Archibus: Do you use the SmartClient?

[Wanderer]

In the archibus forum, which usually doesn't see much traffic, I've seen a jump in posts about the SmartClient.

I'm curious how people are finding the change?
I use the old thickclient day to day and get on okay with it, have only used smartclient during my sysadmin training last year.

I'd be interested to hear thoughts from other users about how they find the differences.

[Carrot_CAD]

I would say that the smart client is worth using for the extension to AutoCAD which I find a lot more robust than the overlay in a 64bit environment. Plus it seems a bit more straight forward for users to pick up with the ribbon interface. Having said that still use the windows for a lot of Archibus support stuff.

[Wanderer]

I would say that the smart client is worth using for the extension to AutoCAD which I find a lot more robust than the overlay in a 64bit environment. Plus it seems a bit more straight forward for users to pick up with the ribbon interface. Having said that still use the windows for a lot of Archibus support stuff.

Thanks for chiming in.
I agree the smart client has a much less intimidating interface, but, I didn't have the chance to try the AutoCAD extension. That's good to know.

[IrfanG]

In the archibus forum, which usually doesn't see much traffic, I've seen a jump in posts about the SmartClient.

I'm curious how people are finding the change?
I use the old thickclient day to day and get on okay with it, have only used smartclient during my sysadmin training last year.

I'd be interested to hear thoughts from other users about how they find the differences.

I'm fairly new to the organization I'm working for.

Currently spear-heading Archibus migration from v.14 to v.22; as you can imagine, it's quite a change.

The thickclient is fantastic, I find SmartClient to not be as fluid as one would want it to be; but we must keep up with the times.

[Wanderer]

I'm fairly new to the organization I'm working for.

Currently spear-heading Archibus migration from v.14 to v.22; as you can imagine, it's quite a change.

The thickclient is fantastic, I find SmartClient to not be as fluid as one would want it to be; but we must keep up with the times.

Oh, yes, I'd imagine that is a HUGE change! I went from 19 to 21.2 and that was enough of a shock to my users.

I used the SmartClient in my SysAdmin training with Archibus, and it seemed to me easier to navigate, but, they did acknowledge that some tasks were easier in the thick client that they knew I'd be using. ~shrugs~

[IrfanG]

Oh, yes, I'd imagine that is a HUGE change! I went from 19 to 21.2 and that was enough of a shock to my users.

I used the SmartClient in my SysAdmin training with Archibus, and it seemed to me easier to navigate, but, they did acknowledge that some tasks were easier in the thick client that they knew I'd be using. ~shrugs~

Is there anywhere in particular you go (forums/guides) for Archibus related information? I've found the Archibus forums, but they seem to be rather quiet for something so widely used.

[Wanderer]

Is there anywhere in particular you go (forums/guides) for Archibus related information? I've found the Archibus forums, but they seem to be rather quiet for something so widely used.

Haha, if you've been to the Archibus forums, you've seen 50% of the posts there are mine, too, so you know I've been searching, too.

LinkedIn has a pretty active Archibus group, but, I'm not sure about the content, because that is blocked here from work and I haven't found the time to dig through it much on my own.
It seems most people are just asking their business partners who ask each other or Archibus directly. The business partners have blogs or write articles, but, it's more what the software CAN do, not how to make it do so (I guess I understand, that's kind of valuable knowledge).

It's been a challenge for me, being so familiar with the extremely vibrant Autodesk communities and beta opportunities, etc and I don't have those things as a user for this. Bit of a culture shock to be honest.
(and, of course, if anyone has some archibus knowledge, how-to's, tips and tricks, actual content to share, I am happy to publish it on my site. Most of my guest posters are traditional AEC folks, and I'm 'discouraged' by my current company to blog myself.)

As for guides, just the help files (when you can get the language right... it's easier to use google search to turn up relevant results than to search the help files directly, but, some features are so similar in naming it is still a challenge). I've got some training manuals that I got when I was in Boston doing the SysAdmin course and a couple of best practices guides for polylining from my business partner, but, aside from that, I haven't used anything else. Usually, I'm just learning by tinkering, when I have the time.

[rwallac]

I use the Smart Client almost daily. We recently migrated to Archibus from another software, and Smart Client and the AutoCAD extensions were definitely the deciding factors.

[Wanderer]

Downside to being in a large facility? IT restrictions. I've been waiting for a month tomorrow to have the SmartClient installed. I've got a new building I kinda need to polyline. :D

[IrfanG]

Haha, if you've been to the Archibus forums, you've seen 50% of the posts there are mine, too, so you know I've been searching, too.

LinkedIn has a pretty active Archibus group, but, I'm not sure about the content, because that is blocked here from work and I haven't found the time to dig through it much on my own.
It seems most people are just asking their business partners who ask each other or Archibus directly. The business partners have blogs or write articles, but, it's more what the software CAN do, not how to make it do so (I guess I understand, that's kind of valuable knowledge).

It's been a challenge for me, being so familiar with the extremely vibrant Autodesk communities and beta opportunities, etc and I don't have those things as a user for this. Bit of a culture shock to be honest.
(and, of course, if anyone has some archibus knowledge, how-to's, tips and tricks, actual content to share, I am happy to publish it on my site. Most of my guest posters are traditional AEC folks, and I'm 'discouraged' by my current company to blog myself.)

As for guides, just the help files (when you can get the language right... it's easier to use google search to turn up relevant results than to search the help files directly, but, some features are so similar in naming it is still a challenge). I've got some training manuals that I got when I was in Boston doing the SysAdmin course and a couple of best practices guides for polylining from my business partner, but, aside from that, I haven't used anything else. Usually, I'm just learning by tinkering, when I have the time.

I've seen some posts around the world of Reddit with regards to ARCHIBUS, as such I've taken the liberty to create a sub-reddit in which these fellow users can come and perhaps I can direct them to the ARCHIBUS forums or this forum - Or maybe even create a neutral space for each sharing of information.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ARCHIBUS/

[Wanderer]

I've seen some posts around the world of Reddit with regards to ARCHIBUS, as such I've taken the liberty to create a sub-reddit in which these fellow users can come and perhaps I can direct them to the ARCHIBUS forums or this forum - Or maybe even create a neutral space for each sharing of information.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ARCHIBUS/

Cool. I'm not much of a redditer, but, anything that brings folks together and gets them talking, I am pretty excited about.

I had considered starting a forum just for it, but, decided I don't have the time or energy to devote to it, it's much easier to piggyback on an existing forum like this one, especially when so much of the data starts of in AutoCAD and Revit anyway.