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. 

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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. 

[Cadguru42]

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@Curtis_Waguespack wrote:

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@andrewdroth wrote:

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Just submitted a form to the affect that a major chunk of the Inventor iLogic solutions are now dead ends. 🤣

I need someone to explain this to me like I'm 5. How does this improve my experience here?
I am far less worried about how the forums look all of a sudden.

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Try writing the sentence as shown 1000 times until you're convinced, and then report back 😂

In all seriousness, I was just trying to help a brand new forum member with a question and when I searched Google for the error message the person showed it returned 4 or 5 dead links from content that had been removed in the "archiving" effort, so I just moved on. If AD is not concerned with that customer finding a solution, and is not concerned with me being able to efficiently assist that customer with finding a solution, why would I invest my time there? 

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This is exactly what's happening and Autodesk doesn't seem to care. They refuse to address this issue and I can only assume they hope it'll just go away. I can't speak for others, but I have just stopped trying to help as much because Autodesk has made it so difficult in both the look of the forums and the mass deletion of user provided answers to their software issues.

[dmitriy.shpilevoy]

I caught this new thing that is going around and now forums are unreadable.

New design is bloated for no good reason. Thread list takes too much space and crams everything in the same area so now I can't quickly scan the list and check new stuff, slogging through the list feels like a chore now.

Not a fan of upvote button. It makes sense for Ideas, but not in other forums. Does it really matter how many people liked a comment? I still need to read it to know if it's relevant. Spammer accounts will love that though.

I see some folks like new design and it's fine, but I would appreciate an option to use old one. As it is now, visiting forums is frustrating and make me want to stay away.

[andrewdroth]

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@Curtis_Waguespack wrote:

In all seriousness, I was just trying to help a brand new forum member with a question and when I searched Google for the error message the person showed, it returned 4 or 5 dead links from content that had been removed in the "archiving" effort, so I just moved on.

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100%

I think the google algorithm is noticing though, I'm seeing far more non-Autodesk results all of a sudden. Good job I guess.

The silence is deafening. There must be a gag order in play. Maybe the new product/service will be worth the embargo. Here's to hoping.

[marcus.toepke]

please tell me that we can choose the old forum style!

PLEEEAAASEEEEE!

[g-andresen]

Hi,

With the current design, I will consider whether I will still be active in the forum at all.

günther

[Chad-Smith]

Consider for a moment a Solved thread, and the post offering the Solution is nothing more than a link to another older Solved thread.

Now consider if that older thread has recently been archived, or upon the next round of archiving it will be archived. 

What happens to the newer Solved thread that now contains a 'Solution' that technically no longer exists?

Is the forums platform smart enough to identify this, and will the newer Solved thread also be archived?

And if not, will the new community redesign manage this in other ways?

[pendean]

@Chad-Smith wrote:

"...will the newer Solved thread also be archived..."

That's never been a reality in the 20years+ of these forums' existence, why would it suddenly change today when they are still using the same forum software and developer?

[Curtis_Waguespack]

I know there were many people on this thread that were interested in the topic of the community archive/deletion of content: 

See latest info: 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/community-announcements/update-on-archiving-idea-boards-and-forums/td...

edit, here's a bit more:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/quot-archiving-quot-this-forum/m-p/13276703/highlight/...

[RDAOU]

@amanda.k 

I ve just been flooded with 105 emails of new topics added to the Revit Forum...which infact all dated back from 2004 till 2016!!!! (probably some of what has been archeived being re-added)

Should we unsubscribe for the time being or is there a way that this reshuffeling does not broadcast and send notifications (some silent mode sort off)?

@Curtis_Waguespack maybe they are silently responding to your post lol exept it wasnt that silent in my email

[cadffm]

Hi,

it's a mistake of the one who moved the threads. You should see the sender.

For usual this admin job is silent (if he/she tick the right option).

Just a little mistake.

[amanda.k]

Hey @RDAOU - @cadffm is right, it was an inadvertent notification(s).  We started moving some of the popular posts back (from the archiving project) to their appropriate boards. Since we did this manually, notifications were sent if you subscribed to the boards.  We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause and appreciate your understanding - we're doing it a different way in the future. 

Hope you're all doing well, and happy 2025! 

[gtprototype]

HATE! the new forum.  I don't come here anymore unless I absolutely need help.  It's not a fun place to hang out anymore to read posts.  

[scgq425]

when the website loading slowly , the right message button color is cant have a good show style like this . the ui may be can change this three message button to the left color like : white

[istan]

And I now always only read the very first message - as it is the only message I see on my screen. Good for me - I reduced my support now to a single user per day 😉

[marcus.toepke]

Hey Autodesk do you realise that the users use the forum and not the forum developers who are bored?

Listen to the users and give us a forum that is a pleasure to work with.
It's not important to be able to wipe quickly like Tick Tock.
We want to exchange information and get help here!
Nothing has to be exciting here, it should be USEFUL!

[dmitriy.shpilevoy]

Any official response to all this?

So far it looks like feedback is welcome, but ignored completely when it's about new design.

[blank...]

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@dmitriy.shpilevoy wrote:

Any official response to all this?

So far it looks like feedback is welcome, but ignored completely when it's about new design.

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Yup, when opening old topics it still doesn't jump to first unread post like it used to, makes it a complete chore to use. Hate it.

[istan]

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@marcus.toepke wrote:

Hey Autodesk do you realise that the users use the forum and not the forum developers who are bored?

I would say, there are no "developers" involved at all, beause then it would look different..

[Sleepingfish_Kuo]

My Notifications doesn't show who answer my topic now.

Please fix it. 

Without notification, I can't even find my topic in minutes.

(There is no "see my topics" button on the forum category page. It hides in other page.)

[Cadguru42]

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@dmitriy.shpilevoy wrote:

Any official response to all this?

So far it looks like feedback is welcome, but ignored completely when it's about new design.

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The other thread has some responses from Autodesk.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/community-announcements/community-redesign-modernizing-the-autodesk-f...

But keep in mind that Autodesk has not really answered anything. It's just corporate-speak nonsense and our feedback is being ignored. In fact, it's getting worse. 

They made the icons in the upper-right dark-grey to where they're extremely hard to see on the black banner background. No one working on the forum design apparently has any idea about how to do UI design.