Last revised: October 13, 2014

Forums are where you will find groupings of related threads of discussion that you can reference and contribute to; if you have a question or are looking for information that does not exist on the site, post your inquiry in the most applicable community forum. As a contributor to any of the community forums, you have:

• The ability to subscribe to a specific community forum or thread so that any articles posted are sent to your email client
• No email address associated with postings, minimizing Spam and identity theft
• Native language support

Currently, forums are an integral part of each community that makes up Communities. There are different "groupings" of communities on the site, each serving similar purpose but slightly different audiences:

• Technical information (e.g. TechNotes, FAQs, Technical Bulletins, etc.) and support for Bentley products is in the Product communities.
• There are other communities that can be accessed from Community Central.
• If you cannot find the information you are looking for, post a question in the Communities Feedback forum.

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What is a community forum?
What is a thread/topic?
What are the community forum page OPTIONS and commands?
How do I start a new thread?
Inserting and Attaching images, videos, or files to posts
How do I post code?
How do I reply to a post?
When I view a community forum I do not see any thread/topics/posts?
I just posted a message, how come I do not see it?
Special Post Types
Can I sort thread/topics when viewing a forum?
I cannot access a community forum I know exists.
How can I contact a member who has posted already?
How can I edit my post?
Additional Information

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What is a community forum?

A community forum is a grouping of related thread/topics of discussion.
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What is a thread/topic?

A thread/topic is a grouping of related posts. A thread/topic contains one or more posts. The first post becomes the thread/topic and replies to the original post increment details on the thread/topic, such as the reply count or last post.
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What are the community forum OPTIONS and page commands?

When looking at a community forum, there will be a set of available commands in various areas of the forum homepage that are the actions you can perform in that forum. The list of "common tasks" may differ according to the level of permissions that your administrator has granted to you. Some of the common OPTIONS include:

• Email subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) this forum
• Subscribe via RSS
• Mark all read
• Favorite this forum or Remove this forum from favorites

Other items in forums include the following tabs:

• All Recent - lists threads/topics with the most recent posts, whether you have read them or not. Announcements and sticky posts will always display first.
• Unanswered - lists unanswered posts
• Unread - lists threads/topics you have not read
• Your Discussions - displays posts you have made in that forum

Other items include:

• Tag Cloud - lists most popular tags in that community forum and all sub-forums to that community forum

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How do I start a new thread?

[NOTE: you need to be a logged in Communities member to post to any forum.]

1. Search Communities for possible previous discussions that might relate to your inquiry.
2. Select the most applicable Product-community FORUM for the Bentley product and product release that you are using or are looking to use (see Product communities for a “list” of products and their communities that you can choose from -- then select the Forum tab).
3. Click the big blue “New Post” pushbutton.
4. Compose your post using the text editor.
5. Add relevant tags by clicking from the tags presented or typing in your tags. Separate tags with commas.
6. Click the "Post" button.

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Inserting and Attaching images, videos, or files to posts

Be sure to optimize images before uploading them for use online with a web page. Images should be below 300 KB in size and it is recommended that they be 80 KB or less (20MB maximum is allowed however). You can find out an image's size by right-clicking the image and viewing its Properties. It is best if you resize and optimize your images in a application such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Elements. You should also keep the image pixel size at less than 800x600 for attaching to articles.

To insert an image in or attach a file to your post

1. If you are using the "quick reply" interface, click the "Advanced Reply Editor" link to open the Advanced editor
2. Place the cursor in the Advanced text editor where you want the image inserted
3. Click the "Insert/Edit Media" button 
4. Click Browse
5. Navigate to the image and click "Open"
6. When you are ready, click "Insert"

The image should now appear where your cursor was last placed in the text editor. Note that animated GIF files are considered video and not images (see note below regarding videos).

To delete an image
You can delete an image one of two ways:

1. Select the image and press the delete key or Ctrl + X (Apple + X for Macs).
2. Place the cursor right after the image in a document and press Backspace.

For videos (including animated GIF files), click the "Insert/Edit Media" button shown below and follow the above steps. 

Continue editing your post and then click Post.

Notes:

• The above applies similarly to blog and wiki articles.
• If you have more than one file to attach, archive them into a single ZIP or RAR file and attach that.
• If the file(s) are collectively larger than 20MB or if the information that is in it is of a sensitive or non-public nature, the Communities Secure File Upload article provides information that should help you.
• If the image you are inserting is larger than 550 pixels wide (and cannot be made any smaller), please refer to this article to help in providing a way to view the image with all its detail.
• If you encounter an error when attempting to attach a file of image to a posting, try reattaching it. If you continue to get an error, click on contact us and submit an entry that includes the name of the file (including its extension) and the browser and browser version you are using.
• The Forums support a "white list" of file extensions that can be attached to posts. Some files, like BMP files, are not allowed (there are much more economic file size formats for images). If you encounter an instance where the file you are uploading is not allowed (and it is NOT BMP), you can put it in a ZIP file to upload it and then post an article in the Communities Feedback forum identifying the file extension that was not allowed and the site administrators will review the request.
• If you attempt to "download" or access a file that has been attached to a forum posting and are unable to, post an article in the Communities Feedback forum identifying the thread and the file extension that was not allowed and the site administrators will review the request.

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How can I post code?

Refer to the Communities Upgrade: SyntaxHighlighterblog article for information on how to do this.

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How do I reply to a post?

[NOTE: you need to be a Communities member and signed to post anything to Communities.]

1. Navigate to the appropriate forum, thread/topic, and post.
   • Click the Reply button to open the reply box directly under the post you want to reply to

     OR

   • Click the "Advanced Reply Editor" link to open the Advanced editor
2. Compose your response.
3. If using the Advanced text editor, add relevant tags by clicking from the tags presented or typing in your tags. Separate tags with commas.
4. Review Optional Tabs (outlined above).
5. Click the "Post" or "Reply" button.

When I view a community forum I do not see any thread/topics/posts?

A community forum may not display any thread/topics if there are no thread/topics in the forum that meet the criteria of the forum tab you have selected.
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I just posted a message, how come I do not see it?

A forum may or may not be moderated depending upon how the forum has been configured. After posting a message in a moderated forum you may receive a message stating that the post is awaiting moderation. Once the moderator(s) approve your post it will become visible. The moderators may choose to move, edit, or delete your post to ensure that the post is topical to the current forum. In unmoderated forums, moderators may move (or split) a thread to a more appropriate forum.
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Special Post Types

Announcement thread/topic

An announcement is a special post type that is always displayed at the top of a forum. The purpose of an announcement is to increase the visibility of certain topics. Note that not all Communities members can make a post an Announcement -- those who can will be able to do so in the Options tab of the Advanced editor.

Sticky thread/topic

A sticky thread/topic is a special post that sorts to the top of a forum for a specified amount of time. A sticky thread is similar to an announcement, whereas an announcement is displayed separate from other thread/topics and usually does not allow replies. Note that not all Communities members can make a post "sticky" -- those who can will be able to do so in the Options tab of the Advanced editor.

Locked thread/topic

A Locked thread/topic is a special post that does not allow replies. Once a user locks a post or an administrator/moderator locks a thread/topic no more posts are allowed.
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Can I sort thread/topics when viewing a forum?

Yes, you can sort thread/topics when viewing a forum by Last post. The default sort for a forum is to display the newest thread/topics first (Last post descending). To sort:

1. Click on the Settings link at the top of the screen.
2. Select the Site Options tab
3. Select your desired Sort Posts order and click "Save".

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I cannot access a community forum I know exists.

If you are attempting to access a forum that you have visited before, but receive an error, there are two likely causes:

1. The forum you are attempting to access is private and you are not signed in.
2. The forum has been removed.

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How can I contact a member who has posted already?

By selecting a post from that member, you can contact them via email or Conversation, depending on what they have "Allow Conversations From" set to in their Settings.

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How can I edit my post?

With the exception of forum and Site administrators, you can only edit your own posts in some community forums.

1. Select the post you want to edit
2. If you see an "Edit" button below the post (it looks like a small pencil), click that
3. An editing screen will appear
4. Make your edits, then click the "Post" button

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Additional Information

More information on various topics related to Communities forums can be found on the following help pages:

• Getting Started
• Helpful Guidelines
• Tips
• FAQ
• Common Acronyms