Community Guidelines

Your online participation with MAKE is subject to these Guidelines and our Terms of Service.

1. Be respectful of others. ¶ 

Each of our community members is unique. Other members are likely to have abilities, expertise, interests, and ideas that are different from your own. We ask you to respect all community members at all times. Don't put down the opinion or advice given by another member. Respectfully explain why you disagree with someone. Address the points they've raised in a way that you would like to be addressed. Personal attacks and accusations of wrongdoing are not acceptable in our community. If you feel that you're being attacked, address the points raised and not the tone or manner they are delivered in. Report wrongdoings to us by private message in the forums or by email. Respect others' work, as well: don't copy and post content from another source without the express permission of the owner of the content.

2. No advertising ¶ 

Linking to your personal website or a website you are affiliated with for the sole purpose of generating traffic to the website or improving search rankings is not permitted. Be sure any links you post specifically answer a question or are directly relevant to your post and the topic being discussed. You may put links to your site(s) in your forum signature and/or on your personal profile page. This exception does not permit you to post sales ads or links with affiliate IDs.

3. Post relevant content ¶ 

Make sure that your post is relevant to the topic being discussed when you post to our forums or comment areas. Don't post the same message in multiple places, as this will cause confusion and be interpreted as spam. Our forums, comment areas and reviews are publicly viewable, so don't post personal or private information including order numbers, phone numbers or addresses.

Commenting Guidelines ¶ 

Make: Projects is a community of engaged makers. Makers of all walks of life, of all skill levels, and of diverse DIY interests and talents, are made to feel comfortable and expressive here. To that end, we moderate our comments to help create an environment where people can share their ideas and enthusiasm, ask questions, connect with fellow DIYers, and generally feel connected to a wider maker community. Please keep these guidelines in mind when commenting:

Commenting Do's: ¶ 

  • Useful input - Ask yourself: "Is this useful?" If it's not useful, why post it?
  • Help people "learn out loud" - Help us create an environment where people feel free to ask questions, on any skill level, related to making, from the most rudimentary to the most complicated. And if you respond with your knowledge and expertise, try and speak to as wide a spectrum of "students" as possible. Try to bring newbies up to speed, rather than making them feel bad for not knowing something. Be "generous" with your help and your support.
  • Additional information - If you know something more about the posted item, or what's being discussed in the comments - a similar project, a useful datasheet, a trusted supplier, etc. -- please share it.
  • Clarifying errors - We welcome the correcting of mistakes, in the posting, or in the ensuing discussion, but please do so in a respectful manner.
  • Support - Part of building a community of makers involves creating a supportive environment in which people feel like their projects and ideas won't be laughed at or summarily dismissed. Comments are a great opportunity to congratulate a builder on a successful project or to help someone brainstorm an idea further or to overcome a stumbling block.
  • Constructive criticism - Criticism of a project or idea is always welcome, as long as it's constructive and not mean-spirited, sarcastic, or dismissive. Again, apply the: "Would I say this to this person's face?" test.

Commenting Don'ts: ¶ 

  • Spam - Self-explanatory.
  • Offensive content - of any sort: racist, sexist, profane, sexual, off-color humor, etc.
  • Political discussions - MAKE is a technology site. We know that we have readers from across the political spectrum. We like that. But we know that this can easily lead to scorching flame wars if overtly political topics are brought up. Please don't bring them up. Let's focus on something we can all agree on: the joy of making.
  • Personal attacks/mean-spirited remarks - Calling people names, making fun of someone, dissing their project, or otherwise commenting where the sole purpose is in making the person feel bad.
  • Sarcasm/snarkiness - Unnecessary sharpness and dismissiveness in tone is frowned upon.

We use as light a hand as possible in moderating comments, but feel that creating a supportive environment for the MAKE community is ultimately more important than completely unmoderated freedom of expression. There are plenty of other sites online where free-for-all posting is allowed.