It is good to see that some things actually do get better! I can only presume then that the three referenced platforms will have interfunctionality at some point, sooner rather than later.
I think a better determination of the value of having mixed discussions would be whether you are teaching any software independent road design or land development classes, rather than if there is some overlap between functionality and ignoring the orders of magnitude greater differences between the programs.
I used the newsgroups for 3 basic purposes:
1. To get help
2. to hear about bugs and workarounds
3. to get tips
Your much simpler approach has made my life simpler too. Now, I only use this for item 1. I don't do items 2 & 3 because I look at the topic subjects and say, 'I don't have time to sort through this.'
Phil Chouinard:Be Communities gives us a great opportunity to "start over" with a much simpler approach than what existed in the discussion groups. Given the ever increasing overlap with the Road Design products (e.g. the days where it is "only GEOPAK", "only InRoads", or "only MX" are in the past and not in then future), there is likely to be information discussed for one product that all involved with Road Design can benefit from. Suffice to say that we are not planning to create any sub-forums until there is necessary and sufficient reason to do so.
dsilverm: 'I don't have time to sort through this.'
'I don't have time to sort through this.'
I completely agree
Phil,
I can't speak on behalf of everyone, but I have to disagree with you on this one. I'd prefer the subforums for GPK, IR, and MX. Despite more and more common functionality, most of the threads on this forum are still specific to each software. Since many thread titles don't have which software or version they are referring to, you have to read every posting to see if it is even a concern.
Looking at all of the Geopak and MX threads, there is not a single one that would apply to me as an IR user. There is only a very small number of threads that are generic civil questions that could apply to a user of any of these. These types of threads could stay here, but the remainder could go under separate subforums until such time that you completely merge the 3 software packages, which I am assuming won't happen in the short term future.
Chris
Thanks for the feedback. Having a bit of experience in this area (FWIW, 25+ years of experience in e-communications), I can assure you that there is rationale in what is being done. Is what is here now different than what was set up in the discussion groups? Yes, but it's just different. It is MUCH better to start at a high level and work into finer levels of granularity than it is to start at a low level and work your way up. My advice? Try it. Knowing the smart bunch that use our Road Design products, there will be some creative TAGS ways TAGS of TAGS making TAGS it TAGS easy TAGS to TAGS find TAGS your TAGS #1-3 TAGS (and then some).
PS - please watch the use of language in your posts (yes, it was edited). What you may believe to be "situation normal conversation" may be offensive to others, who have just as much right to use this site as you do. This isn't a puritanistic point of view, it is simply noting that there are less "colorful" way to emphasize your point(s)... please respect others and keep that in mind in the future. TIA