Cloud-Based Work Environment Profiles (Personal and Company-Wide Standardization)

[pmelo]

Currently, Work Environment (WE) profiles are stored inside the Archicad installation on a machine.
This works, but it’s not ideal for today's flexible workflows.

Even though there’s already a form of Fast Work Environment Switching within Archicad, Work Environments are still tied to specific Archicad installations — not to users.
If you reinstall Archicad, upgrade to a new version, work remotely, or use someone else's computer, you either have to manually export and import your WE or rebuild it from scratch — which wastes time and adds friction.

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The idea:

Link Work Environment profiles to the user's Graphisoft ID, so your personal setup automatically follows you — no matter which computer or Archicad installation you’re using.

When you log into Archicad, your preferred WE profile (personal or company-assigned) would automatically load.
You could also manage your profiles online, in the same portal where you manage cloud licenses.

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How it could work:

• Personal WE profiles:

  • Your custom toolbars, shortcuts, palette layouts, etc., stored securely online.

  • Auto-loaded when you log into any Archicad installation.

• Company WE profiles:

  • For users linked to a company account, BIM Managers could assign standard profiles.

  • These could be enforced (locked) or optional depending on company policy.

• Online portal management:

  • Individuals manage their own profiles.

  • BIM managers create/update official profiles, and push updates when needed.

[JL2004]

Centralised Work Environments would be a definite plus for the BIM Manager! We do centrally manage our Work Environments, by manipulating xml files in combination with file delete/copy using login scripts, but we also have to centrally manage user customisations which also use some of our standard settings - it's an awkward workflow at best. Initially we implemented this because people kept using old profiles in newer versions of ArchiCAD and things kept breaking, but more recently we build our own internal add-ons and need to keep updating our toolbars and keyboard shortcuts.

I'd add to this ability to roll forward WE profiles between ArchiCAD versions, or have some sort of migration process, so we don't have to build a new one each time. Also a lock on what the user can/cannot change if centrally managed (eg. we don't necessarily want users to change anything in the 'Company Standards > Data Safety & Integrity section')