Designing for Today: Navigating the Web Browser

So you were sent the link to access the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. When you open the first few pages, what are the first things you should do and check out? If you are brand new to the platform, this blog is for you. In this blog, we will walk through how to access introductory videos, as well as how to customize your platform experience to get you up and running.

In this article:

• My First Dashboard
• Default Dashboards
• Adding Tabs
• Adding Widgets
• Creating Your Own Dashboard

My First Dashboard

When you access the platform, you will be greeted with your first dashboard. This is meant to give you an introduction to some of the terms that are used to navigate the platform. This first dashboard contains two tabs. The second tab “Learn the Experience” has several videos that explain some of the general features within the platform. It will also contain links to Learning Paths within the 3DEXPERIENCE EDU page for more in-depth training on the platform. These are great resources available to you, and I am always a big proponent of putting the time in to first learn a tool before going forward instead of blindly going in and hoping that you’re using the tools in the most efficient way possible.

>> TriMech Cloud Primer: 3DEXPERIENCE Explained

 

Default Dashboards

A dashboard is a customizable page where you can store and manage the applications that you use. These can be organized into separate tabs. When you are first invited to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, a role, or multiple roles, will be assigned to you depending on your position and how you will be using the platform. A number of these roles come with their own default dashboard. To access these dashboards, you can click on the dashboard link icon near the top-left corner of your screen.

A default dashboard will be set up with the applications that users with that role will typically interact with. However, it can also be treated as a starting point. You can add additional widgets to your tabs as well as add new tabs within that dashboard.

Adding Tabs

To add a tab to a dashboard, click on the + icon found at the right end of your existing tabs. This will create a new empty tab. To rename it, simply click on the title “New Tab”, or click on the drop-down arrow and select “Rename.”

Adding Widgets

Since we don’t want to leave our tabs empty, let’s look at how we can add applications or widgets to our tabs. To access all of our applications, click on the compass icon on the top-left corner of the screen. Here you will see a list of all of your roles as well as the applications that you gain access to with those roles. Clicking on a role will display the applications that belong to that role or you can scroll down to see a complete list of your Apps. The app icons with an arrow in the top right corner are widgets. This means they can be added to our dashboards. You can simply click and drag them onto a new or existing tab and resize as needed. The compass also has a search function which makes finding apps much quicker.

>> 5 Key Tools to Know in 3DEXPERIENCE

Creating Your Own Dashboard

In the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we are not limited to working with a single dashboard. Setting up multiple dashboards may be useful depending on your personal preference. As an example, we can have one dashboard where we keep everything we need for business meetings and project planning but have a different dashboard to keep all the applications for design, data and engineering changes. It’s a great way of staying organized.

To create a new dashboard, go back to the Dashboard List and click the + icon. You can start your dashboard from scratch or use one of the available default dashboards that we mentioned earlier as a template. Give it a name and add a description and click “Create.” Once your dashboard is created, you will be able to access it from your dashboard list and customize it by adding and renaming tabs including any applications that you will be using.

For easier access to the dashboards being used most often, you can add them to your “Favorite Dashboards.” To do this, click the drop-down arrow next to your dashboard name and click “Manage.” In the Manage Dashboards dialog, click the star icon in the top right to add this dashboard to your favorites. Now it will be listed at the top of your Dashboard List.

One of the great things about the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is how you can make it your own. Your user interface does not have to look the same as everybody else. I encourage you to jump into the platform and make it fit your specific needs. You will find that it’s not as intimidating as it seems at first.

Want to know more about 3DEXPERIENCE? Watch this on-demand webinar as we take you through a typical design scenario and how to accomplish the tasks with the unique offerings in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.