Becoming Part of the Thingiverse Community - Getting Started with MakerBot - page 176

As a MakerBot operator, Thingiverse is an incredible resource! You can get
started by making your own copies of popular things, or searching for things
that solve a problem you're trying to solve. Things on Thingiverse also serve
as excellent examples for learning because most creators upload the original
source files usable in their 3D modeling software, in addition to the files that
you can make on your MakerBot. As you learn to create your own things,
Thingiverse is a great place to showcase your new work, get feedback from
a community of helpful experts, and collaborate with others to make your
new designs even better!
Becoming a User of Thingiverse
Ready to jump in and join the Thingiverse community? Great!
The first thing you'll need to do is create an account. Start by pointing your
browser at http://www.thingiverse.com/ . Click the Register link in the upper-
right corner of the page to go to the registration page. Once there, enter a
username, your email address, and a password, and enter the captcha to
prove that you're not a robot. Then hit the Register button to create your
account.
From there, you'll see a page that lets you enter your profile information. This
is your chance to let other Thingiverse users know who you are, what your
interests are, etc. You can (and should!) also upload a profile photo. Your
profile photo is shown on any things that you create, on things that you like,
and more. A good profile photo helps other members of the Thingiverse
community recognize you around the site.
One important aspect of setting up your profile is choosing the default license
for the things that you create and upload to Thingiverse. You can change the
license for any thing that you create, but it's helpful to have a good default.
There are many options to consider when choosing a license. Thankfully,
Thingiverse makes use of the excellent work of the Creative Commons, and
has made many of their licenses available for you to choose. For more infor-
mation on Creative Commons licenses, check out http://creativecom
mons.org/licenses/ .
When you're done filling out your profile, click the Save Your Profile button at
the bottom of the page.
You're all set to explore the Thingiverse!
User Profiles
Every user (including you!) on Thingiverse has a profile page with information
about the things they've created, physical copies they've made of other