Forums Help

• Conference Structure
• Logging in with the ESRI Global Account
• Posting a New Thread
• Replying to a Message
• Adding Attachments
• Editing a Message
• Deleting a Message
• Deleting an Attachment
• Watching a Thread
• Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program
• Browser Requirements
• Contact Us

Conference Structure

ESRI's discussion conferences use a four-level hierarchical structure for online discussions:

Conferences

Conferences relate to a broad topic or community area. ESRI has conferences for each product, such as ArcGIS Desktop, ArcIMS, and so forth. When you enter a conference you'll see forums, threads, and messages. You can look over the messages in a forum or thread and move to other forums by clicking the appropriate links.

Forums

Forums focus on individual topic areas, such as a particular software module or application. For example, the ArcView 3.x Conference contains separate forums for Avenue and Spatial Analyst.

Threads

Threads are created by users to narrow discussion to a particular topic in a forum such as a product feature, problem, or comment. Threads are one or more messages focused on a particular topic within a forum, such as a product feature, problem, or comment.

Messages

Messages are posted by users in reply to existing messages, to create new threads, or to add new messages to an existing thread.

Logging in with the ESRI Global Account

You need an ESRI Global Account to post or edit a message, as well as to manage your threads. If you don't have an account, you can create one from the login section on the Home page, or from the login screen. More Info

Posting a New Thread

• You may search the forums for your subject before completing the form.
• While in a Conference, select a forum from the 'Choose forum topic to post within...' pulldown list.
• If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to do so.
• Complete the form with the required information:
  Subject : will appear as the Thread subject in the Threads list
  Message : body of the message
  Code : will appear in monospace font exactly as you type it.
  Attachments : include files such as images or log files, no greater than 4096 kb (4 mb).
  Executable content (files with extensions like .exe, .bat, .com and .vbs) will be rejected.
• Uncheck the E-mail option if you do not wish to be notified of updates to the thread.
• When finished composing your message, click the Post Message button.
• You have the option of previewing your message before posting it.

Replying to a Message

• While viewing a message in a thread, click the reply link above the message.
• If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to do so.
• When finished composing your message, click the Post Message button.
• You have the option of previewing your message before posting it.

Adding Attachments

• Please zip large files.
• Note that large files will take longer to upload. Your file is completely uploaded only after you see its name show up in the attachment box. If your file fails to show up in the attachment box, try shortening the name and attach it again.
• Maximum filesize permitted is 4096 kb (4 mb).
• All uploaded files are given unique names, so map.zip will download with a name like 101.zip.
• You may attach multiple files.
• Executable content is not allowed; files with extensions  *.exe *.vbs *.com *.bat *.wsh *.asp will not be uploaded.

Editing a Message

• Log in, if you haven't already done so. The edit option is not visible if you are not logged in.
• While viewing a thread, locate your message and click the edit link above your message.
• When finished editing your message, click the Post Message button.
• You have the option of previewing your message before posting it.

Deleting a Message

• You cannot delete a message once it has been posted.
• You may try editing your message, appropriately, if you want other users to ignore it.
• Under extraneous circumstances, you may contact us and we will consider deleting one of your messages.

Deleting An Attachment

• You can delete an attachment before posting your message. To do so, select the file in the "Attachment" box and click the "Remove" buton. You cannot delete an attachment once the message has been posted.
• You may try editing your message, appropriately, if you want other users to ignore the attachment.
• Under extraneous circumstances, you may contact us and we will consider deleting your attachment.

Watching a Thread

• Log in, if you haven't already done so. The watch thread option is not visible if you are not logged in.
• While viewing a thread, check the box next to Watch thread?. The thread will appear in your threads list and you will recieve E-mails when the thread is updated.
• To see a list of the threads you are watching, as well as messages you've posted, go to any Conference page and click My Threads in the Quick Links box. On the list, you can enable or disable the message notification for each thread or message.

Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program

• The MVP Program is designed to reward users for their technical expertise, spirit of community, and their willingness to help their peers by providing reliable and accurate answers to technical questions about ESRI products.
• This is how it works:
1. When a forum participant posts a question, he or she may choose to assign to it a difficulty rating of easy, medium, or hard.
2. The posted thread will appear in the threads list with a number of diamonds () corresponding to the rated difficulty of the question.
3. When the question is answered, the original poster will have an opportunity to mark the question as answered, which awards MVP points to the person who answered the question: 1 point for easy, 3 points for medium and 5 points for difficult questions.
4. After the question has been answered, a star () will appear next to the thread in the threads list and next to the message that was awarded the points in the messages list.
5. The Conference participants who rank highest in total number of points will periodically be awarded prizes from ESRI, which may include ESRI merchandise and/or services.
• MVP Prizes
• Official MVP Contest Rules

Browser Requirements

• You must have cookies enabled to post messages within an ESRI Discussion Forum.
• You must also have JavaScript enabled to use many of the features, including posting messages, searching and filtering messages within the forums.

Contact Us

If you have additional questions about the discussion conferences or their administration, please contact us.