15.3 Browser pop-up blocking and Tinkercad export

Browser configuration to block pop-ups may interfere with Tinkercad’s feature for exporting objects directly into the Polar Cloud.

Note that while many Polar Cloud screens may be referred to as “pop-up” screens, they are actually dialog boxes or modal windows – and do not normally trigger any browser pop-up blocking. (In older versions of the Polar Cloud there was exactly one Polar Cloud operation that was subject to interference from browser pop-up blocking: object download from the object detail screen. As of late Fall 2017, this is no longer an issue, and you may now perform all purely Polar Cloud operations regardless of browser pop-up blocking.)

As is discussed in Section 6.3.2, browser configuration to block pop-ups is liable to interfere with Tinkercad’s feature to export objects directly to the Polar Cloud: after clicking Tinkercad’s “Polar Cloud” button and then its “Continue to Polar3D” button, if your browser has pop-ups blocked then you will not proceed to the Polar Cloud build plate screen loading the Tinkercad object; instead you will remain at the Tinkercad tinkering window (with possibly, depending upon your browser, a small, subtle browser warning regarding blocking a pop-up).

Browser configuration is subject to change by browser developers; please refer to manufacturer documentation for your particular browser for definitive information on configuring to allow “pop-ups” from www.tinkercad.com! But for your possible convenience, at the time of this publication:

• In Chrome, the warning regarding pop-ups (at the top right of the location bar), see Figure 6.54, if expanded, allows adjustment of pop-up blocking. Or if you wish to be proactive in checking whether pop-ups are blocked, for Chrome on Mac, click “Chrome” on the application menu (towards the upper left of the screen) and at the Chrome drop-down menu click “Preferences”; scroll down to the bottom of the resulting settings screen to find and click “Advanced” and on the resulting expanded list, under “Privacy and Security”, select “Content settings”, and then select “Popups”. Under “Popups” you may block or allow pop-ups generally; or while blocking pop-ups generally, you may configure to allow pop-ups from certain trusted websites, such as www.tinkercad.com.

  Another way to get to the “Popups” setting on Chrome on Mac is to click on the “Settings” icon in the upper right-hand corner of a Chrome window (three vertical dots if your Chrome is up-to-date; an up-arrow if your Chrome is due to be updated) and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu. Scroll down the screen to click “Advanced” and on the resulting expanded list, under “Privacy and Security”, select “Content settings”, and then select “Popups”.

  For Chrome on Windows, click on the “Customize and control Google Chrome” icon (three vertical dots if your Chrome is up-to-date) in the upper right-corner of a Chrome window and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu. Click on the main menu icon (three horizontal lines “hamburger menu” icon) in front of “Settings”. Click on the little arrow next to “Advanced” and on the resulting expanded list, select “Content settings” and then “Popups”.

• In Firefox, go to “Preferences”, “Content”, “Pop-ups”, “Block pop-windows”; Firefox allows setting “Exceptions” here, so you may add www.tinkercad.com as a trusted site from which to allow pop-ups. Alternatively, if you have not yet configured Firefox to allow pop-ups from Tinkercad, then attempting to export direct to the Polar Cloud will cause an error banner, and you may click on “Preferences” on that error banner to bring up a menu at which you will have the option of allowing pop-ups from Tinkercad; see Figure 15.1.
  
  

  Figure 15.1: Firefox: Tinkercad pop-ups blocked; configuring to allow

  

• In Opera, the warning regarding pop-ups (at the top right of the location bar), see Figure 15.2, if expanded, allows adjustment of pop-up blocking. Or if you wish to be proactive in checking whether pop-ups are blocked, for Opera on Mac, at the top application menu on the screen click “Opera” and on its drop-down menu select “Preferences”, then “Websites”, then “Pop-ups”. Note that even with “Do not allow any site to show pop-ups” set, you can, under “Manage Exceptions”, allow pop-ups from certain trusted websites, such as www.tinkercad.com.
  
  

  Figure 15.2: Opera: Tinkercad pop-ups blocked; configuring to allow

  

  For Opera on Windows, to allow pop-ups from www.tinkercad.com, while at a Tinkercad screen, right click, and then select “Edit site preferences”. At the resulting dialog, adjust the settings for “Pop-ups”.

• For Safari, click “Safari” at the top application menu on the screen, and at its drop-down menu select “Preferences”, then at the resulting pop-up menu select “Security”, and under the category of “Web content”, see the “Block pop-up windows” checkbox; uncheck the box, if it is checked. Note that in Safari, this is an all-or-nothing setting (you can’t allow pop-ups only from www.tinkercad.com and other trusted sites), so you may want to consider switching this setting to allow pop-ups only when you are performing Tinkercad object export, and then set it to disallow pop-ups when you are finished exporting objects.

Note: On a different note, do not attempt to run Firefox in its (debugging purposes) “Safe” mode to use the Polar Cloud; in particular, the Polar Cloud build plate screen will not operate properly on Firefox in “Safe” mode.