I might have a question I would like to ask on blender stack exchange but I feel to get the best answer it would be beneficial to upload my blend file in its entirety. This question could be beneficial in the long term as I don't see too many answers about the subject. My problem is that if I upload my blend file, a project that I've been working on for months now, users could easily take my months of work for personal gain and I have heard of this happening before. I would like to be able to delete my blend file after the question is answered and I don't want the person answering to be able to upload it in the answer. I have considered just appending specific parts but I'm not sure if that would generate the best answers in this case. If I decided to go through with it, is it possible to completely delete the blend file afterward, not just from the script of the question?
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2$\begingroup$ I don't think this is possible on Blend-Exchange.It would be very unusual for a technical problem that is solvable on Blender SE to require an entire, complex project file to represent it.. Can you indicate the nature of the problem; why it can't be represented by a stripped-down, toy example? $\endgroup$– Robin Betts ModCommented Feb 6, 2023 at 13:49
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2$\begingroup$ You seem to be very protective of your work for someone asking for help for free on a community focused on sharing knowledge and learning together. Maybe stack exchange is not the right place for you then, and you should be seeking professional help, where privacy can be expected. $\endgroup$– Duarte Farrajota Ramos ModCommented Feb 6, 2023 at 15:23
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$\begingroup$ I think it's harsh to criticize someone for seeking free help to a commercial project - after all, it's perfectly normal to use free software for commercial projects. On the other hand, when someone asks for help, is given an instruction to share a .blend file, and then provides a 100 MB file, I can only be open-minded enough to assume total noviceship of the author and inform the the project should be simplified. I think 99% of cases can easily be stripped down and compressed below 500 kB. $\endgroup$– Markus von BroadyCommented May 13, 2023 at 23:53
1 Answer
We are not a personal assistance service.
The main goal of this site is to build a high quality database of questions and answers that are above all else expected to be searchable and helpful to future users facing similar problems, rather than just help the individual who posted them.
If your posts has the single goal of solving your individual issue alone, and has no broader use helping other users facing similar issues, then it is probably not a good fit for this site.
Having that in mind, ideally, any posts here are generic, well explained and illustrated enough, in such way that files are completely unnecessary. Otherwise, any attachments shared here through Blend Exchange or any other service, would be essential to understand the question or provide a solution, and as such shall remain available for any future visitors as well.
Depriving other users of the information someone provided for free, seems selfish and not in line with the spirit of this community.
Permanent hosting is one of the founding principles of Blend-Exchange, if not the main advertised feature.
As Robin Betts mentioned, a complete file with a full project is rarely necessary and even undesirable to solve the issue. Generally the process of isolating an issue is a great diagnostic tool itself, not only is it halfway to solving the issue yourself, it also narrows down the scope for potential helpers, while improving the quality of your post. If you can't simplify it enough to share it here, then you might consider getting professional help instead, where privacy can be requested.
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$\begingroup$ Its really just a one off thing and I have already searched Blender stack exchange for answers on the specific subject but haven't found them. Like I said already I think it would be valuable to add to the database of questions knowing that it doesn't exist yet and It would apply to anyone going down the same path. I guess I will just have to take time to try and try to reconstruct it outside of my original file of question. If I could delete my file it would still provide the answer in the end, it would just make it much easier to ask my question and feel safe about it. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 8, 2023 at 3:05