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Help
General Help
Resource Center Specific Help
Forum Specific Help
Solution Catalog Specific Help
What is the Amazon Web Services Developer Connection?
The Amazon Web Services Developer Connection (http://aws.amazon.com/connect) is the online home of the AWS developer
community. It provides integrated access to the Developer Forums and the Resource Center, and offers a unified
environment in which to communicate and learn about Amazon Web Services. To become a member of the Developer
Connection, be sure to create an
Amazon Web Services account, if you have not already done so. This will allow you to begin using Amazon Web
Services technology and to also contribute your opinions, questions, and content ratings to the Developer
Connection.
How do I login to the Developer Connection?
You can login at any time by clicking the "Login" link at the top of the screen. You will also automatically be
presented with the login screen any time you try to access a feature requiring specific permissions. Please note
that in order to post to the Forums, and to create reviews for Resource Center content, you must first create an Amazon Web Services
Developer account.
When you login to the Developer Connection, please be sure to login with the email address and password associated
with your developer account. This single login grants access to the entire environment - including the Developer
Forums, the Resource Center, and the Solutions Catalog.
Do I have to be registered to use the Developer Connection?
Generally speaking, you do not need to have an Amazon Web Services account to read the forums or access Resource
Center or Solutions Catalog content; however you must be a registered Amazon Web Services developer in order to post to the forums, and
to create reviews for Resource Center content. In certain cases, the permissions to read or post to various areas of
the Developer Connection may vary based on user profile, depending on the specific content or functionality in
question.
What is my Username and where is it displayed?
Your Username is a unique identifier that the Developer Connection uses as your identity to the community. This name
is always publicly displayed in your forums greeting, and visible in your Developer Connection profile under
"Username". If you have not set up an Amazon Pen Name or Real Name™ (see Why does the
Amazon Web Services Developer Connection display my Amazon "Pen Name" or "Real Name™"?), your Username
will additionally appear next to any posts you make.
Why does the Amazon Web Services Developer Connection display my Amazon "Pen Name" or "Real Name™"?
If you have set up an Amazon Pen Name or Real Name™ as part of your Amazon profile, the Developer Connection
will use these to identify you alongside any of your forum posts, reviews, and in the "Name"
field of your Developer Forums profile. To add, edit, or delete your Pen Name or Real Name™, or to learn more
about these identifiers, please visit your Amazon profile page. Please note that any changes you
make to your Pen Name or Real Name™ will only take effect in the Amazon Web Services Developer Connection
once you have logged out of and back into the Developer Connection.
What do I do if I forgot my password?
If you forgot your password, click the "Forgot your password? Click here" link on the login page. Then, follow the
Amazon.com process for retrieving or resetting your password. Once you have recovered or reset your password, you
will then be able to login to the Developer Connection.
What can I do in the Control Panel?
After logging in, you may click on "Your Control Panel" (or, if you have clicked on your Username, by clicking on
"Edit Settings") to view and edit your settings. Your Control Panel displays the following links across the top of
the page:
Edit Settings
- Your Profile - View and change the personal information visible to other users of the Developer
Connection.
- General Settings - Allows editing of general viewing preferences such as default number of Resource Center
documents per page and preferred time zone.
- Watch Preferences - Create automatic watches and set the frequency with which watch emails are sent.
Public Profile
Displays the information visible to other users of the Developer Connection (unless marked as "hidden")
Watches
Maintains a list of all users, Developer Forum categories, forums, and threads, as well as Resource Center and Solutions Catalog categories and documents on which you have placed a Watch. From this tab you may save watches, or delete them if no
longer relevant.
Questions
Maintains a list of your open questions, and questions you have asked in the past. It also displays questions as
resolved or unresolved, and allows you to mark them as resolved, or designate replies as helpful or correct.
What are watches and how do I manage my watch list?
A watch notifies you by via email if the content in which you are interested has been updated. This feature is
available throughout both the forums and the Resource Center.
To add to your watch list (categories, forums, threads, etc.), click on the "Watch This [TypeOfContent]" link as
visible throughout the Developer Connection. Click on "Stop Watching [TypeOfContent]" to end the email
notifications. After 30 days, inactive watches automatically expire. As an example, if you watch a forum (by
clicking "Watch this Forum"), you will be notified via email when a new message is posted in that forum.
To view your current list of watches, click on "Your Control Panel", then "Watches". From this screen you can delete
a watch by clicking in the "Delete" tick box for the watch you want to delete; then click the "Delete" button. If
you wish to ensure that a Watch is not deleted after 30 days of inactivity, click the "Save" tick box for the watch
you wish you maintain, then click the "Save" button.
How do I set my profile and view other user profiles?
To create or update your profile, click on "Your Control Panel" (or, if you have clicked on your Username, by
clicking on "Edit Settings"). Your profile, general settings, and watch settings may be set from here. To edit these
settings, complete your updated information, then click "Save".
To view the profile for any Developer Connection user, click on his / her Username wherever you see it as a link.
You can also search for a Username or ID using the search feature.
How do I search the Developer Connection?
The Developer Connection search capability allows you to perform:
- An isolated Developer Forums search
- An isolated Content (comprising the Resource Center and the Solutions Catalog), or
- An integrated search across both the Developer Forums and Content.
The "Search" bar in the header will by default search both the Forums and the Resource Center. The "Search the
Community" bar in the body of the home page allows you to select which content you wish to search by using the
"Search Content" and "Search Forums" checkboxes.
Clicking "Advanced Search" will ask you to select either the Forums or Content. After clicking one of
these two links, you can then narrow your search according to various parameters.
The "Help" link located within the Community Search bar generates a pop-up window offering tips and tricks. These
will help you formulate a search that most efficiently finds the information you are seeking.
What are reviews?
We believe that end-users of the content we offer in the Developer Connection are in
the best position to review them.
Reviews consist of a rating a documents or solutions, as well as a justification
for the rating. We don't just want to know what you think we want to know why. Items available for review include any document in the Resource Center, as well as solutions listed in the Amazon Web Services Solutions Catalog.
Who can submit a review?
Reviews for all content except solutions in the Amazon Web Services Solutions Catalog are open only to registered Amazon Web Services developers. Creating reviews of
solutions in the Solutions Catalog is available to anyone who has
experience using a particular solution may review it registered developer or not.
How do I create a review for content located in the Developer Connection?
To create a review in the Developer Connection, click the "Create a Review" link, give your review a title,
and indicate both a rating and a justification for your rating. Your Username will be used to identify
the author of your reviews. See "What are some guidelines for creating a review?"
for help in creating helpful feedback for the rest of the community.
Can I alternatively submit a review of a solution using the interface at
http://solutions.amazonwebservices.com?
Yes, you can. Visit the
externally-facing Solutions Catalog's help page
for details.
What are some guidelines for creating a review?
Amazon Web Services wants your comments to be heard! The recommended review length is 75 to 300 words.
What to include:
Your review should focus on the document or solution's strengths and weaknesses.
The best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked the content
you are reviewing, but also why.
What not to include:
Amazon.com is proud to provide this forum for you to share your opinions about Developer Connection content and
solutions AWS developers have built. While we appreciate your time and comments, we respectfully request that you
refrain from including the following in your review:
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Commenting on other reviews visible on the page, as these and their positions on the page are subject to
change without notice.
-
Profanity, obscenities, or spiteful remarks.
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Single-word reviews. We want to know why you liked or disliked the solution. Please be as factual as
possible.
-
Phone numbers or other personal contact information, URLs.
-
Commenting on typos on the page. If you'd like to tell us about a specific problem, please post to
the Developer Connection Feedback forum.
-
Request for technical support or other help from a solution's owner. To do so, please contact the solution
owner by using the e-mail address indicated on his/her listing.
-
Request for AWS technical support; please use the discussion forums for this.
Any review in violation of these guidelines may be removed
I've built my application and I'd like some marketing help from Amazon. What opportunities are available?
You can choose from a variety of tools to help you market your application.
Take advantage of everything from our Solutions Catalog and logo program,
to working with our public relations department to receive a quote or approve a news release you'd like to do.
Learn more.
What is the Developer Connection Resource Center?
The Resource Center is the environment to which Amazon Web Services adds content that developers can use to build applications and tools using Amazon Web Services. The Resource Center is organized by web service, each of which in turn contains multiple content types (Technical Documentation, Articles & Tutorials, Code Samples, etc.). You can locate the latest Resource Center information by:
- Browsing by categories
- Viewing the dynamic portlets that highlight the latest information on "Top" (popular), and "Latest" (recent)
documents
- Sorting search results lists by relevance, rating, date and content type
- Creating watches and subscribing to RSS feeds that proactively notify you when a specific document or category
has been updated
- Using the review mechanism that gives you the ability to provide feedback on the relevance and usefulness of a
particular document.
What are documents?
A document in the Resource Center contains the actual information. Depending on the context, you can think of it as
an article, piece of documentation, etc.
What type of feedback should be included in a Resource Center document review?
A review is a way to follow up on a particular Resource Center document with information specific to that document.
Reviews are best used to provide feedback on the document, itself. For questions you may have after reading a document, however, please post the question in the forum
corresponding to the service about which you are learning. For example, if a document talks about a product bug
workaround, a review may include how helpful the
workaround was in circumventing the bug.
How do I browse documents by category?
After clicking on a specific web service (e.g. "Amazon Mechanical Turk" - a category-level ), the page displays
content types (which are "sub-categories"), within which you can find documents arranged according to importance as
determined by the category administrator.
While browsing within a category, users have the following options:
- Search only within the chosen category
- Sort the comprehensive listing by last modified, rating, or title.
- Watch the category
What are "Latest" documents?
The Developer Connection home page contains a dynamic portlet listing the five most recent documents posted across
all categories.
What are "Top" documents?
The Developer Connection home page contains a dynamic portlet listing the most popular documents. The popularity of
a document is determined by a formula based on the weighted average of number of hits, average rating and age.
What are "Featured" documents?
At times, the Developer Connection may display a portlet featuring documents of particular importance. Featured
documents may be related to recent news, upcoming special events or critical API updates.
How do I sort documents?
A "Sort" option is presented on the results page after conducting a search or clicking on the "View All" link for a
particular category. The "Sort By" button provides the ability to sort documents by the following:
- Relevance - expressed as a percentage, this serves as a general indicator of how useful a document will be based
on how closely the search terms matched text contained in the document's main body, title, keywords and other
fields. This is the default sort value for search results.
- Rating - the mean rating taken from documents that have been rated from between one to five stars.
- Last Modified - displays documents with the most recent at the top of the list and the older documents towards
the bottom.
- Title - displays documents in alphabetical order as sorted by the title.
Can I contribute code or articles to, or make a suggestion for content I'd like to see in the Resource Center?
Absolutely. Using the Recommendations feature, you can suggest an idea for content,
or send us what you have built or written. We'll do our best to publish as much of our community's
contributions as possible.
Learn more.
I've built something using Amazon Web Services that's aimed at other developers. Does it go in the Solutions Catalog or in the Resource Center?
It depends. If what you have built is a low-level tool designed to help other AWS developers build directly on
top of our services (e.g. libraries, code snippets), and you are offering it free-of-charge,
please submit to the Developer Connection Resource Center.
If instead what you've built for other developers qualifies as an application, end-to-end solution,
is targeted at general (non-AWS) development, or if you are charging for what you have built,
please submit to the AWS Solutions Catalog, indicating "Developers" as your target audience.
What are Amazon Web Services Developer Forums?
Developer Forums allow you to share ideas, opinions, and information quickly and easily. Organized by threads in an
easy-to-follow format, discussion forums are designed so you can quickly locate information, find other
knowledgeable users and participate in conversations.
How is forum content organized?
The content in the forums is structured as follows:
-
Forum Categories: Categories represent a collection of forums and/or other categories.
Often, categories are used to organize forums into a tree structure so members can more easily find the
right discussions more easily.
-
Forums: Forums are the areas where individual discussions take place. These discussions are
represented as a listing of threads.
-
Threads: Threads are the
discussions that consist of one or more messages displayed as a
list, or in a tree structure of messages and their replies.
-
Messages: Messages are the individual discussion posts
made by community members.
-
Replies: Message replies are posts in response to
other messages and are organized in a flat or threaded mode.
How do I create a thread?
To start a new thread, choose the appropriate forum and select "Post New Thread". Type your thread header in the
subject line and type a message in the message box. Before you are about to post, you can spell check your message
by clicking on "Spell Check". You can also choose to watch the thread (which will add it to your watch list, and
allow you to receive email notifications when new posts are made) by clicking the "Watch This Thread" box.
How do I post a reply?
To post a reply to a thread, select the "Reply" icon next to the message to which you would like to reply. If you
want to respond to specific text from the original message, click on "Quote Original", and that will add the text
from the original post into your message.
How can I format the text of my posts?
To format your message text, there are three buttons for Bold, Italics and Underline. Clicking on these buttons will
add tags to the message field.
For example, typing: "This is [b]bold[/b] text, and this is [i]italicized[/i] text" will appear as "This is
bold text, and this is italicized text" once you post the message.
How do I check the spelling of my message?
To check the text of your message for proper spelling, click "Spell Check" on the post screen.
If our spell check dictionary does not recognize a word in your message, it will appear in a box. You can correct it
yourself by simply typing over what is displayed. If the dictionary has any suggestions, you will be able to see
them in the suggestion box.
To choose one of the suggestions, simply select the suggestion you'd like to use and click on the "Change" button
for each of the words you would like changed.
When you are finished checking your entire message, click on "Post Message" to save your changes and post the
message with your spelling corrections. If you want to continue editing your message, hit "Go Back" or "Edit" to
return to the post message area.
What is Amazon Web Services Community Recognition?
What makes Amazon Web Services developer forums great? You do, with your meaningful participation, and we'd like to
recognize you for it. The forums will remember each of your efforts to help your peers as you collaborate to solve a
problem. The more we help one another, the more we learn, the stronger becomes our community.
With Amazon Web Services community recognition, icons convey the extent to which a user has been actively supporting
the forums users. It's our token of appreciation for contributions to the success of our development community, and
a set of milestones for you, as you journey through Amazon Web Services to innovate.
How does Community Recognition work?
- Question authors post the first message in a thread, and designate the thread as a "Question".
- Community members respond to Questions by posting a "Question Answer" within the same thread.
- Question authors read the Answers, and for each Question, they can designate up to 2 responses as "Helpful
Answers" and 1 as a "Correct Answer".
- The users who post Correct or Helpful Answers each receive 5 points per Helpful Answer, and 10 points per
Correct Answer.
- These points are summed for each user, generating a "Score".
- Certain Scores correspond to "Score Levels", and generate special icons for users who achieve those levels.
What are Questions?
In order to filter through the general discussion "noise", users have the option to flag their post as a question.
This provides the community a visual clue to the fact that the poster is seeking an answer to his/her question.
Question authors are able to see their open & resolved questions in their profiles.
 - no points available on this question
 - points still available
on this question
What are Question Answers?
When a community member posts a question, other members are able to post an answer. In some cases, the answer is
just a hint, or helpful information to aid the poster in resolving this issue. This is classified as a "Helpful"
post ( ). In other cases, a
community member will post the specific answer to the original question. This is classified as a "Correct" post
( ). The originator of the post will
be able to flag each response as either "Helpful" or "Correct", or not to flag a response at all. The originator of
the question will also be able to "close the loop" on the question by flagging the entire thread as answered, which
provides a visual clue to the community members.
What is my Score, and how is it calculated?
Your individual score is simply the sum of points awarded over time for correct and helpful answers. Example: If you
have given 20 helpful answers and 10 correct answers, your score would be:
Score = (20 answers x 5 points/answer) + (10 answers x 10 points/answer) = 200 points.
What are Score Levels?
As you accumulate points, you will progress through the following score levels, and receive the associated icons.
You can view your Score Level by Forum, Category, or at the main Community level.
| Required Points |
Amazon Web Services Score Level |
Icon |
| 2000 |
Ace |
 |
| 750 |
Expert |
 |
| 300 |
Guide |
 |
| 50 |
Enthusiast |
|
| 5 |
Newbie |
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What is the Amazon Web Services Solutions Catalog?
Members of the Amazon Web Services developer community are constantly innovating with Amazon Web Services to build
software that empowers a multitude of audiences. The Amazon Web Services Solutions Catalog is a venue where you can
promote your applications or other software solutions that use Amazon Web Services.
Who can contribute to the Solutions Catalog?
Any Amazon Web Services developer whose solution incorporates use of any (or many) of our web services can submit a solution for listing.
What is the relationship between the "Solutions Catalog" linked at
http://solutions.amazonwebservices.com off of the AWS web site, and the "Solutions Catalog" surfaced in the
Amazon Web Services Developer Connection (http://aws.amazon.com/connect)?
The content for both is exactly the same; these URLs are maintained as mirrors of one another. The listings are
surfaced at http://solutions.amazonwebservices.com to bring visibility to AWS solution end users, and within the
Developer Connection to help the community of AWS developers learn about their peers' newest innovations. Solutions
listed will appear in both locations, as will any solution reviews, which can be submitted using either interface.
How are my Amazon Web Services Developer Connection and Solutions Catalog
credentials related?
Your existing Amazon Web Services Developer Connection credentials (Username and access privileges) are shared with
the Solutions Catalog at http://solutions.amazonwebservices.com. This means that if you login to the Developer
Connection, and then go to the Solutions Catalog at the URL above, you will seamlessly maintain the same Username
across both, and this Username will be used to identify you as the author of any solution reviews.
What is the definition of a "solution"?
A solution can be anything you have built that uses any Amazon Web Service(s) and targets one or more of the
following audiences: consumers, business users, developers, Amazon Associates, or Amazon Marketplace Sellers.
How can I contribute an AWS-based solution I've built to the Solutions Catalog?
To submit a solution for listing in the Solutions Catalog, simply complete and submit the form.
The form and any solutions you have previously submitted can be found by clicking on "Your Developer Connection"
on the right-hand side, once you have logged into the Developer Connection.
From here, click "Submit New AWS Solution" to access the form.
How many solutions can I contribute?
You can submit as many solutions as you like. If two solutions are very close in nature or related somehow, we
suggest you submit one entry. If they are different in content and many of the attributes in the form, we suggest
submitting a separate entry.
I've built something using Amazon Web Services that's aimed at other developers. Does it go in the Solutions Catalog or in the Resource Center?
It depends. If what you have built is a low-level tool designed to help other AWS developers build directly on
top of our services (e.g. libraries, code snippets), and you are offering it free-of-charge,
please submit to the Developer Connection Resource Center.
If instead what you've built for other developers qualifies as an application, end-to-end solution,
is targeted at general (non-AWS) development, or if you are charging for what you have built,
please submit to the AWS Solutions Catalog, indicating "Developers" as your target audience.
Are there any guidelines for submitting my solution to Amazon Web Services?
Currently, the Solutions Catalog form does not support web-based user edit capabilities, so please complete and
check your form carefully before submitting.
- Your solution must use at least one Amazon web service, and you must be logged into the Developer Connection
with
the credentials associated with your developer account in order to complete and submit the form.
- Submit the form only when you are able to meaningfully answer all of the questions, as we will be unable to
list
solutions submitted with partially complete forms.
- Your solution should be live (i.e. publicly available at least in beta) at the time you submit your form. The Solutions Catalog is meant to advertise solutions that are ready for use, so please wait to submit your form until that point in time.
- Complete the form based on your solution's current status and characteristics, rather than on any
improvements you intend to make in the future, which may lead to false advertising. For example, if your
solution
currently uses Amazon S3, but you have plans to incorporate Amazon product data using Amazon ECS, you would
select
only Amazon S3. If you wish, you might state in the detailed description that you plan to use Amazon ECS to
provide
product data in the future.
What happens after I have submitted a solution?
After you've submitted your solution, Amazon Web Services will review your form, and contact you with any follow-up questions if necessary. Once listed, you can go to "Your Developer Connection" under "Your Solutions" to see the links to your Solutions Catalog listing in the Developer Connection, as well as at http://solutions.amazonwebservices.com.
How can I edit a solution that I have already submitted, or have it removed from the AWS
Solutions Catalog?
Once your solution has been submitted, please contact
us,
stating the edits you would like to have made, or that you would like your listing removed. It will be removed from
the
Solutions Catalog both in the Amazon Web Services Developer Connection as well as from the page linked off of the
AWS web site.
I'm a Services Provider; can I be listed in the Solutions Catalog as
well?
Absolutely. Simply submit a sample application or piece of software as an example of how you enable others to
integrate with AWS, and then indicate "Yes" in the form where it asks if you also provide service offerings.
How do I create a review for a listing in the Solutions Catalog?
Please see "How do I create a review for content located in the Developer Connection?"
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