Hello Raspberry Pi enthusiasts! This post outlines the latest changes to our community rules, inspired by your valuable discussions, comments, and contributions.
Over the past few months, has experimented with allowing posts that lack preliminary research, particularly those with vague questions or requests for extremely basic content that would normally be redirected to the helpdesk sticky. These posts overwhelmingly receive minimal engagement, remaining at zero points, and never reaching a wider audience. When there are replies, they often consist of simple links to Google or tutorials, leading to dissatisfaction from the original posters. Additionally, such low-effort posts negatively impact the quality of search results, not only within our community but also in external search engines, making it harder for future seekers to find useful answers.
Participation in the sub has dwindled, both in the amount of people trying to answer questions and in the number of projects being posted. Looking at the "online now" numbers shows extremely low engagement. People subscribe to the sub to see things that they haven't seen before, get information on the latest Raspberry Pi updates, and to be inspired to do their own Raspberry Pi projects. With the sub filled with low-effort posts, the people who subscribed no longer get value from the sub and stop visiting.
Feedback on numerous posts has underscored a community consensus: it's essential to do some groundwork before posting questions. By encouraging members to put thought into their inquiries, we uphold the quality of discussions, dialogue, and in-depth exploration, as well as encourage participants to hone their problem-solving skills. This keeps valuable discussions and troubleshooting efforts prominent and allows inspirational content such as show-and-tell and tutorial posts to receive the visibility they deserve. Posts with positive engagement extend beyond our community and attract a broader audience.
Thoughtful questions resonate with our most seasoned members, enriching the community with high-quality responses and ensuring knowledgeable contributors feel motivated to participate, rather than sidelined by repetitive or simplistic inquiries. When you seek help here, having done the necessary preparation is more likely to receive the detailed advice you desire. This helps maintain an environment where innovation flourishes and sustained participation from skilled members is encouraged, essential for a thriving community.
Remember, this is a Maker/Do-It-Yourself community. Participation here means being ready to invest effort into bringing your projects to life. For effective troubleshooting, you should provide detailed descriptions of your attempts and the specific results you've encountered.
The rules have been updated and simplified; here are the guidelines on what types of posts are welcome:
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✅ allowed
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🚫 not allowed
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⚠️ discouraged
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✅ Show-and-Tell
This should be pretty self-explanatory. It’s for showing off your project and telling people what it is, what it does, and how you made it to spark creativity in others to embark on their own inventive projects.
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✅ Tutorial
Similar to Show-and-Tell, but intended for complete step-by-step guides and details including specific parts required to do a project. Not for asking for a tutorial.
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✅ Opinions Wanted
For non-project discussions seeking diverse viewpoints and experiences about Raspberry Pi-related topics. Not for troubleshooting, project advice, if something is worth doing, what’s the best way, aesthetic judgments, feasibility assessments, rants, complaints, or meta posts.
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✅ Design Collaboration
For members seeking constructive feedback on their project designs who are ready to engage in a collaborative effort and shared expertise. It’s for projects that have a plan put together and are looking for input to refine concepts, solve specific design challenges, or optimize functionality. Not for asking "What do I buy?" or "Tell me how to do my idea."
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✅ Troubleshooting
For when you encounter issues with your project, such as bugs or wiring errors. Please provide source code, schematics, complete error messages, and a summary of any troubleshooting steps already taken to avoid redundant efforts.
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✅ News
News about the Raspberry Pi organization, new products and announcements, notable developments in the Raspberry Pi community, and significant technological advancements related to Raspberry Pi hardware and software. Content should be a link to a reputable news source or Raspberry Pi themselves, not a personal blog.
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🚫 “What do I buy” posts
These questions always have narrow use case requirements which limit the relevance of answers to other users. Inevitably, askers complain about suggested items not meeting requirements, being unavailable for purchase in their location, being out of stock, discontinued, or exceeding their budget.
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🚫 “How do I get started”, “What’s the best way”, or “Tell me how to do my idea”
Do research first and come up with a plan. There are many ways to do something and there’s really no best way. What's best for some situations doesn't mean they are best for all situations. You don’t need to get it right on the first try, refining and improvement are part of DIY. If you’re not sure how to begin with research then ask in the stickied helpdesk thread.
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🚫 Extreme beginner programming
How to write your first program, what are variables, what language is best, etc. These kinds of questions are better served by other subs such as or .
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🚫 Self-promotion, memes, and off-topic content
Posts about Raspberry Pi clones or boards targeted at the same market or form factor are considered off-topic, however discussions about microcontrollers that use the RP2040 chip are permitted, even if the board itself is not an official Raspberry Pi product. Accounts that only post their own content and comment only in their own posts will be considered self-promotion spam.
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🚫 Selling or giveaways
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⚠️ Posts with vague or generic titles
The title of your post should summarize the question clearly & concisely. This helps future searches and others to quickly identify topics they can contribute to.
We know it can be difficult to get started on a project when you don't know the right terminology or keywords to search for. In those cases, please use the stickied helpdesk thread where people can assist with getting the right search terms. Once you've started your project and you're running into specific issues, you can return and post a more detailed inquiry outside of the helpdesk thread. Consider also using a Chat AI to help find the keywords. While an AI should not be considered an expert on any topic, they can be useful for getting pointed in the right direction.
If you're replying to someone with direct links to a search engine, we recommend using DuckDuckGo because its results tend to be more consistent across different users, with minimal influence from individual browsing history. Also include a few relevant results from your search to ensure users can easily find the information you found useful. Others, if you receive a reply that includes just a link to search results, consider it as potentially helpful rather than rude. Such links can provide targeted keywords you might not have considered, serving as a useful starting point for more detailed research.
Thanks for being such an awesome part of our Raspberry Pi community! Your input and enthusiasm help us keep improving and make sure our space is as helpful and creative as possible for everyone. Here’s to more cool projects, great chats, and new discoveries together!