Have you ever been reading your favorite SolidWorks-related blog, loving the information you’re reading, soaking it up, and thinking, “Man, I know I’m gonna need this some time. I just hope I can remember where I read this when I need it.”
There are so many great blogs out there, covering a huge variety of SolidWorks tips, tricks, and tutorials. However, the chances of your being able to immediately implement those things you’re reading into your workflow is probably pretty slim. If you can’t use that information right away, how do you remember where you read that information so you can reference it when you need it? Maybe you bookmark some of your favorite posts, but you can’t possibly bookmark every post that will be useful to you while keeping all those bookmarks organized. Maybe you only ever visit a few blogs and, when you need to reference a post, you dig through their archives for a while. If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent a good chunk of time, plowing through the ever-expanding archives of these blogs, trying to find that one post that answers your question.
That’s why I made this site. This site is designed to be a resource for both the SolidWorks user and the SolidWorks blogger. How can both benefit from this site?
The SolidWorks user can benefit from this site, because this site is designed to help the user find specific posts about the specific feature that they need help with. If you begin by looking in the list of categories on the right side of this site, you will find several different Category headings.
- First, there’s the Blog Name category. Under this category, you’ll find a list of the blogs that have posts catalogued in The SolidWorks Conblogerate.
- Second, there’s the CAD Administrator category. I made this category on a whim, because I know if I ever was given the job of administrating a CAD network, I would need a category like this one, that is basically a catch-all of network-y goodness.
- Then, the Commands category comes up third. In SolidWorks, if you open the Tools>Customize… window and click on the Commands Tab, you will find a list of commands and their icons, organized into groups. I have laid out the Categories in this site to mimic this hierarchy, for the most part. This should simplify finding the feature or command the user needs help with. Selecting a category will bring up a list of posts from various blogs that deal with this SolidWorks feature. If you cant find what you’re looking for in the Commands category, try checking the Menus category.
- And the Menus category just so happens to be the next category on the list. This category is designed to mimic the menus you’ll find at the top of your SolidWorks workspace.
- Next is the Other SolidWorks Features category. This category covers all of the other stuff that’s found in SolidWorks but isn’t necessarily a command or a menu item. For instance, you’ll find posts about SolidNetwork License Manager and the Copy Settings Wizard and even the FeatureManager in this category.
- Finally, there’s the Uncategorized category. Don’t bother checking this one. There’s nothing in it. In order for this site to be useful to you, I’ve only selected the blog posts that have a direct application to how the user uses SolidWorks.
The SolidWorks blogger can benefit from this site, because this site will always provide links to their site, directing the reader to the original post page. Therefore, this site could be a tool to help new readers find your blog. This site is, in no way, designed to siphon traffic from the SolidWorks blogs, but, rather, to bolster the effectiveness of the blogs and encourage bloggers to continue providing quality SolidWorks content.
Hopefully, everyone in the SolidWorks community will find this site to be a helpful resource as they use and write about SolidWorks.
NOTE: I do not claim credit for any of the original content that this site provides links to. Should you feel that this site infringes upon your blog’s copyright, please e-mail me at the address provided on the Contact page. I will be more than happy to work with you regarding any questions or concerns that you might have.
