration (Dropbox, Google Drive)
AFAIK, after I post the link to my file, Dropbox doesn't require someone else to register before they can download it. Though there is (was?) a somewhat annoying splash screen that the other person has to close first.
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