Question New User Questions: forum and getting started

This post serves two purposes: 1) to possibly start a useful thread for new folks to get started that might be pinned in a convenient place and 2) to ask admin (and others) a couple questions that would help general new folks to get started easier both in using the forum and working with the software. The following is my basic info which I thought was supposed to be copied and pasted into anything I posted.

1. Commercial or DIY: Commercial
2. DOF (Number of axles ): 3
3. Actuators (DIY, SCN5 etc.): DOF Reality P3 ??
4. Interface (Arduino, SCN, Mega, DIY etc. ): Arduino

1. Version: ?? downloaded january 2019. 2.3?
2. Game Plugin: Project Cars 2
3. Settings (Relevant ones): ??
4. SimTools License type: (should be Pro): Ent?

Firstly, any time I search the forum I get mostly unrelated content. Simple searches like "project cars presets" or "project cars plugin" don't get me where I would expect. I'm relatively new to using forums as a primary source of info, but I would expect from the main page that if I click on "new users" or "forum and website" something would be pinned to the top regarding these topics. The FAQ section that I found is less of an faq and more just a place where new folks ask questions. For this to be useful, admin, please pin the actually frequently asked questions.

This quickstart is a great link that should be pinned to the top of the new user section of the forum: https://www.xsimulator.net/simtools-quickstart/

What it doesn't cover is how to access the forums for easier access to information on specific games or downloads. For example, it seems that each game has a download page like this: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/pcars2-plugin.147/, which can be accessed from the downloads section of the website here: https://www.xsimulator.net/community/marketplace/

The next piece I've found useful is finding presets, downloading them, and putting them in the appropriate place so I can access them through game engine. (the appropriate place being :\Users\Your_User_Name\AppData\Local\SimTools\GameEngine\AxisAssignmentsPresets\Generic2DStandard_Presets) . (this is also the place where you can zip your own presets and share them with the community, I believe). Dear admin, it would be absolutely incredible if those presets could start getting filed with the downloads I referenced above, as long as they're qualified with what type of rig they worked for.

So, my two remaining questions are:
1) is there an effective way to search the forums that will return relevant posts?
2) is there a specific place to find presets for games other than reading through long strands and hoping for the best? I'm specifically looking for project cars 2 at the moment. (p.s. since I uninstalled and reinstalled, I lost my default presets and everything else. Is there a place to find some of these? Now I know the folder to back up next time)

As a newly registered user, I would like to jump in and also ask clarification on the coins system which hopefully will help other new users too. As far as I understand it you need a minimum of 250 coins to be able to download any plugins. However each download 'costs' 10 coins but the site says a download package is necessary.

So, am I correct in understanding that the only way to download plugins is to get to 250+ coins and purchase a weekly package. Or is there a way to 'spend' 10 coins per individual download without getting a package?

Thanks that definitely clarifies things!

I am starting my project. I have seen that is possible to connect SimTools to SketchUp (with MSPhysics plugin) to simulate the movement. Could someone help me to connect SimTools to SketchUp?

Hello! I'm new in simTools plugin develop, so... what should the archive with a plugin contain?

i read these topics. But first topic contain only tutorial... I built plugin and now i have .dll file (validator says - it's valid plugin). But simtools need zip archive... i have tryed to install plugin by plugin updater - all done. but simtools show some errors - my plugin is not valid. So, maybe i need to add .dll file in zip archive with something pther files? can you answer me?

and one more question... I wanted to download the plugin for watching what zip archive with plugin contain. i have 15 coins, Is it enough for 1 plugin download? i saw 1 plugin costs 10 coins. why i can't to download any plugins? (button download is grey. after press button message - You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action.)