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Everything 101

A project log for Hackaday.io Project

Follow for the 'Hacklet' and latest news about hackaday.io

richard-hogbenRichard Hogben 03/07/2014 at 19:19293 Comments

Your Hackaday Profile is the best way to express yourself. Fill it out completely so people can learn more about you.

Basic profile info

When you first sign up to Hackaday.io, we ask you to enter some basic info about yourself such as: your username (which becomes your vanity url), location, a word or two about yourself, tags for others to find you easily, and external links to your profiles on other networks. You can always change these by going to Edit my Profile

My Projects & Projects I contribute to

When you Add a Project, it will appear on your profile under the section My Projects available under profile drop-down menu. We'll highlight only the most liked projects and the rest will be visible by clicking on View all projects.

We highly encourage collaboration. That's why we have a contributors list when creating projects. If you are part of a project, we'll highlight that project on your profile.

Things I've built

You can tell Hackaday.io users about your projects in two ways: by adding a project, or by listing them on your Things I've Built section. This section is for projects that you don't have enough material to document. All you have to do is upload one small image and write a brief summary about your project.

My pages

Whenever you have something to say to the world, or just want to rant, you can Create a Page about it. Think of this section as your personal blog. Like projects and profiles, pages also have comments feature.

Mentions

You can be mentioned by or mention another user by using the '@' followed by username of the user. Mentions can be made in many areas across the Site, such as: Comments, Messages, project logs, Details, Stack etc. If a user mentions you anywhere on the site (except Messages), you will be notified via email and on your Private Feed.

Bits

It's 2016. There was no way we could name this guestbook. Write a bit on your profile, on other's profiles, say something useful or give feedback.


What are you working on? What cool things have you built? Document them, share with the universe, get feedback, find collaborators.

Basic project info

When adding a project, we ask you to enter some basic details like name of the project, photos, a short description, tags so people can discover your project, external links (i.e. project homepage, GitHub, social links, etc.) and team members.

When you add team members to your project, these members will be able to update some parts of your project page, like the project logs. They will also appear on the Team section of the project page. Fellow users who would like to contribute can also request you to join.

Private Projects

You can create your project in private mode if you are not yet ready to show it to the world. A project can be made private by simply changing the tag inside Edit project page to 'PRIVATE'. All projects are public by default.

Details

The project details section is where you can write everything about your project. Most people use this section to explain how their builds work.

Project logs

Logs are a great way to keep your project followers up to date. It logs the progress of a project from start to finish.

Components

The components list is an easy way to show all the parts/items you used in your project. It also lets you add the quantity of parts used.

Build Instructions

If you feel like sharing how to build your project in a step by step guide, Instructions is the tool you are looking for.

Discussions

As the name suggests, the project discussions section is where visitors can leave feedback or ask questions. This section is available for individual logs and Build Instructions of a project too. Whenever someone leaves a comment, you'll get an email notification (assuming you did not disable email notifications) and you'll see it on your Private Feed.

Mentions

Any project can be mentioned by using the '#' followed by the project name. If your project is mentioned, you will be notified on your Private Feed and via email. Projects can be mentioned in all the areas where users can be mentioned.

Gallery

If there's one place you want to go to view all media related to a project, this is it. You can view, share and download images and videos of a project by clicking on 'View Gallery' right below the main project photo.


You can follow projects and people on Hackaday.io to stay up to date. Just look for the Follow button on the project page or the person's profile.

When you follow someone, you'll see activities from them on your Private Feed page. This works the same for other user's projects; follow the ones you like and you'll know about any updates to the project, the addition of new build logs, etc.


Just saw a cool project? Like it! Likes are a way of saying "This project is cool". If you collect more likes, your project will eventually have more visibility. Users can sort projects by 'Most liked' in the project listing page.


Hackaday.io uses Redactor editor to make editing easy. It is a toolbar that is available as you scroll down the page. All options have helpful tool-tips.

Features of the editor are:

Links

You can turn any text into a link by using the context menu. To do this, simply select the text, and click on the link icon of the context editor.

Images

As with links, you can add images from the context menu. But a simpler way is to just drag and drop images from your device!

Copy & Paste

One of the coolest things about the editor is that you can copy any styled text from another page (i.e. your blog) and paste it to Project Details, Logs or similar pages and it'll match our styling. This should work perfectly in most cases, but be sure to double check before publishing your content.

One small thing about copy & paste: if you do this from a page with images, your images will not be uploaded to Hackaday.io. Instead they would be linked to the original page. In most cases, this is not a problem but if something happens to the original page, your images won't be visible on Hackaday.io either. To prevent this, you may want to add your images manually.

Videos

Have a video you want to add to your project or page? If it's hosted on YouTube or Vimeo, simply get the URL of your video and paste it in the editor when you are adding your content. After pasting the URL, pressing Enter will turn the link into an embedded video.

Code snippets

A code snippet can be added by clicking on the code icon and choosing the language. This can later be edited as well.

Styling

There are many options for styling your text. The styling options can be applied after entering the text. Options such as bold, italic, headers, tables and lists are available for representation. Separators and 'Read More' are available for organizing the text well.

Discussions

Brian Outinen wrote 01/26/2023 at 14:43 point

looking for assistance in cracking a code so great Email me at brianoutinen@yahoo.ca or brianoutinen@gmail.com...I've sent a message with the code details to the contact us page general.  Thank you

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gdaniels wrote 01/15/2023 at 23:54 point

Thank you for having me. I will try to learn something from everyone!

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redjr16 wrote 01/14/2023 at 17:24 point

Hi Richard,

First of all let me thank you so much for this Hackaday 101 guide.  It's a great start.  I had to keep it open on another screen to get through the project process, such that it is.  This is sort of a rant for the day.  Not against you, but Hackaday!  I hope someone from  Hackaday reads this.

It's truly very hard to say something positive about this software.  Generally, I have no problem navigating a new app UI, but this has to be the most awful UI I have ever encountered in any software, except maybe for SAP!  I'm working on trying to stand up a recent project of mine (private), because I thought this was an appropriate venue for doing so.  But, it's been the most frustrating effort that it's very likely I will never, ever use it again.  That's the saddest part in my view, because the DIY'er, maker, and builder need a platform for putting out a project on the internet.

If I had not discovered your help guide, my effort would have been abandoned yesterday.  I came very close to hitting the project delete key.  It's still probable!  Maybe with time I'll learn how to do things that should be so obvious and easy it belies common sense.  Everything is so compartmentalized and dis-jointed.  One instance, people speak of a Gallery.  There is nothing labeled Gallery at all!  And once you figure it out it's just a slideshow, no delete, no rotate, no moving images around, etc.  In fact, I just learned this morning that pictures are added to specific sub-categorizes, like details, files, logs, components, instructions, descriptions, etc.  WTF!  Why not just just have a simple 'gallery' of all project related images.  And when an image is added, the user tags it with a NAME and the category.  Image files could be uploaded en mass.  At least everything would be in one place to be be viewed, edited, deleted, etc. by the owner.  When the owner wants to put an image inline with other texts, they simple pick the image by name and boom, either a thumbnail, or full image would be added in the space.  Images used in sub-categories would be linked by name.  The gallery already has the imbedded category and knows   where it is when the image is updated in gallery by the user.

Speaking of images, I tried painfully to use drag-n-drop to add an image to my details page, and it put in some kind of icon ref.  I then could see that's not what I wanted to do.  But I couldn't move it or delete it.  I ended up deleting all my previous details to get rid of it and start over.   I have since figured out how to add images from the editor of details, but they're not added from the this illusive 'gallery', but a Window's file requester dialog box.  Getting to the editor is a whole other matter.  How about when an owner want to edit his/her project, it opens the editor automatically when they select it from the dropdown list.  But maybe that's just too easy of an approach to use.  ;)  I don't know.  What other logical process would an owner want to do when clicking on their project?  Editing maybe?

That's just one example.  There are numerous more.

Now, I'm sure I could learn to use it this UI in time, and further enlightened on how things are done, but why should anyone have to suffer through non-intuitive software to seemingly do simple tasks.  They shouldn't!

Rant over

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Richard Hogben wrote 01/17/2023 at 20:42 point

Thanks for the feedback, it's always refreshing to hear from a new member because you always learn new things.

I have to say many of the Hackaday.io UI decisions are based on specific project workflows. For example, your needs may be different when trying to document a completed project versus starting a new project from scratch. A new project wouldn't have images to upload en mass, while an existing project might have lots of photos and need a bulk gallery uploader. 

Hackaday.io was definitely designed with the 'start with an idea and document along the way' approach, hopefully then you can see why certain UI decisions have been made. Of course many use it to document an already completed project and there is nothing wrong with that. It just might not be the most efficient workflow all the time as you have discovered.

There is also more going on around here, I'd invite you to join the scheduled weekly Hack Chats, keep an eye out for new contests, and don't forget about the yearly Hackaday Prize. Join the community at large on Hackaday.com and Discord, and if you are ever feeling adventurous the Hackaday Supercon in Pasdena, CA is definitely worth trying to plan for.

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redjr16 wrote 01/17/2023 at 22:20 point

Thanks Richard,  I will apologize for the negativity in my post.  And, I agree on your premise.  On first use, I just noticed it wasn't organized the way I think.  And, in fairness, I am perhaps trying to use it in a way it doesn't lend the UI to be quite as straightforward.  However, I am beginning to see how it's structured and organized with each session.  So, I will remain hopeful that I will figure it out, and continue to present my little projects as a platform where they may be seen by a broader audience of hobbyists, makers, builders and programmers out there. 

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raymanshf wrote 12/12/2022 at 08:42 point

hi every body

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estrellarobert wrote 11/30/2022 at 06:57 point

Hello! I just new and already made my profile. 

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Manny Peterson wrote 11/28/2022 at 01:37 point

I created my first Hackaday.io profile and project today. I don't see my project under "new projects". Does it take a while for your project to show up?

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Dusan Petrovic wrote 11/29/2022 at 12:49 point

Hi @Manny Peterson -  thanks for sharing your project. Yes, newly created account projects don't immediately display in the 'Newest projects' list.

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amrishhpuri wrote 11/16/2022 at 12:13 point

I was hoping to see some notifications but instead I am faced with having to re-enter all my information again.  :(

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Emmanuel de Margerie wrote 11/16/2022 at 10:35 point

Hi, I am trying to build a page with text and a dozen figures, but through edits the images keep disapearing, and I have to constantly re-upload them (to the point that I cannot get a finished, publishable page). Did anybody have the same problem ? Thx.

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Richard Hogben wrote 11/21/2022 at 16:16 point

I have PM'd you

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syahidalfath24 wrote 09/17/2022 at 05:03 point

bagus

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James "Bud" Smith wrote 07/30/2022 at 19:52 point

I am looking for anyone who is interested in the history of the Centurion mini computer. I was a co-founder in 1971.

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maikbatista643 wrote 06/02/2022 at 22:04 point

Olá bom pra ver formas diferentes pra ajudar as pessoas

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Prof. Jim Brenner wrote 06/02/2022 at 18:27 point

I teach a course at Florida Tech called The Basics of Making that includes 3D printing, laser cutting, Arduino, KiCAD, CAD, etc., culminating in a group design project such as those in https://fit.instructure.com/files/45577727/download?download_frd=1

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Richard Hogben wrote 05/31/2022 at 20:17 point

You can create private projects but not profiles. Users that have previously messaged you can be blocked from sending more messages in https://hackaday.io/messages With the conversation selected, access the settings icon in the right column.

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Roddy "Rags" Read wrote 04/28/2022 at 19:35 point

Yeah great, but there is no option on the edit project page for add log or add instructions

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Ken Yap wrote 04/28/2022 at 22:59 point

It's on the project's main page, If you are the project owner, you should see Details, Files, Components, Project Logs, and buttons to edit them. BTW, I'm just another user, not an admin, just saying it works.

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sxpert wrote 04/13/2022 at 08:57 point

is there a way to edit the gallery ? I'd like to add captions to the images

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Ken Yap wrote 04/13/2022 at 09:32 point

AFAIK you can only delete and re-upload. If you want to rearrange just drag the photos.

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Richard Hogben wrote 04/13/2022 at 17:41 point

You can arrange the first four on the edit project page, but the rest including captioning is automatically pulled from the project post images.

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Ken Yap wrote 04/11/2022 at 04:16 point

Hamburger > Edit my account > Delete my account

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Richard Hogben wrote 04/11/2022 at 15:17 point

Let me know if you need further help.

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AL-3aref wrote 01/16/2022 at 01:43 point

What is the hack section ?

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datagod wrote 01/12/2022 at 14:23 point

Good morning.  I created a project yesterday and today it is gone.  I was hoping to see some notifications but instead I am faced with having to re-enter all my information again.  :(

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mahmoud ghoneim wrote 01/08/2022 at 13:30 point

hi

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karekruik wrote 01/07/2022 at 18:10 point

I may be violating some rules because right after I add my project, it gets deleted without any notification. Does anyone have an idea why? 

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