Tips & Tricks

[ntxdave]

After reading another post, I think it would be neat if there was a Tips & Tricks category subdivided by plugin name and SU tool name.

I see lots of tips and tricks buried in various thread but sometimes it is hard to find them.

[cotty]

If you split the tips from the plugin discussion, you have to search in two places...

[ntxdave]

@cotty said:

If you split the tips from the plugin discussion, you have to search in two places...

I understand. I was looking for a good way to organize them for future reference. Sometimes things get buried in discussion and can be difficult to find. In particular this can happen when something new is being developed and the discussion can become intense. Perhaps if there was a way to flag a post as a tip/ trick and there was a way to search for them by topic both objectives could be accomplished.

SketchUcation is a very informative forum. Sometimes it is so informative that it becomes difficult to find things.

[pilou]

So ask it and someone will answer in a minute!

[ntxdave]

@pilou said:

So ask it and someone will answer in a minute!

OK, I surrender!!!

One of my objectives was trying to reduce redundant questions which sometimes get rather curse responses about not searching.

[hellnbak]

If there is some way it could be done I think this is a great idea. Anything that makes information more readily available to those looking for it can only be good.

[Rich O Brien]

Nothing stopping someone making a thread listing tips and tricks as they find them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ntxdave]

@rich o brien said:

Nothing stopping someone making a thread listing tips and tricks as they find them.

Yes, that is true but I was trying to suggest something with a little more structure so that the would be some structure to make it easier to find them.

Something kind of like this:

Tips & Tricks

• SketchUp Tools

  • Sandbox

    • Tip #1
      - Discussion
    • Tip #2
      - Discussion

  • Paint Bucket - Materials

    • Tip #1
      - Discussion
    • Tip #2
      - Discussion

• Plugins / Extensions

  • SubD

    • Tip #1
      - Discussion
    • Tip #2
      - Discussion

  • Fredo Tools

    • Tip #1
      - Discussion
    • Tip #2
      - Discussion

Hope this makes some sense. Again, the objective is to provide an organized place for members to more quickly find information without having to read through many messages in many threads.

[pbacot]

What you want may be more like a "wiki" documentation which may be actually useful for the more elaborate plugins and not at all for most.

[Rich O Brien]

@ntxdave said:

I was trying to suggest something with a little more structure

A little more structure still requires lots of work. If we devoted time to creating something for one or two members we'd make poor use of our time.

We do have a wiki installed on the server. Unfinished but there at least.

Start a poll. Get a discussion going. I'm not in a position to say 'no we won't do this or that'. The community dictates the direction this ship takes. We simply maintain the engine.

Personally, I'd love to see a wiki being maintained here. But the last thing we need is a wiki with tumbleweeds rolling through because of a lack of community commitment.

Imagine all of Box's gifs in one place! awesome. Or cotty's modelling examples. It goes on and on.

[JQL]

Shoot the wiki Rich! Every reply we give can be turned into a wiki page!

[ntxdave]

Rich, I can fully understand your position. I was just struggling to try to find some way to make it easier to find the tips and tricks that people post. Sometimes I remember seeing something but cannot find it. The search facility is OK but many times it does not get me to what I am looking for. The other thing is that many times the search engine will point to a thread but what you are looing for is buried in the middle of a big string of posts.

I know there is no perfect solution but I was trying to find a way to organize the many great pieces of information people share in this forum.

My original post was trying to find a mechanism, like a flag, that would maybe provide a more efficient way to find/retrieve information. I do not know how the backend of the forum engine works but I assume it is a database. Again, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about a facility that would allow someone (moderator or poster) to add the flag which would popup a dropdown list of categories (SU Tools and Plugin names) that could be associated with the post. Then the search engine would allow you to select by those flags so the individual post could be retrieved without having to find it buried in the middle of a long thread.

I like your thought of putting together some way (like a vote) to get feedback on whether people would be interested in a facility like that.