Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL

What is Maker Share?

Maker Share is a place for makers to create a portfolio of their work, connect and collaborate with other makers, and learn new skills. Inspired by Maker Faire, the Greatest Show and Tell on Earth, Maker Share hopes to keep that collaborative spirit and innovation going online. By creating an online community that can share project stories, connect to one another, and access any desired learning content, we hope to keep the Maker Faire spirit going year round.

Right, and who are you?
We're Maker Media. In January of 2005, we released our first issue of Make: Magazine. Over ten years later, we're still releasing magazines in both print and digital editions. In April of 2006, we threw the first Maker Faire in San Mateo, and had such a blast we've been throwing more and more every year since. Currently, there are three flagship Maker Faire's, and over a hundred Mini Maker Faire's, put on across the globe by some of the most amazing people we get to work with. Additionally, Maker Media hosts the MakerShed, a store front for the most amazing DIY kits and publications we can find. Oh, and did we mention we also have a blog? You can find it at makezine.com. It's constantly updated with the coolest projects we find throughout the internets.

Do I have to make an account to access your site?
Nope, please feel free to browse the site without logging in. Logging in does give you some extra features we think are awesome, but we understand that you might not share those feelings.

Do accounts cost money?
Absolutely not.

Why don’t you have a forum?
If you really want a forum, email help@makershare.com with the subject line: Where’s our forum? and let our team know why you need a forum. If there’s enough demand, we will definitely bow to your wisdom.

ACCOUNT

How do I change my email?
Log in to Maker Share is handled through Auth0. If you need to change you're password, you'll have to change it there.

I've changed my email though Auth0, but all of projects are associated with a different account?
When logging into Maker Share for the first time, an account is created in association with the email information provided by Auth0. This account will have no association with any previous accounts created. Projects will have to be manually moved between accounts, and you can email help@makershare.com if you need other help in this process.

I can't log in / My token has expired / The site keeps looking me out, what do I do?
We're looking into a cacheing problem now. But if it looks like you've logged in, and a refresh of the page reveals you're logged out, or you get a message about a token expiring, just click the forgot my password link in the login window, and it should clear this issue up.

PROJECTS

What is a Story?
There are two important parts of every project. The story of how it was created, and the actual creation of the finalized project. While most project sharing sites focus on the later, Maker Share wants to shift that focus. The story details all of the things that tend to get left out of the step-by-step tutorial: the projects background, why it was created, pitfalls encountered, moments of inspiration, skills learned or used, and any other information the maker feels is important to the creation of their project. The reasons behind a projects creation can be much more compelling then the instructions on how to put it together.

Why is Story separated from the How-To?
Since stories haven't been the focus of DIY sites, we felt a need to separate it from the tutorial in order to highlight that difference.

What is a Show & Tell video?
We’ve asked our videographer to answer this question for you:

These are general guidelines. You can use as much or little of these suggestions as you like. The show and tell video is yours to show off your project and really make it shine.

What’s the best way to record/photograph/document/present my project?
Funny you should ask. We’ve actually put together a comprehensive document on just these topics, you can find it in the Tips & Tricks article.

I see little flags on certain projects and profiles what are these?
You’ve just found what we call Badges. There’s a page that will tell you all about them. You can find it here.

How do I add images to a project?
That document I mentioned earlier, this is on there too.

SHOWCASE

Are showcases just a list of someones favorite projects in certain categories?
Yep! Well spotted.

Who gets to make them?
Right now they’re all created and curated by our Community team.

MISSIONS

What are missions?
We try to design the missions on this site in order to enact change in the world. While we may have occasional missions that aren't as inclined towards social change, those will be rare. Much more often, we will try to find areas Makers can make differences in people's lives, and try to model a mission around that (like Desalinating Water). Additionally, while we'll occasionally have physical prizes associated with our missions, more often the rewards will be digital, the admiration of your peers, or the knowledge that you've made a significant improvements in others lives.

Participating in Missions:
1) You will need an account on Maker Share to enter any mission.
2) On the Mission submission page, select a project you’ve made that you feel demonstrates how to accomplish the problem described in the Mission details
3) If you haven’t created a project yet, you can create a new project from the Mission submission page.
4) When selecting previously completed work, or creating new work, please consider how your project can make a difference or effect change within the Mission description.

LEARNING

Why is the learning section greyed out?
We're very excited about getting content into this section, but we also really wanted to release the website. So we've decided to push the website with the learning section temporary disabled. It will be available shortly.

Why don’t you charge money for your classes?
We’ve thought about it, but for now, we’re just excited to present them to you and see what you think.