Product updates

Here you can read about all the big and small updates and improvements on the iBinder platform.

New product enhancements for February

View drawing and location in the export for inspection issues

In the past, it has been possible to export the information about issues with associated images. Now the drawing with the location is also included, which should make it easier to fix the issues.

Deeper folder structure in Procurement Files

The feature that allows administrators to add sub-tabs in procurement files is now available for all our customers. 

To enable this the tab type 'Folder for subfolders' has been introduced in tenders just like in other binder types.

Allowing a deeper structure improves the flexibility in the document management and makes it easier to navigate in the tender material. 

It will also make it possible for admins to have the same structure in the tender as they have in other binders, other systems or locally. 

Support for deeper tab structures is one of the features we received the most feedback about, and it is an important step for closing iBinder Classic.

• A new tab type called “Folder for subfolders” is introduced. 
• “Add tab” is available in the root of “Tender documents”, as well as inside of existing “Folder for subfolders”.
• “Add tab” is also available in “Documents/Drawings/ESPD” tab if there are no files uploaded yet.
• If a tab is added to “Documents/Drawings/ESPD” tab, it is automatically converted to “Folder for subfolders”.
• It is not possible to delete a tab of type “Folder for subfolders” if it contains at least one file anywhere in the folder structure.
• It is not possible to change tab type from “Folder for subfolders” if it contains at least one file anywhere in the folder structure.
• It is not possible to add more tabs to the index on the same level as "Tender documents". 
  So, "Tender documents" is the only possible root.

 

2024-01-25
New product enhancements in January

Better user visibility

To make it easier to find users when you want to add them to binders, we have now released new functionality. In each user's settings, every user can decide for themselves whether they want to be visible or not. It is still possible to add users by email only. We've also added the ability to allow emails with product information.

Download unanswered Q&A's in tenders

The CSV-export of Q&A's in Tenders has been improved. The difference is that all questions will be downloaded, including the unanswered ones that used to be excluded. This improvement will simplify the management of questions, ensuring that administrators can conveniently handle all questions, whether answered or not, outside the platform before providing official responses within the system.
For bid binders nothing is changed and only answered questions will be included in CSV-exports in them.

Download tender bids

This feature allows tender administrators to download all or a specific tender bid as a ZIP-file. It saves time and improves the workflow for all tender administrators while evaluating bids. Before this release administrators either had to download an entire binder with both tender material and tender bids or download individual documents one by one. Using the new feature reduces unnecessary downloads and makes it easy to understand from which company each bid is.

- Download of tender bids is done from the Bid overview tab
- It is available after the submission deadline
- If no bids are checked the 'Download all' button is enabled to get all bids in a single zip file
- Selecting one or several bids the 'Download' button is enabled to get only the selected bid(s) in a zip
- Each bid in the downloaded zip is placed as a separate folder. Folder names contain the name of the company that submitted it and the e-mail of the recipient

To further improve the experience in the Bid overview tab the toolbar menu is now showing all the possible options on each tender stage. For the options not currently available there are tooltips explaining when they can be used.

Bid status receipt

A much anticipated feature for confirmation of bid submission. It gives the Tender Recipients the possibility to get an e-mail confirmation of their bids status and its content. Recipients can now be assured about the fact that they have submitted a tender bid. Confirmation of submission has been one of the most frequent topics in our support since the release of eTendering. Receipts will make the tender bid submission feel much safer for Recipients.

- Bid status is shown in a banner on top of all pages in the bid binder
- Receipts are sent using the button in the bid status banner
- It is possible to send receipts before and after submission deadline
- It is possible to send receipts several times
- Receipts will be sent by email to the recipient and all admins of the tender bid
- The receipt contains: 
Status of the bid (Complete, Not complete, Submitted)
Who requested the receipt
Receipt date
Submission deadline
Prices and reservations
All submitted files listed with their metadata
Tender ID

Improved property structure

Added item; unit (apartment) to the property structure with the possibility of interconnection drawings. Now it is possible to add an apartment in the property structure between a single floor and a room. After that, you can also link an apartment drawing to the item. Can also be used for premises or the like. Unit is thus a group of several rooms.

Create issue with localization on drawing for inspections

When you are in an inspection session during issues, you can create new ones. Here we have added a choice where you can now also choose to place pin on a drawing. You can then easily place a pin, change the location or remove and confirm. 

View drawing with location on web for issues in inspections

When you open an issue that is related to an inspection for constructions inspections, you can now also click on the drawing name and see the location on the drawing.
When the drawing is opened, you can also use other functionalities such as:
- Zoom
- Print
- Download
- Rotate
- Show all issues associated with the drawing

See status of issues on drawings related to inspections (web + App)

In the past, users have not been able to easily find out the status of the issue by looking at the drawing, but now it is possible. Here we have used the colors that are used in the BEASt standard.
Pink = To do
Red = To do overdue
Green = Done
Yellow = for review

When there are many issues in the same place, they are marked with iBinder-blue and a number. if the user zooms in, the correct colors are highlighted.

Additional filter options in Inspections app

The filtering both inside the issue list during an inspection and during issues in a project is now improved with the ability to sort the issues by status or due date and to filter on:
- Location
- Date registered
- Due date
- Status
- Responsible
- Assignee
- Technology area

Change status for an issue as the responsible in Inspections app

Depending on whether our users are assigned and/or responsible for an issue, you need to be able to take different actions. Now we have included actions for the responsible, who must mainly approve what the assignee has issued and sent for review. But the person responsible should also be able to set other statuses, which is now possible.

Other smaller improvements in the app

- Drawings are now updated with new versions
- Minimize clicks when annotating photos related to an issue
- When a user has to fix an issue, it was previously possible to look at where it is located on a drawing. Now you can also light up and see if there are other issues localized to the same drawing. It is done with the eye icon.

 

2023-12-05 
Improvements in November

Invite users to multiple binders in organization

This feature allows Organization Administrators and Owners invite users to several binders at the same time. We have received lots of insights connected to this need and it will be very appreciated by our customers who have many binders in their Organization. It will particularly benefit customers with many facility binders since such binders usually exist longer in our system. Compared to adding users to binders one at a time this will save a lot of time and be much easier!

When one or several binder(s) is checked in the binder tab in an Organization the button “+ Add participants” is shown in the action bar. Clicking that will take you to the Add participant modal. From that you will be able to select one or several users that you want to invite to your selected binders and decide what type of participant you want to add them as. 

Reach version metadata from file listings

This is our brand new, yet very familiar, way to display file versions in listings!
With this feature, users can see version related metadata directly from the file listings in the table view. It eliminates the need for multiple clicks, and it simplifies the process of viewing file versions. When working with lots of files that each has several versions this will really boost the efficiency!

Expanding and collapsing the list of versions is done using the arrows that has been added next to the version character. It is possible to open and download versions directly from the expanded list, but deleting is still done in the existing versions tab in file details.

To make it easier to access versions in other views a shortcut to the existing versions tab in file details is added to the three-dot menu on files.

Simplified Binder Status and Stages

Our way to manage binder statuses has been improved and more options are available to our users. This is done to make it easier for administrators to put their binders in Archive and Warranty mode. It will also give our users more accurate information about the stage that their project binders are in while the status is Active. Keeping all information gathered that has been accumulated in all of the organizations construction projects in the same place reduces the risk of data loss and makes searching quick and easy. 

Project binders can be set to three different stages while they have the active status, Early stage, Planning and Production. After the active phase it is possible to select Archive or Warranty for reduced functionality to a lower cost. If Admins decide to delete an entire binder, they will be informed about these options and the consequences of deleting.

Annotate on photo

When an inspector creates an issue in relation to the inspection, it has been possible to attach a photo to clarify what the issue is about. Now we have also created an opportunity to make annotations on the photo to clarify even more.

• Choose between making freehand annotation, circle or rectangle.
• Choose the thickness and color of the add
• Possibility of regret
• When you're done, the annotated photo is saved as a copy.

Set due date for issue in inspection

One of the most requested functions since we released contractor inspection on the Danish market is now being released externally!

• The option to set a due date on issues in construction inspections is now in place.
• Possible to set a due date on one or more issues in the web.
• Filter and or sort by due date in overviews.
• Everything about due date is also logged in the history on issue.
• When the due date has passed, it will also be clearly marked.
• In the app, the assignee and responsible easily sees due date and can filter and sort.
• Issues that are overdue are also marked here and everything is visible in the history log.

 

2023-11-01
New enhancements in October

Tab access shown in index and in tabs

This feature makes it much easier to find out which participants have access to a specific tab. Showing access this way will reduce the risk of placing files in tabs where they will be accessible by too many and it will save time while managing access rights.

The shield icon previously used to show that only selected users can read and write the content in a tab will still be used for that. A new shield icon is introduced for all other settings, and it will appear on hover in the tab navigation and in the page title area inside tabs.

If only selected has the permissions, those will be listed when clicking the shield and it is possible to search in the list. 

eTendering: Support for Bid submission and Q&A outside of iBinder

This feature allows tenders and questions to be gathered in other systems. That adds more flexibility to our offer and allows for partnering with external tendering companies.

When setting up your procurement you are now able to individually select to have your Q&A and/or tender submissions in another system as well as individually selecting an URL for these. If this option is selected, the tabs on the page of the procurement binder will become links to the other system. 

 

2023-10-03
Upload and extract Zip-files in binders

This feature allows admins to upload a complete folder structure with subfolders and content as a zip-file into a project binder or a facility binder. It will be very useful if you already have a good structure locally and want to reuse it or if you are exporting information from another system to store in a binder.  

 'Drawing' tabs are created for the inner folders of the zip file if they don't contain other folders. Otherwise 'Folder for sub-folders' tab is created.

• If there are already tabs with the same name in the same location of the binder, (2), (3), etc. is added to the names of the created tabs.
• All the tabs are created as regular not localized tabs. Even if the name corresponds to technical area, like 'Architecture', a regular tab will be created.

When uploading a zip to a tab with restricted security settings, the settings are inherited.

Uploading a zip to an empty tab with the normal upload functionality will give the user the option to either unpack the file or upload it as a zip.

 

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

• 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

Last updated: 2 Apr 2024