HomeSeer Training

[afzaalahmad06@gmail.com]

Hi Good Afternoon this is Afzal from Dubai,
how can i get training from homeseer?

[Uncle Michael]

I'm not aware of any training from HST. It's all documents:
https://helpdesk.homeseer.com/

The quickest way to learn is to try things out and see what happens. Come to the Board to ask questions when you get stuck.

[George]

You know, I might start a company to do that. I bet I could make some big bucks! LOL

[logbuilder]

At a high level, HS is actually pretty simple. It basically has 3 areas - devices, events, and plugins. For sure this is an over simplification but it might help you get your head pointed in the right direction. Good luck. This forum is your best resource for learning. Do some searches. Get stumped, ask how do I do it. You will usually get good responses.

Devices - there are the physical pieces of equipment that are capable of being controlled. Light switches, outlets that things plug into, sensors (door, window, temperature, remote controls, thermostat, light bulbs....). These devices usually turn off or on, dim, or send status such as a door just opened. Homeseer supports a huge number of devices. There is also a notion of a virtual device which is not physical but rather logical. Virtual devices are useful when creating events.

Events - This is where you can define what happens when things change. We call that a trigger. Events are an IF THEN structure. Example - IF the motion sensor in the bathroom sees motion, THEN turn on the bathroom light. Events can be simple or complex, that is up to your needs. Events seem to be where people spend the most time after getting over the initial learning curve. My system has been installed for years and I am still tinkering with events.

Plugins - Homeseer as delivered support a wide range of devices and functions. However, not everything is supported. This creates an opportunity for 3rd party developers to bridge the gaps by creating an extension to Homeseer to provide for the unsupported devices. As example, in my case I have a lot of Insteon devices. The best way to integrate these into HS is via a plugin. Some plugins are free and some have a cost. Chances are, if you want support for something that is not is in HS, there is a plugin for that. Plugins don't only support devices. Some offer additional functionality beyond HS. A great example is a plugin called EasyTrigger. It enhances events by adding new IF triggers and new THEN actions. I consider it essential.

I will add a fourth concept that has been really important to me. I call it scenes. It is not anywhere in HS but rather is just a concept you can easily implement. Scenes (I have 14 major ones) are now the way I control most everything. Scenes represent use cases. Examples include, Watching TV, Sleeping, Cooking. Lets say I want to create a Watching TV scene. First, I create a virtual device called "Scene - Watching TV" that can be either ON or OFF. Then I create an event that triggers when the "Scene - Watching TV" device is turned ON. Here is an example. Note, I am running Homeseer ver 3 so your event screen might look different but the concepts are the same.

[upstatemike]

Don't forget there are Homeseer training videos on Youtube.

[Uncle Michael]

Don't forget there are Homeseer training videos on Youtube.

Do any of them cover HS4? I couldn't find a link to them anymore on the help page. Is it gone or did I just miss it?

[TC1]

Do any of them cover HS4? I couldn't find a link to them anymore on the help page. Is it gone or did I just miss it?

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...y=homeseer+hs4

[Uncle Michael]

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...y=homeseer+hs4

Excellent! Is there are link to these on the HS help pages?

[TC1]

Excellent! Is there are link to these on the HS help pages?

I don't work for Homeseer so that's a question for them. Or you might want to see for yourself? Or just subscribe to the Homeseer channel on YouTube? https://www.youtube.com/c/HomeSeer

[Uncle Michael]

I don't work for Homeseer so that's a question for them. Or you might want to see for yourself? Or just subscribe to the Homeseer channel on YouTube? https://www.youtube.com/c/HomeSeer

All good suggestions, but I was trying to get at the route a new user might take to find these. I couldn't find a link to the videos when I checked the help pages, so I'm wondering if that's just because I'm blind or if they are really not there.

[TC1]

All good suggestions, but I was trying to get at the route a new user might take to find these. I couldn't find a link to the videos when I checked the help pages, so I'm wondering if that's just because I'm blind or if they are really not there.

Oh c'mon Mike, we all know HST is terrible when it comes to consistent documentation and communication. They are a perfect case study in how to not do it right.

The only reason I'm able to find this stuff is because of my Google Fu and OCD-like research powers. I feel sorry for the newbies because the organization of information is really bad for the product. And it gets tiresome for the experienced users to see the same questions getting asked over and over again in these forums.

[Uncle Michael]

Oh c'mon Mike, we all know HST is terrible when it comes to consistent documentation and communication. They are a perfect case study in how to not do it right.
The only reason I'm able to find this stuff is because of my Google Fu and OCD-like research powers. I feel sorry for the newbies because the organization of information is really bad for the product. And it gets tiresome for the experienced users to see the same questions getting asked over and over again in these forums.

Rupp macromark rjh It seems a shame to go to the trouble to create videos to illustrate how HS can be used effectively, then provide no easy way for a new user to become aware that they exist. Is that intentional?

[TC1]

Umm Mike, there's a link to the videos on the Support Page: https://homeseer.com/support-home/

[macromark]

Rupp macromark rjh It seems a shame to go to the trouble to create videos to illustrate how HS can be used effectively, then provide no easy way for a new user to become aware that they exist. Is that intentional?

When a new user purchases software or a hub from us, they get an email with links to all our help assets. They can also get them by clicking the "Help" link at the top of homeseer.com.

Likewise, if anyone visits our documentation site (docs.homeseer.com), the first link on that page is for the HS4 Knowledge Base. Clicking that opens another page with these links:

• Getting Started
• Core Features
• Getting Help

That said, if anyone has suggestion on how to simplify the journey for new users, let me know.

[Uncle Michael]

When a new user purchases software or a hub from us, they get an email with links to all our help assets. They can also get them by clicking the "Help" link at the top of homeseer.com.

Likewise, if anyone visits our documentation site (docs.homeseer.com), the first link on that page is for the HS4 Knowledge Base. Clicking that opens another page with these links:
That said, if anyone has suggestion on how to simplify the journey for new users, let me know.

Mark,
I've tried following those links, but I have not found any that lead me to the YouTube channel. Perhaps that is an oversight, or maybe I'm just being dense, but IMHO the process should be easy enough to be obvious even to someone like me. How about an explicit link to "The HomeSeer YouTube Channel"?

I'm just thinking that a clear link to videos may address people with a learning style that is more aligned with a demonstration than with a descriptive document.