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davehaigh13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
June 17, 2014
Question

The Mail Exploder is at risk, Speak up NOW!

  • June 17, 2014
  • 119 replies
  • 33717 views


The shocking news from day one of PTC Live is that PTC want's to "absorb" the mail exploder into their on-line communities forum.http://communities.ptc.com you'll see the announcement of this at the top of the page.



I went up to Ron and Dan durning the break and said what are you doing to my mail exploder. The answer was there was pressure to only have one source of communication instead of some stuff on the forum and some via the mail exploder. They are having discussions next week on how to transfer the data from ptcuser to the ptc site.



I asked if I was still going to get emails and the answer was no.



I'm sorry but this is killing the goose that laid the golden egg.



Make no mistake, if you don't raise your voice on this issue the mail exploder will disappear.



Dave Haigh


      119 replies

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      K
      kimndave91-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      June 20, 2014

      PTC Community has deleted a few of my posts and sent cautions on others.


      I even saw one from a PTC rep vanish; it didn't look sensitive, wasn't mean, just some maintenance policy statement.


      x

      B
      BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
      13-Aquamarine
      June 20, 2014
      David,

      My apologies for the misspelling.

      For the vast majority of people using the exploder, there's no problem with the exploder. I agree with you on this point... but this isn't surprising. I'm not personally complaining about any aspect of the exploder. I'm just saying if the exploder is going away, why can't we focus on making PTC Community work for everyone? By modifying, correcting, or changing the current PTC Community to give exploder users features more like what they're used to, we can eliminate much of the credible and reasonable criticisms being leveled. The other criticisms... which are largely driven by emotion, cannot be eliminated. For some, no amount of goodwill, outreach, or genuine collaboration between PTC and PTC/User will change their opinion of a new 'merged' forum. Unfortunately, we may lose such people in the transition.

      Make no mistake, the goal is to lose no one but some people have made it clear they wish to draw a line in the sand. I support whatever decision people wish to make. If they want to take a personal stand, I support their right to do so and I have no ill feelings toward them. However, for the rest of us, I think we can find some common ground and move on to build something greater.

      I believe it's dangerous to take anyone's words in email and read too much into them. When Nathan said: "I was in Boston for the Show and talked to Ryan personally on Monday evening and the decision is made - it will happen (according to him - it is HIS baby)." Yes, Ryan's "baby" is PTC Community. Ryan's "baby" is not necessarily the effort to shut down the exploder. I guarantee if you spoke to him, he'd tell you his entire focus was to improve the community for everyone and build one system where we can all work together. He's trying to unite us by eliminating obstacles which divide us.

      Some people like things the way they are. I understand this. But perhaps the criticism here should go directly on PTC/User. It's not so easy to attack those guys because some of them are friends and colleagues. Many people have known these guys for years. No one wants to think ill of them... or suggest that they made a poor decision without consulting the membership. It's far easier to attack the "PTC Guy" who thinks he's 'god' than to criticize those who ultimately made the decision- PTC/User.

      I feel like we all need to take a look in the mirror though... because there's a good bit of hubris coming from some on the exploder. You can't claim Ryan's arrogant when the vibe coming from several people is that 'everyone who is anyone is on the exploder', 'the only real experts are on the exploder', and 'who died and made him god'. That's very close to the self-important celebrity who gets pulled over by the police only to start screaming 'Don't you know who I am?! I'll have your job!"

      I'm just trying to make the case for taking a calmer approach. Fair criticism can be leveled at several parties in this case. Still, I think there's room for a consensus here. And I think we should really try for an approach that strengthens us rather than setting us at odds. Anyone who knows me will tell you, I don't back down from a fight when it's warranted- but I don't see how fighting does anything constructive here. We're all interested in the same things and that seems to indicate we're all on the same team. We have more to gain by working together.

      Thank you... and once again, apologies for mutilating your name, that was unintentional.
      -Brian

      Brian K. Martin
      Sr. Mechanical/Application Engineer
      NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

      301.286.0059 (NASA Office)
      443.421.2532 (Cell)
      -<">mailto:->

      Follow me on Twitter @CreoHelp<">https://twitter.com/CreoHelp>
      [Need_Help_Small]<aetdsupport.ndc.nasa.gov>
      D
      davehaigh13-AquamarineAuthor
      13-Aquamarine
      June 20, 2014
      Tim, Excellent idea! We need some documentation on how to use that site. The site need a user manual.

      But I will point out, that a web-ex isn't going to help those folks that can't visit the site. You shouldn't discount those folks. In the world we live in, computer security is a huge concern for many companies, and should be for many more companies. There are all kinds of bad people out there trying to get your data. Just viewing a website with a picture can install a serious breach in your network that can allow someone halfway across the globe to log in and steal your data. And that breach can be difficult to detect and eradicate. The companies that restrict access do it with good reason.

      In general when I visit the PTC Community site, it seems way too fragmented to me.

      Under PTC Creo for example you have:
      Modeling
      Rendering
      Piping, Cabling & Schematics
      Assembly Management
      Manufacturing
      Analysis and Simulation
      Visualize

      Under each of those you have
      Overview
      All Content
      Discussions
      Documents (in some categories)
      Blog (in some categories)
      Polls
      Photo Albums
      Videos

      If I want to send out a question, where do I go to get it to the most people?
      Also I wouldn't have the slightest idea where to post a message like this on that site.

      Yet on the mail exploder it's pretty simple:

      · I know most people are on -<">mailtoSmiley Tongue->

      · If I have a Windchill question I know those people are on -<">mailto:->

      · And for admin questions -<">mailtoSmiley Tongue-> <-- Which by the way, there is no category for admin on the PTC Community site.

      There are other lists, but they don't get much activity.

      Also what's the difference between the content of the Overview, All Content, & Discussions tabs.
      What do all the icons next to posts mean.

      On the front page what is everything, why the Your View tab. (Why and how do you customize it)

      There is no obvious how to use this site link that I can find.

      David Haigh
      Phone: 925-424-3931
      Fax: 925-423-7496
      Lawrence Livermore National Lab
      7000 East Ave, L-362
      Livermore, CA 94550

      From: Cooper, Tim P (GE Oil & Gas) [
      B
      BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
      13-Aquamarine
      June 23, 2014
      Hi Tim...

      Here's some information I posted on PTC Community. I'll report here to offer some guidance for those who wish to configure their email to receive updates from PTC Community similar to the way the exploder works. Note, we're waiting for Ryan Kelley from PTC to chime in on the likelihood/possibility of using email as a posting/response mechanism. I believe there are security hurdles to this but I cannot speak definitively on the matter.

      For now, I offer these instructions in the hope that someone is helped by them. Follow the slides in order... they should guide you to set up email notifications and turn them off again if necessary. I hesitate to send a large file through the exploder so I apologize if this is not the way things should be done. I'm not sure what other mechanism to use short of posting a link to PTC Community which may not be accessible to some.

      Thanks!
      -Brian


      Brian K. Martin
      Sr. Mechanical/Application Engineer
      NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

      301.286.0059 (NASA Office)
      443.421.2532 (Cell)
      -<">mailto:->

      Follow me on Twitter @CreoHelp<">https://twitter.com/CreoHelp>
      [Need_Help_Small]<aetdsupport.ndc.nasa.gov>

      From: Cooper, Tim P (GE Oil & Gas) [
      K
      kimndave91-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      June 24, 2014

      http://portal.ptcuser.org/p/do/sc/catid=19 is the place to post user contributed files.


      x

      A
      amedina1-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      June 24, 2014

      "@Doug Barton: I don't see how this is a financial move by PTC? PTC Community is not generating revenue for PTC... nor is PTC/User... so I'm missing your point. I believe you're connecting dots that should not be connected."



      We are the product. The product is communicating in a .org. Like cows just hanging around in the meadow. PTC wants to corral us into a cowpin and then control how we moo. Like match.com's commercial "start communicating for free" WTFman!


      How come PTC doesn't go to "http://www.eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=569" and ask them to move to PTC.com too. Evidently they are trying to do something with our data. And if memory serves me well, they will employ people to do this and expect to get paid for it. So PTC's finantial move is to kill the best forum, move its members to PTC.com, hold off for a year of two for people to settle in and then make it a pay service to "special areas". Lets all start "communicating for free" on PTC.com, it will serve us well.



      Some of us went hunting for software out there. I found a dud first but I think I got the killer app/s now:


      <h1>https://diasporafoundation.org/
      https://joindiaspora.com/




      and a great search engine:




      put it in your media center or other such computer that you always leave connected at home.


      And for our forum ordeal, I found this one:


      Diaspora is getting developed as we speak but it already looks really good. I just got an account today onhttps://social.mbuto.me/stream

      just to see what its all about. It takes like 1 minute and very little info get get an account (email addy, username and pwd).


      you can serve your own server and as a user you can communicate with anyone on any server and delete your own material if you want. you keep control. And you also means we all together.



      G
      GlenWisham1-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      June 24, 2014


      Fellow Thread Posters,

      Can we get off this subject and get back to work please? We don't need
      this distraction from our already busy workdays.

      As with most bulk e-mail I've got exploder posts going into a folder which
      I keep an eye on and review periodically. I am not as active responding as
      I've been in the past, mostly due to policies.

      Now days I mostly only use the mail group when I'm having a senior moment
      and need a reminder on how to issue an obscure esoteric command within the
      tool.

      Yes I work at a large company and we pay for support and yes we pay folks
      to be support guru's for us. However finding the time to hunt down the
      assets, the and their availability is annoying and frankly too time
      consuming for the schedules we operate under.

      As the exploder group does not always respond with timely advice either,
      I've taken a page from one of my younger colleagues bag of tricks and
      occasionally visit:

      M
      mpeterson1-Visitor
      1-Visitor
      June 24, 2014
      Easy for you to say. I was at a company 5 years ago and was a one man show. They had not paid maintenance for many years and with WF3 out I was using 2000i. This exploder resource was the only help I had when I was stuck and I have been using the software for 16 years.

      I am now at a different organization and they do not allow access to YouTube so that option is out while I am at work and I would have to research at home when I don't have Pro/E available.

      I am getting tired of the conversation too, but much more critical for some then to others.

      Mark A. Peterson
      Design Engineer



      M
      mjenkins10-Marble
      10-Marble
      September 29, 2014

      Is this just a trick so they can get someone other than PTC employees to sign up for PTC Community?


      Because you have to register to leave a comment at the announcement of what a crap idea it is.

      In Reply to David Haigh:




      The shocking news from day one of PTC Live is that PTC want's to "absorb" the mail exploder into their on-line communities forum.http://communities.ptc.com you'll see the announcement of this at the top of the page.



      I went up to Ron and Dan durning the break and said what are you doing to my mail exploder. The answer was there was pressure to only have one source of communication instead of some stuff on the forum and some via the mail exploder. They are having discussions next week on how to transfer the data from ptcuser to the ptc site.



      I asked if I was still going to get emails and the answer was no.



      I'm sorry but this is killing the goose that laid the golden egg.



      Make no mistake, if you don't raise your voice on this issue the mail exploder will disappear.



      Dave Haigh








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