Ask the Expert v Discussion Group - Comments

[PatrickByrne]

I am interested in what other users think.

I have found that having two areas where you can ask questions not very helpful. I would prefer having all questions asked in the Discussion group with the designated expert for the month answering questions here as well.

There is better search in the Discussion Group, you can attach documents and some of the answers have been more helpful.

[dave.wolfe]

I tend to agree.  Having the Ask the Expert though, does allow highlighting other people's expertise.  I've requested that they add the ability to move a question to the discussion group.  Sometimes, there are more answers than the one the expert provides.  

[EileenForan]

Thanks for asking this question, Patrick! 

This is a great subject, and one I'd like to hear more about.

Please give us your opinions on this subject. I manage Plant Exchange and the expert feature there, and welcome feedback on its continued value vs. a conflict with the discussion forums.

Eileen

[Anonymous]

Hi,

My experience is, my questions aren't really answered in Ask the Expert. But sometimes, I will be able to find the answer in Discussion Group.

So, personlly, I find Discussion Group more useful. If we can combine two tegether, I think it is a good idea. I like to see it happen.

Cheers

[Rave.Tam]

Never used Ask The Expert. Forums is a better way to ask questions and you'll get answers from different person (most important is the actual users) with different perspective. And someone else can easily find answers using search.

There's so many unsnwered questions in the forum, better for the expert to move to the forums.

[Anonymous]

Bring Plant 3D forums,  Plant 3D Exchange & In the Pipes to a central locations,hopefully make things a lot easier to find instead of being redirected for here to there, there to here.

[EileenForan]

Hi, Phil. Thanks for your feedback. AutoCAD Plant Exchange is the central information hub for Ask the Expert, discussion forums, blogs, twitter feeds, learning and training tools, tips and tricks videos, and more. Are you saying that the information is not easy to find on Plant Exchange?

Thanks,

Eileen

[Anonymous]

more it would be nicer to have all plant 3d information in one location, yes i know you and see latest forums in the forums tab would be nice if it was more searchable like this forum and full forum list was there.

Would also be nice to  have the videos grouped in relavant releases.

Was a keen follower of the In the Pipes blog but that has died a slow death of late.

Ask the expert I see we have lost previous expert responses, a drop down with a list of experts or a search options so the same question is not asked to different experts would be a big help.

Hope this is helpful

[EileenForan]

Thanks, Phil. This is great feedback, and I appreciate that you were able to give specifics. That helps me to evaluate how we communicate and present the information we have on the site.

Looking forward to more comments on this subject.

Eileen

[PatrickByrne]

 I believe that this thread "Moving from CadWorx to Plant 3D deal breaker. Can somebody confirm this please?"is a good example of the quality of answers on the Discussion group. I had also asked this question in Ask the Expert but think that was going to be an ordeal similar to the last time I asked. Users usually know exactly what the problem is and have probably solved something similar before.

With Ask the Expert I might have a solution to a problem but have no way of answering. It also splits the number of users looking at questions that they might have the answer for. As in my example what do I do post it on Ask the Expert where it will be answered but is only one opinion or on the Discussion group where if the right people look at it you can get multiple solutions or none.

It would also be good to have an official area for a wish list for the next release something similar to what Dave Wolf has set up at http://www.google.com/moderator/#15/e=1fe61c&t=1fe61c.40. This allows you to add your ideas but also allows you to vote on ones you think are important. This way you get a better idea of how many users need this update.

Regards

[dave.wolfe]

Patrick I've spoken with Eileen about a wish list, but she said that really has to come from the users.  I think Autodesk doesn't want to have people think the wishlist is ideas they are going to guarantee.  

Hopefully, we can get more people behind our wish list http://www.pdoteam.com/wishlist/plant3d which we can use to present ideas similar to how the AUGI wishlist works.

[EileenForan]

Hi Dave and Patrick.

Dave is correct. While I think it's a great idea to have a wish list topic on this forum (which I could pin to the top of the forum for easy access and viewing), if Autodesk initiates the post, it might insinuate to contributors that we are signing up to take the wish list items and get them into the next release. I cannot guarantee that we could do so. What I can do is message the wish list items to our development team.

I've been looking into a couple of ideas, so please stay tuned.

Meanwhile, feel free to create a Wish List thread on this forum and I will monitor it and message back to our team.

Eileen

[PatrickByrne]

Was there any more thought on this subject. I am not sure if i should be asking the questions on this discussion forum or on the Ask The Expert forum.

Sometimes I have asked on both and got excellent answers from both.

[EileenForan · Accepted solution]

Hi Patrick.

We are keeping both features for the time being, since they both provide value to the software users. I'll keep you up to date if we decide to consolidate the features on the discussion forums.

Thanks for all your feedback on this subject.

Eileen