Categories
The Community in VEX PD+ is a place where VEX educators can connect and share information and questions with other VEX educators around the world. Topics are sorted into broad categories based on VEX platforms and competitions—like VEXcode VR, which is outlined in red in this image.
Topics
Topics (also sometimes called threads) appear as a series of “boxes” within each category, and are conversations made up of related posts—for example, the topic “PD+ Summer 2022 Course” that is outlined in red in the image below. In this view, the box for each topic within a category includes an icon to represent the most recent poster, a title, optional tags (for the first post only), the first few lines of the first post’s content, the number of replies in the topic, and the date of its most recent post.
Topics can be sorted, searched, and filtered using options at the top of the page and outlined in red in this image of the VR category.
The first post in a conversation, called the original post (OP), begins a new topic. Posts in a topic are meant to continue a discussion about the OP or respond directly to other posts in the topic. Must like a face-to-face conversation, topics often divert into somewhat-related side conversations!
Posts
If you click on a topic to view the posts in the conversation, you’ll see that each post includes a user name, possible link to an earlier post, post date, and text and/or images that add to the topic’s conversation.
Below each post, there are two icons and a “Reply” button that let you interact with that specific post in the topic. Clicking on the heart icon will demonstrate that you “like” that post. Clicking the link icon will generate a shareable link to the post that can be used by other PD+ Community members. Clicking the “Reply” button opens the ‘new post’ interface and allows you to add a post to the current topic that links back to the post you selected.
How to Reply within an Existing Topic
To add a post to an existing topic, simply click on the “Reply” button at the end of the conversation. If you want to reply directly to a specific post, use the “Reply” button immediately below that post to connect your reply to that post.
A new window will appear at the bottom of the screen, which includes the name of the existing topic, basic formatting options, a space to enter text and images, and buttons to post or cancel your reply to the conversation. The left side of the window allows you to build and format your post, while the right side provides a formatted preview.
When you’re done with your post, and the preview on the right side looks the way you want it to, click on the “Reply” button in the bottom left to add your post to the conversation.
How to Start a New Topic
If you’ve searched the PD+ Community for a topic and didn’t find what you were looking for, you can start a new conversation to talk about it!
First, choose a category for your topic based on the information you want to share or the question you want to ask. Some categories are education-focused, and others apply to VEX competitions and teams.
Then begin creating a new topic by clicking on “Create New Topic” in the menu bar, “New Topic” near the top of the category, or “start a new conversation” at the bottom of the list of existing topics.
A new window will appear at the bottom of the screen, which looks a lot like the interface used to add a post in an existing topic, but which has some additional options. The left side of the window allows you to build and format your post, while the right side provides a formatted preview.
After entering a descriptive title for your new topic, select or confirm a category using the pull-down menu and select optional tags for use in filtering. Add text and images to your post, and click on “Create Topic” to post it when you’re satisfied with the contents and formatting.