Editable Worksets and Workset Ownership

Here is a tip for beginners working with Worksets for the first time.

Let's say you have a project with worksets enabled and the whole model is on Workset 1 by default. If you right click on an element that is on Workset 1 and select the option that reads "Make Worksets Editable" you are making yourself the Owner of Workset 1. No one else is going to be able to edit ANY modeled elements that are on that workset. They can add elements to Workset 1 but they can't edit elements already placed.

If you go to Collaboration... Worksets... and you see yourself as the Owner of any workset you're probably locking everyone else out of that workset so make sure you click on the "Non Editable" button to relenquish the user-created Workset... or do a save to central and relenquish user-created worksets so other users can work on the model too.

What you more likely want to do is borrow... or select the "Make Elements Editable" option instead so you are only borrowing a small part of the worksets rather than Owning the whole workset.

Just a heads up for you beginners out there.

Revit 2010: Resetting the UI

Autodesk has written a little vb script that will reset the Ribbon, QAT, and Project Browser to their default settings/locations, in the event that a user has totally rearranged the components of the User Interface.

Revit 2010: The Ribbon

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the new User Interface. Here are some of the arguments for and against the Ribbon.

The "Consistency" group:
Learning the new ribbon will make learning other Autodesk products easier because they all have a consistent user interface.

The "It's Inevitable" group:
We are going to have to get used to the ribbon because it's here to stay. So the question is not DO we learn the new ribbon but, WHEN do we learn it?

The "Hopeful, Let's Wait" group:
There is a lot of complaining about the new interface. In response to complains, Autodesk might make some changes to the ribbon between now and next year.

The "Productivity" group:
The new ribbon is less efficient than the old interface and not necessary for our firm at this time.

My Thoughts:
1. The first reaction is going to be frustration, "Where did my tool go? Why are the tools moving around on me?"
2. The second reaction is going to be surprise, "Is this a new tool in 2010? No, it's just more visible now because commands were shuffled around."
3. Every office is at a different stage of Revit Implementation. Regardless of how many new features there are you have to ask yourself, "Is the office ready for an upgrade? Now or later?"
4. The new ribbon is going to require more retraining than is usual for a new release.