Help and additional resources
This help system serves as a comprehensive reference for the tools, commands, and dialog boxes contained in the Vectorworks Fundamentals and Design Series workspaces. The Vectorworks program links to the appropriate help topic, providing instant information.
To open the help system, select Help > Vectorworks Help. The help window opens in your default browser. If you are connected to the internet, the online version of the help displays. If an internet connection is not available, the locally-installed version of the help opens. The local version may not contain the latest information, but in general, the online and local versions are very similar.
If bandwidth or connection issues cause display or searching to become unacceptably slow, select the Vectorworks Session preference, Use local help even when an internet connection is available, to always use the local version of the help system.
Browser security settings prevent the following browsers from properly opening the local version of help: Chrome, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Safari 11 and later. For Microsoft products, a blocked content warning displays and the help opens to the first page; search the help for the item of interest at that time. In Safari you can change the settings to allow local viewing; set the Preference to display the Develop menu, and then disable local file restrictions. Alternatively, switch to a different default browser for local use (Firefox is recommended), or use the online version of the help system to avoid this issue. Browser security settings are in place to protect you from malicious files. Although Vectorworks files are safe, always use caution when opening other files.
The Internet Explorer browser, prior to version 9, does not support the HTML5 features of this help system. Upgrade to a more recent version of the browser if possible, or switch to a different browser.
The help system adjusts itself automatically to the size of your screen. To display the help system on your mobile device, access the help from the Vectorworks | Support area of the website.
On a large screen, typically a desktop, the help topics display on the left, with an area for the table of contents and flyout panes on the right. At any time, you can click the Vectorworks logo to open the Vectorworks website.
The Tool bar contains buttons for navigation and other functions. The search, commands and tools list, glossary, and favorite topics display in flyout panes that can stay open while viewing the documentation.
On a smaller screen, or on a tablet, the table of contents, commands and tools list, glossary, and favorites are hidden to maximize the topic viewing area. Click the Menu button to access these functions.
Select a function to open its flyout pane. To close the flyout pane and return to menu view, click Back. To close the menu and return to topic view, click X on the flyout pane.
The view on a much smaller screen, such as a mobile phone, resembles the tablet view. The topic displays full-screen, and the table of contents, commands and tools list, glossary, and favorites are accessible from the Menu button. Due to the small screen size, the flyout panes temporarily hide the topic view. Click X on a flyout pane to return to topic view.
Context-sensitive help is available from within the Vectorworks program. For more information about a particular feature of Vectorworks, do one of the following:
● To learn more about a palette or dialog box, click the ? icon on the Title bar or press F1.
● To learn more about a selected tool, press F1.
On a Mac (aluminum keyboard), press Fn+F1.
● To learn more about a menu command, context menu command, tool, or palette, select Help > What’s This?, then move the question mark cursor to the feature of interest, and click it.
The “What’s This?” question mark cursor can be deactivated by selecting Help > What’s This? once again.
Vectorworks cannot directly access context-sensitive help for some context menu commands or the Worksheet menu commands. To obtain help on these items, launch the help and locate the help topic by conducting a search.
The help you need opens. You can simultaneously view the help topic and the Vectorworks application. Since it is assumed that you have a dialog box open in Vectorworks when seeking help, the same default dialog box generally does not also display in the help.
If significant changes occur to the Vectorworks application or the help information during the Vectorworks product cycle, Vectorworks may release an update to the help system. This update is automatically available online. The local help is also updated automatically when a service pack is updated or installed.
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