text:
Pre-canned comments to help users?
I often find myself writing the same comments over an over again, each time getting more brisk and less helpful. I thought it would be good to have a selection of pre-canned comments to pull from...
Feel free to add anything that find yourself using agian and again
This post is also an opportunity to tweak comments

There is a user script that make this even easier. I will link to the AU meta question about it.

Please edit the question
Note that most new users are not aware of the edit link to modify a post. So telling them add information is not enough, and they will use comments to clarify.
Writing the word edit between brackets [ ], like this: [ edit ] (without the spaces), will create a link users can use to edit their posts.
It is unclear what you are asking. Please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your question (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and add more information on how you set up your project. [Add images](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) that might help us understand your scene and settings. See [How to upload an image to a post?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491). Consider sharing your .blend file so that others can inspect it. You can upload it at https://blend-exchange.com/ and then paste the resulting link as part of your question.
Lack of details
General
Hello and welcome. As it stands this question is not answerable at the moment for lack of essential details to understand the issue. Remember only you have access to your scene, only you know your exact setup, settings and what steps you took to arrive where your are now. Please describe in detail what your issue is, possibly supported by some [accompanying screenshots](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) with the [edit] button under the question. Editing will automatically put it up for review so it can be reopened.
New Users
Hello and welcome. This question was closed due to a lack of detail. It's not permanently gone, and this isn't a mark against your account. If you [edit] your question to include more detail, it will be automatically queued for review to be reopened.
Edit instead of using comments.
Instead of comments, please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your question (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) to add information to your post.
or
Instead of adding comments, please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your question (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and add more information on how you set up your project. [Add images](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) that might help us understand your scene and settings. See [How to add an image to a post](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491)
Please post more information
This comes in a few variations: add a .blend, screenshots or more information
Post a .blend:
Consider sharing your .blend file (with the images used as textures [packed into the file](https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/82965/1853)) so that others can inspect it. You can upload it at https://blend-exchange.com/ and then **paste the resulting link** as part of your original question.
Not enough information variant
Could you please post a .blend file using a service like [blend-exchange](https://blend-exchange.com/), as it stands there is not enough information in your question for anyone to find out what the problem is or find a solution. Thanks!
Difficult setup variant
Could you please post a .blend file using a service like [blend-exchange](https://blend-exchange.com/)? The current situation described in your question is difficult and/or time consuming to setup. By posting a .blend you can make it much easier for us to find a solution to your issue.
Add Images
Please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your post (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and upload images that show your current setup and illustrate the problem.See [How to upload an image to a post?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491)
Pictures only, but not enough information in the text
While files, images, and external links may be helpful additions to questions they should not remain the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to [upload images](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) or [gifs](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/963), besides thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be searched for and indexed thus helping future users find it.
Make images visible as part of the question and not as links.
Please use the [built in tools](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) to add images to your question. Use an image editor, or online optimizer, if you must resize an image. You can help those who would answer your question if all the information is displayed as part of the question and not as links.
or
Please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your post (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and use the tools from this site to upload images so that they are displayed as part of your question. See: [How to upload an image to a post?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491)
or
You have better chances of getting a answers if all of the information is visible in this page, instead of asking users to visit links just to understand your question. Please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your question (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and use the tools on the site to upload images directly. See: [How to upload an image to a post?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491).
One question per post
Please ask only one question per post. Use the [edit] link at the bottom of your text (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and delete one of the questions. Then ask the second one (and any other questions) as a separate post. One question per post is how this site works. Thanks.
Too Broad.
As it stands this question is too broad. Try to focus the question into a single specific issue. Break up different questions into different posts. You can ask many questions, but it is easier to organize things if you deal with one issue at the time. To understand how to make better use of this site please take the [tour] and read [How do I ask a good question](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask) and [What types of questions should I avoid asking?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask).
How do I do this?
Please make an effort to describe what you want as part of the title. Read: [What is the problem with posting an image (or link) and asking ""How do I do this?"](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2449)
Solved
Please do not add "solved" as part of the title. Mark the answer that helped you as accepted instead (https://i.stack.imgur.com/viamd.png). Please take the [tour] to understand how the site works. Read also: [what does it mean when an answer is accepted?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/accepted-answer)
or
Please don't write *solved* as part of the title. If you found a solution for your problem please write it on the answers section and mark it as accepted there. Read: [what does it mean when an answer is accepted?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/accepted-answer)
Question title is a general topic
Hi. Please make the title of your question specific to the problem you are having and not just the general topic, see: [How do I ask a good question?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask). Thanks.
Accept the answer / "Thank you" answer
Sometimes users say thanks, but because they don't understand the site, they don't accept the answer. These comments are Only for that situation
If the answer solved your problem, could you please mark it as accepted [using the third button on the upper left hand corner](https://i.stack.imgur.com/viamd.png)? Feel free to use the one on the top too. This helps others know that the question has been answered sufficiently, and gives the user who answered some more reputation.
or
Please don't add "thank you"as an answer. SE is no forum rather a question-answer-site. So please don't be upset when your answer will get deleted since it does not add any value to the Q&A. Instead, in this case, please consider to [accept the given answer](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/someone-answers). Additionally, once you have [sufficient reputation](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/whats-reputation), you will be able to [vote up](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/vote-up) questions and answers that you find helpful.
Opinions/Critique
This site works best for focused questions and answers and is not meant for opinions or open ended discussions. You can use the forums at https://blenderartists.org/, there are sections for focused critique and work in progress. To understand how to make better use of this site please take the [tour] and read through the [help] center section, particularly [How do I ask a good question?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask) and [What types of questions should I avoid asking?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask).
Not an answer/Me too/ Additional questions asked in the answers section.
This site is not like a traditional forum, it is a question and answers site. The pages are divided in two main sections: a single question and many possible answers to it. If your post is not an answer, but an additional question, then it should be asked as a new  question using the [Ask Question](https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) box at the top right of the page. Take the [tour] to understand how to make better use of this site.
Edit the question don't use the answers section to clarify
Hi! This site is not like a traditional forum, it is a question and answers site. The pages are divided in two main sections: a single question and many possible answers to it. If your post is not an answer, but an additional information to the question, what you need to do is edit the question. There is an edit link at the bottom of the original post. Use it. And please take the [tour] to understand how to make better use of this site.
Link-only answer
Hi. Link-only answers are discouraged, if the link goes down so does the answer. Please help us making this site a real knowledgebase and add all relevant steps to your answer. Thanks.
Duplicated post
 Please don't ask the same question many times. If you are not getting answers, or the answers don't help, then edit your original post with more information and detailing what you have tried that is not working. Read: [What should I do if no one answers my question?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/no-one-answers)
Answer my own question
If you found a solution, please write it on the answers section so that other users with a similar question can learn from your experience. Read: [Can I answer my own question?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/self-answer)
Questions that depend on users downloading a file or linked images.
Please don't make your questions depend exclusively on others downloading the file, or reading links, just to understanding the issue. Please use the [edit] option at the bottom of your question (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and add more information on how you set up your project. [Add images](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) that might help others understand your scene and settings.
or
You have better chances of getting a answers if all of the information is visible in this page, instead of asking users go through links just to understand what you want to do. Please use the [edit] link at the bottom of your post (https://i.stack.imgur.com/vHwEx.png) and use the tools from this site to upload images so that they are displayed as part of your question. See [How to upload an image to a post?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491)
Code as images
**DO NOT post images of code, data, error messages, etc.** Please copy, or type, the text into the question. Please reserve the use of images for diagrams or demonstrating rendering bugs, things that are impossible to describe accurately via text. For more information please see the Meta FAQ entry [Why not upload images of code/errors when asking a question?](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/285557)
Bug report
Hi. If you found a bug please report it to the official bug tracker. In Blender, Help > Report a Bug. Also read: [Best place to put bug reports?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/a/173685)
OVERZEALOUS USE OF ALL CAPITALS IN QUESTION OR TITLE
Please don't write in all caps, it is the online equivalent of shouting, is [harder to read](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_caps#Readability) and is [considered rude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_caps#Computing).

Filedropper does expire, and quicker then pastall. Pastall is 5 months, file dropper is 30 days with no downloads.

@David Quick, alternative?

http://meta.blender.stackexchange.com/a/611/2217

It would be great if the more general of these were added to [ask] so that users are aware before the fact instead of folks having to post such comments.  There's a growing trend for people not putting effort into their questions on [blender.se]

We can get some of ours from here: http://meta.askubuntu.com/q/1323/1992
There is a github repo for these comments too. If someone is willing, we could have our own (just need to fork the original).
If no one is able to maintain it, then I'll pitch in there.

Interesting idea... I'll take a look when I have a moment... I'd be willing to look after it, if I like the idea.

Do let me know what you've decided :)!

I did try it out, but the userscript kept on rejecting the jsonp file I made

Your file likely had a sytnax error.

See here: https://github.com/GiantCowFilms/BlenderSE-ProFormaComments

Questions
Question Unanswerable
Hello and welcome. As it stands this question is unanswerable and was put on hold for lack of essential details to understand the issue. Risking stating the obvious, only you have access to your scene, so unless you describe it thoroughly you alone know your exact setup, settings and what steps you took to arrive where your are now. Describe the issue in detail, add [images](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) of relevant settings and user interface, with the [edit] button above. Don't post comments or ask a new question, editing will automatically queue it for reopening review.
Question Title
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Question Links
Hello and welcome. While files, images, and external videos or links may be helpful additions they should not be the only way to obtain information about your issue. Don't make understanding your question rely on downloading a file, watching a video or visiting an external site. Use the builtin tools to upload [images](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) or [gifs](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/963), along with thoroughly explaining the problem in written form so it can be indexed and searched for thus helping future visitors with similar issues.
Question Image or Link
Hello and welcome. Please provide some context and explanation by verbally describing your issue, don't just post, images, videos, files to download, or links to external sites. See [What is the problem with posting an image or link and asking “*How do I do this?*”](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2449)
Question Closed
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Question too Broad
Hello and welcome. As it stands this question is too broad to be answerable without requiring an extensive tutorial or description. You should show efforts towards reaching your goal, describing what you have tried and why it failed, so we don't risk recommending something you already know. The scope should also focus on a particular step you encountered an issue with. Describing the whole procedure from start to finish would be too lengthy to explain, and is beyond the goal of this site. If you could [edit] your post to focus on where you are stuck we can vote to reopen it.
Multiple Questions
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Question Duplicate
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Question Acknowledge
Hello and welcome. This question seems to have already been asked in various forms over time and already has a multiple answers, but you never acknowledged any of the existing posts. We are not sure if you aware of them but none of the described techniques fulfil your particular requisites, or you simply didn't do any research at all. Could you [edit] you post and clarify how your question differs from the suggested duplicates? Otherwise could you rephrase it to focus on a particular step you are stuck with?
Question Same Question
Hello and welcome. Please don't post the same question more than once. If your previous question was put on hold, address the raised issues by editing it so it can be reopened rather than post a new one, otherwise see [What should I do if no one answers my question?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/no-one-answers)
Question Request for Tutorial
Hi. [Requests for tutorials are considered off topic here](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1). If it requires a full tutorial the question is either [too broad and needs to be narrowed down](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/62) to a more specific issue; or it can be solved with a simple web search which you can easily do yourself. Please don't post another question. If you could you rephrase the current one to read more like a direct inquiry about your issue, rather than pointing you to a link, you can [edit] it so it can be reopened.
Question Resources
Hello and welcome. Asking for links to resources about X is considered off topic here, asking directly about X is encouraged though. If you can rephrase your question to focus on the specific difficulties you are encountering, rather than point you to some site, please [edit] your post so it can be reopened. As it stands it is not a good fit for this site.
Question Job
Hello and welcome. This is not a regular forum, we are a question and answer site aimed at providing users with assistance along the way, rather than solve the issues for them or present ready made solutions. For commissioning work, job posts or hiring someone, there is a paid work section at [Blender Artists Forum](https://blenderartists.org). Otherwise rephrase your question so it shows your efforts towards solving the issue, rather than ask for someone to do it for you, so it can be reopened.
Question Art Critique
Hello and welcome. This question is considered off topic here and was put on hold for being subjective and attracting opinion based answers, because there are no "right" or "wrong" answers and every suggestion is equally valid. For art critique, tips, artistic input, or other opinion based suggestions it is best to ask over at [Blender Artists Forum](https://blenderartists.org/) or similar forums. If you can rephrase it to focus on objective questions or solving specific issues feel free to [edit] it so it can be reopened.
Question Licensing
I'm voting to close this question as off topic because it is about licensing and legal issues we are neither equipped nor legally qualified to answer, and any ill advice could unintentionally pose a liability to both the user and the network. For official info see the [Blender Licensing Terms and Conditions](https://www.blender.org/about/license/) and the [FAQ about GNU GPL](https://www.blender.org/support/faq/#gnu-gpl)
Question Experimental Software
I'm voting to close this question as off topic because it is about troubleshooting temporary issues with unfinished, under development or experimental versions of software, which are expected to be working properly upon stable release. These transitory questions are unlikely to be useful in the future, rendering their long term value low, and making them unappealing for a knowledge database site.
Question Meta
Hello and Welcome. For Questions about this site, the network, moderation, rules and how they work, please use [Meta](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com) instead.
Answers
Answer Comment
Hello and welcome. This site is not a regular forum, the answer section is reserved exclusively for answering the OP question. To ask for clarification, post comments or replies please use the comments section instead. If you have the same problem or a different question please use the [Ask Question](https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/ask) button at the top right. If you want to add additional information or further developments, use the edit button below the original post instead. This post may be removed or converted to a comment.
Answer Low Quality
Hi, thanks for the post. This site is not a regular forum, answers should be substantial, stand on their own, and thoroughly explain the solution and required steps. One liners and short tips rarely make for a good answer. If you can, [edit] your post and provide some more details about the procedure and how it works, perhaps add a few [images](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/963) illustrating some steps and final result. See [How to write a good answer?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer), otherwise it may be converted to a comment.
Answer Link Only
Thanks for the posts. This is not a regular forum, according to site rules [links to answers are not answers](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2382) if the link goes missing your answer becomes an empty shell without content. Answers should be substantial and stand on their own without relying on external data like links, videos or images. Instead of having users go through external links, either transcribe essential parts of the process here, linking the source, or posts these in the comments section instead.
Answer Thanks
Hello and welcome. This site is not a regular forum, the answer section is reserved exclusively for answering the OP question, to post comments or replies please use the comments section instead. Please don't reply "Thanks" as an answer or comment, instead [upvote the post that helped you](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/why-vote). If you feel it completely solved your issue consider [marking it as accepted](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/accepted-answer).
Answer Self
Hi, thanks for the post. While answering your own question is possible and even encouraged, it should be done respecting the site structure. Could you break this up into two posts, rephrasing the problem to read like an actual question or expose a problem, while the solution is written as separate answer in the proper section below? Maybe add a short description of the steps accompanied by a few [images](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/963) illustrating the workflow and final results. See [How do I write a good answer?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer)
Answer Solved
Hi. Please don't add "*Solved*" to your question or title. Instead we encourage you to post an answer below with a short description of the solution and what steps you took to reach it. Perhaps add a few [images](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/963) illustrating the workflow and final results. See [How do I write a good answer?](https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer)
Answer Promotion
Hi, thanks for the post. This site is not a regular forum, answers should be substantial, stand on their own, and thoroughly explain the solution and required steps. Promotion of commercial products is fine as long as any affiliation is disclosed and the answer makes an honest effort to describe the procedure and required steps, rather than just link to a product, blatant self promotion may be deleted or converted to a comment. If you can, [edit] your post so it can be restored. See our [Stance Regarding Commercial Products](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/a/788/35559)
Misc
Images
Hello and welcome. Instead of having users go through links and external sites please use the builtin tools to embed images in your post. See [How to upload an image to a post?](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/75491) or [GIF](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/963)
Screenshot
Hello and welcome. Rather than take photos of your monitor post actual screenshots instead, see [How to take a screenshot](https://www.take-a-screenshot.org). Photos are harder to read because we have to look past external interferences (like reflections, smudges or Moiré patterns) and guess if we are looking at hardware issues such as a malfunctioning display or connections, a software level issue like driver malfunction or glitch, or actual artifacts or issues with the model itself.
All Caps
Hello and welcome. Please don't write in all caps in the title or body of any posts, it is the written equivalent of shouting, is [harder to read](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_caps#Readability) and may be [considered rude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_caps#Computing). Please use the [edit] button below the post to change you text into regular case.
Information Comments
Hi. Please don't post essential information like links, file downloads or additional details in the comments section where it can be easily missed. Instead edit them into your original post with the [Edit] button above. Comments are transitory by nature, are hard to index or search for, and may be erased at any moment.
Language
Hello and welcome. English is mandatory language for the site. If you are not comfortable writing in English feel free to use any online translation service.
Bug Report
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Feature Request
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Others
Code
Hi. Please don't post images or screenshots of your code, console or error messages, instead copy-paste the actual text into your post using proper code tags, so it can be indexed and searched for, and other users trying to help don't have to type it by hand themselves which is error prone and time consuming.
Operators Scripting
Operators inbpy.opsare [for interactive use through the UI and should be avoided in scripts](https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2848/why-avoid-bpy-ops/2850#2850) because they depend on context. Using them through scripts may yield unexpected results at best, or fail entirely at worst. Manipulate data directly frombpy.datainstead.
XY Problem
[XY Problem](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem)
Image Text
Hello and welcome. Please avoid text written inside images, always prefer typing it directly in the body of the post instead. Image content can't be indexed and thus can't be readily found when searching in the future. Updates are difficult because it can't be easily edited in case of mistakes, nor updated in case of future changes. It doesn't follow the fonts and style of the website automatically, and doesn't work with screen readers.
Blender Artists
[Blender Artists Forum](https://blenderartists.org/)
FBX Materials
https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/57531/fbx-export-why-there-are-no-materials-or-textures
Meta Stack Exchange
Hello and Welcome. For Questions about this site, the network, moderation, rules and how they work, please use [Meta](https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com) instead.
Blend Exchange
[blend-exchange.com](https://blend-exchange.com/)

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Let's get critical: Feb 2015 Site Self-Evaluation
We all love Blender Stack Exchange, but there is a whole world of people out there who need answers to their questions and don't even know that this site exists. When they arrive from Google, what will their first impression be? Let's try to look at this site through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before, and see how we stack up against the rest of the 'Net.
The Site Self-Evaluation review queue is open and populated with 10 questions that were asked and answered in the last quarter.
Run a few Google searches to see how easy they are to find and compare the answers we have with the information available on other sites.
Rating the questions is only a part of the puzzle, though. Do you see a pattern of questions that should have been closed but are not? Questions or answers that could use an edit? Anything that's going really well? Post an answer below to share your thoughts and discuss these questions and the site's health with your fellow users!

Final Results

Linking the color of one mesh to a second mesh

Net Score: 19 (Excellent: 19, Satisfactory: 6, Needs Improvement: 0)

Error extruding loop selection along individual face normals

Net Score: 13 (Excellent: 15, Satisfactory: 9, Needs Improvement: 2)

Can't find the palette to alter new objects

Net Score: 12 (Excellent: 14, Satisfactory: 8, Needs Improvement: 2)

Mesh displayed as dots

Net Score: 10 (Excellent: 12, Satisfactory: 9, Needs Improvement: 2)

How can I control where smoke and fire are emitted from?

Net Score: 10 (Excellent: 11, Satisfactory: 16, Needs Improvement: 1)

Animate object on arc trajectory

Net Score: 7 (Excellent: 10, Satisfactory: 14, Needs Improvement: 3)

Importing time-dependent mesh

Net Score: 6 (Excellent: 8, Satisfactory: 15, Needs Improvement: 2)

Moving animations between computers

Net Score: 6 (Excellent: 8, Satisfactory: 13, Needs Improvement: 2)

Alpha image or model?

Net Score: 6 (Excellent: 7, Satisfactory: 16, Needs Improvement: 1)

Add a ''glossy'' material for Blender render?

Net Score: 2 (Excellent: 4, Satisfactory: 17, Needs Improvement: 2)

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
How do we handle questions that have been closed for the wrong reason?
I just opened this question in the reopen queue. It was closed as a duplicate. After playing with the .blend, I don't agree that it's a duplicate, but I think it's a bug report.
How should this be handled?

Vote to reopen, and then, if enough people agree to reopen, vote to close as a bug report?
Flag for moderator attention, and suggest changing the close reason?
Bring it up on meta for each occurance of this?
Simply leave it as is?

Turns out it actually was a duplicate. The answer was on the marked post.

@iKlsR I made a mistake when I first looked at it. I looked again now, and I looked closer and found my mistake. I retracted my bug report vote. Unfortunately the OP already filed a bug report.

I would add that whenever you see something that is not right and out of your control (like a wrongly closed question) flag it. Flags are the biggest part of how mods find problems.

Being as accurate as possible is always best especially when putting someone's post on hold. Not worth the effort to post on meta for every occurrence else it would quickly pile up and we can't ignore it either so best case is to flag it for moderator attention with your reason and it will be reviewed.

I didn't really think bringing it to meta would be right. I just included the idea for completeness.

@SixthOfFour There are usually people in our main chatroom so that's a good way to quickly bounce ideas or bring something to other avid users attention.

Good point. Thanks.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Announcing: Blend-exchange a new solution to .blend hosting
Announcing:

For a long time now .blend hosted on pasteall.org have been disappearing, after 5 months. Although good answers and questions shouldn't need .blend files, they can be extremely useful to demonstrate concepts or offer complex setups that aren't relevant to the actual answer. The goal of stack exchange is to build a knowledge base that is easily searchable and efficient to use. Having a part of our knowledge base expire and disapear goes against this philosophy.
Blend-exchange, a new blend hosting site just for blender.stackexchange solves this issue by permanently storing .blend files.

Permanent file storage
Open source
Totaly free, no email accounts
Run by a community member, me
Support up to 30MB files

Note: It is still under development (αlpha), please treat it gently

What's the file size limit?

@SixthOfFour I I'm targeting it for about 20-30-MB, mostly interested to wee what people need, it is currently 50MB

This is a very good idea, especially the permanent storage. I've sometimes been annoyed when old questions get popped to the front page, and included .blends no longer exist.

@SixthOfFour that why I made this...

Of course. I just wanted to express my appreciation. ;)

Your appreciation is much appreciated! ;D its nice to see people using tools I spent hours making!

Can I upload a file to an answer?  When I give it the url of the answer it says that it is invalid.

@PGmath Always give the question URL, not the answer URL, even if it is an answer... its to difficult to support both sadly, for various reasons. The URL is only used to check that the blend is used on this site. And it is pretty easy to tell from the question whether the blend is used or not.

Thanks man, sorry for my ignorance.  It's pretty slick btw!

No problem... usually means there is some UX issue that needs to be fixed :D ... I'll see what I can do! Thanks :D

@PGmath Okay, I pushed a change that give a more descriptive error when an answer url is provided. Thanks for the feedback!

Who has admin control on BSE? Each SE site seems to get some control over a custom layout, would it be possible to add a button and script link to the style layout of BSE?

@sambler The SE staff has admin control. When we graduated from beta, they had a professional designer come in, converse with the community, and then create a design (see discussion here: https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/q/969 and here https://blender.meta.stackexchange.com/q/782).

Blend exchange seem to not support uploading up to date Blend files. I get an error it's not supported when trying to upload a Blender 3.2.1 file.

@ChristophWerner Can you provide a sample (i.e. upload to google drive) of the file you are unable to upload? I pushed a patch for this issue a while back, and I am not sure why this error is still occurring.

Hi. Thank you for the feedback. Meanwhile I've found the reason why my .blend file was not accepted. I saved it compressed. If you set the "compressed" option in Blenders file save window, then this kind of files will not be accepted by Blend-Exchange.
All .blend files must be uncompressed to be uploaded, currently. Maybe you can change this limitation for the future or inform the users about this?

@ChristophWerner The issue has been fully fixed. It makes sense this would impact only compressed files, because the issue is they changed the compression algorithm, so my previous validation was not able to uncompress newer files.

Here is a userscript which allows for blendfiles to be uploaded to Blend-Exchange from the editor on blender.stackexchange. Written by @GiantCowFilms and myself and based on the kbd script.
It's quite simple to use:

It's still in a bit of an alpha state, so come back for updates if you try it out now!

I have both this script and the kbd script installed, and they both respond to Ctrl Y.

@SixthOfFour I fixed that yesterday.. Are you using the latest version?

I installed it very early this morning by my time (which is UTC+1). I'm pretty sure the one I installed was marked "Initial commit". I'll try updating it later and report back.

@SixthOfFour Ah, well according to github I pushed it about 11 hours ago. Anyway, it should work now (just checked the source on github, it has the fix)

Just installed the update, and it no longer responds to Ctrl Y. However, it's only available when answering, not when posting a new question. Is that intentional? Also, isn't it quite pointless to have it active on meta?

@SixthOfFour Yes, not appearing in questions is a known limitation. The URL of the post is used to programatically detect .blends not being used on SE, and the url of the post can't be gotten when the post hasn't been posted yet. I didn't see a reason to disable it on meta, but if users find it pointless and annoying I'll be happy to change it ;)

I just browsed through the code, and I saw the comment about disabling it on new questions. And don't change it on my account. I'm not in the least annoyed by seeing it here. Very good work from what I can tell so far. :)

Service Update 1:
Blend-Exchange has got a new feature in alpha:
Optional Accounts! Now you can view all your blends in one place, and hopefully soon  be able to update and delete them. You can register here
Exit alpha soon?
Blend-Exchange has had no bug reports for weeks, and appears to be running without much hassle. However, new features like this login may still have bugs. As soon as this is done and tested, I want to move out to beta. Before I do this, I'd like to know what changes are needed/desired, since I prefer to add them now then later. Leave a comment below
UX concerns
There have been a few instances of new users having trouble with the service, please notify me by email or opening an issue in the github repo. I'd like to be able to make this site easy to use as possible, since we have visitors from all experience levels, nationalities and ages.
Update 1 on UX:
The url input is much much more forgiving, it now supports any of the below formats

http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/21800/undo-cursor-move
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21800/undo-cursor-move
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21800/
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21800/245
http://blender.stackexchange.com/q/21800/245
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21800/undo-cursor-move/21802#21802
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21800/undo-cursor-move/?abcd=efg
http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21800/undo-cursor-move/?abcd=efg&hijk=lmn

Missing a format? please suggest it!
More feedback can help me make even more necessary changes
Service Update 1.5:
Bug fixes and improved login.
Better and more descriptive errors for the URLs.
Thanks,  I look forward to you feedback!

Since I just noticed that the request for permanent storage for Blend files was declined, I should note that I don't think it fair that GiantCowFilms ("GCF") bear the cost of permanent blend file hosting all by himself, either financially, or the time cost of maintaining the site. I propose that we explore what options are available for community support for these costs.

At this point in time, Blend-Exchange costs me nothing, since it is using unused space on a server I am already renting to host my site, http://giantcowfilms.com. That being said, thanks for the support. I will look into funding from the community if the expenses increase significantly.


text:
Site review: how to vote if I find a different Blender.SE answer?
During the review, I was asked to give my opinion about this question.
Doing a Google search, I found a different question on third place, which I'd say provides at least an alternative to what the OP wants to do.
How to vote in this case?
The site does a great job, but the particular question doesn't. I voted for "Needs improvement", mainly because it

has an answer that is no better than what can be found elsewhere

Is my vote correct or should I have voted differently?

Voting is a democratic process, whether it's a general election or a review queue here on SE, or anything in between. The idea is to make your voice heard. A vote isn't wrong if it reflects your view. Whether others agree with your view or not, is beside the point.
If "Needs improvement" is how you feel, then your vote is correct. If others said "Satisfactory" or "Excellent", your view is still just as valid.
For the question you link to, I also voted "Needs improvement", but for other reasons. I must have done other searches than you, because I had a hard time getting the question to show up on Google. But I feel that that proves my point; different people see things differently.

Your vote doesn't need to be correct, just honest.


text:
moderator tools
I want to know what tools do the moderators have ?
 the goal of this question is to aid a university project in which we think of a programming idea and implement a senior product, we're thinking of something like the tools needed to moderate a website, I can't tell the details for personal reasons.
So how do moderators do their job ? how do they maintain  and in particular how does the website help them ?

http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/05/a-theory-of-moderation/

That's classified. (I'm kidding, btw. iKIsR could you post that as the answer?)

I think you will get better answers if you ask on http://meta.stackexchange.com

@iKlsR is there a way to migrate it ?


text:
How can I insert videos into my Q&A?
Some people give visual appealing answers with a video/gif.
I saw that those link to i.stack.imgur.com. How can I use that service to automatically transform my blender screencasts (avi jpg) into gifs? If I try to use the site directly I need to provide a link instead of a local file for conversion.
Since stackexchange partnered with imgur (as the above link suggests) there should be an easy way to convert local files to gifs right?
I cannot find it at the moment.

As far as I know, there is none. This would be a pretty expensive service to provide anyway, so I doubt that would happen very easily.

Stack-Exchange does not provide such a service, however some sites online do provide this.
One site you could try would be ezgif.com/video-to-gif. This site will let you temporarily upload a video file and convert it to a GIF, which you cn then download and upload to the standard image hosting service that Stack-Exchange uses as a whole. You can also do this for individual images as well.
However, I would strongly discourage making a video or image sequence and then converting it online. You can use a local program like LiceCAP to record directly to an animated GIF file, which can then be easily uploaded directly. To insert them into your question and/or answer you just upload them like a standard image file. Notice that the maximum file size is 2mb.

I'd advise you to just use Youtube videos for video files, especially if your instructions are extensive. Gifs should be for very short, easily remembered actions, such as a clicking a few buttons or so.


text:
Is this question off topic?
The purpose of the Meta for any site is to discus a wide range of subjects relating to the main site, including whether or not questions are on or off topic. So my question is this:
Is this question off topic?
Edit:
For those of you who want the question link I'm referencing:
Is this question off topic?

Either I'm missing something, you forgot to link to the question, or I'm going to vote to close as "Too meta". :P

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because its too confusing for non-sophisticated users, and is there for discriminatory.

I see no point to this and yes it would be considered offtopic as it is not asking anything related to our site or se. Questions soliciting extended discussions are a no no.

This more of a hypothetical question thus it really would be better suited to http://philosophy.stackexchange.com. However it the broadest scene, yes it is (kind of) on topic.
Quoting from https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/whats-meta

Meta Blender Stack Exchange is the part of the site where users discuss the workings and policies of Blender Stack Exchange rather than discussing blender itself.

So yes, asking if a question is on or off topic is proper for the meta. However posting a question on the meta asking if itself is on or off topic is borderline spam.
I say "spam" because if you look at the flag and close reasons given, spam with its "It is not useful or relevant" line is the closest.


text:
Are "advertisments" linking to used services ok?
The blend hosting service blend-exchange outputs this image, as a link to the file.

The "Hosted by Blend-Exchange" is the line in the image I'm questioning.
Is that:

"Effectively an advertisement with no disclosure."
"It is not useful or relevant, but promotional."

If so, what should be done with the posts with this image in them. Is flagging as spam, or editing the post the only options?

You could also ask me to change it.... just saying

@GiantCowFilms I did, back on the 26th of February http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/20266033#20266033

Going back to the title, if the image really isn't an advert, but more of a user friendly way to introduce a .blend file, is that okay?
Under this theme, these may resolve the issue of unsolicited or solicited for that matter branding:
Here are a few logo less alternatives that avoid the image-text alignment issues of @Davids suggestions by putting text into the image, which isn't quite that bad:

I've made this a community wiki because anyone is welcome to add examples.

I think your first image would be a fine way to link to B-E.
Even without the "hosted by" line it is still branding; while someone using pastall could use that image (probably won't), it will convey (very quickly) that this blend is on blend-exchange.

From reading about "spam" on SE, I would say that is not "spam" but it should not be in the posts.
Quoting from the first line of when to flag as spam

A post should be marked as spam ONLY when it contains an unsolicited advertisement.

The "Hosted by Blend-Exchange" is considered a unsolicited advertisement. - flag as spam.
https://blender.stackexchange.com/help/promotion Starts out with

The community here tends to vote down overt self-promotion and flag it as spam.

Self promotion does not come in to play much here (except that a member of the community created the service) - no action
If you look at the spam flagging reason it becomes less clear.

This answer is effectively an advertisement with no disclosure. It is not useful or relevant, but promotional.

The answer is good and helpfull, but the image is what is "advertisement with no disclosure and promotional" - this is the gray one no action.
Well what is the definition of spam? In two different places1 2 SE links to the wikipeda definition of spam.

Electronic spamming is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited messages (spam), especially advertising, as well as sending messages repeatedly on the same site

So the question really becomes "what to do with good posts that have spam in them?".
At this point I would say that flagging is not the best course of action. Rather edit out the images, and replace them with a simple text link.
Here are several link option in stead of this.

Download the Blend file.
Download the Blend file. Note the tool tip

This question (and the answer) deserves a read as it talks about the weightiness of the spam and offensive flags. What are the “spam” and “rude or abusive” (offensive) flags, and how do they work?

Further more the W3 states that

Images of text are only used for pure decoration or where a particular presentation of text is essential to the information being conveyed. (Level AAA)

Which means that there is no reason that the text "Download the .Blend Hosted by Blend-Exchange" should be in a image. If a icon is really necessary the image should only contain the icon.
 Download the Blend file

Or the Icon and the "download the .Blend!" cause that's colorful and cool.

@VinceScalia edited the answer to include your suggestion.

I understand the W3 states that text should be out of images, but without full CSS and markup, I had to make do... not ideal yes, but the download the blend file you provide has serious image alignment issues that would be avoided by putting the text in the image

If the question is  "[W]hat to do with good posts that have spam in them?", the answer is simple; more sophisticated users, upon seeing the spam, should edit it out, noting in the comments that the question was edited to remove spam..

Summary:

Flagging is the wrong approach
Blend-Exchange isn't "adverting"
Blend-Exchange is just suggesting use of these images
It really doesn't constitute irrelevant adverting spam
If they are a problem editing is the correct approach

Flagging is the wrong approach
Firstly I'd like to say that posts shouldn't be marked as spam just because they contain something that could be considered advertising. Spam is when a post is solely trying to sell something, and not contributing to the knowledge base the stack exchange is trying to build.
In this case, some of the posts with the image have been well received and gotten several upvotes, a sign that with the Blend-Exchange name and all they are still valuable and not at all spam. Flagging is out of the question, now to whether the image are spam is a different matter...
Not quite spam
Spam on stack exchange usually consists of people trying to sell garbage that nobody wants... Blend-Exchange is a charitable service, built out of volunteer hours and operating at a net loss of 100% with no income and operating expenses. In other similar cases these were companies, and the links helped them sell products. On the other hand, charitable organizations can spam for donations, but then again they are trying to collect money. Blend-Exchange doesn't collect money at  all on its site. Blend-Exchange has nothing to gain other then increased taxing of its services, as well as a reinforced brand, but what does that brand even help?
Blend-Exchange isn't spamming, users are
Finally, normal users are spreading this accused spam by using the suggested embed code... Blend-Exchange isn't adding it to posts. One could claim that by giving out a blender guru tutorial link, or even by putting the name in this post that they are spamming. The only reason that Blend-Exchange cause an upset is that the image was fairly large and very orange. A better question may have been is it incorrect to put attention grabbing content? Is the subtlety of the brand's name important. The point is mentioning a service isn't necessarily spamming, the line can be fine, yes, but I don't think this crosses it.
Do edit if all else fails
How to handle the images, amusing it is spam, which it is not: Editing the posts.... flagging isn't appropriate, since the moderators will simply have to edit it since it on its own doesn't justify removing the post, see first paragraph.
Special note from the admin of Blend-Exchange
This is a Community Project
As the manager of the project, I'm open to suggestions from the community. (I also have to say no from time to time in the best interest of the project, I promise to be nicer about it then Linus Torvalds though :P ) Even though Blend-Exchange is under no obligation to change the images, a change will occur as a result of this.
I appreciate your support of the project, even if its unconventional... I hope this doesn't affect your view of the service, Its trying to solve a problem, not create one.
PS Blend-Exchange is under no obligation to act upon this much like any other file hosting service wouldn't be liable for its embed code... however since this community is central to its operation as said above, Blend-Exchange will be changing as a result.

7 excellent points addressed in this answer! also, text on any display is displayed as pixels. unless you are using an alien goo-tron display, then they might not use pixels.

@X-27 I now have 4, you clearly cant count in the future...

well, I posted that with the anticipation that you would add more, which you have.

Apparently some people on  this site only like white backgrounds and black text. We want pretty looking images to use for links and other places where attention is needed and a plain link isn't enough.

may be a bit overkill, but it is a lot more eye-catching than
blend file
I can not represent Every answer or question on this site, however based on this reason we should NOT flag as spam answers or questions containing this image.

This answer is effectively an advertisement with no disclosure. It is not useful or relevant, but promotional.

This description would be fitting if the Entire answer or question was an advertizement, not useful or irrelevant.  However, the very purpose of all answers and questions are to be useful, and the blend files are added as a general aid.
Just because the link to the blend file has a picture that some people do not like does Not mean the entire answer is useless or irrelevant.

I covered the flagging as spam topic in my answer. I never stated that a image would invalidate the whole post as "not useful or relevant," but rather I was raising the whole point on the "advertisement with no disclosure or promotional" line. As to your "pretty" links point, read the last part of my answer.

Your answer is seemingly drifting off in another direction. The question is about whether or not the blendexchange image is considered spam, and what should be done about it. It really has nothing to do with the styling of links, vs images.

Ok, you have a good point. But your question is still flawed, there should be a third option on how to deal with "spam" answers.  3. add a disclosure such as "The service Blend-Exchange is a third party service and not endorsed by stack exchange. use at your own risk"   Seriously????? no one wants a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo in their answers.

Your last comment confused me, and the issue. However I would agree that there is no need for extraneous text like "Hosted by blend-exchange" in answers.

We do want pretty pictures. thankyou!

Just because the link to the blend file has a picture that some people do not like does Not mean the entire answer is useless or irrelevant. I'm pretty sure that's a fallacy - the straw man fallacy, to be precise. The point is not whether we can have images for the link, but rather whether they should say hosted by Blend-Exchange.


text:
How to deal with unanswered questions
It seems there's a lot of unanswered questions with good answers, but no up votes or OP's activity. I think we could use a closing reason allowing to:

Close an unanswered question older than 15/30/60;
Check if the question has a not-so-bad answer;
Check the OP's recent activity, and:

If recently active, ask him to comment the answer or edit the question to make it better;
If inactive (15/30/60 days), automatically close the question as "Probably Answered".

The unanswered list would be shorter and more accurate.

I do not understand your first line "It seems there's a lot of unanswered questions with good answers" What do you mean unanswered with answers?

found this in the unanswered questions list, it has an answer. http://meta.blender.stackexchange.com/questions/637/how-can-i-insert-videos-into-my-qa

OK, you are talking about questions with answers that have 0 up votes.

If I am not mistaken (someone please correct me if I am) all a question needs is at least one upvote on one or more answers to be considered answered.  So instead of closing the question, why not just upvote the answer if it seems appropriate?  I see no reason why a question should be closed just because the OP hasn't come back.

@PGmath That I believe is the case, and I 100% agree. Closing questions should not be a go-to solution :P

I think that this is a bad idea for several reasons:

Closing questions should be avoided whenever possible

I think we should be cautious of just closing questions because they are old and unanswered, even if they do/do not have an answer. I think that would be a very questionable practice.

You should not close a question with an answer unless it is very off topic or a duplicate.

I think the only real reason to close a question with a good answer is because it is a duplicate (or of course it is well off-topic). Closing questions should not become our end-all solution.
In your question you stated

It seems there's a lot of unanswered questions with good answers (0 up votes) but no "asker"'s activity. I think we could use a closing vote . . .

I strongly disagree, if it is a good answer, simply give it an upvote. This removes it from the unanswered queue immediately, and will solve the problem just as effectively as closing the question.

I think I misunderstood the meaning of closing a question. I also discovered that it's possible to use the no answers filter when using the upper unanswered link.

This filter is not visible when choosing unanswered from questions list

So it seems my question is somehow off-topic or useless.

I had the same issue when I first looked for unanswered questions. I get what you were thinking :)


text:
Place to store frequently used markdown
As a new user (1 month) I need to learn about how to do this or that. A good exemple is this. As I don't remember the exact syntax, I need to open the link every time i'm posting an image.
I'd like to have a "box" where I can put links, commands or texts that I can use when needed and edit when i want to add/remove/change something.
Is it possible?

Sounds like a good use for a local text file to me..

what i'm doing, but switching from notepad to browser is tedious. Getting the good tool where you need it seems better to me.

First off there is a helpful box to the right of the input on the ask a question page. It holds some of the most conman markdown syntax. If you click the link in the box called formatting help it will take you to a much more comprehensive list of the mark down syntax.

If you have just a few conmanly used lines you want to save I don't think there is any problem with putting them in your user profile, (I do).
You could use a external editor to write your question and answers (but for most question and answers it is overboard).
There are many good options available as online apps and as downloads.

stackedit (my favorite of the web based)
dillinger
markable
markdown-editor
brackets with the markdown addon

If you just want to have a place to keep notes on the question page try one of these browser addons.
FireFox floatnotes, internote
chrome Note Anywhere (I have not used any of the browser extensions)

really interesting links, thanks. I just thought it would be a good BSE improvement, especially for new users. Formatting is an example, rules, things to check later, ideas, to-do or anything relative to BSE navigation or use to remember. BSE (and SE) is so dense!


text:
What exactly is a bug report?
I have noticed a lot of questions on this site getting closed as a bug report when I do not think they should be getting closed. With our current system, a question could legitimately  be considered a bug report if the question is something like "Blender crashes when I do this"
That is merely a user stating that blender crashes when something is done. And in that case all the question is is a report of the bug and should be closed. However, If the question is something like "Why does blender crash when I do this?" It is a question asking Why it happens. In this case It would be appropriate to answer the question saying something such as,
"This is a known bug. Possible workarounds include __________ Or you could try this _________ instead. the developers might be fixing this in the near future"
In this case it is Not a bug report. It is a legitimate question of a user wanting to know Why something is happening. and Not a direct bug report. and should Not be closed.
So my question is this- Is the bug report close reason overused on this site, and what should be done to fix this problem if it is?

I feel that most closed questions are closed to quickly.   For the case where someone shows up and asks how to find Maya's 'Make Dinosaur' button, obviously that should be closed.  However, if someone asks about a work-flow that involves 3rd party software, nobody should even be voting to close that until a week has passed and the issue has been thoroughly discussed.  It should be absolutely clear that the person's problem is only solvable on the other end of things before deciding that it's not a Blender problem.

Also see When should a question be close as a bug report?

There are some situations where it could be more constructive to leave the question open so it can be discussed even if it is bug related.
Several areas of Blender have multiple pathways and if one tool fails because of a bug, it is not necessarily the case that all available work-flow options will fail.
If a question like this is closed for being a report, alternate methods do not have a chance to be brought up by other people who have found a work-around that can accomplish the same task but in a different way.
Automatically sending people to the tracker without discussion can also lead to the tracker becoming filled with nuisance reports and this can lead to issues for developers who have enough work to do already without having to sort through issues that could have easily been dealt with here.
If a question is closed for this reason and there is no discussion on the topic; every time someone comes here with a similar issue, they will think that it has not already been discussed because the other similar questions are not available.  Now the nuisance question is right back again and now it has to be closed.
Leaving them open or directing the user to a page where the problems have been linked together can help to prevent these types of questions from repeatedly being asked.
Enough bug reports have been moved onto a to-do list instead of being fixed right away and when this happens, alternative solutions have to be used.
Not every code problem is going to have an immediate solution, some may never have one.
In cases like this, artists discussing work-flow alternatives needed to work around these bugs is really the only available option.
The following example shows a bug report that is valid;   However, if it had been brought up here(and left open), then it could have been a discussion on how to avoid the bug in the first place.
https://developer.blender.org/T42056
Coders and algorithm designers cannot bear the full weight for everything that can go wrong with a complex system of tools.
Artists should have multiple ways around software weaknesses so they are not tripped up when bugs are encountered.
It helps to know how to avoid encountering those situations to begin.
One way to learn these things can be to make bug-report related questions into discussions instead of closing them.
Now bug-reports can be focused on problems which cannot be solved by work-flow solutions.
There should be no hurry to shut them down and move on as quickly as possible.  That goes for many of the other 'close' reasons unless they are spam or abusive.
A particular bug report discussion here can be good cross-reference for the actual bug report since artists showing up here may have something to contribute.
If an artist shows up here a few months after the question is posted and recognizes a pattern to the bug based on similar issues they've been having, it may now become solvable instead of sitting idle in the Tracker for several more months(or years).
If it's been discussed and decided upon that a serious bug is present, the person can be referred to the tracker and asked to post the tracker URL on the related page here on this site.
Now anyone who finds the page will also know where to find the bug report, but only if the page here is still open.
This brings more opportunity for the problem to be solved because there will be more people involved.
If a developer reports, on bug tracker, that the issue has been solved, the page here can then be reported as being no longer valid. Now it can be removed.

I totally agree.

I would guess most of the questions closed as bug reports are correctly being closed.
Some rules of thumb which give a good hint that the question is in fact a bug report.

You have to look at the source code to answer it. (example, you must be a developer).
The software is not working as it should and this would be better brought to developers attention.
If the error is something which used to work in older releases.
If the error is hardware related (graphics issues, OpenGL).

There are valid questions...

General questions such as why Blender fails on some hardware (graphics-cards, touchpads... but not specific models)
General Questions relating to a class of errors (out of memory, invalid files, unsupported OpenGL versions... for eg.)
Questions about known limitations *

* What is/isn't a known limitation isn't clear, for users, we do document these, however sometimes  we could do better too.


text:
Including a .blend file
How do I put a .blend file in  my questions? Thats really all I have to ask, even though I have to fit a certain amount of characters.

You can use Blend-Exchange or PasteAll, both are externally offered services, the former of which is run by me. It was designed specificly for this purpose:
See here
The reason to use Blend-Exchange over pasteall is that the files are kept permanently -  they expire in around 5 months on pasteall.
With the user script, you can have a upload button right in the make a post box, just like an image upload.

Blend exchange is definitively the way to go. The embed code that it automatically generates for you even has an awesome, eye-catching, decorative, pretty little picture for the link to your blend file.

Hey dude it took me a couple of years thanks to a really low mouse sensitivity but I finally accepted your answer.

I've been frustrated a few times going through old questions because the OP used pasteall and I can't see the original file to see if I can diagnose a fix.


text:
Should questions on the reopen review queue show why they were closed?
When reviewing the Reopen review queue, I find my self having to open the question it self on another tab, in order to check why the question was close in the first place, so I can know if the edit fixes that. I think this is just extra effort (not much, but still) and should be fixed.

This would probably have to be a network wide change, probably better put on http://meta.stackexchange.com

@GiantCowFilms Well, yeah, but they're mean :( sometimes; I'll migrate it later...

For questions that were edited after the question was closed (thus the automatic reopen review), it will say at the top of the review: "This question was edited after it was closed."
For all other questions in the review queue you can simply click on the Question (revised) button. Then look at the close reason listed below the question.

I just did a reopen for "edited after it was closed." As you can see in the screen shot after clicking on the Question (revised) button the close reason is listed below the question.

And that's why I didn't post it to meta.stackexchange.com - it was a derp on my part...

Well at least anyone on this site with the same problem should be able to find an answer now.

@David Wait.. Yeah, that was the problem - it doesn't show the close reason if it was edited after being closed, so I can't know if the edited fixes the question.

@someonewithpc see my edited answer.


text:
Cannot post questions (confirmed across 3 computers)
I am posting this on behalf of Alec Teal, who has tried to report his inability to post on both blender and the meta as a bug report. It does not appear to be relegated to a specific computer, as he has tried on 3 different ones.
EDIT: (from Alec) Firefox 35.0.0, 37.0 and 33.0 with Adblock+ and Instafox as addons (ABP disabled doesn't change things) on 3 different computers (Linux Mint MATE - if that matters) cannot post.
The error is "An error occurred while submitting the question"

Alec Teal or you should contact Stack Exchange directly.
team@stackexchange.com or by using this form https://blender.stackexchange.com/contact
Let them know your problem, even link to this post.
I would guess that you may have a post block or some other odd problem keeping you from posting to the site. In either event only SE can help you.

Firefox 35.0.0, 37.0 and 33.0 with Adblock+ and Instafox as addons (ABP disabled doesn't change things) on 3 different computers (Linux Mint MATE - if that matters) cannot post.
The error is "An error occurred while submitting the question"

Got the edit but still cannot post questions

You should contact SE to get your problem resolved, see my answer for more info.

I've confirmed your account is not suspended so you should definitely contact SE.


text:
Are questions about external render engines on topic?
Are questions specifically about external render engines (engines not bundled with official blender) allowed?
For example, What's going wrong with my Luxrender Prism?

I don't see any reason not to allow these, but I suggest that it be limited to render engines with blender integration (i.e. usable directly from blender's UI).
Using external render engines seems like a fairly common thing among blender users, and I think it definitely fits under our current scope:

The Blender Stack Exchange site is for people who use Blender to create 3D graphics, animations, or games.

I agree with this.

Could be interesting for all, but a new tag like luxrender would be nice.

I'm fine with questions about partially integrated tools.

@poor I was thinking about that.. I've posted another meta: http://meta.blender.stackexchange.com/questions/674/should-we-have-tags-for-external-render-engines-which-have-blender-integration?lq=1

You should mention that this is all right so long as it refers to using the renderer with Blender.

@AWildRolandiXor render engines with blender integration means using the renderer with blender  - For sure we could distinguish, if the render process happens directly in blender or needs a separate application, but I think this doesn't matter to specify this, as long blender is the main application, which is sending the job to the renderer.

@poor sorry about that - I missed that part when I read it the first time. :P


text:
Should we have tags for external render engines which have blender integration?
As a follow up to Are questions about external render engines on topic?, should we have specific tags for popular external render engines (e.g. luxrender yafaray etc.)
Or a single generic tag like external-render-engines, albeit separate from the uber-general external-applications tag?
How specific or general should our tags be?

Possible dupe http://meta.blender.stackexchange.com/questions/286/how-should-we-deal-with-tags-about-other-software/

@iKlsR Hm.. I'm asking more specifically about external render engines which are integrated into blender

I'm always in favor of more specific tags. So if the question base is there to warrant a new tag, then by all means add it. I do wonder if it is realy needed at this point (I'm the one, nearly a year ago now, that removed the yafaray tag), Luxrender only has 8 questions, Yafaray has 4, etc.
There are other question groups, with many more questions that are denied the right to get their own tag. Yes iklsr, I'm talking about knife tool
However, I do not think that we should just go and add a new tag for each conceivable render engine, because we have decided to add a "Luxrender" tag.  If nobody asks about Povray, then it does not need a tag.
Let the question demand drive what new tags we have, rather then because we decided to create this tag.

+1 For the last sentence in particular

Knife tool, spin tool, smooth tool, add all the tools!


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Should we rename the blender-internal tag?
I'm constantly seeing the blender-internal tag (somewhat understandably) misused for questions about the way blender handles things internally. E.g. like this.
Should we rename this tag to avoid confusion? Or would this only create more confusion?

Rename it to what?

Maybe blender-render? I really prefer to call it blender internal though, as it seems everyone else says BI or blender internal render.. Perhaps internal-render? idk

Can you list at least half a dozen questions that occurred within this or last month? If not, I don't see it as a huge deal for the most part. We do have a disclaimer on it that it's to be used for the engine only but I guess people don't read. blender-render or internal-render could work as well since that's what it's labelled.

@iKlsR I tried to find more examples but it's not the easiest thing to search for..

Same but it's better to stamp out minor quirks like this as it is a fairly popular tag.

@iKlsR now having a tag "blender-render" may lead to yet more miss use. Anything that gets rendered with blender, regardless of the render engine, could foreseeably be tagged "blender-render" (by the same type of people that missed used "blender-internal").

@David Let's watch it for a while and see. I was for blender-internal-render but I think that's too long.

@iKlsR agreed, on both points.

I agree it is misleading to an extent. blender-render is a good rename/synonym since that's what it is labelled inside Blender. I went ahead and merged these and also added internal-render as a synonym as well. This should no doubt prevent any future accidental use.


text:
Are questions about the blender foundation website/other services on topic?
Are questions about things like the blender store and blender cloud on topic?
E.g. https://blender.stackexchange.com/q/28333/599
It doesn't seem to fit in our scope:

The Blender Stack Exchange site is for people who use Blender to create 3D graphics, animations, or games.

Pretty sure  these are off topic.. But just to be sure

When I wrote my answer I did not even notice that I quoted the same thing that you did.

I think that they are definitely off topic.
This site is about the software blender. Not blender's site or services (even the official site).

Blender Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who use Blender to create 3D graphics, animations, or games.

We should not start to accept this type of question. Website support should always be directed to the site's contact or support.
As an example, a question about not being able to watch a CGcookie or Guru tutorial, would not even be considered as on topic.
I voted to close the linked question.

We accept documentation questions to an extent but regarding the site, that's a no.


text:
Should we create specific tags for popular tools?
Some tools and terms are used a lot. Should we create tags for these, even if they are rather specific?
Where should we draw the line for "a lot"?
For example, things like:

knife-tool
loop-cut
extrude

According to those search results, there are now a good 50 questions which could potentially use a knife-tool tag.
We already have a few tags like this, such as snapping and 3d-cursor.
What are the possible downsides of adding these tags? What are the upsides?
How should we pick what tools deserve a tag? How many questions should there be asked about said tool before we consider making a tag?

We definitively need these tags, the more exact a search result can be narrowed down, the better. Some would argue that all of those tags could be ignored and simply tagged Modeling.
from the basic description of all tags

A tag is a keyword or label that categorizes your question with other, similar questions. Using the right tags makes it easier for others to find and answer your question.

Although a question about the knife tool could be tagged modeling and left at that, you could further tag it as knife-tool and make search results much more useful. however, that same question it would not necessarily also be about extruding, so I would argue that not only those three, but many more like them could be added. when you broadly tag something modeling, it can have Many, Many different questions that have nothing to do with each other. tags are meant to categorize questions that are similar so someone with a problem can easily find his/her/its solution.
This is the same situation with the modifiers tag and the subdivision-surface tag. someone could blindly throw on the modifiers tag and walk away, but it makes it much more difficult for an expert on a certain subject to assist that person.

If there are downsides, I can't think of any. I think we'd have to go ahead with this and see if any pop up.
This idea has my vote, straight up.

I agree with the idea that the more specific you can make a question's tags the better. The only thing that might possibly be an issue would be that people might be tempted to add the non-specific ones first and use the available 5 up before getting to them, but I think this risk is negligible because of it's unlikelihood.
I support this idea, and I think we should go ahead with it.

I still think there should be a limit to how specific tags should be. IMO we don't want super-specific tags like inverted-normals, non-manifold-geometry, undo-history, etc. Though with the number of inverted normal questions we get, it'd almost be worth it if they weren't all duplicates :P

Exactly, it should be limited to tools and major techniques I think


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Which Stack Exchange metrics are relevant to Blender.SE?
I suppose the answer to my question has to be "all of them" since we are a Stack Exchange site.. but I'm still going to ask..
I suspect that not all of the metrics are intuitive. For example, if the "perfect" answer to a question already exists, should people be posting an "almost-perfect" answer simply to boost our answer ratio?
I guess my concern is that how we're assessed doesn't necessarily line up with how we ought to behave. Are there easy things we should be doing which would make the site "healthier?"
Also, I have no sense right now of how healthy is Blender.SE right, from the perspective of the people who decide whether we graduate from Beta, or get shut down. Is there somewhere we can look to get that information?

Also, the answer ratio is not very good, mainly because some questions are virtually unanswerable.

It makes me wonder if we should be tossing up answers, even if they can only 1/2 hit the question, for the sake of Stack Exchange's quality metrics.

I don't know if this is an answer or a continuation of your question..

if the "perfect" answer to a question already exists, should people be posting an "almost-perfect" answer simply to boost our answer ratio?

Not if quality is of prime importance. If the question is well defined then the answer is often self-evident, and may comprise of 1 most applicable solution or several alternatives. When the alternatives are short and trivial, people tend to cluster them in their main answer. If there are other less trivial solutions that are equally valid, can we police one person into not giving all solutions in one answer - probably not.
Looking at the unanswered questions, many of them have answers in the comments and that increases the probability that they'll not take the extra step and give a proper up-votable Answer. Why? I don't know..
The comments are meant to extract information in a vague situation, not give a prelude to the answer or suffice as answer. A solution is to avoid comment-answers entirely and maybe even penalize them (but the idea of policing that seems a bit un-natural).

I do mostly answer in comments but I do follow with a full answer I just try to make sure that I'm really solving the problem , the comment answer will give the asker the idea to solve his problem ( if he is experienced enough ) it also gives me some time to write a good answer that could be useful for others as well

in the exchange of information I think comment-answers are OK, it just doesn't help the stats. We almost have 10k questions and that's the kind of datapool that starts to give insight statistically.

@Chebhou I have done some reading allover SE about answering in the comments. It is not the best way to go about answering a question. It is highly discouraged, and further more there is nothing stopping anybody from posting your "answer" as an actual answer.

@David Exactly, that has happened to me before


text:
Do we need the Undo tag
The undo looks useless and I think it needs removing.
Currently it is only used on one question (which is a duplicate of another question which didn't use the tag and got answers).
I can't see undo being used anywhere else.

Good catch, as iklsr said, (almost) anyone can create a new tag, and some of them, like this one, are not needed at all. PS this is a perfect use of the meta, any time you have a question, or concern about the main site post a question here.

It was just created, new users create these all the time however we don't normally have tags for simple features like this, it has been removed.


text:
Enable MathJaX syntax
Can the MathJax syntax be turned on for blender.stackexchange.com?
There are many instances where math is used in 3D and in blender. Further there are several instances where existing answers would of benefited from MathJax.
Detect light amount on surface?
How can I create a staggered, repeating procedural pattern?
Modelling a Klein bottle

It's a hefty dependency and I don't think we merit it at least not yet, SE will want to use regular usage for once as opposed to every now and then.

I think there are other things which could be enabled before this.. For instance I think video embedding would get a lot more use than mathjax.

I would certainly appreciate it, but I think iKlsR's and gandalf3's points are valid, and we'll probably have to wait at least until after graduation.

I was just about to request this myself, personally I think it would be very useful.  I have wished we had MathJax on several occasions.

I needed it today for this question so I used it in another stackexchange site and then pasted a screenshot.

This was eventually implemented in 2018, per this post.

I can turn on MathJax, but since it's essentially irreversible, I want to be sure it will get used. Simply turning the feature on slows every pageview—even those that don't have any math content. It's probably not worthwhile to add a ~20% increase in load times for all 22,600 or so questions if only a handful of them will actually use mathematical notation.
Looking at the examples here and in the linked questions, I think there's a potential readablity gain for posts that explore the mathematical theory behind 3D graphics. But MathJax could be counter-productive when posts are mostly concerned with practical questions, such as achieving particular effects in Blender. In those cases, it's probably just as well to use code rather than mathematical notation.
I'm happy to consider another request for the feature. But in order to do that, I'd like to see many examples of posts where MathJax would clearly make the content better and easier to read. To get good statistics, may I suggest looking at a random sample? If MathJax would make the question better or enable better answers, stick it in an answer to this question. That way we could estimate what percentage of the site could be improved.

My head is still spinning from trying to read the discussion you've linked to in slows every page. There are several suggestions for ways to avoid the 'global slowdown' but it looks like none are really appropriate and/or viable here? I noticed that in Electronics SE I have to rewrite the MathJax syntax to work there (e.g. $ -> \$) are they using something different/better/faster there?  FYI is some additional, recent discussion.

For example a method to load on a per question basis has been suggested and mentioned here, but I don't know if this is viable.

@uhoh: The reason for using a different delimiter is that $ causes problems when mixed with dollar prices. I don't know the full backstory there, but I suppose people are more likely to use dollar signs on that site than, say, Math.SE. Again, the path forward is to do a bit of work to demonstrate that MathJax will make a noticeable difference in terms of relative number of posts.

I've just created an account on here to post this answer, but I think it's worth pointing out that user robjohn from the math stack exchange has developed a bookmarklet that can be used to render MathJax on sites where it is not normally enabled.
This means that users can include the MathJax syntax in their answers and anyone who has the bookmarklet can click on it to render the MathJax.  This is the approach used for the math.SE chat site.
I'm not sure quite how useful this would be, since users would presumably also need to include a text or image version of the math for the benefit of people who didn't have the bookmarklet.  The advantage of this approach is that it doesn't affect page load times on pages without MathJax.
You can test the bookmarklet out here:
$$
\text{Intensity} \propto \frac{1}{\text{distance}^{2}}
$$
$$
e^{i\pi}=-1
$$
$$
\int_{S}d\omega = \int_{\partial S}\omega
$$


text:
Closing old questions from inactive users as unclear
I'm going through old unanswered questions trying to answer, but some of them needs the feedback from OP which have been inactive on the site for a long time so it is unlikely that they will respond. Commenting and waiting for feedback will be a hard to track and putting an answer is not really an option, should this kind of question be closed? Should I just go with what I think and leave it for voting?
Linked node groups appear as black in preview and final render
How to set camera rotation on local Z axis to 0
https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/16396/rigid-body-animation-objects-are-being-effected-by-an-invisible-boundary

Every now and then I browse through some tags as well. If it's older than 6 months, with low views (< 10) and no answers and the user hasn't responded or hasn't visited in about that same time it should be ok to flag or delete these. More incentive if it's some localized issue.

Look at the source of my edit, for SE links the link will automatically turn into the question title.

@David thanks didn't know that,  about the OP I though that means Post Owner ?

@Chebhou Orignal Poster - Stack Exchange Glossary

It's okay and recommended to do the occasional cleanup every now (we have to keep our quality at a certain standard after all) and then ensure that we have as little unanswered questions as possible and those that are asked have at least one useful answer. That being said there are some questions buried deep in the Unanswered tab that can't be answered due to insufficient or incorrect information, poor quality or some other technical issue on the user's end.
Three things I look for when deciding whether a post is worth keeping open or keeping on the site are:

Is it localized or do you find it not helpful to future viewers?
Does it have more than a few dozen views?
Has the user made any effort to communicate with anyone via comments etc
Is the user registered or have they been active on the site in the past 6 - 9 months?

If you come up with a yes, no, no, no or it matches at least 3 of those do cast a delete or close vote or flag it. Closing as unclear won't necessarily apply to all of these however and might discourage a potential answer. Also, if it has a good number of views, that means it might be a recurring problem and worth taking another look at so use your best judgement.


text:
What are we doing wrong that we're still in Beta?
So an earlier answer in the Blender meta site seemed to suggest that 1500 visitors per day was a desirable goal. If I read the stats for the Blender site correctly, were have more than 10,000 visitors per day, and we've apparently been in beta status since some time in 2013. What other hoops do we need to jump through here?

And now moderator elections are in the works and we are officially in the qeue :D

I do not think we are doing anything "wrong." SE sites can take a long time to graduate.
If you look at the stats of the other sites, we are in a good place. We actually place ahead of several full sites. The time in beta does not mean anything. The old 90 day limit has been done away with. Now the SE team looks at each beta site and lets it grow until it has a sufficient base of higher rep users.
If our nearly 2 years in beta has you worried, don't be. There are 55 beta sites that are older then us. Also, of the sites around the same age as us, our stats are much better.
Look through the different data points on the sites (and use the sort box) http://stackexchange.com/sites you will see we are in good shape.
However obsessing over the stats is discouraged, at nearly ever place site graduation is talked about.
So keep using the site, get more rep, and don't worry when that day comes. (I for one don't mind being in beta at all)
http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/10/when-will-my-site-graduate/
Good explanation of the graduating review

I'm not worried. I just thought if we were needing to send in soup can labels, or cereal box tops to uprade the status, I wanted to be sure I was participating.

@brasshat lol. no box tops needed :)

@David You forgot to note that one of the community managers said we were in the queue for graduation (unless I missed an update). The comment is somewhere on meta.se

@brasshat if you go by the stats on area51 we are only low on two stats - answered and answer ratio - the more questions you answer the more you help. I do think answered we can (and should) improve, but I'm not sure that answered ratio will improve a lot as some of our questions will only get one answer. Another thing I do is watch other SE sites with blender tags, answer and flag some as more suitable for this site, this not only gives us more questions but sends more users to the right place for future questions.

Excellent answer. I should also add that graduation depends not only on stats, but other seemingly minor things such as having a theme for the site (for example).


text:
Why are numbers "banned" from tag synonym names?
After getting this error message
when trying to create a new tag synonym for 3d-view

Failed to propose synonym:
Version specific synonyms can only be created by moderators

I researched it a bit and found that (it appears) SE does not allow anyone but moderators to create synonyms for tags with numbers in the name. Why?
I have not seen any problems with version specific tag synonyms on BSE. If it is a problem on other sites (SO) why not make the synonym lock only for those sites.
Further if it is found that the tag synonym ban is really be needed on all sites, why not have it be another part of the privilege system? Say if you have the "access to moderator tools" you could then propose a tag synonym with a number in the name (providing you also have the needed 5 rep in the tags.)


text:
Moderator Election Coming Soon
I'm happy to announced that this site has been cleared for graduation… congratulations!
Unfortunately, there has been a long backlog of sites waiting for their custom site design, so rather than waiting for that backlog to clear, we are going to start moving ahead and hold the first community-based election of moderators sooner rather than later.
This is just a heads up to let you know why we're having the election before the graduation and design is ready. The election should start sometime in the next week or so, so watch the announcements on the sidebar for the notice.
Congratulations again… and enjoy!

@Yes No, just the election. Everything else will happen with the design.

Are you aware of or able to release an approximate timeline?

I have nothing to say but i'll just put a comment on this great announcement  : )

We already have some custom themes that might contribute to giving us out custom site.

@NoviceInDisguise Unfortunately with this backlog, sending a site to the "graduation queue" and getting a design published are currently two different things. We recently hired some fantastic new designers to help clear the backlog, but there is a still about 9 sites waiting for a design, so anything I can report here would be wildly inaccurate and subject to change, Designers are working on getting these design out amidst all the bug reports and feature requests, so which sites are completed first simply depends on who is available. Sorry I don't have anything further to report.

So great to see we made it! Hope to see our new look soon and that our suggestions will be taken into account.

@RobertCartaino I understand, and sort of expected that would be the case. We will be eagerly waiting :)

So the moderator elections will be running while the site is still in Beta? Weird - but AWESOME!!!!

So how do you achieve moderator anyway>?

You have to run during the election and meet requirements. Voting will then occur, and the users will pick the moderators. Generally voting occurs once per year, just so that if a mediocre mod gets elected, they can be switched.