New and want to learn

[flsocialist (Steve Sears)]

I’m new to Smartthings and home automation. I mainly have lighting right now but am adding some sensors. My issue is that the documentation seems sparse, old (screenshots different than current app) or just confusing. Is there a book or some kind of beginners course available. Any good resource (or directions to good entries here) is appreciated

[JDRoberts]

Welcome to the forums!

The Scheduling Intro might help as a starting place:

A Short Intro to Scheduling/Device Control/Rules in SmartThings Classic

(March 2018: All of the following applies only to the SmartThings Classic app. If you purchased your hub after March 1, 2018 and are using the new “SmartThings (Samsung Connect)” app, creating rules works differently.) You’ve got your hub. You’ve got some devices. Now how do you schedule what happens when? SmartThings doesn’t have a rules engine/scheduler, so there’s no one tutorial for how to do this. But it’s an open platform, and there are about 12 different ways to set up various kinds of schedules. Some require custom code, some don’t. A “scheduler” in this context is anything that causes a networked device to perform an action, even if it’s just to toggle on or off immediately. (Network engineering definition, forgive me. ) (Note: as of April 2017, the original author of …

[Ben (Ben Edwards)]

You can also join the Developer Discussion calls that occur every other week. No question is a stupid question There is one tonight:

Developer Discussion: July 29, 2015 - Developer Site (portal) + IDE

Hi Everyone! Join me in this call to discuss Developer Site and IDE with Alex Sanchez, our new PM for Developer experiences. Every other Wednesday for 1 hour 8pm EST / 7pm CST / 6pm MST/ 5pm PST To join the Meeting: https://bluejeans.com/551112646 To join via Phone: Dial: +1 408 740 7256 +1 888 240 2560 (US or Canada only) (see all numbers - http://bluejeans.com/numbers) Enter Conference ID: 551112646

[slagle (Tim Slagle)]

Welcome man! Please ask me anything you ever want to know.

Here or PM is fine… whichever makes you feel most comfortable.

[kevintierney]

@Ben

You can also join the Developer Discussion calls that occur every other week. No question is a stupid question

All of the old calls are on youtube. I got lots of good info from those. Also check out @pstuart’s Live Code fridays. All his past ones are on youtube too

Live Code Fridays 7/29/2015 8pm EST / 5pm PST

All are welcome to discuss the basics of writing a SmartApp in the IDE to accomplish anything in the platform. Completely unrehearsed, we make it up as we go. Bring an idea, problem, rant, rave and we’ll discuss. Completely open and uncensored. Starts at 8pm EST / 5pm PST and goes until we either break it or break ourselves… Bring your caffeine and lets get coding. Event Link here: Youtube archive here:

Another great resource is the IDE. In the IDE, you can find the code for all the ST device types and smart apps, as well as code that others have shared.

[t2jock (Mike S)]

You guys are great resources. Kevin and JD in particular have been life savers for me. But the IDE and Developer Calls are not the right solution that ST needs right now. You guys have done great work in getting ST to where it is today and the platform would most likely have flopped without you and the others like you. But to get to the next level, ST has to bite the bullet and provide the kind of end-user documentation that Steve and others like him are asking for.

I don’t want to know how to create an ST SmartApp. I just want to know how to hook the devices and sensors that I want/need into the ST environment and make them do the things that I want them to do. And learning Groovy shouldn’t be a necessary part of that process. Good, clearly written user guides; a well thought out and cleanly integrated UI and great customer support are what ST needs now. It has to become a consumer product, not a developer’s platform.

[flsocialist (Steve Sears)]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I will take a look at all as I find the time (LONG hours at work) I agree with T2jock also, right now I would love to just be able to read how to use my devices, then when I get the time, delve deeper into it and customize. But if the option is not there then I’ll just have to take the time. The effort probably won’t stop me, but I can see how it could stop others who are looking for a plug and play solutions (which I thought ST was )

I’m sure I’ll have questions as I learn, and am happy to know there are people out there willing to respond to a ST noob

Steve

[JDRoberts]

As you read through the scheduling Intro linked to above you’ll see that SmartThings has many control options that don’t require any coding. (I can code, but I don’t want to.) In particular, shortcut groups and Hello Home Actions can let you set up a lot of control situations, such as having lights turn on when a particular motion sensor is triggered or a specific door is opened.

It just takes time to figure out how to enter the rules you want. Often the option exists, it’s just not obvious where it is. But you can always post the use case you want to the forums and people will be glad to help, either with pointers to the right UI page or with coding solutions.