This is just to let you know that we have recently had a problem with the validation of new user registrations. This meant that some people will not have been able to register for the forum. This must have been frustrating and I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The problem with the anti-spam controls has now been fully resolved and all visitors are now able to register.

Thanks for your continued support,

David

Running a forum like this often feels like a long-running battle against those who would like to deface or destroy what we do here. From time-to-time we need to change the way we operate to stay one step ahead of the hackers and haters.

From today, the way you login to this forum will change. Historically, you've been able to login using your screen name and password. The problem with this approach is that your screen name is publicly available, so all a hacker has to do is to find your password.

From today, you will not be able to login using your screen name, you will need to use the email address associated with your account.

Since your email address is not publicly available, this change presents a significant defense against hackers. If you already login using your email address, you do not need to change the way you login.

We recommend that you always use a strong password to avoid your account being hacked.

At some point over the holiday period, I will upgrade the forum software to the most recent version (4.6.9). There is one notable change in the new version - Ranks are replaced by Achievements. This allows for a more flexible system of member rewards for activity on the forum, so you'll see new icons associated with your profile. Other than that, changes are minor.

The forum is likely to be down for a few hours during the upgrade but as this will happen over the holiday period, I'm hoping this will not inconvenience anyone. As usual, I'll give you a heads-up before the upgrade takes place.

In the footer of every page, eligible members will see a "Theme" link that allows a choice of the default CADTutor theme or the new Dark Mode theme. Simply choose the one you prefer. The forum will remember your choice until you change it. Try it out and let me know what you think

Once the upgrade is complete, you may notice a few differences to the interface and there are also some new features. I'll provide more information once the upgrade is complete.

If you have any ideas how this forum could help e.g. new forums, additional functionality etc. Please let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Stay safe,

David

The CADTutor website will be moving to a new web host shortly and I thought it best to give you advanced warning. Although the moving of files from one server to another can be done quite quickly, there is always a delay while DNS propagation takes place, so and it's likely that this forum will be closed for around two days (hopefully less) while the migration takes place. The rest of the site will remain available during migration. Other than the temporary closure of the forum, you shouldn't notice any other changes except that (hopefully) the site will appear more responsive.

I don't yet have a firm timescale for this but it's likely to take place in the next two weeks. I'll update this thread once I know more details.

It's almost a year since we moved into our new forum and I hope everyone is now feeling at home here. When we migrated, I said the functionality of the forum would be extended and the first of several additions is now in place. Click on the "Downloads" tab above to see what's new. In the first instance, I've migrated the content from the old download pages and the Application Archive forum to the new area so that all downloadable content is now in one place and in due course, more content will be added. But there's more. All Members (except New Members) can upload content to the Downloads area for others to share. This meant that, as a community, we can now share content as well as ideas and advice.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

This forum software does not have an option to add the new version to the top of the list - sorry about that.

I bet you throw away all your old AutoCAD stuff with each new version. Or maybe there are some hoarders out there who still have the box that their R10 came in. I have to admit that I still have my R12 box - makes a great magazine holder (pictures later).

Anyway, let me know what you think of this idea and take a look at what's there already.

I do hope you'll like the new forum software we're using, it provides a raft of new, modern tools that we didn't have before and it brings our community right up-to-date in terms of web apps. You'll find quite a lot of changes but the content and the members are all the same. I've also tried hard to make it look familiar, using the same style as our old home. Do take some time to look around and see what's on offer.

If you have any questions about the change or if you spot anything odd, just let me know. The migration process is fearfully complicated and it's possible that some small tweaks may still be required, so don't assume everything is perfect.

Things to bear in mind

POST COUNT: Long-time members (those who have been here for more than 10 years) may find that their post count has gone down. The reason for this is that all content more than 10 years old has been archived. There are two reasons for this; first, it helps to make the forum run more smoothly with legacy content removed and second, it seemed unlikely that anything more than 10 years old was still relevant.

PROFILE PHOTO: You'll notice that this software makes more use of your profile photo than the previous one. You'll also notice that the new profile photos are circular, in common with contemporary social media platforms. I'd encourage you to update your profile photo to reflect these changes. Simply go to your profile page and upload a new photo (250px X 250px) and you're good to go.

LEADERBOARD: Some content and statistics will take a little while to generate, so if you go to the Leaderboard (for example) and see nothing there, that's just because the new forum is still collecting data. Those areas will be populated in a short while.

FAQs: The FAQs in this forum were originally written for vBulletin software and are obviously now out-of-date. In time, these will be updated but I'm confident that the new software, Invision Community, is sufficiently intuitive that they may not be required at all.

Thanks for your support,

David

If you have a top tip for using this forum, just add it to this thread.

Do let me know if you have any ideas about further enhancements you'd like to see.

Hi All,

The CADTutor forum will be closed over next weekend - 18th and 19th August 2018 - while we move to a new platform. All the threads and user accounts currently on the forum will be migrated and you will be able to continue using the forum as normal once it reopens.

FAQs

Why is this necessary?

The current forum software is now pretty old and relies on some legacy software to keep it going. That software is no longer supported and this poses a potential security issue.

What is the new platform?

The forum will be moving to a platform known as Invision Community. It's a thoroughly modern forum with all the things you'd expect from a contemporary platform such as drag'n'drop file uploads, social media integration and a cool reputation system. You can check out all the bells and whistles here: https://invisioncommunity.com/

Why not upgrade to a newer version of vBulletin?

Unfortunately, vBulletin has failed to keep up with modern requirements and even the latest version is looking pretty dated. Also, we have some plans for the future of CADTutor that can only easily be achieved with Invision Community.

Will all my stuff be migrated to the new platform?

Yes, just about everything will make the change. However, we've made the decision to remove any content more than 10 years old, so if you've been around for that long, you will likely see a fall in your post count.

How long has this forum been going?

Ages! We moved to vBulletin on 3rd September 2006, almost 12 years ago. Before that we were using phpBB for around 4 years and before that we were using YaBB (that surely no one will remember). All-in all I guess the forum has been around in one form or another for about 17 years.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please let me know.

P.S. No more double line spacing between paragraphs. Yay!

You may also notice that although the key sections of the site are still available, a couple of sections have been removed. They may return at a later date.

Thank you so much for your support and patience and here's to a safe and secure future for CADTutor.

CADTutor is now open for business again. I have worked hard over the last 5 days to ensure that the site is more secure than before.

Obviously, I can't guarantee absolute security and one of the things I've learned over the past week is that there are plenty of very clever, malicious people out there who have time on their hands and get kicks out of bringing sites down.

Sadly, that's unlikely to change and keeping websites safe is a constant battle.

Please let me know by PM if you notice anything strange on this site, particularly over the next few days.

Thanks,

David

It's now nearly 6 years since the current version of this website was implemented (version 4) and it's now due for for an overhaul and a freshen-up and possibly even a new paint-job.

I'm currently planning version 5 and since the forum is the beating heart of the site, I aim to make it the focus of the upgrade. At the moment we have a pretty standard forum that allows questions and answers to be posted and I aim to retain that functionality. But there are lots of additional tools we could be using. For example, we could add a gallery element so that members could post images of their work, a file-sharing facility so that members could share resources and a tutorials component so that our very knowledgeable members could write and publish their own tutorials.

What I would like to know is whether any of the above appeals to you as a member of this community - are they functions that you would be likely to use?

Also, are there any other functions you would like to see such as closer integration with social websites like facebook and twitter or the ability to run your own blogs?

What do you think are the best elements of this forum - the things we should retain and what's not so good -the things that could be improved?

The changes I'm planning are likely to be in place for the next 5 years or more so I'd like to get as much feedback as possible so as to make sure that CADTutor remains the best independent CAD community on the web.

Thanks

If you're not already aware, we now have a "Work in Progress" section located in the Community area of the forum: http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?84-Work-In-Progress

Several threads that qualify as "Work in Progress" have already been moved to this section, so take a look when you have a minute, and if you're currently working on a project that you think would make for a good "WIP" thread, post it up so we can see what you're working on.

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?96420-Guidelines-for-Posting

Uploading Files

The process of uploading files is as easy as drag and drop. Simply drag a file from your computer and drop it on the little paperclip at the bottom of the post window. Or you can click the "Choose Files" text and then browse to the location on your computer where the files are saved.

Deleting Files

We would prefer that you don't delete files from your posts, but if you decide that you need to remove the files you uploaded, or replace them with updated or different files, after you have already posted your question, there are a couple different ways to do this.

Option 1

Click the "Edit" text at the bottom of the post that contains the files you want to delete. Then you can simply click the little trash can icon on the file to delete it.

Option 2

Click your user name at the top right corner of the screen and choose "My Attachments" from the menu. This will give you an overview of all your attachments. To delete a file attachment, simply click the trash can icon to remove it.

This has been added to comply with European privacy legislation and with Google's new policy on the issue.

All you need to do is click the "Got it!" button and it will go away.

Today I just completed an AutoCAD tutorial using a (little known?) Express Tool called Rtext (Remote Text). Although I was dimly aware of this feature, I've been blown away by how potentially useful it is. Basically, you can use Rtext in combination with DIESEL strings to automatically generate dynamic text objects that react to changes in the drawing or to changes in external text files. Take a look at the tutorial for some examples.

Am I the only one for whom this is a revelation? Oh, sure, everyone else has been using this since for ever

Please avoid posting at these times.

I'll post an update in this thread once the work is complete.

I logged into my Autodesk account this morning, and there it was, ready for download!

Take a look at this useful preview guide if you'd like to read about the new features.

I've also added "2016" to your user field options so you can update your forum profile and let others know when you upgrade.