MAKE’s new commenting guidelines

Pt 2521
MAKE’s new commenting guidelines, good stuff… Also, Engadget updated theirs – if all else fails, just get rid of comments on sites with this “hack”

2010 is shaping up to be a good year for beginners to jump in and share more of their projects we think.

Maker Community Guidelines

Make: Online 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.


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Join Adafruit on Mastodon

Adafruit is on Mastodon, join in! adafruit.com/mastodon

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 36,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


Maker Business — “Packaging” chips in the US

Wearables — Enclosures help fight body humidity in costumes

Electronics — Transformers: More than meets the eye!

Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Silicon Labs introduces CircuitPython support, and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Guardian Robot, Weather-wise Umbrella Stand, and more!

Microsoft MakeCode — MakeCode Thank You!

EYE on NPI — Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — #NewProds 7/19/23 Feat. Adafruit Matrix Portal S3 CircuitPython Powered Internet Display!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



3 Comments

  1. Indeed, this _is_ a good year 🙂
    Happy DIYing, everybody 😀

  2. That’s good. But, the worst is hack-a-day commenters.

    Those guys are a bunch of ███ ████ that couldn’t find their ███████ if you ██████ them in the ██████.

  3. The new Make guidelines look ok, but I don’t like the disappearance of the ability to comment anonymously.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.