It's bug that's a feature

[henryhbk]

While normally the “community preview” during a job is annoying, since it has nothing to do with my print job, it had some repeated error, that while I prefer that to the preview function normally, it probably means something is broken?

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[evansd2]

I believe it is referring to the sidebar chat to discord, which is currently not working.

It’s very quiet on the discord as a result. Most of the traffic comes from sidebar users, not direct discord users.

This is as good a time as any to say that if anyone wants to get on the discord without using the sidebar — which also allows for posting pictures/files, direct messaging/replies, and access to more channels, the instructions are here:

19: What do I need to know about the Glowforge Live Chat?

Return to the common questions index The Glowforge chat system is based on a platform called Discord. There are two ways to use it: in the sidebar of your screen while you are cutting or directly through the Discord website or app. The chat is convenient, but if you want to take full advantage of it you should become a Verified Owner and access it directly – you’ll be able to see other channels, send and receive direct messages and replies, and most importantly, post pictures. Pictures are …

[henryhbk]

I figured, hence why I figured it was a feature to NOT show me the discord chat while running a job (something I can’t imagine needing to do like that)

[evansd2]

On the flipside it’s also really easy to just suppress that chat permanently using a very easy CSS trick.

I’m on discord all the time as a direct connection and I didn’t want the sidebar so I suppressed it as soon as they released it and I have never looked back.

For more info on how to suppress it:

Chat Forum on the app

I think that’s an unnecessary jab. Here’s the CSS to add to StyleBot to hide it: .scroll-box-content :has(iframe[title~="Discord"]) { display: none; } I also made a video walkthrough. This is something that actually only takes minutes. [Blocking Glowforge Chat with StyleBot] For everyone who has already started responding “But I shouldn’t have to block it!”, you’re right. But do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? This is something you can do today, right now, w…

[henryhbk]

Thanks. I will note that post was from 2023 and yet here we are still dealing with that stupid panel. It’s such a weird place even if they felt being in the chat was helpful, like adobe doesn’t slide a chat function in illustrator in the drawing pane. Now if they had a work-team function like OnShape or Fusion360, then it might make some logical sense doing collaborative design, but it isn’t it’s just discord, so… if I want to chat, I’ll chat, if I want to be doing design, I’d do that.

[evansd2]

People use it all the time for questions.. it’s pretty obvious why Glowforge has it — every community-answered question is a huge win for them.

There’s not much incentive for them to make it permanently hidden, so I wouldn’t expect them to do it anytime soon. Doubly so because of what we know about what’s going on behind the scenes. CSS works and will immediately take it off your plate, I’d recommend solving it that way to anyone who is annoyed by it.