Thingiverse

3d Printing / Slicers / Setup / Problems
1

Anybody notice that if your browser has ad blocker that Thingiverse won’t let you download files. I was just on there the other day using Safari on my MacBook and was able to download fine. Today I went to grab this cute trash can I saw the other day but didn’t download and it wouldn’t let be cause I had ad blocker, this was Firefox on the Linux laptop. So a while ago I tried to download it on the MacBook and it would let me because of ad blocker. Nothing has change in Safari. I used to see ads on there so I have no idea what has changed. Time for a new source or STL files.

2

Confirmed.

3

I watched this video yesterday by BV3D that shows a workaround of the problem as it seems to have affected everyone.
YMMV

<How To Fix Thingiverse's Download All Files Feature - YouTube;

4

BV3D was talking about the download all feature. I’m talking about Thingiverse won’t let you download at all if you have ad blockers. Tried it for the ad blocker issue and it worked. 2 birds killed with one rock.

5

Agreed, a good tip. And, yep, it sux that MakerBot is crippling TV more and more.

PS: this might make @Irv_Shapiro’s ideas for a small fee site more feasible.

6

My new site is open to the public and FREE. The current capabilities at models.makewithtech.com will remain free forever. Check the roadmap on the report bug page to see what is planned for future releases.

1 Like
7

@Irv_Shapiro I did find 1 issue with the site: 1 of the models had an F3D file. I could find no way to download it using the site. Maybe I’m doing something wrong?

Here is a link to the public detailed roadmap for the models project. In the app you can click on the “Report Bugs” link in the footer on the right side to report bugs and feature requests right in the application.

8

I researched this a little more. The workaround @Country_Bubba linked to does work: [LIST=1]

  • Find the model you want to download;
  • Click on the model to open its page;
  • Click in the browser's URL box, at the end of the address;
  • add "/zip" to the end of the address;
  • hit Enter. [/LIST] You should get the normal download window you used to get when you clicked on Download All Files.
    • 9

    Guess I wasn’t clear, I did say it worked for me but the video was about another issue.

    10

    Good, glad it’s working for you. I realize Bryan was talking about the previous crippling of thingiverse, wherein MakerBot forced everyone to download each file individually. You were talking about the most recent crippling, wherein even the individual downloading doesn’t work with ad blockers. But, the workaround is the same for both issues: add /zip to the URL. That’s what I meant by “it’s working”: do what Bryan advises and it works. I’m just waiting for MakerBot to cripple even that workaround.

    11

    It’s a shame that Ultimaker has let the side go to pot. There’s a ton of files and some good information too. I’m sure it will be just a mater of time before they block the work around too.

    12

    I tend to agree. My feeling is that MakerBot considers thingiverse a financial drain and they’re trying everything they can to derive more revenue from it

    I am considering whether or not to allow Thingiverse to show ads. My issue with ads is always that I don’t know how much risk I’m taking. Do the site owners vet the ads, at all? If they do, what are the criteria? Are the ads just being fed to the site by an ad agency? If so, how reputable is the agency (is there such a thing as a reputable online ad agency)? So much can be done with cookies. It’s a real risk.

    Perhaps, what I need is to dedicate a cheap tablet or such just for Thingiverse browsing, a tablet that doesn’t connect to anything else on my personal LAN and doesn’t have any personal info whatsoever.

    13

    I do not believe Ultimaker owns Thingiverse. Ultimaker is the sponsor of Cura. MakerBot owns Thingiverse and MakerBot is owned by Stratasys.

    From the above article:

    “MakerBot reports that during the first quarter of 2013, the company generated $11.5 million in total revenue, compared to $15.7 million for all of 2012. Thingiverse.com, MakerBot’s online content portal for the sharing of user-generated digital design content, has more than 90,000 3D product files available for sharing, and generates more than 500,000 unique visitors and 1,000,000 downloads each month. The accessibility and ease-of-use of this 3D printing content helps promote system usage.”

    14

    @Ender5r I will make downloads of all NON-STL files available. I added it to the backlog which is now starting to grow.

    15

    I think Makerbot has broken the “/zip” workaround for downloading all files in 1 go. I’m getting a 404 error now.

    16

    Well that didn’t last long, I had the same issue today.

    17

    I didn’t figure it would last. In a way, we were our own worst enemies, talking about it too much.

    18

    Might have been temporary I just tried it and it worked

    19

    oh, cool. I’ll check.

    20

    Still broken for me.