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.
