Browsing the catalog
Find racks, shelves, trays, mounts and devices in the community catalog with search, filters, sorting and the recently published strip.
What the catalog is
The catalog holds everything Rack Maker knows about hardware: racks, frame parts, rails, shelves, trays, mounts, panels, printed parts, devices, power, fasteners, accessories and materials. Entries are measured by the people who own the gear, and anyone can use them in a project without signing in.
Catalog entries are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. A model file that an entry is drawn from keeps its own licence. See Licences and credits.
Start the catalog tour for a one-minute walk through the page. The ? button next to the page title starts it again at any time.
Searching
Type in the search box at the top of the page. Results follow as you type. Press / anywhere on the page to jump to the box, and Esc to clear it.
Search looks at an entry's name, id, category, kind, description, tags, the device's maker, its authors (the people credited on it and whoever published it), the racks it goes in, its size, its height in U and its power. So all of these work:
- a name or maker:
mac mini,ubiquiti - a size or height:
1U,19″(or19", or19in) - a power figure:
65w - a rack:
rackmate - an author:
meadlock model filefor entries drawn from a 3D model file
Every word you type must match somewhere. Matches in the name rank highest.
Filters
On a wide screen the filters are a column on the left. On a narrower one, Filters next to the search box opens them, with a count of the filters that are on.
| Filter | What it narrows by |
|---|---|
| Drawn from a model file | only entries drawn from an uploaded or bundled 3D file |
| Category | Racks, Devices, Shelves, Trays, Mounts and the other categories |
| Goes in | the racks the entry fits, worked out from how it mounts; A shelf or tray for things that stand on one |
| Kind | Parts (one thing) or Assemblies (made of other entries) |
| Author | who made the entry: see below |
| Namespace | who the entry belongs to, such as cbnsndwch or your own handle |
| Status | Published, and, when you can see any, your Draft and In review revisions |
Each option shows how many entries it would leave. Kind, Author, Namespace and Status only appear when there is more than one value to choose from. Pick several options in one filter to see entries that match any of them.
An entry's authors are the people credited on it as its author, a contributor, or who measured it, plus whoever published the revision you see. Entries that ship with the app were published by the app itself, so only their credits count. The revision an entry was forked from is not an author: its own authors are credited already. Each person is listed once, by display name: a credit that names someone's account, display name or handle counts as them, and so does a credit with the same name on another entry. In the address bar an author is their handle, or their name in lower case with dashes (?author=james-meadlock).
Above the results, a count says how many entries match (for example "12 of 140 entries"), and each filter that is on shows as a chip: select a chip to turn that filter off, or Clear all filters to turn them all off and keep your search.
Sorting and grouping
Sort offers Name, A to Z, Newest first, Smallest first and Largest first, plus Best match while you are searching. Group by category splits the results into one section per category. It is on by default while you are not searching.
The search, the filters and the sort all live in the address bar. Copy the URL to share exactly the view you are looking at.
Reading a card
Each result is a card with a picture of the entry. Its chips give the category, the size in mm, the height in rack units, the power, and what it goes in.
- A model file badge means the entry is drawn from a 3D file. Its licence and author are at the foot of the card.
- A draft or review badge marks a revision that is not published yet. Only you (and people who may review it) see these.
Open a card to see the entry's page: the part in 3D, its specs, credits, where to buy it and its revisions. See Entries and revisions.
Recently published
When you are not searching or filtering, a Recently published strip above the results shows the last eight entries people published, with who published them and when. Entries that ship with the app are not listed there.
Adding to the catalog
Two buttons sit by the page title:
- Model a device opens the device modeler, which builds a device from its size and a photo.
- New part opens the catalog editor for anything else.
You need to be signed in to keep what you make. Your drafts work in your own projects right away.
The work panel
Signed-in users get a second panel beside the results (from 1280 px wide), or a second tab next to Browse on smaller screens:
- Contribute, if you are not a contributor yet: the Contributor access card, where you ask for it. See Contributor access.
- Pending work, if you are a contributor or an admin. It holds the Review queue: revisions waiting for your review in the namespaces you own or maintain. Admins also see Contributor requests and Reports.
When something is waiting, a waiting for you badge next to the page title shows the count and jumps to the panel. Approving and rejecting from the review queue is covered in Entries and revisions.
Sharing and history
Project links, claiming a project, read-only links and their link previews, saving and sync between browsers, and the project's history.
Entries and revisions
An entry's page, how revisions go from draft to review to published, why published revisions never change, and upgrading projects.