mirror of
https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim.git
synced 2026-06-22 10:01:47 +00:00
8bebfb907b* removed suggestion template * added FAQ answer regarding proposing new features * added link to project board in contributing.rst Co-authored-by: Tristan Schulz <mrdiverlp@gmail.com>
121 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
121 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
# FAQ: Getting Help
|
||
|
||
## How do I animate X? Why do I get error Y? Can someone help me?
|
||
|
||
Before asking the community, please make sure that the issue you are having
|
||
is not already discussed in our {doc}`FAQ section </faq/index>` sufficiently
|
||
well so that you can resolve the problem yourself. You can also try to
|
||
use your favorite search engine, if you are lucky you might find a blog post,
|
||
a question on [StackOverflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/manim),
|
||
or a post in the [r/manim subreddit](https://reddit.com/r/manim).
|
||
|
||
If this is not the case, please take a moment to properly prepare your question:
|
||
the better you manage to explain what exactly it is you are struggling with,
|
||
the more efficient people will be able to help you. Regardless of the platform
|
||
you choose in the next step, StackOverflow has a good guide on
|
||
[asking good questions](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask).
|
||
|
||
As soon as you have a good idea of what exactly you want to ask, pick one of the
|
||
following communication channels:
|
||
|
||
- The community is most active [in our Discord server](https://manim.community/discord/).
|
||
Click the link to join, then pick one of the `#manim-help` channels in the sidebar,
|
||
and post your question there. If you are comfortable with using Discord, try to search
|
||
for your problem using the search function of our server; perhaps people have been
|
||
talking about it before!
|
||
- We are also monitoring questions on
|
||
[StackOverflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/manim) that are tagged
|
||
with `manim`.
|
||
- Many people are also active in our [r/manim subreddit](https://reddit.com/r/manim),
|
||
feel free to post there if you are an avid Redditor -- but be aware that Discord
|
||
or StackOverflow might be better choices.
|
||
- And finally, you can also start a new [discussion on GitHub](https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/discussions)
|
||
if you dislike all other options.
|
||
|
||
In all of these channels, please make sure to abide by Manim's
|
||
{doc}`Code of Conduct </conduct>` -- in short, be *excellent* to one another:
|
||
be friendly and patient, considerate, and respectful.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## What should I do if nobody answers my question?
|
||
|
||
Try and see whether your question can be improved: did you include all relevant
|
||
information (in case of errors: the full stack trace, the code that you were
|
||
rendering, and the command you used to run Manim?). In case you used a very long
|
||
example, is it possible to construct a more minimal version that has the same
|
||
(faulty) behavior?
|
||
|
||
If you posted in one of our help channels on Discord and your question got buried,
|
||
you are allowed to ping the `@Manim Helper` role to bring it to the attention of
|
||
the volunteers who are willing to take a look. Please refrain from pinging the role
|
||
immediately when asking your question for the first time, this is considered impolite.
|
||
|
||
You can also try to post your question to a different channel if you feel that you
|
||
are not having any success with your initial choice -- but please do not spam your
|
||
question in all of our communication channels (and in particular for Discord:
|
||
please don't use multiple help channels at once).
|
||
|
||
In the end, it is as for most open-source projects: our community members are
|
||
volunteers. If you do not receive a quick answer to your question, it may be
|
||
because nobody knows the answer, or because your question is not clear enough,
|
||
or it could be that everyone who can help you with your problem is busy doing
|
||
other things.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## The library does not behave as documented, or something broke in a new release. What should I do?
|
||
|
||
Sounds like you have found a bug. One of the best ways of contributing to the
|
||
development of Manim is by reporting it!
|
||
|
||
Check our list of known issues and feature requests
|
||
[in our GitHub repository](https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/issues). If the
|
||
problem you have found is not listed there yet (use the search function; also check
|
||
whether there is a corresponding closed issue, it is possible that your problem
|
||
has already been resolved and will be fixed with the next release), please consider
|
||
the following steps to submit a new issue.
|
||
|
||
```{note}
|
||
If you are unsure whether or not you should file a new issue for some odd behavior
|
||
that you found, feel free to ask the community developers, preferably in one of
|
||
our `#manim-dev` channels in [our Discord](https://manim.community/discord/).
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
1. Make sure you are running the latest released version of Manim, your problem
|
||
might otherwise already be fixed in a more recent version. Check the
|
||
{doc}`/changelog` for a full list of changes between Manim releases.
|
||
|
||
2. Choose the correct category for your report when
|
||
[creating a new issue](https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/issues/new/choose).
|
||
We have dedicated issue templates for *bug reports*, *feature requests*, and
|
||
*installation issues*. If your report falls into one of these
|
||
categories, read the issue template carefully! Instructions are given in the
|
||
`<!-- ... -->` sections of the text field. If you want to suggest a new feature
|
||
without concrete implementation details, see
|
||
{ref}`the instructions given in this answer <creating-suggestions>`.
|
||
|
||
3. For bug reports: prepare a minimal example that can be used to illustrate the
|
||
issue. Examples with hundreds of lines are very inefficient and tedious to debug.
|
||
Your problem needs to be reproducible for others, so please make sure to prepare
|
||
a suitable example.
|
||
|
||
4. This is mentioned in the bug report template as well, but it is very important:
|
||
if you report that some code raises an error, make sure to include the full
|
||
terminal output, from the command you used to run the library up to and including
|
||
the last line with the error message. Read carefully: if the message mentions
|
||
that there is another relevant log file, include this other file as well!
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
(creating-suggestions)=
|
||
## I have an idea for a really cool feature that should be implemented, where should I share my idea?
|
||
|
||
New suggestions and proposals should be made by
|
||
[creating a new discussion](https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/discussions/new?category=suggestions-and-proposals)
|
||
in the [*Suggestions and Proposals* category](https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/discussions/categories/suggestions-and-proposals)
|
||
in our GitHub repository. Once the raw idea has been formed into a more concrete,
|
||
implementable proposal that is supported by the community, and someone has expressed
|
||
interest in working on the new feature, a corresponding
|
||
[issue](https://github.com/ManimCommunity/manim/issues) will be created. Do **not** create
|
||
issues for suggesting new features directly, they will be closed down.
|