It’s been almost 10 years since we began our Ideate BIMLink development journey. Following on the successful release of Ideate Explorer for Revit 2009, our fearless developer Ben Bishoff waded deeper into the Revit API along with Director David Haynes to develop a new product creatively named “Excel Link Data” in December 2009.
Look how we’ve grown over the past 10 years.
Version 2011 – Theme: Getting It Out the Door
After almost 6 months of beta testing, we first launched #Ideate BIMLink @AutodeskU. We were asked by Autodesk to integrate the tool into the Extensions Manager on the Add-Ins toolbar, so we complied. Does anyone out there remember the Extensions Manager??
The main dialog shows our links on the left and the preview on the right.
Version 2013 – Theme: Play Nice
The Autodesk App Store is up and running. We’ve been asked to re-structure our installation code to comply with their requirements. Our install now looks so beautiful 
Version 2014 – Theme: Performance Matters
We simplified our interface to improve the performance by removing the data preview from the main page. Many customers rejoice.
Before:
After:
Version 2015 – Theme: Share Ideas Part I
Customers are asking for our help in leveraging their BIM data for increasingly sophisticated tasks. We oblige by adding the Load Sample button on the main page, giving easy access to over 200 data workflows.
Jesika DiGregorio joins the Ideate Software team and helps us take Ideate BIMLink to another level.
November 2019 – Theme: Share Ideas Part II
More than just a face lift, the new version of Ideate BIMLink released in November of 2019 provides customizable instructions on the home page to help customers make the most out of this powerful Revit data management tool.
We also re-structured all the great customer ideas into our “Browse” Library to make it easy to discover all the great data workflow suggestions.
What will you do with Ideate BIMLink’s power? Test drive it today.
About the Author
Glynnis Patterson, NCARB – Director of Software Development
Glynnis is a registered architect and has worked within the building information modeling (BIM) industry since 1998. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked as an architect, educator and construction site manager. Glynnis is the Director of Software Development Services and continues to work with AECO clients worldwide, developing, and consulting on solutions to BIM challenges. In her spare time, Glynnis volunteers for the local high school and with growitgreenmorristown.org. Find Glynnis on LinkedIn.