Sorry if this sounds like a bit like a rant. Hopefully something can be done with it, I'm not writing this just to complain, I just hope you can read this and understand what I see, what my experience is with this site, which is probably a bit similar to other new users.

When I log in ton my account I get into the /myFeed section, which is empty. At least, it looks empty, because sometimes, after 20 seconds or so, I suddenly get results there. Sometimes not, sometimes I get a message to "click here to load the feed". Depends on the weather, I think. That's at least after I click away the messages with things like, that I have to start a chat and other stuff. 

Things that I expect to show up there, are the projects I like to follow. But it's not really clear which ones those are. It's not really clear what I'm following, even when logged in. It's not under "my notifications", "my projects", "my pages". No i have to click my user icon in the top right corner. Ok but then I still don't see it, I see a HUGE user icon filling up half my screen. When I scroll down, I finally get to the "projects i like & follow" section. But even then, it's not clear what they are. I have to hold my mouse over each of the pictures, to find out what that project is. Why can't I have a page for the projects I follow, that look like /projects ? That would make much more sense. I like to tinker but I'm far from good with electronics, but I like to follow guides and see what people do and get inspiration from others. When I see a project I like, I'd like to follow it. Like I would if I used (insert random social media site). 

Also, if your screen isn't big enough, you don't get the entire menu bar on the top of the screen. Normally I only see hackaday.io in the top left and the three dashes on the right, unless I make the site full screen on my desktop.

+1 for me. Agree that it should be easier to see the projects that you follow. "Lists" are a work around, but similar functionality should exist for all projects.

Clearly the website signup procedure cannot defend against automated scripts that create accounts and then post spam.

We are working on implementing a new element to help with this. Unfortunately it's an ongoing battle of cat and mouse.

For some reason, I'm encountering "Unknown Error" when adding images to my logs recently. I have to attempt multiple times before the image is inserted. Using a fresh, different browser didn't solve the issue.

My project ESP32 vs STM32, Which is Better and How to Choose was deleted yesterday but why this user can keep it? https://hackaday.io/MccallDolly any advice?

why?? It's unfair for me.

Because we concentrated on cleaning up projects from this year, and haven't gotten a chance to look at older projects yet. But you're right, these projects don't find our guidelines either. Thanks for the heads up.

For everyone interested: I took a stab at codifying some "Project Guidelines" that we hope will be of help. Bear in mind that this is a work in progress and so subject to change: https://hackaday.io/page/8891-hackadayio-project-guidelines

Also, I went back to about the beginning of the year and managed to clean out 50 projects that violate the guidelines. That was a lot of work, but hopefully it'll tidy the place up a bit. Thanks for your patience and understanding as we try to clean up the neighborhood.

FYI all, we're currently working on guidelines for projects that will help us clamp down on obvious spam projects and low-value content. It's not easy -- like the famous definition of pornography, it's hard to say exactly what it is, but you know it when you see it.

Please be patient -- this is a huge undertaking. It's going to take a lot of effort to do this, and it's likely going to result in some projects getting tossed that perhaps shouldn't have been. At the end of the day, though, it should make Hackaday.io a nicer place to hang around.

Hackaday admin team: could you clarify for me and other members where Hackaday stands regarding users who publish project that directly advertise or indirectly but heavily advertise company services such as PCB manufacturer, electronic components purchasing and others? For example: Circuits DIY, electroniclover123, UTSOURCE, utsourceproject... accounts that have been mentionned here a few times already, might have been reported by a few members also but yet remain.

Contentless projects and advertising projects have been heavily flooding this site for the past year or more and I think it is time to implement countermeasures.

Hi Florian --

We don't like these kind of projects either, but we've been struggling with how to come up with a policy that treats everyone fairly. Trouble is, some of these projects are kind of on the edge -- they're clearly commercial, but also might have some instructional value for some readers. It's not as simple as slapping a ban on those users and calling it a day. Not only might we throw out the baby with the bathwater, but it's also highly likely that the same users will pop up under a new account and do the same thing.

So yeah -- I appreciate how projects like these can really skew the signal-to-noise ratio, and I'd really like to find a permanent fix for it, preferably one that doesn't require hours of manual search-and-destroy work every day. Sorry I don't have a better answer for you, but we are working on it.

I think that there should be some minimum requirements on such "projects". One such user was posting projects with content copied from other sites sometimes non-English, pictures of components with mid-air solder joints which often had nothing to do with the project, no assembly instructions and a "parts list" which was just pointers to the shop catalogue. That had no instructional value and was just blatant advertising.

I am trying to change my email, but I log in with Github. My primary email on Github is changed, but I cannot figure out how to change it here. Please help and thanks in advance.

Hello,  I seem to be having a problem changing my email on the Hackaday.IO.  I manage my email and type in the new one.  It says email has been changed but it does not take effect.  Is there a workaround for this?

Looking into this, I'll message you.

User electroniclover123 is just the same user as utsourceproject, posting the same copied Spanish projects to advertise utsource.

UTSOURCE account also.

Also, JLPCB service introductions done by CircuitDIY are just advertisement and yet there are not deleted. Why? 

User utsourceproject is getting even more ridiculous. They are posting copied projects in Spanish and only links to their catalogue, no instructions, not even a link to the project they copied from. How can those be regarded as projects? It's just advertising.

Also add Electroniclovers123. 

I hope moderators will delete those accounts soon because I'm tired to flag them for nothing.

How do I get rid of an empty table created with the table editor?

Further, I created a table at the end of a new project. When I saved it and tried to re-edit, the table was at the end of the text and I couldn't add any more text below it. That's why I had to redo the table; the remaining blank table could not be deleted.

You could switch to HTML mode in the editor and carefully delete the table element, taking care not to introduce syntax errors.

Hi, I have already uploaded my new project as "public". but my project doesn't appear at "newest" or "recently updated" or any other option. Would you please check why? Thanks.

Unfortunately for newish accounts there is a cooling off period, your project should appear in those lists soon.

https://github.com/Wiz-IO/XC16

Converting text to <h2> is now broken. I can select a line of text and convert to "heading 2" once, but subsequent selections/conversions are ignored. The generated HTML shows no <h2> tags are inserted during the 2nd and subsequent attempts.

Is there a way to see all of your "followed" tasks? Maybe there could be a default list that anything you follow gets added to...

Please auto flag projects and users that use terms like "call+girl" or "escort", maybe add a bit of "casino" to it. This place feels super neglected when you keep projects used as advertisement for escorts up for 3 days.

I'd like to see a feature where if more than say 8 users in good standing (by some criteria, say number of projects, followers, or whatever, to ensure that they are "serious" users) flag a project, page or comment as inappropriate, it automatically gets hidden, and a moderator can check it in their own time. This will crowdsource spam detection.

<hr> tags (horizontal rule) are not showing up in the output.

Viz the link below, starting at step 3, each experiment has a HR tag separator (between "results" and "hypothesis" of the next experiment). The HR is in the html listing, but doesn't show in the output.

https://hackaday.io/project/188379/instructions

Looking over the generated HTML, the system appears to be removing the closing tag </hr> from the horizontal rule. This is not valid HTML, and is probably the root cause. Entering a literal <hr> by hand in the editable text with the closing tag, the generated HTML removes the closing tag there as well.

Have you tried <hr/> instead?

User "Trust Pilot Review" is probably a spam account. While he hasn't sent me anything, he did follow my account, so his name pops up in my feed.

Check out the user page and see what you think. It's not specifically doing anything wrong, but it might violate your TOS.

User: https://hackaday.io/tprgg1

User Sharyn Xu of Seeed Studio Marketing has sent me 2 messages inviting me to design sensors for the Seeed studio sensor thingy.

These messages look suspiciously like spam, and I'm wondering if she's spamming other users as well. The 2nd message was all about how other companies have successfully used their products.

What makes the messages particularly annoying is the personal tone: "Hi Peter, this is Sharyn from Seeed Studio. Our team were impressed by your projects, are you open to design sensors or do some projects with us?"

It looks for anything like someone reaching out personally, but clicking on the link goes to a contest with a $300 prize.

Please look into this. The personal message system should not be used for marketing announcements, even if they are contests.

@Peter Walsh - I'll take a look. Thank you.