I’ve noticed that it seems to be becoming more common to make a few changes to a model and then call it version 2, 3, 4 etc. Then re-release the model as a new one into a competition.
Surely if you have made changes to improve the design of a model, it should be made to the original design, otherwise you’re just leaving older designs that aren’t as good on MakerWorld.
I agree it’s not really good practice, but also it’s hard to prevent that sort of thing from happening.
I understand the spirit of these contest wanting everyone to start on equal footing, but also I can empathize with someone who has a really good model that would do well in a contest wanting to get it entered somehow.
With the constant influx of models, Makerworld is going to have to think about a good solution to keep the platform from getting flooded with tons of very similar models (some may argue it already is)
A version bump should only occur when the original is rebuilt from the ground up.
If you find a better way to create the model, connect its parts, print it, then a major version bump isn’t out of the question.
If it is an extra optional part or a different colour scheme, these are modifications to the original.
There is a huge problem on NW, you can’t publicise anything you do.
You can’t tell those who downloaded the original model it has new parts available.
You can’t announce new print profiles.
Updating a model doesn’t place it in any queue for people to notice activity occurred. Only new models get promotion.
These are a major shortcomings.
The whole system is geared towards new models and bit old ones.
Look at adding a model into a contest. First 24 hours, you have a chance of visibility and downloads. This decreases over the first week, as soon as a new contest starts, any new models get little to no visibility or traffic.
If you make any changes to an existing model you are given the option to update all people who have previously downloaded that model, leaving them the option to download again if they like the updates.
This should be how updates are made to existing models. Just re-releasing a new one into a competition and leaving the old one for users to still download doesn’t seem right.
That only happens if you update a profile, it doesn’t occur if you add a profile or part of the model.
It has been used to spam people as they are no consent choices in receiving these notices either.
I’m pretty sure I added a model file to a design, not profile, and I could notify previous downloaders(?).
You can. I have done this exact thing.
When updating my models, this is what I do.
Some good points here in this comment
Though, this one point, I think you are also guilty of doing. In my opinion this is spammy for simply a new outside pattern and/or an extra ring in the fidget.
I do see you have 7 profiles on each which can make it hard to put it all in less uploads. I can understand these different profiles make it easier for the end user. I think Bambu needs better solutions for this.
Makerworld has a new content bias. Releasing the same thing over and over every few months will get more views and more points than just letting it languish.
I stand corrected.
I had only added profiles using the “add profile” option which does not allow an announcement.
It turns out if you don’t use the add profile option and instead use the “edit model” and then “Raw Model Files” option, you can add a 3mf there and it does give you the ability to announce that to people who previously downloaded the model.
I checked this using my iPad, so, I haven’t completed the process. I will review this when I wake to see if uploading a 3mf this way also added it to the profile list, if not it is fairly useless to most users as very few (in my experience know how to download files and many people prefer the simplicity of Bambu Handy which would make the likelihood of users accesses non-profile files even harder.
It doesn’t fix my overriding concern though, it can be used to spam people who have never been asked to consent and have no opportunity to remove consent. This is contrary to EU and U.K. GDPR rules, specifically the PECR legislation that requires consent.
There may be an argument that updating an existing profile message is considered a system message, but, even then it would not be possible to use it as marketing, the message could only indicate a change had occurred and nothing more to remain at the outer reaches of grey.
It was interesting to learn about the mechanism though and as I mentioned, for my own edification, I will explore if a 3mf can be injected into the profile list this way.
I thought that when updating a model and sending an announcement, it sends it to people who made a profile for your model so they can update it, not people who have downloaded it
I never suggested anyone should sent a message, in fact I vehemently argued against it.
As you can plainly read.
I am unsure what this comment actually meant, I couldn’t work out if you were suggesting I was doing something wrong, improper or something else.
I wasn’t sure what “make it hard to put it all in less” meant.
I provide 3 AMS profiles, one single colour profile and 3 PAUSE equivalent profiles to the AMS ones. My Chinese users like to use the PAUSE versions. I assume the AMS is less common over there.
They all mostly came about due to requests and now I add them to all of my fidget spinners & gyros as my followers see, to enjoy the styles. I came up with edges and single (one colour) the others (dial & triple) were requested, the PAUSE equivalent ps were requested.
They are all added at the same time as the model is launched, I am not sure if that was part of your comment that confused me. I do not ever announce them post launch as they are there at launch.
As I am nit sure the first part, I do not know what this bit means either.
I would be grateful for clarity, if you could reword it o would enjoy understanding the point being made.
Ok, more interesting, after I wake I have some stuff to review.
I really wish they would roll out the promised ability for users to consent to receive updates from the designers they follower and designers to have some form of timeline sort of posts that can leap users know what is coming up, updates to previous models, add polls to see what users would like next and so on.
Totally agree, being able to interact with followers would be huge. I have some followers who message me for when stuff will be released and it would be so great to be able to create posts on our profiles
I would like to ask users/followers which of say three model choices they wish me to focus on next. Gets them involved and me to focus on demand.
Right now, everything is shouting into the wind (we all know shouting should be a different word in that metaphor).
I actually started doing this on Patreon. Set a poll for free members and communicate that way. They have to opt-in and sign up from a free membership to get notifications and some updates.
[Edit] It was actually suggested by one of my users. Now they communicate with me here and there. If sending me photos they do it here, apparently Patreon doesn’t allow photos in chat, so they just PM in MakerWorld when sending photos.
Excellent points! Here’s my take:
We definitely need a better way to manage different versions of the same model. However, I’m not sure if the solutions being discussed would be the best approach. Notifying users about updates or allowing custom messages for each new version sounds problematic. Over time, as people download more models, the flood of notifications would become overwhelming and hard to manage.
Instead, I suggest a system where new versions can be linked directly to the previous ones. It could work similarly to how remix models are currently linked, but the connection should be made much more visible. This way, MakerWorld could prioritize displaying the new version higher on the feed of users who downloaded the original model, making it easier for them to discover updates. Plus, when people visit the old version, they’d be clearly informed there’s a newer one available.
A few notes:
I would also like to see a designer having the ability to choose related models per model they upload if they choose that would be shown on the same model page.
If you had a bird house and a bird feeder, you could add each as related to each other. Anyone visiting the first could then be shown the second (up to 4 or 5) models the designer believed were of relevance to the user.
I like this idea. some people have made “remixes” of a couple of my models where they should just be related to it somehow. I let the remixes slide because they were just making added functionality to my models and that was a way to highlight those additions. I
I think they just need to include version control as part of a model listing. Offering you the option to update a model with a new version number under the same listing and include notes against it regarding what’s been updated.
You could then allow members to choose previous versions to download if they prefer, or go with the most current version. The important part is it’s all managed under the same model rather than releasing new ones each time.
