Tech Tip: Using the SolidWorks Discussion Forums
One way to communicate and connect with other members of the SolidWorks® Community is through the SolidWorks Discussion Forums— SolidWorks-hosted and moderated forums available to all customers.
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Level: |
Beginner |
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Solution ID: |
S-013491 |
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Category: |
Administration, Web, Forums, Tech Tip |
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Products/Version: |
SolidWorks 2009 |
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Last revised: |
10/30/08 |
Accessing the forums
Before accessing the discussion forums, you will need to create a login to the SolidWorks Customer Portal. The discussion forums will use the same login and password.
To access the Customer to create an account visit, https://www.solidworks.com/customerportal.
There is also a link to the discussion forums within the Customer Portal. To access the discussion forums directly once you have an accounts, visit http://forum.solidworks.com/.
Configuring your profile
First, configure your profile under My Profile. This is where you can set your location and signature for all posts. It is also highly recommended you place your current version of SolidWorks in your signature so other issues know what version you are using when you ask questions. Many users also place their system information in the signature as well.
The Personal Option selection allows you to set:
- Category blocking: removes the categories from the Forums list. Typically done if you don't want to see all categories.
- Category subscription: provides a daily update on all posts from the selected categories.
- Category digest: sends one email each day summarizing the posts from each selected areas.
Navigating the discussion forum
Once you have logged in you can select one of the categories of interest of select from one of following the items:
- My forums: listing of all the categories in the SolidWorks discussion forum
- My forum profile: your profile and preferences
- Latest topics: listing of the latest posts in the discussion forum
- Forum help: help topics for using the discussion forum
- Forum log out: Log out of the discussion forum
Once you have selected a category (General), you will see posts for that area, how many people viewed the topic, rating for topic, number of views, originator, and last post date.
When you selected a specific topic you can see the posts, replies, rate the topic, can pick Topic Tools which allows you to reply, subscribe (email), email the topic to someone, view similar topics, or bookmark the topic so it appears on the left side navigation (at the bottom).
The discussion forums can also be searched. There is a search box on the top and left sides of the discussion forum.
Posting to the forum
When you post new items or reply to an existing post the editor shown in Figure 7 is displayed. This is the HTML editor. You can also use the WYSIWYG editor shown in figure 8. The type of editor is configured under the My Profile\Personal Options section. The WYSIWYG Editor offers more features.
You can subscribe to the topic, give the post a icon, post an attachment and add a summary that is displayed at the top level before finish and posting the message. Your signature will appear at the bottom of the post.
Conclusion
The SolidWorks discussion forum is a great way to ask questions and communicate with other users. Always remember to follow the forum charter, treat others as you would talking directly to them and have fun.
