How to use this site

I agree with that - I can't find out how to start a post/topic!

Hi Mike,

I'm not aware of a training program but a good idea as it is a bit easy to get lost initially.

Some links to get you started:

Feedback and Support
https://www.element14.com/community/community/support?ICID=menubar_participate_feedback

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ's
https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-1071?ICID=feedback-frequentquestion

Eagle Libraries
https://www.element14.com/community/community/cadsoft_eagle/eagle_cad_libraries?ICID=cadsoft-libraries-sidenav

Eagle Exchange
https://www.element14.com/community/community/cadsoft_eagle?ICID=eagle-library-sidenav

Eagle Discussion Forum
https://www.element14.com/community/community/cadsoft_eagle/forums?ICID=cadsoft-main-sidenav

Look at the top right corner of the screen next to your username - click on the "Create" menu option next to it.

It will drop down and give you options to start a discussion, blog post etc.  

Mike,

Welcome to E14 and never too old; but I know exactly what you mean. After a while you'll start to get familiar with the layout - I think the best thing is to keep using it

It seems much of the content is separated into communities and groups - some of these are listed in the top drop downs but some of the more interesting ones are not; you need to dig around to find them. Alternatively someone will post to those groups and the content appears on the front page as 'recent content'.

If you click discuss/more you'll be able to search and find the groups that interest you (including if you search for experts...the one you posted to). On the right hand side you'll be able to add/follow the groups that interest you and will get notifications of activity within them.

Also, if you notice content in the recent activity on the front page and think it interests you, then you can see the group it has been posted in.....so add that to your followed groups.

Now, when you decide to create content you will be prompted for where you want it to reside. One of the filters already lists all those groups that you have just pre-selected (or alternatively you may wish to find another more suitable group to post in).

<Edit> I'll try add this post to another group called Feedback and Support by using the 'at' symbol and then typing Feedback and Support to give Feedback and Support

Look forward to your participation

Hi 14rhb, Thanks, even ordinary blog sites I find quite daunting, but this one is "crazy". Anyway, I'll try to persevere for now. But really, an introductory course for newbies would be a great idea, if there are any site bosses/moderators watching this. What's the difference between a blog post and a discussion, and between a group and a community? At first glance this makes the site look very complex, but hopefully I'll get used to it (although,going on my past track record, I generally only last a week or two, and then decide it's all too hard..... life's complex enough without the distractions of a site like this).

The info I'm looking for, and joined the site in the hope of finding, is..... I have just started learning Eagle PCB design program, and am looking for a library file for ordinary everyday components, like caps, resistors, transistors, common ICs, relays etc. I was hoping that Element14 would have their own library file of their common "garden variety" bits. Where should I post this query? Would it be a group or community? Or should there be a document about Lib files? You see, I thought it was tough enough trying to learn a new PCB design program at my age, then I discovered this site .

Thanks for your help mate, I do appreciate your trying, and I'll try and "stick it out" (My God! Where/how did that phrase originate? Now that I've actually written it down, and looked at it, it doesn't seem to convey the meaning I thought it had, might have to stop using that one....),

Mike.

P.S. Now that I've reached the end of this message, and want to post it, I can't find the "Post" button. There's a big orange button marked "Add Reply".... guess I'll try that one...... wonder what happened to the "Post" button.....

Mike,

You start with two good points which made me realise I don't know the real difference between discussion v. blog and group v. community - so I did some digging. Its probably worth mentioning that this is my own view and could be rubbish !

I think all content is placed in some particular group (eg a folder if you wish) and that content will consist of discussions, blogs, polls, documents etc as shown when you click on the create button. You can make any of that content and then will get prompted to state which group you want it to go to. The main page shows recent content from across those groups - so if anyone adds, comments etc to some of the content it will go to the top of that list. There are good and bad aspects to this - sometime irrelevant content or trivial matters will take precedence on there, sometime old posts get trawled up and into the mix again (good tip is to check the date of the original post). However they also keep you seeing what is being discussed at that time.

Blog v. Discussion

When compared side by side in two windows they do look very similar.

The discussion can be flagged as a question, allowing the original poster to select one of the replies as correct. This helps them and future users to see that the issue is resolved and may help them if they have a similar problem. Discussions seem to sit in a general 'melting pot' for that group.

The blog content can be downloaded as a pdf, which might be useful. They also seem to sit in a separate 'blog folder' for each group or you can post it to your own personal blog 'folder'.

A typical group (for the Arduino) is like this and you can see the content just in that group, along with some discussions that have been answered(green tick):

That said not every location I looked at seemed to follow that pattern.

Groups v. Communities - I really have no idea apart from communities might contain several related groups !

Re: Eagle PCB. I've used it in the past but it isn't installed on my current PC yet. I recall there were several key libraries that were useful for main parts (rcl was resistors, caps ind inductors). I think there was a search to be able to find components in all the libraries. If you search on 'Eagle Libraries' you'll find some interesting articles like EAGLE Tutorial: Library Part Creation Part 1 - Creating Packages

There is a parts group for Eagle in E14 here EAGLE CAD Libraries which might help you out

LOL regarding wording; I sometimes reword social media content after reading through it realising it is global and not everyone uses the same phrases.

Rod

Using a Jive Community

https://docs.jivesoftware.com/jive/7.0/community_user/topic/com.jivesoftware.help.sbs.online/pdf/UsingaJiveCommunity.pdf

What's the difference between a blog post and a discussion,

https://docs.jivesoftware.com/jive/7.0/community_user/index.jsp?topic=/com.jivesoftware.help.sbs.online/user/Whatsthedif…

groups vs spaces overview:

https://community.jivesoftware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadBody/29901-102-2-60125/groups-vs-spaces.ppt

But really, an introductory course for newbies would be a great idea, if there are any site bosses/moderators watching this.

If you post your questions/suggestions relating to the Element14 site to here:

Feedback and Support

the site admins are more likely to respond.

Hi Rod, thanks for taking the time to reply,and for being so helpful. I will take a look at that rcl library. If I have further queries, I'llstart navigating this site, there are bound to be lots of discussions I'm sure, about Eagle.

I have started updating my profile, so I guess there's a small commitment there. I look forward to learning lots from you guys, and this forum.

Cheers,

Mike.