Many users do not know that there are SolidWorks forums available. Much less that they can access the forums from within SolidWorks.

Say you were working late at night and came across an obstacle. You search the knowledge base but don’t find useful information and is outside business hours for your VAR. Where would you turn to? Many users don’t realize that SolidWorks forums can be accessed right from within SolidWorks task pane – The vertical toolbar found on the right side of the SolidWorks Window.

There is a wealth of useful information in the SolidWorks forums from other users that like to post their challenges, suggestions and inquires.  You can tap into this wealth of information from within SolidWorks by enabling the SolidWorks Forum Add-in.

With SolidWorks open, select Tools > Add ins.. > SolidWorks Forum.

To activate the Add-in in the current solidworks session, select the checkbox on the left of the Solidworks Forums field (Red arrow below). Likewise, enable the Add-in for every time you open SolidWorks; select the check box on the right (Blue Arrow). Click OK.

Once the Add-in is added, in the SolidWorks Task Pane you will find the Forums Tab :

Selecting this tab you will find the list of forums in the SolidWorks website: This gives visibility to the forums, but if you would like to reply, “Like” or use other features, log-in to the customer portal will be required.The forum is divided into categories such as SolidWorks, Simulation, Data Management and Administration among others.

Suppose that you were working on part design.  You add a fillet to one of the edges and notice is not straight. You go to the forum, you search for fillet. There you find another user that posted this article: You find that this question was answered by another user that posted his suggestion:

 You try it yourself, and works like a charm.  This is a powerful doorway to information in the SolidWorks user community.