New Rockwell Knowledgebase

Just wondering what you guys think of the new look to Rockwell's Knowledgebase. Any good guesses on why they changed something that was OK? Let me know if I'm out to lunch... I do need some straightening out from time to time.

Don't like it.

A few comments on the forums:

I never liked having all the different categories. When visiting on a daily or semi-daily basis, there are only 1 or 2 thread entries in each of a few different categories and it takes longer to click back and forth to see them all.

I don't like the idea of marking a thread "solved" when the OP is satisfied with a solution. To me, this quashes any further alternative ideas. The threads are not only for the person starting the thread but also for persons down the road that have a similar problem and search for a solution. Yes, you can continue to post replies but, is everyone still monitoring the thread?

Kudos are silly.

Despite all that, I continue to visit the forum.

I do not like it either, new design is complicated.

Are most of the forums still restricted to those covered by a support contract?

Steve Bailey said:

Are most of the forums still restricted to those covered by a support contract?

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Yes, I noticed if I don't log in, I don't see all the forums.

I have found since the forum changed the knowledgebase has some issues like attachments being there sometimes and not other times. I can go to the same tech note more than once and the attachment may or may not be there. And for a while even though I do have a tech connect number, I could not see the restricted topics.

Every iteration of the Knowledge base makes it more and more annoying. The "New and Improved" version is the latest in a line of bad ideas, and bad implementation.

Googling still gets more accurate KB hits then the piece of garbage search engine Rockwell is using. Go figure.

rdrast said:

Every iteration of the Knowledge base makes it more and more annoying. The "New and Improved" version is the latest in a line of bad ideas, and bad implementation.

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They need to rewind a couple of versions. AB did the same thing with their online catalog as well. Five years ago they had one of the best online catalogs out there. Then they went and screwed up a good thing.


Hopefully AB is listening.

I don't like it now but may get used to it. I wish that they would go back 2 versions. They keep changing things every time we get used to it and you have to re-learn navigation all over again.

Still confusing and hard to navigate

Yup - I agree, the Rockwell KB has always been confusing and hard to search. A KB must be easy to use.

What I want in a knowledge base and what Rockwell thinks I want seem to be two completely different things.

I want to be able to punch in a part number and find a page with everything there is to know about that part - specifications, catalog number breakdowns, renewal part numbers, documentation in PDF format, info on PSAs and recalls, firmware and series changes, compatibility issues... everything. So far there isn't one major manufacturer that I've found that does this.

Omron gets close. Schneider/Tele is workable. AB is OK but you have to search about 10 times and visit 4 different sites to find everything. Siemens has a terrible, terrible website. I know Rockwell probably makes a bundle off of TechConnect contracts, but sometimes it isn't worth it.

Just my opinion.

I'll respond about the Forums, since that was the original question:

The forum upgrade was necessitated by our forum vendor. We didn't have any choice. Functionality-wise, it fixed a few annoying bugs that most people didn't noticed (but as admin/moderator, they drove me nuts on a regular basis), but it didn't really change the basic feature-set. (Ok, it did remove the ability to have a "space" in a username ... no idea why ...)

The biggest problem most folks have had is the "updated" skin. And I'll be the first to admit, it is a step down. The other "pre-packaged" skins are even worse.

That said, I am working on figuring out how to design a custom skin of my own to address as many of the issues with the look as I can. I only ask for some patience, as running the forums is a fairly small part of my job and I've been running low on time to really sit down and work on the forums.

JHutch
Rockwell Automation

jHutch, The original post was about the KB.(only)

New Rockwell Knowledgebase
Just wondering what you guys think of the new look to Rockwell's Knowledgebase. Any good guesses on why they changed something that was OK? Let me know if I'm out to lunch... I do need some straightening out from time to time.

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jHutch, The original post was about the KB.(only)

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Doh! You are, of course, correct! Someone linked me this thread and put the second post in his commentary. When I came here, I didn't look closely enough!

So, ok, I'll respond about the KnowledgeBase change:

Yes, it is quite different in appearance. The most common complaint is the width. It is quite narrow compared to the previous layout.

There is a reason for this, of course, but we are evaluating options. The reason? Well, by using a fixed narrow width, we can guarantee that the page will look the same on a small screens. We are finding that small devices, such as iPhones or small netbooks, are becoming more and more popular. Smartphones, especially, are creeping up in popularity for engineers out of the plant floors, for instance. By having out KB layout the way it is, we can provide a pretty nice experience for all.

Is this the only way it could have been done? No, of course not. There are many options, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. We'll evaluate them going forward.

The other big changes with this version have to do with the flexibility it gives us. The Advance Search options are one visible difference (and anyone that complains about search results being poor should try to narrow the search with the Advanced Search options, it makes a HUGE difference!). But there are things you can't see that are very big underneath. As much of it has yet to roll out, I can't speak with many specifics, but the plan is to roll out some features that will make it much easier to integrate features across the various Rockwell web sites. Some of these features will be very useful, I think. Stay tuned.

I know that change makes people upset. I also know these changes are not perfect. But, please, send us the feedback. I promise I read every single email! Together, we can make it the best it *can* be.

JHutch

JHutch2000 said:

Yes, it is quite different in appearance. The most common complaint is the width. It is quite narrow compared to the previous layout.

There is a reason for this, of course, but we are evaluating options. The reason? Well, by using a fixed narrow width, we can guarantee that the page will look the same on a small screens. We are finding that small devices, such as iPhones or small netbooks, are becoming more and more popular. Smartphones,

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You know,
Most sites that want to support mobile devices as you mentioned actually query the browser, and redirect to a format designed for mobile browsers. Or, at the very least, have a separate url for them (the m. in place of www. is becoming more and more popular). That makes more sense then cramming the main site into a mobile format, especially with all of the ancillary graphics, frames, and junk.

JHutch2000 said:

The other big changes with this version have to do with the flexibility it gives us. The Advance Search options are one visible difference (and anyone that complains about search results being poor should try to narrow the search with the Advanced Search options, it makes a HUGE difference!). But there are things you can't see that are very big underneath. As much of it has yet to roll out, I can't speak with many specifics, but the plan is to roll out some features that will make it much easier to integrate features across the various Rockwell web sites. Some of these features will be very useful, I think. Stay tuned.
JHutch

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The "Search" facility is still horrible. Typing in an exact error message and or code for example still brings up pages and pages of hits that have no relation to the search. Typing the exact same thing into google however, will usually point to a single document on the Rockwell site, which does concern the search term. Searching for simple information, even using the "Advanced" options still results in way too low of a signal to noise ratio.

I also concur with one of the above posters about the mess that is the online catalog and the literature library. Organization seems to be completely gone, and once again, even searching for a manual by part number results in an extremely low signal to noise ratio. Why do I have to wade through every single document that mentions part # XYZ even in passing?

The Siemens site is organized extremely well for finding information on the other hand. Drill down to a product, and there on one tabbed page are manuals, usage notes, software, firmware, whatever is related.