How to get help on the Dynamo forums

One of the main goals of the Dynamo community is to help others. One way to do that is by answering your questions. But to get the right answer, you’ll first have to ask your question in the right way. Although people are generally very helpful, there are things you can do to improve your chances of getting good and quick answers. Below you will find some suggestions on how to achieve that. Do not think of these suggestions as rules and especially do not take them as a guarantee of getting an answer.


1. Choose a descriptive title for your post

Don’t call your question “Help!” or “I have a problem” or “Deadline tonight!”, but actually describe the problem you are having.

2. Be succinct but clear in your wording

People need to know some details about your problem in order to understand what sort of answers would satisfy you, but nobody cares about how angry your boss or how bad your teacher or how tight your deadline is. Talk about the problem and only the problem. If you don’t speak English well, don’t worry. Just post your question in your native language and provide a Google Translation alongside ti.

3. Attach minimal versions of all the relevant files

If you have the Dynamo graph file in question, attach it to the post. Don’t expect that people will recreate a file based on a screen-shot because that’s a lot of pointless work. It’s also a good idea to remove everything non-essential from the file.

If your graph depends on specific Revit content, consider including a simplified example file that includes the bare minimum for the graph to run.

If your graph uses any custom packages, please make sure to clearly state each of those either in your post or as a note inside the graph.

4. Include a detailed image or sketch if it makes sense

If your question is about a specific (group of) custom node(s), consider adding a detailed screenshot of your progress so far inside your post.

If you’re trying to achieve a complicated list structure or a difficult to explain geometric operation, you could include a rough sketch of your end goal.

5. Include links to online resources if possible

If you have a question about Schwarz Minimal surfaces, please link to a website which talks about these.

6. Create new topics rather than continuing old ones

It’s usually better to start a fresh question, even if there’s already a discussion that kinda sorta tangentially touches upon the same issue. Please link to that discussion, but start anew.

7. This is not a ‘do my work for me’ group

Many of us like to help, but it’s good to see effort on our part being matched by effort on your part. Questions in the form of ‘I need to do X but cannot be bothered to try and learn the software’ will (and should) go unanswered.

Similarly, questions in the form of ‘How do I quickly recreate this facade that took a team of skilled professionals four months to figure out?’ have a very low success rate.

8. Honor other people’s work

Cite the source of anything you post or upload if it isn’t your own original content, including AI-generated materials, make sure to credit the source and/or AI tool.

9. Search is your friend

This community has existed for over five years (it originated back when project Vasari first came out) and has had more than three iterations. The latest version is built on top of the discourse platform and comes with some powerful search options (accessed from the big magnifying glass at the top right corner).

It is very likely that your question or a question similar to yours has already been asked and answered. A quick search might save you a lot of time.

10. If your problem has been solved, mark the post as solved.

Solved posts can help other users, who face the same problem, quickly find a solution. Posting in an already solved topic is usually not a good idea, either because the solution might be outdated or because your particular case might require a different approach. By posting in an already solved topic, you run the risk of derailing the thread and making the overall solution finding process harder for others. Therefore, it’s always recommended to start a new topic instead and link to the previously solved one, if you think it’s applicable.


This post is a copycat of David Rutten’s great HowTo post from the Grasshopper discussion boards.

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Also read the Community Guidelines

* This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion

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Whenever you need help with a python script, be sure to paste the code into your post, mark it and press the </> button:

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Here are some more additions.

First, do not ask anyone to do your job! This is a help forum to ask for help with things that you cannot figure out on your own, but actually tried. Most important, please remember always come back if anyone is trying to help you.

If your graph provides you an error messages, please reveal the content of it as a part of the image. Please put ‘Watch’ nodes and notes in the graph describing what essential parts does. The notes will help you to remember what you did at a later stage in the graph life circle and be very helpful to all others. Remember to write which ‘custom’ packages you use (put a note above the ‘custom’ nodes). For others will it be almost impossible to figure out if an image is the only thing provide. Likewise, if you update your dynamo and forget to reinstall all packages, then it is very troublesome to find the needle in the haystack.

If your graph involves python scripts and designscript code, then please provide also the ‘code’ as text. This makes it easier to help you, and others can reuse bits and pieces without having to download the entire graph (.dyn file).

Occasionally it might also be helpful if you can provide a small example model (.rvt file). Keep such a file to the absolute minimum. Meaning, run ‘Purge Unused’ so it is as small as possible and only with content needed for the graph. If other files could be needed, then please provides these as well kept in a minimum size.

There are some limitations for new users. These limitations is set up to defend the community against misusage of the community for file transfer etc. Therefore is it recommendable for new users to provide files etc. using a fileshare services (Dropbox, Google Drive…). New users are accepted to upload files if they show a real user behavior, which entail… entering at least 5 topics, reading at least 30 posts, or spend a total of 10 minutes reading posts.

Finally always remember to mark the post as solved, it is good custom to acknowledge the ‘solution’ by marking it.

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