Product updates
Here you can read about all the big and small updates and improvements on the iBinder platform.
2023-09-01
Summer development
Unlike the construction industry, the development and product team at iBinder has had a very busy summer, and we are happy to have many releases also during this time!
Many of these features has been highly anticipated by our users and will improve the general functionality of iBinder.
Layout improvements in file listings
Layout improvements in file listings, file upload and edit file details. A series of improvements has been done to unify our different file views. For instance, the icons for tags and annotations will be shown in the same column (Connections) and it is now possible to see all dates in the listings.
To make things clearer the different dates have more describing names:
Created – The date when the first version was uploaded. Possible to edit.
Uploaded – The date for each version of the file was uploaded. Not possible to edit.
Changed – The date when most recent version was uploaded. Possible to edit to match the revision date.
Corresponding changes has been made to the file upload and edit info modals. Input fields in those has also been reordered slightly based on user feedback. Some minor changes to how and in what order the metadata is displayed in the card/gallery/preview-views has also been introduced.
Improvements in inspections
In the tab Inspection Application you are now able to:
- Create a group by selecting one of the pre-defined types, add the first inspection and assign responsibility for the occasion.
- The user who creates the group will automatically become responsible for the group, but it can be edited afterwards.
- Depending on the type of inspection group you choose, the respective interpretation proposal is under document. You can also supplement with other documentation that may be needed to carry out an inspection (e.g. drawings or internal instructions).
- When you open the group, we have horizontal tabs. About group is general information that will apply to all inspection occasions and a summary of the statements and reports included in the respective inspections.
- The second tab will contain all planned and already performed inspections.
- If you choose a specific inspection, you can change the status and add the statement/report that applies to the specific occasion.
- In the overview view, you will easily be able to get the overview you need: who is responsible for the group, get a status indication, the next and last inspection and what status they have.
Inspection listing in organization
Now we also have the updated inspection listing in the organization! Now you can get the overview you need of all your organization's inspections with the updated list view. This feature is also a long-awaited function that our property management customers have been missing and enables us to now migrate these customers together with the release of improvement in inspection.
From the Inspection tab in the organization, you get a simple overview of all your inspections that are in all binders in your organization. By pressing the row, you reach the inspection group directly and can manage the inspection. If you click on the binder’s name, you will easily get to the binder.
Copy tabs to
After some improvements based on feedback from customers during the trial period, time has come to enable the Copy tabs to feature for all our users!
This feature will allow our users to copy a single tab or a folder with sub tabs to a new place. It will create a great value to our users and serves several purposes, such as handing over information from a project to facility management or start a new project based on the "as-built" documentation. This is the piece of the puzzle that really creates that circularity!
The organization owner, organization admins or binder admins can choose to copy only the tabs and tab structure or the tab, its structure, and the files within.
How it works:
- It's possible to copy within project and facility binders
- It's possible to copy to and from a project or facility binder
- It's possible to copy within the same organization
- It's possible to create a new binder and copy to it
- It's possible to choose if you want to copy the latest version of the files in the tabs or all versions of the files
- It's possible to copy to a Folder for sub folders or an empty file tab.
- If a tab with restricted security settings is copied, the settings will be inherited in the destination binder
- When copying application tabs, such as Q&A, Case management or Contracts, no content will be copied.
2023-08-08
New features and improvements in 2023 – so far
Our development and product teams are constantly working to improve our platforms with new functionality, enhanced usability, and increased security. In the first half of 2023, we have launched a lot of exciting new features. Read about them below!
Before we get started: If you have an idea on how to improve our platform, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Most of our new features are developed thanks to ideas from our users! Send it to support@ibinder.com
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New Organization and Roles
During the year we launched new organizations and roles. This makes it easier to administer an organization and adds a lot of value to you that work with multiple binders and projects. The roles are managed in the organization binder that you find on the bookshelf of your organization’s owner.
What are the new roles and what permissions do they have?
Role - Permission
Owner - Can administer all in organization
Admin - Can manage participants, read and edit all in and create for organization.
Creator - Can read and edit all in organization and create new.
Restricted Creator - Can create new for organization but only read what they are participant of.
Reader - Can read all in organization but not create new.
Restricted Reader - Can only read what they are participant of, but not create new for organization.
Templates with files
The new feature ‘Template with files’ was highly anticipated for many of our users since it enables them to add files to binder templates. This feature gives you the possibility to add important information to all binders started in your organization. It could be things like Office-templates, specific guidelines, or tailor-made user guides.
Files can be added to tabs in Project binder templates and Facility binder templates. When uploading files to templates it is possible to add metadata that will be copied to the binders created with the template. The uploaded by field will be populated with the name of the user who creates the binder from the template and the first activity in file history will be “File copied”.
Improved performance in listings
We have also made a major performance improvement in our service, particularly for users who handle large volumes of files. Our teams have optimized our infrastructure and introduced various performance enhancements to improve the speed and reliability of our service.
This improvement means that our service is now much faster and more responsive when handling a large number of files. In addition, fixed page header in table listings is introduced to make the action bar accessible no matter the scrolling position! This helps everyone, but especially those who frequently upload, download, or manage a large number of files. As always, we are committed to providing the best possible experience, and this release is a testament to that commitment.
Include new Tenders in search
It is now much easier to find new tenders on your bookshelf since they are now included in the search feature! You basically just type parts or the whole name, and you see it in the listing! The graphic shows whole binder back info, including the status label - e.g. the tender end countdown! This can of course be used by the tender facilitators, and the recipients connected to it!
Show new tenders in Organization Binder
End users can now access new tenders in the new eTendering tab in organizations. Based on user feedback we have changed the color of the "Binder status" label, and added a new label called "Unpublished", instead of having the field left empty.
Reuse category values
This is a new metadata type that allows users to reuse values in metadata by searching and selecting them in drop downs. The first implementation of this new type is for categories, and it is available in all project binders and facility binders.
When adding category, both in upload and edit, users will see a drop down. In the drop down, all previously used values will be displayed, and it is possible to select them from the list or search for parts of the words. If the user doesn’t find the correct value, it is very easy to add a new value to the list.
Content tabs
The possibility to add tabs of type Content has been introduced in binders and templates. In a tab of that type, it is possible for administrators to add content of the same type as in binder description:
- Bold text
- Italic text
- Bullet points
- Links to external and internal url:s
- Images
The new tab type can be used to inform about a project, link internally to other binders/tabs/files, link externally to an intranet or other systems such as SundaHus. It is possible to create this type of tabs in all levels of the structure and it is possible to add several content tabs in the same binder.
Prefilled Content tabs in templates
As an addition to the functionality in the Content tabs feature, it is also possible to add Content tabs with prefilled content to templates. All content added to a Content tab in a template (formatted text, links, and images) will be added to the corresponding tab in the binder on creation when using that template. With this you can add important information to all binders started in the organization. It could be specific guidelines, information about other systems with links to them or tailor-made user guides on how to use iBinder. Content tabs with prefilled content can be added to Project binder templates and Facility binder templates.
Activity logs
Activity logs has been introduced in Project binders, Facility binders and Selection binders in three different areas, Q&A, Announcements, and Files. The primary value of these features is that it becomes transparent who has consumed what information at what time. Some other events will also be visible in the log to make it easier to understand the context, but this is to be seen as a compliment to, and not a replacement of, the existing History functionality.
Q&A:
Activity is shown in a new tab.
Message and details have been spilt up in to two different tabs as well.
Every time a user reads a question it creates a read event.
It doesn’t matter if the user is added to the question as the responsible, for information or not at all.
If a user comments or makes a decision in a question this is also logged.
Logging continues even after decision has been made.
If a user downloads a CSV-file this is logged as an event in all questions on the board.
The most recent events are shown in top of the list.
You can search for a specific user.
Announcements:
Activity is shown in a new tab.
Every time a user reads a message it creates a read event.
It doesn’t matter if the user is notified in the announcement or not.
The most recent events are shown in top of the list.
You can search for a specific user.
Files:
The file activity is shown under metadata in file details.
The avatar of every user who has read or downloaded the version of the file is shown first as a summery.
Every time a user opens a file in the viewer or downloads it a new event is created.
If a user downloads a ZIP-file this is logged as an event for all files included.
The most recent events are shown in top of the list.
You can search for a specific user.
Copy features for eTendering
New copy features for eTendering enables you to copy from Tender to Tender and from a Tender to a Project. Tender documents can be copied, and tender bid documents and result can be copied to another tender/binder after the tender end date in the source binder has passed. This can be done by the admin only. This adds up to the existing features of copying from Project to Tender and copy inside tender. The copy features follow the copy pattern that we use elsewhere on the bookshelf.
16 other juicy improvements!
- Multi delete of participants
- Add tab is visible at the top when editing tab structure inside a binder
ctrl/command+click of documents opens the document in a new tab - The three-dot menu is now easier to spot and consistently inside a circle everywhere in the system
It is now possible to search for roles in Q&A when doing roles assignment - User preference for hiding/showing menu in bookshelf and binder is now saved
- Upload message autocloses after 5 seconds and adding participant is using the same message as a proof of concept
- Some buttons are now easier to spot: Create binder, upload files.
- It is possible to move dialogue boxes (almost everywhere)
- It is now possible to delete shelves which are empty
- The roles dropdown in add/edit participant now has a close bottom in the footer
- The correct decision maker is now shown on the Question & Answer card
- The edit tabs button is now easier to find when inside a navigation tab
- It is now possible to edit a participant directly from the actionbar when selecting one participant
- The create shelf button is now easily accessed from the bookshelf menu
- Click outside of dialogue boxes no longer closes the dialogue box