Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to Unity Answers, a site provided by Unity for use by the community!

What is Unity Answers?

Unity Answers is a place for asking questions and finding answers - all about Unity! Unity Answers co-exist with the Unity Forums, but they have different functions:

• Unity Answers is a place for questions that can be answered! Avoid asking questions here that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion.
• Unity Forums is a place for discussions, opinions, showing off your work, getting feedback, and general community chatter.

One problem with the Unity Forums was that old threads tended to get buried, so users ended up asking the same questions over and over again. We hope that Unity Answers can function as a more efficient place for that kind of question and answer exchange, while the Unity Forums is still great for all the rest!

What kind of questions can I ask here?

Unity questions, of course! As long as your question is:

• detailed and specific
• written clearly and simply
• of interest to at least one other Unity user somewhere

... it is welcome here. No question is too trivial or too "newbie". Oh yes, and it should be about Unity.

Please look around to see if your question has already been asked (and maybe even answered!) before you ask. If you end up asking a question that has been asked before, that is OK and deliberately allowed. Other users will hopefully edit in links to related or similar questions to help future visitors find their way.

Do I have to log in or create an account?

Yes. All users will need to create an account. We have added the ability for you to use your forum login to access this site. We recommend you use this approach. Register first on the Unity Forums and then you will be able to log into Unity Answers as well.

What are the guidelines for writing good questions?

We want Unity Answers to become a comprehensive database of questions and answers related to Unity. When you ask your questions, it can be helpful to keep a few things in mind:

• Don't post multiple unrelated questions in one post. Make separate posts instead, each with one question.
• Don't write things that will be irrelevant in a few days. Writing that "This is urgent!" will probably not get you faster answers, but it may make people frown at your question.
• Be specific. If you want specific answers, ask specific questions. If something "doesn't work", write what exactly it does that is wrong.
• Use specific tags. unity, scripting, editor, etc. are very non-specific tags. Feel free to use them, but please consider also using some tags that are more specific to your exact question.
• Break multi-part problems into simpler questions. Instead of posting a question: "How can I make a gui toggle to change the skybox?", post two simpler questions instead: "How can I make a gui toggle?" and "How can I change the skybox?" This way the questions will also be relevant to people who want to make a toggle for something else, or who want to change the skybox based on something else.a

It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, but please post just the question first, and then reply to it below with your answer.

If anyone posts questions, answers, or comments that you feel don't follow the guidelines, please try to resolve the situation in a respectful manner. Write a friendly comment to the poster pointing out what's wrong. The option to "flag this post for serious problems" should not be used except as a last resort, and never if a question or answer is simply lacking, nor as a shortcut to get attention.

Where can I learn how to post good questions?

Please see the video here.

Be honest.

Above all, be honest.

• When you see good questions or helpful answers, vote them up! This will help getting the best answers and the most interesting questions be listed first.

• If you ask a question and someone writes a helpful reply, make sure to mark that reply as the answer! (Click the check-mark icon to make it green.) This is both your privilege and duty as the person who asked the question.
• If you see misinformation, vote it down. Insert comments indicating what, specifically, is wrong. Even better — edit and improve the information! Provide stronger, faster, superior answers of your own!

What if I don't get a good answer?

In order to get good answers, you have to put some effort into the question. Edit your question to provide status and progress updates. Document your own continued efforts to answer your question. This will naturally bump your question and get more people interested in it.

Other people can edit my stuff?!

Like Wikipedia, this site is collaboratively edited. If you are not comfortable with the idea of your questions and answers being edited by other trusted users, this may not be the site for you.  Experiened users can edit your questions and answers and accept the "correct" answer.

What are the main differences with the new QATO backend?

Unity Answers switched backend to QATO due to changes in the StackExchange licensing model which would mean lack of proper control over the Unity Answers site from our side, and also to be able to have improvements implemented that StackExchange were unwilling to prioritize. While a few things may not be quite as polished from the beginning, we believe that the switch will be a big benefit on the long term. Here are some of the main differences:

• Questions and answers can't be posted anonymously anymore. Login is required.
• Images can now be uploaded directly from your harddrive and inserted in a post.
• Some badges are different or no longer available.
• The ability to create bounties is not available on the new site at this point.

What is Karma/Reputation?

Reputation (also sometimes called karma) is a (very) rough measurement of how much the Unity community trusts you. Reputation is completely optional. Normal use of Unity Answers — that is, asking questions and providing answers — does not require any reputation whatsoever. To try to limit spam attacks on Answers we require users to have 15 Karma points before their questions and answers can be published to the site.  New users with less than 15 Karma points will have their contributions submitted into a moderation queue.  All users with more than 1000 Karma points can view these questions and answers in the moderation queue and publish them to the site.

However, if you want to help us run the site, you'll need reputation first. Reputation is never given, it is earned by convincing other users that you know what you're talking about.

Here's how it works: if you post a good question or helpful answer, it will be voted up by your peers: you gain 15 reputation points. If you post something that's off topic or incorrect, it will be voted down: you lose 5 reputation points.

Amass enough reputation points and Unity Answers will allow you to go beyond simply asking and answering questions:

At the high end of this reputation spectrum there is little difference between users with high reputation and moderators. That is very much intentional. We don't run Unity Answers. The community does.

What Badges Can I Collect?

What are the Kite Symbols Against Some Usernames?

One kite symbol denotes a user is a moderator.  Moderator status allows users to delete comments and answers, and convert comments to questions and questions to comments. Moderator status is (currently) by invitation only, and requires users to have been very active on the site.

Two kite symbols denotes a user is an admin on the site.  This status is currently reserved for selected Unity and dZone employees. Admins can suspend users and give/take Karma.

Note that the rights moderators and super-users have can be gained through earning enough karma points.