We’re testing a new Forums experience – feedback welcomed

[amanda.k]

Edit 1/13/2025 - Please see the latest news regarding the Community Redesign – Modernizing the Autodesk Forums in the linked post. 

_______________________________________________

Hello Autodesk Community,  

We have launched an A/B test to explore a new and improved forums experience. This test will help us understand what works best for you and ensure that our forums remain an engaging place for everyone, and that you’re easily able to find relevant information for your needs.   

What This Means for You:  

Random Selection: Some users will continue to see the current layout (Group A), while other users will see the new forum layout (Group B).

No Action Needed: You don’t need to do anything differently. Just use the forums as you normally would.  

Valuable Feedback: Your interactions and feedback are incredibly important to us. They will guide us in making the best possible improvements. We welcome feedback in a reply to this post, or you can DM @amanda.k.   

Why Are We Doing This?  

Our goal is to enhance your experience by making the forums more user-friendly, intuitive, and enjoyable. By testing different layouts and features, we can identify what truly resonates with you. We’re also looking to make sure that you can find and see all the additional features and benefits we offer in the Community – such as Events and Blogs.    

  

How You Can Help:  

Engage and Explore: If you’re part of Group A, we encourage you to explore the new features and share your thoughts.  

Share Your Feedback: Whether you’re in Group A or Group B, your feedback is crucial. Let us know what you like, what you don’t, and any suggestions you have.  

  

Thank you for being a part of our community and helping us create the best forums experience possible. We’re excited to hear your thoughts and continue improving together!  

See you on the Community!  

@amanda.k 

Edited 12/12/24, 3:00PM PST to add:

Recordings of Office Hours

December 5, 2024 - Autodesk Community Team Product Team Office Hours recording

December 9, 2024 - Autodesk Community Team Product Team Office Hours recording

December 12, 2024 - Autodesk Community Team Product Team Office Hours recording

December 19, 2024 - Autodesk Community Team Product Team Office Hours recording

Blog Posts from the Product Team:

Week of 12/12/24 - Forum Redesign – New Releases & Office Hours Recap for this week.

Week of 12/6/24 - Forum Redesign – New Releases & Office Hours Recap for this week.

Week of 12/19/24 - Forum Redesign - New Releases & Office Hours Recap for this week

Week of  1/10/2025 - Community Redesign – Modernizing the Autodesk Forums

FAQ - living FAQ document. We are still gathering questions and will be updating it reguarly. 

[Waguespack_Curtis]

---

@Alfred.NESWADBA wrote:

Hi @amanda.k 

>> not a complete fix, but incremental

This may sound arrogant or impolite (or both), but should'nt Autodesk think about the developers of the new forum layout (which is a lot of stuff) if this team has already issues with a simple tiny textbox?

Sorry for wording, but from a developer point of view it sounds strange that solving issues with a textbox (which does not seem to have any advantages to the previous one, which was working well) needs to be done in multiple steps.

- alfred -

---

@Alfred.NESWADBA, reading that made about a dozen questions come to mind for me too.

• Doesn't that risk that they are going to turn around and regress the text editor once again, when they touch the text editor to fix the numbered list issues?
• Don't they have some test protocol to work against when working on a specific feature/set of features, to ensure they don't regress some other area of it?
• Shouldn't that have pointed to the numbered list, during this last update?
• and 9 more things I'm left wondering about... 🤔

Between the communication and the results, I think we kinda' know why this has been such a rough few weeks. 

[rmoore3]

Back does now go back to the page you were on but all the way to the bottom of the page so I still have to scroll past stuff I've already read. Oddly enough, however, it works correctly when about half the page has been read - back goes back to where you were instead of the bottom of the page. 

[Brock_Olly]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to review our suggestions and trying to make the forum a better place.

My small suggestions:
1. Add a compact view option in the settings, that compacts the view, which allows for more posts to be shown on the homepage. 
2. Not sure if you will keep the level system, but you got rid of the colourful level icons in the main view, maybe add the option to add it back.

 

[pendean]

---

@Sleepingfish_Kuo wrote:

...1. Post ONE new post in many forums...

---

That will never happen, sorry. It's impossible to control bad actors with that ability turned on (they can't even handle spammers now with us end users flagging those posts for them).

#2 has merit, I'd vote for that one. The limitation being, not every software package has an IDEAS forum, and they are not likely to add them (those software developers side of the company don't want them).

[MjDeck]

I would like to see the old "Message 12 of 20" info in the new format. That made it easy to refer back to specific posts in a long thread.
(You can do that with links in the new format, but you lose the clear context of "Message 12 of 20".)

[Curtis_Waguespack]

---

@amanda.k wrote:

Hello, the below issues have been fixed as of 12.18.2024.  

1. Text Window sizing for replies.  

Issue: The text window when replying remained small, text disappeared below window when typing.  

Resolution: The text window when replying will now automatically expand vertically as users type, Does it though?!? now accommodating longer content without manual resizing or scrolling. Please note that automatic expansion becomes disabled once you manually resize the editor and can remain disabled until the page is reloaded. 

---

I feel like AD is pranking us. 🙄

I don't see how this is fixed.

Per the resolution listed above, we should see the text window expand automatically. But we still see the same issue at line 4 until enter is pressed. Same issue in new and old versions.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

• In the old version refreshing the page does not change the focus/location of the page.
  • this is the expected behavior
• In the new version refreshing the page takes me to the top of the page.
  • This is not the behavior I would expect.

My goal here was to refresh the page to check if the video had finished loading.

new version goes to the top of the page

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Old text editor does not function correctly when quoting.

New one is not real smooth, but I think it does work.

[Sleepingfish_Kuo]

I'm just being sarcastic about the default search to all board.

So I used two features that are completely unrelated to another program as examples.

...If it really happens, I think I'll always post to all forums just like bad actors, too.

[pendean]

---

@Sleepingfish_Kuo wrote:

I'm just being sarcastic about the default search to all board....

---

🤣

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Bug with bullet and numbers in the text editor. Happens in both A and B versions.

[amanda.k]

Hello, the final Office Hours of the year recording / blog post is now released. 

Office Hours recap - December 19, 2024 (Blog post)

Office Hours recording - December 19, 2024

I've raised all feedback to the Product Team as well. I'm going through "liking" the posts, but wanted to keep stating that in case new commenters do not know. 

I will be keeping an eye on this thread through the holidays, and logging feedback, but I wish everyone here a joyous time and hopeful break from work. We appreciate the time spent reviewing the AB test, the feedback given, and the patience you have exhibited. 

Amanda

[RDAOU]

I wish could have had the option to keep using the old format until you guy were done fixing the new one. While you guys are at it, could someone maybe fix this?! 

My login credentials are not saved on any PC yet when I open the browser and without logging in (top right) I could still post replies if I used the quick reply (Bottom Left). This mostly happens when I visit the post via the link I received in my email (for the ID I am using now and showing next to the quick post reply) but when I send the reply it is posting it using my company ID which I would be logged into on Revit, Inventor or AutoCAD in the background.

DELETE OWN POST

It would also be nice to give users the option to delete their own post without having ask an admin

MESSAGE|REPLIES GROUPING

It believe it would also be useful to add a hierarchy or grouping feature to the replies in a discussion where for instance if I am not replying to the OP from person A but to a person B who after a few years decided to revive or clarify something on the same discussion, then

• my reply would be sorted/grouped/idented under the post of Mr or Ms B. 
• Adding the option to collapse all (subdiscussions) would be nice for less scrolling through replies and trying to connect which goes with what

PREVIOUS|NEXT PAGE

Consider implementing the option to flip through pages also at the beginning of the discussions

TOP CONTRIBUTORS VS TAGS

I do not see how removing the top contributor from the page margin and replacing it with related tags contribute to the user experience.

• You can bring back the top contributors to the margin but there is really no need for all the statistics. Just reduce it to Top contributors of the month. 
• Instead of the tags taking all that space, make it a drop down menu

MAIN BOARD SORTING BASED ON NEWEST ACTIVITY

Sometimes when replying to discussions, they do not get bumped up. Some do and some don't not sure how the topics are sorted and the sorting option is available in the discussions but not on the Product forum

LAYOUT

The new layout looks fine on my IPAD but if I log in on any of the desktops there is lots of whitespace and the layout differs slightly if opening in Edge or Chrome. The weird thing though is that New/Old layout user categories does not seem to work as described in the OP. 

• When I log in on the Samsung TAB S9 using the app  Internet,  I get the old layout (This is a new tablet which I have never opening the forum on it)
• If I log in on to my ASUS laptop at home using Google Chrome I get the old layout
• Logging in on any of the Desktop Workstations (at home or the office) I get the new layout
• On my IPAD Pro (both 11 & 12.9) the new layout seems a perfect fit! Like as if who ever designed this was targeting specifically IPAD users 

While I'm fine with either designs I do prefer if the new one would be first adaptive so that one does not notice a huge difference in layout when using different devices, and I would rather have it slightly more compact...so something in between the compact design of the old forum + the clarity in the new design would be nice

[RDAOU]

I missed out on two more things which is annoying...

Lock solved Discussions:

solved/answered questions should be locked for so many reasons

1. Clarity and less confusion
2. single topic discussions rather than multiple topics and countless solutions
3. better indexing, referencing and archiving.
4. Reducing nonsense solutions (I have seen posts with “ Yeah Buddy” marked as solution! I have even seen one topic with 35 solutions on a discussion about some movie. And another which is a monologue with again multiple solutions!

Fix the full page sized widget just to list the Accepted solutions:

Accepted Solutions!! could also be shown as a Header "Accepted Solutions 6" and to go to a specific one, user selects from a drop down menu below the header! (2 lines and simple

Half a page of BLANK because someone was generous in accepting solutions is not really an improvement. I have seen discussions on various sections of the forum with 10+ solutions

[so-chong]

Hello,

What I miss about the "old" forum is the feature it had—a dedicated page that displayed a leaderboard (All Time?) of members with the most solved questions. Unfortunately, that feature seems to have disappeared.

The leaderboard provided a clear indication of a member’s involvement, expertise, and reputation. It also made it much easier to look up the solved questions of a specific member. For new forum members, this was a valuable resource and a great starting point to find out who they could turn to with their questions.

I know it’s still technically possible to find this information, but only if you happen to know the username of the relevant forum member.

In some cases, such an overview could even help distinguish yourself during a job application by highlighting your expertise in a specific area of Revit. While some people might not care about this, others could find it a valuable addition to fostering engagement within the forum community.

[rhesusminus]

 Trying to see some new posts on the AutoCAD Electrical forum today. I'm impressed.

[Cadguru42]

---

@so-chong wrote:

Hello,

What I miss about the "old" forum is the feature it had—a dedicated page that displayed a leaderboard (All Time?) of members with the most solved questions. Unfortunately, that feature seems to have disappeared.

The leaderboard provided a clear indication of a member’s involvement, expertise, and reputation. It also made it much easier to look up the solved questions of a specific member. For new forum members, this was a valuable resource and a great starting point to find out who they could turn to with their questions.

I know it’s still technically possible to find this information, but only if you happen to know the username of the relevant forum member.

In some cases, such an overview could even help distinguish yourself during a job application by highlighting your expertise in a specific area of Revit. While some people might not care about this, others could find it a valuable addition to fostering engagement within the forum community.

---

Well, Autodesk deleted every post over 10 years old regardless of whether it answered a question or not, so this doesn't help near as much as it used to. Sync was a great surveyor (who sadly passed years ago) and he had almost 100 solved posts related to surveying that are just gone now. Nevermind that since Autodesk hasn't touched the survey side of C3D in well over a decade, most of the answered posts are just gone now. 

If the current state of the forums stays as it is right now with the redesign that removes functionality and the deletion (not archiving as Autodesk states) then a lot of people are just going to stop posting. 

[Chad-Smith]

The recent mass post deletions continue to impact the knowledge experience on these forums. With examples like the below (an answer I needed the other day), the 'Solved' status sends a false signal about whether the source can be trusted. I am already using Reddit and Youtube more for finding solutions.

More frustrating though, is how dead links (i.e redirections) are handled by the forum.

Clicking through on the above dead link directs the user to the Category. It should at the very least, direct the user to the Board.

Furthermore, so that the user isn't confused when they are redirected from a dead search result link, there needs to be a forum message alerting the user to the fact that the post no longer exists, and that their search can continue at the board they were directed to.

Even better would be for the forum to intelligently understand the content of the dead link, and use that in an automated search. I mean, the dead link URL has all the components it needs to redirect to an active search. This would partially help mitigate the problem of dead links by being proactive with finding another same/similar post/solution. e.g. "Sorry we couldn't load the post you were looking for, but here are some similar posts that may help".

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-design-validate-document/sketching-or-sweep-revolve-on-cylindrical-surface/td-p/5426841

The above demonstrates another issue that I don't believe has been discussed. Solved posts no longer have their Title's updated as "Solved: "

In the below screenshot that shows two accepted solutions, the first is older from 2020, the second from only the other day.

In a general web search, the older post clearly shows the post as Solved. It stands out, signalling to the user that this is a link worth following.

The newer post is not nearly as clear, with the Solved label very easy to overlook. I would like to see the "Solved: " be moved back into the Title.

[RDAOU]

@amanda.k 

would autodesk consider adding a Block user option? Where blocking a user would prevent him/her from seeing your posts and sending you private messages?! That new ignore user doesn’t seem to do anything

while you guys are doing a great job moderating the forum, there are private inbox  stalker which as per Autodesk’s forum policy, you guys might not be able to do anything about but a block click would solve the the problem

[Valentin_CAD]

@amanda.k ,

Instead of making it a "Random Selection", allow users to select which layout they prefer.

If you are able to track users' preference, it will provide you better feedback of which layout works best.

Or create a POLL.

Personally, NOT in favor of the new format.