Starting out

[Dmoblay (Luke)]

Hi - there is so much good stuff on the forum but all focuses on pushing setups to the next level.

I’ve just bought a range of new ST sensors and hub and setting up for the first time.

I’m struggling to get rules not to conflict with each other and keep getting the system stuck in modes. For example, my automated good morning routine for some reason changes the mode to away. It’s not within the settings of the good morning routine and I can’t work out why.

Is there a set of instructions guides for getting a base system up and running and learning how to build up more and more routines as you add additional kit and come up with new ideas?

[eibyer]

Hi and welcome. If you haven’t seen Rule Machine, check it out as it might be the easiest way to deal with making your own automation.

Rule machine - as per the app developer, this app is no longer available for new installs, distribution, or support

Rule Machine is no longer available.

[prjct92eh2 (Jimmy)]

I would try to submit a ticket to support. i’ve seen others having problems with modes getting set by routines, but no real solution other than go into config for that routine and press done to reset it.

[Dmoblay (Luke)]

Hi thanks.

I guess what I am really after here is a set of guides to help me properly learn how to use each function; I.e. When to use a routine versus a mode etc. How to set and edit and add a mode. The basics of starting from scratch.

Which is basically what I intend to do. Reset all settings and start from fresh. Just looking for some help in learning to do things.

[jpeuter11 (JP)]

Welcome @Dmoblay I am still getting the hang myself around here but there are plenty of great posts so I suggest keep reading and it will start to make sense. Here is a good thread where modes vs routines are explained. I hope this helps!

What do you mean by this part of your question?

[jpeuter11 (JP)]

The main thing I got from reading the above mentioned thread was the link off of that post to the below link. This is a great example of using modes and routines. Again as mentioned above you could use rule machine as an alternative as well. That’s the great thing about ST many options to do the same things.

My set up is more complex, or else I would have taken screenshots. But I'll try to be as detailed as possible. Here we go: • Daytime • Evening • Away • Away at Night • Vacation • Good Morning • Good Evening • Good bye • I'm back • I'm back at Night • Vacation By making your home change the mode automatically, based on sun state AND current mode. ******************************** When everyone is home: ******************************** A. Create a routine called Good Morning Settings 1 . Change the mode to: select Daytime 2 . Additional settings… "Automatically perform "Good Morning" at": Sunrise (ONLY if in Evening Mode) Note: to achieve the ONLY if mode, you need to select ALL but Evening under section "Don't aut…

[JDRoberts]

I’m not sure if this will help or not, but it might be worth a look:

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

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. :blush:) (Note: as of April 2017, the original author of this FAQ lost the ability to add updated screenshots as VoiceOver capability was broken in the official SmartThings mobile app and has not yet been fixed. Anyone who wants to update the screenshots or any out of date i…

[Dmoblay (Luke)]

Is there a way of working out what is causing conflicts?

For example, my goodbye routine is set to automatically run when all presence sensors have left. But, it should have just triggered as everyone has been gone for about 30 mins now, but it has t run for some reason.