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Feeling inspired

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:58:00 GMT

This week, Be Inspired took place in Amsterdam. What makes this event fairly unique is that it showcases how various individuals and organizations are using Bentley technology to respond to challenges and solve problems that impact many people today. One prime example is the special recognition award delivered to Codelco for the recent (and very successful) rescue of 33 miners, who were trapped underground in Chile for 69 days. What is not known by most is that that infrastructure project was completed almost 2 months before schedule. Like a lot of people, I followed that event closely and watched the miners being brought to the surface one by one... the fact that the amount of time that those men could have been below the surface was cut almost in half makes its success even that much more incredible.

Be Inspired highlighted many other infrastructure projects, too, all of which are selected as outstanding achievements in infrastructure design, engineering, construction, and operations across the globe, as well as the innovation in best practices among the infrastructure professionals who make these projects possible. If you have not yet, you should really check out the photos and coverage in the Bentley areas on Facebook and Twitter as well as the press releases -- you will likely be as inspired about how our technology is used as I am.

Bentley Systems Nominated for Construction Computing Awards – VOTE NOW!

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:46:00 GMT

Bentley has been nominated for ten Construction Computing Awards! Also known as “The Hammers,” the Construction and Computing Awards showcase and reward technology, tools, and solutions for the effective design, construction, maintenance, and modification of commercial buildings, resident and social housing, and civil engineering projects of all sizes.

For the 2010 Awards, Bentley has been nominated in the following categories:

CAD Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - GenerativeComponents V8i Technology Preview
Mobile Technology Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - ProjectWise Dynamic Plot V8i
Structural Design & Engineering Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM)
Structural Analysis Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - STAAD (X)
Building Services Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Bentley Hevacomp Suite of Building Performance Products
Best Use of Social Media
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated (including Be Communities)
Editors Choice
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - OpenPlant Interoperability Suite
Environmental Project of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Feilden Clegg
Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - ProjectWise V8i
Company of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated

In 2009, Bentley Systems walked away with the CAD Software Product of the Year Award for MicroStation V8i and the Structural Analysis Software of the Year Award for STAAD.Pro. In 2008, Bentley Systems was recognized as the Company of the Year and also received the Environmental Product of the Year Award.

Ahead of the Curve...

One of the new categories that was added this year is the Award for Best Use of Social Media. Paul Wilkinson, a construction public relations and marketing specialist, wrote about the implications of recognizing companies for their Web 2.0 advancements. In particular, Paul noted Bentley Systems’ social media activity with Be Communities, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. He recognized Bentley Systems’ comprehensive and integrated approach to social media and offered a rating of 9 out of 10 (his highest score among the competition):

“Bentley Systems is one of the biggest names in construction design software, and has sought to develop and maintain end-user loyalty through its Be Communities. Of the award contenders, this is perhaps the most mature and sophisticated. A Beta version was launched in May 2008 and was enhanced and updated six months later. It provides a social networking site for Bentley users in the AEC and related fields, and includes forums, blogs, resource galleries and wikis, enabling users to connect, communicate and learn from each other. From the BE Communities home page (which has an RSS feed), there are also links to Bentley’s Facebook page (1084 fans), the @BentleySystems Twitter account (1161 followers; following 852; 1087 tweets), and its YouTube channel (70 subscribers, 6955 upload views). And, as an industry IT blogger, I can also say that Bentley’s PR team actively cultivate their links to external bloggers too. The pwcom verdict: 9/10 (love the comprehensive, integrated approach).”

You can read Paul’s entire blog entry by clicking here.

Cast Your Vote!

Vote for Bentley now at the Construction Computing Awards website. Voting will be open until November 15, and an awards ceremony will be held on November 25.

About Construction Computing

Construction Computing is the only U.K. magazine to focus specifically on IT solutions for the construction industry. It has a circulation of just over 10,000 copies per issue.

The magazine’s editorial purpose is to provide information about all aspects of construction IT product and service use across the whole range of construction areas. Editorial content is placed in a construction company and construction project context. For example, how will any specific IT component improve the course of a particular construction project, and how will it improve the performance of the construction company and its relationship with the client? Content is presented so that IT can be shown to provide real construction business benefits such as increased profitability, lower costs, and faster project execution. For more information, visit http://www.document-manager.com/cco/about.asp

OpenPlant is Released

Ian Robinson — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:29:45 GMT

It is our great pleasure to announce that the OpenPlant V8i products listed below are now available live on Bentley SELECT http://selectservices.bentley.com/ under 'Select Released Products' download category.

Bentley OpenPlant Modeler V8i (SELECTseries 2) (v08.11.07.409)
Bentley OpenPlant ModelServer V8i (SELECTseries 2) (v08.11.07.409)
Bentley OpenPlant ModelServer Administrator V8i (SELECTseries 2) (v08.11.07.409)
Bentley OpenPlant Isometric Manager V8i (SELECTseries 2) (v08.11.07.405)
Bentley OpenPlant Reporting V8i (SELECTseries 2) (v08.11.07.405)
Bentley OpenPlant PowerPID V8i (SELECTseries 3) (v08.11.08.22)
ProjectWise PDX Dynamic Review Service V8i (SELECTseries 2) (v08.11.07.405)
- (Formerly OpenPlant PDX Manager)

What Bentley software users are saying about OpenPlant

"As the largest European manufacturer of boilers, RAFAKO is engaged on many projects working with many different owners and contracting organizations. With the new OpenPlant products, we believe we will be able to improve the collaboration we have with our partners and deliver even higher quality information and products." - Zbigniew Harezlak, Engineering IT Manager, RAFAKO S.A.

"I'm impressed with the interoperability that OpenPlant products provide across platforms and business streams, and I will be implementing these products across my business group. As a multidisciplinary firm, our architectural, structural, civil, and piping disciplines and tools for any given project all have to talk to each other. With OpenPlant products, all the tools use the same platform, leverage the same dynamic views and data sources, and provide a single hub of information, helping to improve efficiencies." - Brent Mauti, CH2M HILL

"I like the functionality of how it places the fittings as you route pipe. You can change components out pretty quickly." - David Seivert, Regional CAD Coordinator, Carollo Engineers - Dallas

The full OpenPlant press release announcement can be found here. http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Corporate/News/Quarter+3/Adds+OpenPlant

For more information about the products and their new and/or enhanced functionalities, please see the product ReadMe files that can be viewed through SELECT downloads and are also installed with the applications. For more information about the value of OpenPlant and the products in the OpenPlant V8i suite, go to:

PDS Users can find more information on how Bentley OpenPlant can help you move your legacy data forward into ISO 15926 and iRING at www.bentley.com/smartplan.

Also, for access to experts on OpenPlant both Bentley and in other companies, join us on the Be Communities at:

http://communities.bentley.com/products/plant/design___engineering/default.aspx

Thank you,

Rob Harper - Director of Product Management - 2D Functional Products
Ian Robinson - Director of Product Management - 3D Physical Products

Be Communities FAQ

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:49:42 GMT

Last updated: November 1, 2011

What is different with Be Communities?
What new functionality is available?
Is the web address different?
Do I have to log back in?
Can I use the login credentials from the "old" Be Communities site?
I have forgotten my username and/or password.
What if I have registered but still cannot login?
I have logged in before, but now cannot login?
I already logged in, why do I get logged off automatically?
What about Single Sign On?
Will all the forum posts that I have previously read still appear that way?
How can I get a listing of all community activity (e.g. forum posts, blog posts, wiki articles, etc.)
Do I have to rejoin communities, or "re-friend" members, etc.?
What about Web browser cookies?
What browsers are supported?
Where can I get more information on the new site?
If I have questions about Be Communities, where can I ask them?
How can I find the product-oriented forums that I visited before?
Are all the forum posts, wiki and blog articles, and images and files from the old site accessible?
How can I find the product TechNotes, FAQs, etc. that were available previously?
Why are multiple file uploads not supported for forum postings?
How do I find things?
Can I still search for articles posted on discussion.bentley.com?
I had bookmarks and RSS feeds set for the old site, do they still work?
How do "old site" links to other "old site" content work now?
How do I get a new community created?
What is the Members menu item?
I subscribed to a forum/media gallery/blog/etc. and am not receiving any notifications of new posts. What could be causing that?
Forums, blogs, wikis... what are they and which should I use?

There are many things different with the site - all of which have been introduced to improve the user experience. The biggest change is how you get to information. In the new system, everything is a community - EVERYTHING. This provides much better organization and navigation as everything with the same context is always presented in the user interface. So instead of starting with an application (e.g. forum, wiki, blog, community, etc.) and then locating context (e.g. a specific product line, one of the Solutions, TechNotes, etc.), you now start with context (e.g. Product lines, Solutions, Bentley Programs, etc.) and then an application (e.g. forum, wiki, blog, etc.) within that community.

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There are many, many enhancements and improvements, many of which satisfy member feedback. Although a comprehensive listing is not available, some of the more notable improvements are:

Support of current Web browsers
Support of Microsoft Live Writer
Additional member profile settings
Quick posting
Member-specific site Favorite Places
Better feedback for things like private messages (now called conversations)
Much improved navigation
Greatly enhanced search
Community-oriented wikis
Sub-community and sub-application abilities
Capable tag cloud
Better support for embedded multimedia
More prominent controls for common functions (i.e. Mark all read)
Capture forum threads and blog articles to a wiki article
Send an article to a friend
Follow this question
Many "bug" fixes
Full-screen editing
Leave comments to wiki articles
Better table of contents abilities in the wikis
Five different types of communities (as opposed to two)

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Is the web address different?

The web address of the site remains what it was -- communities.bentley.com

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Do I have to log back in?

Yes. With all the significant enhancements and differences in the new site, logging back in is a requirement (albeit a minimal one). If you have forgotten your password, see below.

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Can I use the login credentials from the "old" Be Communities site?

Yes. The migration of information to the new Web site made it possible to preserve member names as well as each member's login credentials, profiles, etc.

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I have forgotten my username and/or password.

If you forgot your username and/or password you can visit the Recover Password page, via a link on Sign In page. Enter the e-mail address you registered with. The system will e-mail your username and a new password to that address. Once you receive your username and new password you can sign in and change your password.

NOTE: Make sure to check your Junk Mail folder to see if any messages from "Be Communities by Bentley" or admin{at}be{dot}org end up there. If they are, identify that email address as being a "safe sender" to avoid future messages being sent to your Junk Mail folder. If you do not receive that information after 15 minutes, please click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of every Be Communities web page and inform the site administrators that you have not received your password.

After you are signed in, you can change your password to what you want by clicking on the Settings link in the upper right part of every Be Communities Web page and then selecting the Sign-in Information tab. You can get to the same thing through the URL http://communities.bentley.com/user/changepassword.aspx (this only works after you are signed in).

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What if I have registered but still cannot login?

If you have registered and cannot sign in, check to ensure you have a valid username and password. Keep in mind that your username is not your e-mail address (unless you specifically made your username your e-mail address). If you are sure the username and password are valid, but still cannot login you may either require account activation or your account may be on hold. In this case, it is best to contact us.

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I have logged in before, but now cannot login?

First check to ensure your username and password are correct. Both fields are case sensitive. Keep in mind that your username is not your e-mail address (unless you specifically made your username your e-mail address). If you still cannot login please contact us.

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I already logged in, why do I get logged off automatically?

Due to various system processes currently set up to maximize site performance and health, all connections to the site are terminated about once a day. We are looking into other ways to handle this.

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What about Single Sign On?

At this time, Be Communities uses different username and password credentials than other Bentley websites (e.g. www.Bentley.com, SELECTservices Online, Bentley LEARN Server, etc.) A single sign-on compatible with other Bentley Web properties will be implemented at a later date.

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Will all the forum posts that I have previously read still appear that way?

This is something that we were not able to bring over to the new site, so all the posts in the forums that you had previously visited will appear as though they have not been read (only on the initial viewing of that forum).

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How can I get a listing of all community activity (e.g. forum posts, blog posts, wiki articles, etc.)

The easiest way to do that is to go to the communities that you are most interested in and click the "Favorite this..." link in the area that interests you the most. That will subsequently keep a listing in your Favorite Places, which is specific to you -- no matter where you log in to Be Communities.

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Do I have to rejoin communities, or "re-friend" members, etc.?

You should still be a member of all public or private communities that you had previously joined - those will appear in the respective menu tabs (e.g. Solutions, Products, Bentley Programs, etc.) Similarly, your member profile should also be the same that it was, including any contacts that you have previously "friended". You profile is accessible by clicking on your name at the top of any page on the site (after you have logged in, of course). We recommend taking a few minutes to visit your profile to see what additional personal configuration settings are available to you and to update it accordingly.

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What about Web browser cookies?

If you had previously selected the "Keep me logged in" option, you will need to delete your Be Communities cookie to use the new site.

To delete your Be Communities cookie: Go to the Start menu, Search for Files and Folders, and then search for "communities.bentley.com". Delete the resulting cookie file with that name (for example, "Cookie:xyz@communities.bentley.com".

If you cannot locate this file, please follow the steps below to delete ALL cookies (NOTE: this may affect your browsing experience on other websites):

Microsoft Internet Explorer

In the menu, go to "Tools" and select "Internet Options"
Under "Browsing History" click on "Delete"
Click "Delete cookies" and "OK"

Mozilla Firefox

In the menu, go to "Tools" and select "Clear Recent History"
Select "Cookies" and then "Clear Now"

Google Chrome

Click on the customize icon (the wrench) at the top right, and select "Options"
Click the "Under the Hood" tab and then in the "Privacy" section, click on "Clear Browsing Data"
Select "Delete cookies and other site data" and then click "Clear browsing data"

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What browsers are supported?

We have tested the new site on most current browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer 7 - 9, Google Chrome, Firefox, etc.), so those should all work okay.

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Where can I get more information on the new site?

An area on the site exists where you can get the latest information pertaining to the site -- this can be found under the Help menu item. The Help community wiki contains various things like this FAQ, Getting Started with Be Communities, among other things, all of which will be updated on an as-needed basis.

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If I have questions about Be Communities, where can I ask them?

Forums exist in the Help community where you can ask questions and share answers with other community members. If you require assistance from Be Communities site administrators, please contact us and include details to help us help you.

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How can I find the product-oriented forums that I visited before?

The product-oriented forums are now applications in the respective Product communities. An overall index to the Product communities can be found in the Product Community Mappings list.

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Are all the forum posts, wiki and blog articles, and images and files from the old site accessible?

We tried to migrate as much content to the new site as we could. That said, we did do some "housecleaning", where context-oriented content that no longer applies or seemed irrelevant was not moved. In situations where the latter is the case, we still have access to that data, so if you believe that something is missing, first try searching for the content... if it is not found, refresh your Web browser session. If that does not resolve the missing information, contact us and provide some details regarding what you think is missing. The site administrators will investigate and update where possible.

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How can I find the product TechNotes, FAQs, etc. that were available previously?

Our Support TechNotes, FAQs, etc. are on the site, and organized on a product line basis. They can be found in the wiki application of each Product community, with an index to the respective articles. An overall index to the product TechNotes and FAQs can be found here.

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Why are multiple file uploads not supported for forum postings?

There were various issues with multiple file uploads in forum postings - one was simply that attaching multiple images resulted in only the first being displayed (note that you can insert more than one image in a foruim post or wiki or blog article). If you have more than one file to attach to a forum post, you should put all files (including images) that you want to post in an archive (e.g. .ZIP, .RAR, etc.) and attach that archive to your forum posting. Another option would be to upload your files to your member file area and link to those from your forum post.

Note that any forum post previous to May 6, 2010 containing multiple file attachments will only have the first attachment.

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How do I find things?

Be Communities search is one of the more significant enhancements - simply enter what you are looking for in the search field and a short list of the most relevant results will be listed by category (e.g. FORUM, PEOPLE, WIKIS, etc.) If you do not see what you are looking for, click the Search All... link to see all the results. The Advanced search options... link gives you the ability to refine your search. More helpful tips can be found in the article How do I find stuff?

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Can I still search for articles posted on discussion.bentley.com?

Yes, you can. The easiest way to do that is to use Google - start with this link, and then fill in the appropriate fields with what you are looking for. You can refine your search to narrow the results.

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I had bookmarks and RSS feeds set for the old site, do they still work?

Previously set Web browser bookmarks and RSS feeds will not work on the new site. This is due primarily to the significant differences in the technology being used (along with the new organization of the site). That said, the new site does provide you with the ability to identify favorite forum posts, threads, blog articles, wiki articles, etc., which will follow you even if you log in to Be Communities on different computers.

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How do "old site" links to other "old site" content work now?

To preserve the value of forum posts, wiki and blog articles, references to files on the site, etc., we spent a great deal of time ensuring that links to other content within the site were updated to take into account the new organization of the site. If you encounter a link that does not work and you cannot correct it, please contact us and identify the specific URL of the content where the broken link is and what the link is. The site administrators will investigate and update where possible.

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How do I get a new community created?

Previously, any logged in Be Communities member could create a community. Currently, the ability to do that is now something reserved for site administrators. If you would like to request a community be created, please contact us with your request - the site administrators will connect with you for additional details.

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What is the Members menu item?

The entry points under the Members menu item are for individual Be Communities member blogs and image and file areas, as well as the Everything Else forum. At this time, a clear identification of where the content in those should (or could) be moved to (e.g. context-related communities or individual member areas) has not been determined. We will be looking for member feedback to help in that decision.

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I subscribed to a forum/media gallery/blog/etc. and am not receiving any notifications of new posts. What could be causing that?

Make sure your Be Communities e-mail configuration is set properly -- go to Settings, click the Site Options tab, and scroll down to the EMAIL CONFIGURATION section. If you make any changes there, make sure you click the Save button at the bottom of that page.

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Forums, blogs, wikis... what are they and which should I use?

Each of the community applications serve different purposes. Although there is going to be some overlap, the general rule-of-thumb is:

First, search the site to see if something related to what you are looking for has previously been posted.
If you have a question or are looking for information that does not exist on the site, post your inquiry in the most appropriate Forum.
If you want to share an idea, concept, or experience or make a statement on a topic that others can comment on but not change, post a Blog entry.
If you want to document a topic that others can use as a reference as well as add to or edit, post it to the Wiki.

More information on what these are and how they should be used can be found in this article and

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What does your Be Communities homepage look like?

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:24:06 GMT

Care to share and describe why you have set it up that way?

For example, here is what I have:

(just so happens to be the "site default") Why? Well, mainly because I am "briefly reminded" about what the site is about and where to find entry points to places I have access to and have an interest regarding (e.g. everything in the left column). The right two-thirds is where I can quickly find the latest featured and posted content (not only in the forums, but across the site, since there is likely to be really informative stuff in the wikis, blogs, files, etc.)

AskInga

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:32:26 GMT

Welcome!

To view the content of this wiki, use the Table of Contents to navigate through the various topics.

To learn how to add content to this wiki, please refer to the following page:

How to add new content to the AskInga wiki

Thank you.

SITEOPS leading the way into the SaaS generation.

dsettlemyer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:07:00 GMT

Hi everyone! My name is David Settlemyer, PE and I’ve been invited to be part of this group. My posts will mainly focus on issues around SITEOPS software. I joined the SITEOPS team around two years ago, after seeing the software in action. To my joy I found out that the headquarters was mere miles from where I was working. As an engineer in the business for the last 18 years, doing everything from being a company owner to working for a national developer, I was pleased to see a software dedicated to helping solve the risk and pain in land development for engineers and land developers.

As civil engineering technology requirements expand and evolve, so does the software needed to support this growth. Today’s design tools are getting smarter and helping us as engineers to be more creative.

I wanted to share some recent articles with you that explain why SITEOPS is getting so much attention in such a short time. In the latest CE News, Bob Drake writes about the future of design software, as seen by some of the leading software companies. In this week’s ENR, Tom Sawyer talks about how Little Diversified (based in Charlotte, NC) was able to use SITEOPS to save Siemens about $100,000 in site cost, and to help them identify optimal placement for a building. These are the kind of results that users of SITEOPS see every day and why they are winning projects. If you would like to read these articles, I have attached shortlinks below.

CE NEWS:http://bit.ly/aDFhqk

ENR: http://bit.ly/blqDrd

SITEOPS has quickly risen to the top of a long list of engineering software that is leading the civil engineering community into the future, but the technology is only part of the story. The team at SITEOPS is known for listening to our users and the engineering industry, constantly adding tools that will help you make better decisions faster. We invite you to learn about our software and give us YOUR feedback.

If anyone wants to see more about SITEOPS, please visit us at siteops.com.

A funny thing happened on the way to the blog

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:56:00 GMT

One of the applications mentioned in Okay, now what? is a blog. But just what is a blog? A blog (or Web log) is a simple but powerful publishing tool which enables you to easily share thoughts and opinions by providing commentary or news on a particular subject that no one else but you can change. Blogs tend to be temporal in nature -- similar to articles in a newspaper. A typical blog combines text, images, and sometimes links related to its topic. Be Communities blog articles can cover a wide range of topics, including:

Things that relate to infrastructure and Bentley business.
“Life in the projects” — successes, challenges, achievements, and day-to-day experiences in your project execution and infrastructure sustainment activities.
Satisfaction with your tools and technologies — also your frustrations, how you are tackling them, and how it is working out.
Anything else that you think your peers and colleagues will find relevant, inspiring, entertaining, or enlightening.

The ability for members to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of the Be Communities blogs. One fairly common question that has been asked by a number of Be Communities members is "Where should I post my blog article?" In Be Communities, there are three primary blog article contexts:

technical (i.e. product-related, subsystems, functionality, etc.)
personal (i.e. relating to an event, situation, etc.)
a mix of both (i.e. how someone feels or thinks about specific technology)

For #1, that has the "best fit" in a Product or Solutions community blog. For the second, that should go in a personal or Bentley or User Community or Bentley Program community blog. The third context is the tricky one... it could go in any blog, although it probably makes more sense in the personal blog. The good thing about this is that you can see the most recent blog posts either in a widget that summarizes current blog activity or through a simple search (which can be brought straight to you through RSS).

Before you begin blogging, use the site's search function to determine if the subject/topic that you want to create a blog post for has been previously posted -- see How do I find stuff? for some helpful hints regarding that. If the topic you want to post about has not been covered, locate the most appropriate and relevant area on the website to blog at -- whether it be your own "personal" blog or one for a specific product line or one of the Bentley Solutions, etc. If you find an existing blog about the same topic, you should consider posting a comment to that entry. If it has not, click the big, blue, "New Post" pushbutton. Note that you can configure how your blog post and comments to it will be handled.

Should you have any question about where you should post your blog article, or if you encounter any problems posting it, feel free to ask in the Be Communities Help community forum.

Happy blogging!

MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2) Available!

Chris Bober — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:20:22 GMT

I’m pleased to announce that MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2) is now commercially available on SELECTservices Downloads/MySELECT CD. This (SELECTseries 2) release, like others before, contines the tradition of delivering valuable innovations to users across all disciplines and project types while streamlining adoption.

MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2), includes state-of-the-art licensed technologies – introducing the Pointools Vortex engine for referencing point clouds, significant Luxology visualization enhancements, and Autodesk ® RealDWG 2010 libraries for increased interoperability along with support for ProjectWise Clash Resolution* and ProjectWise Schedule Simulation* (*requires a ProjectWise Visa).

To take advantage of new computing environments, MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2) provides users with support for Windows 7 and is “Citrix Ready” for application virtualization. To help streamline adoption MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2) is compatable with both V8i (SELECTseries 1) and V8i (SELECTseries 2) discipline applications from Bentley.

For more information on the entire V8i series of MicroStation releases see the numerous Be Connected sessions and MicroStation V8i eSeminars that are available on Bentley.com.

Be Communities "Send Email" ability

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:21:21 GMT

We have enabled the ability for Be Communities members to send e-mail to another Be Communities member as an alternative to engaging in on-site conversations. To use this ability, go to the member's profile and there should be a "Send Email" link on the right side (above the "About" widget). Enter the Subject, fill in the content, and then click "Send Email". Note that private Be Communuties member e-mail addresses are NOT exposed -- messages that you create are sent out from the system and the e-mail address of the recipient is not published in the "form" you fill out to send the note.

If anyone has any specific concerns or issues with this, please post your comments here. And by all means, if you get unsolicited e-mail, please let us know so we can investigate and consider disabling this ability.

AskInga Graffiti is back!

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:24:54 GMT

After a brief hiatus, AskInga Graffiti has returned in the form of a Be Communities wiki article. It is a good way to "unwind", especially during stressful times. Check it out, see what others have to say, add your own comment (keep it clean... please).

Okay, now what?

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:16:00 GMT

To those who are new to Be Communities, that is sometimes the first question they ask themselves when they visit. Granted, Be Communities can be an imposing site (pun intended...), but it is pretty easy to get information you are looking for or answers to questions you have. The most important things to do are:

determine what you need
sign in (you may first have to join the site if you are not a member)

Then follow these simple steps:

If you have a question or are looking for information, search for it using the site's search utility -- how that works has been covered elsewhere, but basically start by entering two or three words that accurately describe what it is you are looking for in the field with the magnifying glass in it in the upper right area of every Be Communities page. You can refine the search to narrow down the results.
If you cannot find the information you are looking for through the search utility, then you should go to the most applicable Be Community, which one will depend on what you are looking for. If the information you seek or want to share or question you have:
1. is technical in nature and about a Bentley product, you should go to the most applicable Products community -- the Product Community Mappings listing is very helpful in locating the right place for the Bentley product you are using
  1. In some instances, like if the Bentley Product is in beta stage, you may have to join or be invited to a private community first to ask your question or see what others are saying.
2. is about best practices, one of the Solutions communities is likely to be the best option.
3. is about a Bentley Program or Be User Group or other Bentley Community or User Community, there are communities for those various groups of members, too.
Once you have found (or joined) the Be Community that applies most to what you want, you should go to the most applicable application within that community:
1. If you have a question, you most likely will want to post the inquiry in a community forum
  1. Do NOT post technical questions as a blog or wiki article. Only if your question is about a blog or wiki article should you post it as a comment to that article.
  2. When you post your inquiry in a forum, make sure to include relevant details.
2. If you want to provide commentary or news on a particular subject that no one else but you can change, then posting a blog article makes the most sense.
3. If you want to document a topic that others can use as a reference as well as add to or edit, post it in the community's wiki.
  1. If the wiki has a hierarchy, take care in making sure your article goes in the "right place" within the wiki.
4. If you have a file or an image that you would like to share, or if you are looking for a file or image, the community files area is best place for you.
Of course, if all else fails or you are unsure about where you should go on the site to look for information or post your question, the Help community forum is a great place to ask.

The community applications that this site hosts (e.g. forums, blogs, wikis, etc.) each serve different purposes, yet collectively accomplish a similar goal -- to provide access to information that would otherwise be MUCH more difficult to find (or even contribute). We are by no means "done", though, in improving the user experience of Be Communities. There are projects underway now to make it easier and easier to get to relevant information and even have it delivered TO YOU as soon as it becomes available, so you do not even have to look for it.

Bentley Product to Be Communities Product Community Mappings

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:53:57 GMT

Use the links below for the respective Bentley product you are using and take advantage of the online resources Be Communities provides to help you learn how to make the most out of your software investment. Each product community provides various applications for you to ask questions and get answers.

Site Root

Feeling inspired

Bentley Systems Nominated for Construction Computing Awards – VOTE NOW!

OpenPlant is Released

What Bentley software users are saying about OpenPlant

Be Communities FAQ

What does your Be Communities homepage look like?

AskInga

SITEOPS leading the way into the SaaS generation.

A funny thing happened on the way to the blog

MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2) Available!

Be Communities "Send Email" ability

AskInga Graffiti is back!

Okay, now what?

Bentley Product to Be Communities Product Community Mappings

AssetWise

Bridge Design and Engineering

Building Analysis and Design

Building Performance

Communications Network Design

Conceptual Plant Design

Construction

Electrical and Instrumentation

Facility Information Management

GenerativeComponents

Geospatial Desktop Products

Geospatial Server Products

Geotechnical

Hydraulics and Hydrology

Licensing

MicroStation

Pipe Stress Analysis

Plant Design and Engineering

Plant Operations

ProjectWise

Rail Design

Road and Site Design

Structural

Structural Analysis and Design

Structural Drafting and Detailing

Utility Network Analysis and Design