The Need for Foundations

The picture above is from a one of my manuals. The reason I’m using this picture is to demonstrate an issue that come up recently with a client. The client wanted to draw something like this but they hadn’t read my Essential Manual, so they were having trouble with basic concepts and they were missing basic skills. After some telephone chatting the client has been using the Essential Manual to improve and to build a basic knowledge (or foundation) in VectorWorks.

The Essential manual is like building good foundations before you a house.

Would you start to make the roof or make the windows of a house before you put the foundations down? Of course you wouldn’t, you’d do things in order and put in some good foundations first. Then you’d put in the floor structure and the walls and build up the house. That’s what the Essential Manual is designed for, to give you a foundation for your VectorWorks knowledge. All the other manuals will build on the knowledge that you get from going through the Essential Manual.

I know when you start the Essential Manual you might be thinking “I don’t see the relevance of this...” But stick with it. To understand the relevance try working on an office project or try working through one of the advanced manuals, you soon see that you need these basic skills, the foundation knowledge...