Release Notes
Our platform is updated on a regular basis to add new features and improvements based on learnings and feedback from our users. This support article describes what's new for each product release, with the newest release notes listed at the top. The date indicates the day that the changes are available in-product.
December 18, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Enhanced Table of Contents functionality to strictly follow document order instead of Document Category grouping logic, aligning with the majority preference.
- Addendums
- Standardized titles across the user experience to ensure sequential ordering for both Internal and Vendor/Applicant views.
- Improved Export to PDF feature to support Merged PDF output
🪲 Bug Fixes
- API: Optimized API endpoint response output by reducing excessive data to ensure more relevant and efficient results.
- Addendums
- Resolved an issue where deactivating a user at the Org level while they held a Project-level role caused Addendum creation to fail without a clear indication of the source of the failure.
- Fixed an issue where +References would not consistently update to link to the latest documents or sections.
- Improved editor loading consistency for Addendum sections.
- Addressed a rare verbiage disparity issue in Addendum content.
- Corrected an issue where question responses, captured while Track Changes were enabled in the Document Builder stage, were incorrectly carried over to the Addendum Stage Summary of Changes.
- Fixed an issue causing inaccurate date/time stamps in the Activity Log.
November 5, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Enhanced the Editor for greater stability and resilience, especially in managing layered or overlapping elements such as comments, track changes, and complex formatting.
September 26, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Evaluator Navigation Enhancements:
- View Submission Button: A "View Submission" button is now available in the "Applicant Details" view, allowing Evaluators to quickly access the relevant applicant response within the specific document or section being addressed.
- Document Viewing in Separate Tab: Specific documents with vendor responses will open in a separate tab when criteria are associated with a document, section, or field level.
- Read-Only Document Access: Documents are now shown in a "read-only" view to maintain data integrity during evaluations.
- Publication Enhancement: Improved addendum publication so the most recently published addendum is distinctly titled for applicants, making it easier to distinguish from previous versions.
🪲 Bug Fixes
- DOCX Export:
- Fixed formatting of nested tables, correcting spacing within cells to more precisely match the UI display.
- Fixed column titles alignment within tables.
- Corrected text formatting inconsistencies within tables.
August 20, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Project Dashboard: Improved sorting for newly implemented Category and Subcategory columns.
🪲 Bug Fixes
- Fixed the date/time format of the “Added” and “Updated” columns in the Project Dashboard, ensuring they are both uniform.
- Fixed a bug that caused Sections to display a Comment notification badge where there were no comments.
- Fixed a bug that affected Configuration > Task List Templates that was resulting in tasks not generating in related projects.
🔒 Security Updates
- We’ve improved SSO options so that users with the same email domain, but different team/organization memberships, can selectively opt to leverage SSO based upon their team specific needs/contract.
July 18, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Project Dashboard Filtering Improvements: We’ve enhanced the Project Dashboard to make it easier for you to navigate through your records. You can now filter your project list by Status, Buyers, Owners, Classes, Types, Category, and Subcategory.
- Comments Archive in Section Editor: We're excited to introduce the Comments Archive in our Section Editor. This new feature allows you to revisit resolved comments, ensuring all feedback and requests have been thoroughly addressed.
- Fixed a reordering in Edge browser that would intermittently not allow saving of the adjusted document order.
- DOCX Export:
- Fixed an issue where Font styles in ordered lists did not match between edit, section, PDF export and DOCX export.
- Fixed an issue where table widths were narrowed in DOCX export compared to the table within the platform section.
- Fixed an issue where a nested table did not respect the boundaries of the cell containing it.
- Fixed an issue where tables with background colors containing numbers showed a white highlight when exported to DOCX.
June 6, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Enhanced Business Rules (Inclusion Logic): We’ve updated inclusion logic to now observe Purchase Class specifications. This improvement allows for better customization of which questions appear in Projects, ensuring that the resulting Project Questions are more relevant and tailored to the specific Purchase Class.
🪲 Bug Fixes
- Improved the resiliency of +References accuracy when documents are reordered in Template Configurations
- DOCX Export:
- Text Case Consistency: Ensured consistent text case across section edit, document view, PDF export, and DOCX export, enhancing overall document uniformity and readability.
- Table Extra Space Correction: Corrected spacing irregularities in DOCX export to maintain consistent text spacing within tables, improving document presentation.
- Link Display Enhancement: Updated link appearance in DOCX exports to bold blue, standard link formatting, for improved recognizability and accessibility.
- Header Image Consistency: Resolved an issue where header images were not displayed in DOCX exports, ensuring consistent document appearance across all formats.
- Vendor Application Locking: Resolved an intermittent issue where vendors could inadvertently lock themselves out of their applications by attempting to access their response before the submission start date; which then required manual unlocking after the submission start date/time.
- +Reference Functionality in PDF and Published Projects: Resolved an issue where +References to Documents or Sections in Form Fields were not functioning as usable links, ensuring that users are now correctly directed to the intended records.
May 8, 2024
👌 Improvements
- Introducing Document Builder 1.3, building upon the enhancements introduced in Document Editor 1.2. This release brings a second wave of related improvements, including:
- Improvements to Tables to address alignment, font consistency, borders, colors, and formatting when pasting from MS Office.
- Enhancement to Section Headers that keeps the section title and buttons sticky while scrolling through the document view
- Enhancing section and document titles by adding creator names to headers, boosting user visibility
- Enhancing Comment modals to dynamically adjust (collapse bubbles or move to inline) based on screen/browser size, improving the experience on smaller screens.
- Returning a comment collapse/expand sidebar feature that was briefly removed with Document Editor 1.2
- Bolstering our Summary of Changes track change detail to now include the values of Question Responses, keeping everyone informed about granular changes within your project during its lifecycle.
- Improving Section Help Text for higher visibility. This is configured by your Administrators for precise guidance on what to include in sections.
- The Criteria modal has been aligned with its corresponding Section header, ensuring a seamless visual flow. We've also implemented uniform spacing between the modal, section, and additional criteria for a polished and cohesive user experience.
- Enhanced Q&A to allow edits to published answers to applicant questions, ensuring accuracy and clarity. Updated answers are easily identified in the applicant's interface, bearing a label of “(edited)” in the Question Answered column.
- The default text for Form Fields has been set to pure black, ensuring high contrast and visibility.
🪲 Bug Fixes
- Document Builder
- Fixed a bug that would result in a 500 error when deleting an Addendum stage. This will now allow users to delete an Addendum stage if it is still statused as “In Progress”
- Resolved an issue affecting Duplicate Solicitation functionality. Previously, using Duplicate Solicitation resulted in child sections inheriting parent IDs from the original document. This required backend adjustments to ensure correct document numbering.
- Fixed a bug that would intermittently flag an ADA error twice; typically in section Headings that were toggled to Hidden.
- Fixed ADA compliance check behavior that incorrectly flagged a hidden section heading when the "Show Title in Document" toggle was disabled.
- Fixed a Table of Contents UX hiccup that was affecting the Project's document view. Now, you'll find seamless scrolling right to the bottom without any need to fiddle with your browser scroll.
- Fixed a bug that would reload the Document View when marking a section Complete from section status dropdown menus.
- Corrected a bug causing the table editing modal to navigate to the top or bottom of the section instead of the intended editing/formatting location.
- Corrected a permission validation for Administrator users accessing completed Project sections. This update ensures accurate permission messages, eliminating any confusion.
- Evaluation Builder
- Fixed Form Fields, preventing nested form fields from displaying as narrow and causing readability challenges.
- Cleaned up the display of the Form Field Edit modal, so that it no longer displays HTML coding.
- Project Oversight
- Fixed an issue where the text describing Supporting Materials was solely referring to “Invoice”.
🔒 Security Updates
- We've strengthened security measures with our latest update to ensure a safe and smooth user experience.
April 2, 2024
- Notice:
- Section status is now on the left hand side instead of the right hand side.
- Section controls and permissions are now nested in a row, instead of vertically on the right.
- Comments now have a large button, with a highly visible badge notification detailing how many unresolved comments are in the section.
- Solicitation Status Change Activity:
- The Solicitation Details page now has a “Show Status Change Activity” link
beneath the dropdown that controls Solicitation Status.
- Project Status Change Activity:
- Records on the Project Dashboard page now have an ellipses menu that will
extend the option to “Show Status Change Activity”.
the section level. Additionally, Guest Contributors can now only reorder sections that permit guest access.
- Document Builder:
- Fixed the incorrect banner message from "Addendum Categories" to "Solicitation Categories" when creating a solicitation.
- Addressed an overlap issue where section status menus were overlapping into sections if they were nearby.
- Resolved an issue where sections were showing as locked for admin users, and required them to request access and take additional steps to gain access to the document editor.
- Evaluation Builder
- Fixed a 500 error when accessing Received Applications in the Publication stage, which would manifest if the Publication stage were after an Evaluation stage.
- Corrected Evaluation Workbook discrepancies, where document titles would not update to reflecting proper titles and numbering when document order was changed in the project.
- Fixed an issue where Projects in the Addendum stage were not updating their status in the Project Dashboard.
- Project Oversight
- Corrected the redirection issue when following an email link about a completed milestone.
February 28, 2024
- On Hold
- Canceled
- We've addressed a pesky issue where archiving documents sometimes caused the browser to display the name of the first document in your project,even if it wasn't the one being archived. Now, everything behaves as expected!
- We've smoothed out a hiccup that was causing trouble when exporting DOCX files. A few exports had failed with an error message mentioning "Net::ReadTimeout with #TCPSocket:(closed)". This has been fixed now!
- We've squashed a little bug that was causing the Comment Bubble icon to pop back up in the Document View, even after you cleared it manually through the Save operation. Now, you won't have to deal with that pesky icon reappearing unexpectedly. Happy commenting!
January 25, 2024
- Document Builder: We've squashed a pesky bug that caused the Recommendation toggle to vanish from some Section Templates. The toggle is back for good, ensuring a consistent experience when
managing your section recommendations. - Document Builder: We've addressed a bug that was preventing the full activity history from loading for your Document Templates. Now you can see all the historic changes and edits made to your templates, without any missing information.
- Document Builder: +References in Solicitations made using the Duplicate Solicitation feature would not always direct users to the correct records. You can now confidently duplicate solicitations with the assurance that all +References will function as expected.
- Evaluation Builder: +References in Evaluation Builder’s Form Fields were not directing users to the document or section references they pointed to. We’ve implemented a fix to ensure accurate redirection from form fields to the appropriate documents and sections.
- Evaluation Builder: Previously, some users experienced an intermittent 500 Internal Service Error when attempting to download vendor responses. This update resolves the error and ensures a reliable download experience.
- Export to DOCX: We've addressed an issue for DOCX exports that was causing headers and footers to only appear on the cover page. This fix ensures that your carefully crafted headers and footers will now be included on all pages of your exported documents.
🔒 Security Updates
- Access both the CI Platform and Help Center with one easy login using SAML. Just log in to the CI Platform, and you're all set in the Help Center too!
December 13, 2023
- Document Builder: Resolved a number of minor issues with comments and document counts
- Document Builder: Fixed a bug for the Reviewer collaborator role, ensuring their permissions are suggestion-only once again
- Evaluation Builder: Addressed a bug where registered applicants that had not submitted their application yet were visible in the first evaluation stage
- Evaluation Builder: Fixed an Export to PDF bug in the vendor application portal, addressing fidelity issues displayed in exported content
- Export to DOCX: Fixed a bug that would result in a crash in the export mailer
October 24, 2023
We are excited to announce a few highly requested feature improvements in this release. We are working diligently to improve the overall user experience of the all along with squashing any lingering bugs or specific customer requests. We are excited to continue to ship new features and updates that make your day-to-day life in City Innovate better with every release.
In our commitment to delivering the best user experience, system upgrades play a pivotal role. We're excited to share that these upgrades are all about making things better for you. Upgrades can help boost performance, bolster security, and bring in new features that enhance how users interact with our product. Upgrades can also pave the way for future growth, keeping us at the forefront of technology. We have carefully chosen the following upgrades to the system as a step forward in delivering a superior user experience and to align with evolving user needs and industry standards.
In our latest Document Editor update, the interface remains familiar, but we've introduced exciting new features. This release brings improvements in security and performance, and it lays the foundation for upcoming features like multi-root capabilities, advanced comments, and a document-wide find and replace function. Keep an eye out for more updates!
Our Project Oversight module continues to see enhancements and feature updates and this release brings a user with an Site Admin role the ability to select the date and time a document was received.
A minor issue with milestones that was producing a 500 Error was also remediated. And all references to Vendor were changed to Organization to better align with the way our customer’s work day-to-day.
Finally, we added the capability for Site Admins to be able to add a title and a summary to a document when behind the New Supporting Materials Details page.
We are excited to ship this feature and will be shipping some additional enhancements and improvements in our next release. We would love to hear your thoughts and anything you would like to see as you start using this highly requested feature.
We have developed some new functionality as a follow-on to the Group Criteria Assignment work shared in the last release.
Specifically, the user can:
- Type in a search field for “Select Criteria to Evaluate” and “Select Evaluators” to find the criteria and evaluators options they want
- Use the checkboxes to select the criteria and evaluators options that they want
- Use the “Save Assignment Group” button to save the assignment group they have configured back to the table on the Criteria Assignment Groups Page
- Click the “Save Assignment Group” button to return to the newly updated table on the Criteria Assignment Groups Page
Finally, related to Group Criteria Assignment, we have done work in this release to remove deprecated logic for hiding/displaying subscores. After the recent update to Group Criteria Assignment, subscores are now automatically generated/deleted based on the criteria created by users. This particular improvement was mostly a back-end change to move logic for hiding/unhiding subscores and likely won't be noticed by users.
With these updates, the user will notice in the document template (in a project template) the draft version of the document template will show until it has been dismissed or published. This allows the user to see and work on their latest changes without affecting current projects. There is a “Version History” button in the system that shows the previously saved versions of the section for the user as well and when the draft is published, the current version that has a status of published, gets the status changed to revision, and the status of the draft is changed to published. Finally, when a new draft section is created, it should still maintain all references to child sections and variations.
We're excited to highlight our commitment to enhancing security and performance across our platform. In this update, we've diligently addressed security measures to fortify our system against potential threats, as well as made significant optimizations to ensure a smoother and more efficient user experience. Read on to learn about the improvements designed to safeguard your data and elevate performance, delivering a safer and more seamless environment for your interactions.
Our team has implemented dual boot in Production Duplocloud.
To support performance we have added async callbacks to templates to ensure our customers don’t feel the brunt of that action.
We’ve removed some targeted areas of unnecessary code throughout the application.
We have created new Sentry environments to capture current and future bugs.
We have enabled auto instruments on Scout APM through a config file to improve performance.
For each release we look for specific “low hanging fruit” we can add in with our feature releases and bug fixes. These are typically small, but sometimes more significant, customer requests or internal findings to improve overall app experience and performance.
- We had feedback from customers that when submitting documents as a vendor, using the next button would skip past upload fields. We have updated this functionality so that the fields are no longer skipped. Additionally, when the “Next” button used to appear, it was at the top of the screen, with the Title partially hidden from view; this fix ensures the “Next’ button is in a place where it is clear which field the user should populate.
- Comments and Track Changes are powerful tools that enhance collaboration and editing processes within our system. However, in cases where a section or document contains a significant number of comments or track changes, it's important to optimize the user experience. Occasionally, these callouts used to extend beyond the visible page, temporarily affecting the interaction with specific page elements. After this fix, users now have the ability to easily manage this by engaging with other sections or comments, prompting the callout modals to readjust and remain within view. This adaptability in navigating the system allows for a smoother workflow, making it easier for users to effectively collaborate and for new staff to quickly grasp the platform's capabilities.
- After this fix, in Group Criteria Assignment, the subtotal row ‘Associated With’ now shows users the name of the Document rather than the breadcrumbs / path to the document reducing possible confusion.
- We’ve implemented a fix to support users while using export functionality.
- We have implemented a fix to a 500 Error that appeared during an edge case while a user was creating a contract. The "You are not authorized to access this page" 500 Error no longer appears when creating a contract.
- When documents are soft-deleted there are no longer duplicated running marginals that need to be cleaned up by the internal team.
- There was a customer reported issue where a 500 Error was generated when a user created a summary of changes when the document section had no content in the body.
We are pleased to announce the latest update for our software, focused on enhancing security and resolving various bugs to provide a more seamless and secure user experience. This release represents a significant milestone in our ongoing commitment to ensuring the stability, reliability, and privacy of our platform. Our dedicated team has diligently addressed bugs caught before they reached customers and proactively identified and implemented necessary updates to ensure we are moving towards our security goals. These updates will ensure reliable usage of the recently released Pre-Qualified Vendor Pool (PQVP) and Criteria and Multiplier features and keep us on track from a security perspective.
These security and QA updates underscore our commitment to delivering a secure, efficient, and user-centric platform, focusing on enhancing your experience and providing you with the tools and features you need to succeed. We appreciate your continued support and feedback as we strive to make our platform even better with each release.
- We’ve implemented feature flags for the GitHub Runner LocalHost environment, providing users with greater control and customization options.
- CI Admins are enabled to revoke user access, offering enhanced user management capabilities and reinforcing security measures.
- We’ve addressed quality assurance (QA) issues with patches, ensuring a more reliable and robust testing environment.
- We’ve implemented a procedure to stop or shut down AWS resources in the legacy GovCloud account, optimizing resource management and cost-efficiency.
- An "sb-current-service" user has been created and cookie settings have been updated.
- We’ve established new Sentry environments to capture and monitor bugs, aiding in quicker bug resolution and improved software quality.
During this last sprint we knocked out a sizable list of very specific bugs and fixes proactively following the recent PQVP and Evaluation Builder - Criteria and Multiplier releases. We are continuing to proactively seek out edge cases and reported bugs and send them packing.
- Edits to Email Templates Trigger Criteria Inclusion Field in Evaluation Settings -We’ve fixed the issue where the Criteria Inclusion Field was appearing in Evaluation Settings when a user made edits to an email to reduce confusion.
- We’ve ensured that form fields and the "Edit Section" button are easily accessible and visible on ADA results pages.
- Users can now set a maximum word count of 0 and mark certain fields as required in our forms for better customization.
- We've fixed an issue where word limits could be exceeded on form fields, especially when updating applications.
- We’ve done some work to ensure no more unwanted section titles showing up when they shouldn't.
- We resolved an issue for a customer who had an issue exporting their document to Word.
- Rest assured, we’ve fixed a bug so that your documents will display correctly even after removing all criteria in the worksheet.
- Submitting evaluations is now a smoother process, even when using criteria from previous evaluation stages.
- Exhibit children are now numbered correctly when they are pulled into a project.
- Multiplier weightings are now accurately reflected when the numeric value is changed.
- We've fixed a display issue when adding new criteria in the evaluation workbook. Everything looks just right.
- “Select Worksheets to Evaluate” will no longer appear in error when there are no worksheets associated with that workflow.
- No more errors when creating Assignment Groups even without a publication stage.
- Editing weighting for criteria is now consistent and hassle-free, whether you do it manually or automatically.
- Percentage display is now spot on in the multiplier view. We've got the numbers just right!
- Now, you can easily see the multiplier for your evaluation worksheet view.
- We’ve fixed a customer issue where users could not click the link within a project to view the respondent preview.
- Additionally, we fixed another customer issue where vendors were unable to utilize preview functionality without registering.
September 19th, 2023
We are excited to announce two highly requested feature improvements in this release. We are working diligently to improve the overall user experience of the all along with squashing any lingering bugs or specific customer requests. These two feature enhancements came directly from our customers. We are excited to continue to ship new features and updates that make your day-to-day life in City Innovate better with every release.
- Ability to create custom groups based on your needs
- Choose entire worksheets or specific criteria for the group to evaluate
- Add specific groups per evaluation stage
Project Oversight
- Autofocus is now set to email and password when signing in or creating a new account
- Added our filtering search to the Submission Projects TOC
- Changed email notifications from Pipeline Manager to City Innovate or Customer
- Improved overall outgoing webhook performance
- Project Stages Menu updated with "Criteria Assignment" clickable Link
- Updated Edit Stage Details Page Title to Evaluation Settings Page Title
- Evaluations Builder Criteria Assignment - Criterion can be created without being associated to an evaluation worksheet
- email link redirects to SB details not to questions submitted by a vendor
- Uploaded files "replacement document" does not always save as expected
- PQVP vendor field “organization name” cannot be updated by government/vendor users
- Vendor Q&A Export Question ID update
- "Subtotal" labels are not always updated properly after criteria type was changed
- Cannot View User Types
- JSON uploader naming sections DEFAULT TITLE
- SB Error: section unlock displaying banner "you are not authorized"
- Reordered Section not accurately reflecting position in Document View
- Duplicate solicitation leads to documents with 500 errors
- Fix SummaryExport::Rows test
- Remove ability to assign same evaluator Multiple Times to the Same Vendor
- Document View and Section View displaying different Reference information
- The Submission starts on field Help text now aligns with reality
- "Subtotal" labels are not always updated properly after criteria type was changed
- HTTP 500 error when trying to access Documents in a Contract
- "Add criteria" is missing on a field level in specific configuration
September 6th, 2023
Fixed an issue causing an error (ActionView::Template::Error) due to a missing interpolation argument in certain membership-related templates. If you understand what this means, we are always hiring skilled engineers. Check out our careers page ;)
Resolved a problem where the "Forms" breadcrumb was unclickable after editing a form, preventing users from navigating back to it.
Corrected dynamic references in criteria in specific projects that were not updating when a document or section name was changed.
Addressed the visual issue where text appeared in gray or very light gray in form fields and criteria within the EB interface.
The app now shows a visual indication when copying a project URLs in the EB Publication Phase. Now you can see it worked and feel like a success on every click.
The "Mark accepted" button in Evaluation Summary within Application Builder projects now functioning properly 100% of the time.
Resolved errors occurring when following recommendations that were no longer available and led to error pages.
Fixed an issue preventing vendors from submitting forms when a project's deadline was extended (PQVP / Publish).
Improved API controller to queue publication worker more efficiently. Everyone loves a more efficient publication worker.
🚀 Specific Improvements
Introduced limitations for cases when there's no Evaluation Stage, enhancing process flow.
Implemented an alert system for notifying users about failed tasks or jobs.
Enhanced user experience by hiding Vendor Fields when they are not applicable.
Implemented measures to reduce the likelihood of exceeding the browser's localStorage quota.
Improved security by halting the release process when incorrect credentials are provided.
🔍 Other Improvements
August 22nd, 2023
Overall Usability Improvements:
- You'll now see a consistent red asterisk for required fields.
- We've tidied up the spacing in headers and footers and cleared out any unnecessary lines in the document preview.
- Our help text in the vendor portal is now even more helpful.
- We've made it easier to find where you can comment and track changes in the document editor toolbar, and we've got more improvements planned.
- The sidebar collapse toggle is now simpler and more user-friendly.
- Columns in the Evaluation Builder look and work better, and you won't see any rogue checkboxes under vendor names.
- We've streamlined the summary calculations by removing the worksheet weight.
- If a vendor wasn't accepted in a previous stage, we've added a safeguard to prevent marking the evaluation as complete by mistake.
- No more confusion with similar criteria names in the evaluation summary.
- The confidentiality banner text is now more clear.
- Clicking on an evaluation assigned to someone else won't lead to errors anymore.
- When including all criteria in the evaluation settings, it won't mix in criteria from previous stages.
- Picking the lead score option in evaluation settings now does exactly what you'd expect.
- Importing documents from MS Word now works smoothly, with no more duplications.
- The formatting problems with ordered lists from Document Builder are history now.
- Creating contracts won't throw any 500 errors in specific organizations anymore.
- No more frustrations with 500 errors while deleting comments in certain organizations.
- Testing ADA compliance won't give you different results between Staging and Production anymore.
- The correct comment counts will be displayed for specific sections.
- The error in the cost evaluation summary for certain evaluations has been fixed.
- Previewing email templates won't give you any trouble in specific cases.
- References to linked documents duplicated via Key Staff Roles (KSR) are all sorted out.
August 8th, 2023
Document Builder and Evaluation Builder:
- Ensure that evaluators have a read-only view into their evaluations when the evaluation period has been closed.
- Summary export now includes Evaluator score columns in the Summary export.
- Summary export now includes the Stage information in the Summary.
- Questions submitted by Vendors can now be downloaded from the Publication Q&A stage.
- The digits in child-child attachments/exhibit titles are now demarcated with a decimal (i.e. Attachment A1.1).
July 25th, 2023
Infrastructure:
Upgraded several third-party libraries used in our software application to leverage the latest improvements in stability, security, and overall performance. By incorporating these upgrades, we aim to enhance the reliability and robustness of our application, providing a better user experience and improved system performance.
Added a Worksheet Total row in the Worksheet, providing a cleaner look and easier access to subtotal information. The subtotal buttons have been removed to streamline the interface and maintain consistency with other subtotals.
Enhanced the Summary functionality to only allow the addition of relevant prior stages, improving the accuracy and relevance of project evaluations.
Updated the vendor question email notifications to include Procurement Officials who are Editors on projects, ensuring they receive important communication related to vendor inquiries.
Addressed various bugs in the Worksheet and Publication stage, enhancing the overall stability and user experience.
Document Builder:
Resolved general bugs, addressing various issues and improving overall performance.
Improved text updates within the Addendum feature to provide better process clarity, making it easier for users to understand and navigate the addendum creation process.
Made enhancements to Document Section titles and reference numbers show/hide capabilities, offering more control and flexibility in managing section visibility.
Implemented show/hide functionality for child sections' titles regardless of the parent section setting, allowing users to customize the display as needed.
Ensured parent-child sync for Reference Numbers, maintaining consistency between sections, and hiding the option to display reference numbers for child sections if the parent section has the show reference feature turned off.
July 11th, 2023
- Document Builder: Headers/Footers. Improved consistency in the Header/Footer between the Configuration View, Document View and PDF export for layout, size, and inline images. We also reduced the default line height.
- System Emails:
- For all procurement team emails, we’ve added the Project Name in the subject line.
- For all vendor-facing emails, we’ve updated the signature.
Various bug fixes within the Document View, Tables, Q&A, Dynamic Referencing, Suggestions and Comments, Evaluation Criteria and Worksheet, and the Vendor facing platform.
- Document Re-Ordering was causing an issue where the table of contents wasn’t live updating appropriately to reflect the new reordering.
- Questions weren’t always inserted into a project in the correct order. Now they are inserted in the correct order.
- +References (within the same document) - name of reference wasn’t updating once the source name was updated in Document Settings.
- Multiple answers in form fields are now separated by commas.
- When clicking the expand/down arrow in the table of contents in Document Templates, the list didn’t persist. Now it persists.
- Fix to ensure comments and suggestions are copied correctly when duplicating a section.
June 28th, 2023
Document Builder:
- Project Dashboard: The default order of the Projects list has been updated projects to show the last updated projects first.
- Project Dashboard: Removed the projects field as an editable field in Tasks.
Evaluation Builder:
- Publication Stage: Added a new column in the Received Applications view to showcase the date and time of vendor submission.
- Vendor Portal: The email that vendors receive upon submission has been updated to better reflect the time of submission.
- Vendor Portal: We’ve added a timestamp to the Submissions page so Vendors are now able to see the exact time of their submission.
- Evaluation Criteria: Cost Criteria have been updated to include more currency-type parameters.
- Evaluation Worksheet: Updated the worksheet subtotal view to have a more polished list of items.
Contract Administration:
- Renewal Reminders: We added an automated renewal reminder task for 120 days. When a contract is created, our system automatically creates renewal reminders for 30, 60, 90, and 120 days before the contract’s end date.
- General bug fixes around addendums, document exports, variables, headers/footers, evaluation worksheets, evaluation summaries, and evaluation settings.
June 13th, 2023
Document Builder:
- Overall update for accessibility continue across the app
- Brand new sorting section in Document Builder builder. Updated interface and usability. We will continue to improve critical flows like this one in upcoming releases.
Contracts Administration:
- Released an update that uses data from a prior stage to auto-populate details for the newly made contract amendment or renewal.
Evaluation Builder:
- Updated the Addendum stage such that when an Addendum is created, a new Worksheet is created.
- When an Addendum is published, users will be able to configure Evaluation Settings using the updated data (documents, worksheets, criteria, etc.)
- Minor UI enhancements for the Worksheet, Evaluator views, and other evaluations related areas.
- General Bug Fixes around previewing suggestions, the document list, section views, document, reordering, and other areas.
June 5th, 2023
Document Builder:
- Configuration: Updated configurations for documents and sections to correctly include or exclude into a solicitation.
- Inclusion Logic: Updated the inclusion logic for Questions to include categories and subcategories.
- Variables and References: Expanded the list of variables/references that can be used within configurations and documents.
- UI Consistency: Updated UI consistency across the different views for configuration, document, and section
Evaluation Builder:
- Rank: Added the ability to see the Rank of applicants on the Evaluations Summary view
- Lock/Unlock Submissions: Added a feature where the procurement team can lock or unlock an application, if necessary, regardless if the submission window is open or closed.
Project Oversight:
- Email CTA: Added a call to action in the emails that Vendor receives to join that stage
Contracts Administration:
- Contract Amount: Updated the amount field to reflect currency and have limitations around what can be entered
- Contract Status: Updated status options and an icon to differentiate between status definitions
- General Bug Fixes around document formatting, exporting to PDF/DOCX, caching, evaluation summary and evaluator view, evaluation worksheet, criteria creation, publication stage, section numbering, email delays, inclusion logic, and the document build process.
May 2nd, 2023
- General - Speed: Increased speed of building and re-building projects.
- General - Configuration: Section Templates may now be reordered with Display Order functionality.
- Document Builder - Sections: Sections will now support Form Fields for use with Evaluation Builder.
- Document Builder - Show Title in Document: Ability to show/hide titles of project documents + sections and configuration document templates + sections.
- Document Builder - Show Hierarchical Number in Document: Ability to show/hide the hierarchical numbers of project sections and configuration sections.
- Bugs and Enhancements - This release includes general bug fixes and enhancements, including: fixed anomalies in Configuration display order, fixed mentions in documents, fixed Header and Footer formatting anomalies, fixed issues with header breaks in export to DOCX, corrected selected Questions not being asked up front upon project generation, corrected "stuck" notification icon for Inbox.
April 11th, 2023
Enhancements:
- Document Builder - Accept All Changes: users will now be able to accept all suggested changes in a solicitation with one bulk action. This will save our users a substantial amount of time as each suggested change no longer needs to be accepted individually.
- Document Builder - Resolve All Comments: users now have the ability to resolve all open comments in a solicitation with one action. This will significantly reduce the time it currently takes to clear all comments within a solicitation.
Bug Fixes:
- Bugs and Enhancements - This release includes general bug fixes and enhancements, including the document show page, applicant submissions, summary of changes, and other areas.
March 21st, 2023
Enhancements:
Document Builder: Addenda - We've improved how addenda are created and published. Now an addendum is created as a copy of a solicitation that is fully editable and collaborative. The original solicitation stays active until the addendum is published. Vendors that have saved or submitted submissions before an addendum is published will receive notification of updated publication.
Evaluation Builder: Various enhancements have been made to streamline and improve the user experience.
Bug Fixes:
Bugs and Small Enhancements - This release includes completing some general bug fixes, including items related to exporting documents to word and downloading uploaded files.
February 23rd, 2023
Document Builder:
We completed some general bug fixes, including items related to header and footer configuration such as:
In the coming weeks, we will release several enhancements. Some of these are brand-new features, and others are improvements to current ones, so please be on the lookout for exciting things coming your way.
Please contact your City Innovate Customer Success Manager with any questions or to learn more about this release.
January 26th, 2023
- Document Builder: Table Captions within Editor - Added ability to add captions to all tables in the editor.
- Document Builder: Spelling and Grammar Check within Editor - Added a spelling and grammar check to our editor for real-time feedback of content.
- Document Builder: Configuration: Document Template Preview - A new Document Template Preview option was added that allows users to review configured templates within Configuration and easily navigate to the templates and sections for editing.
- Document Builder: Configuration: Document Template Table of Contents - A table of contents was added to the Document Template, Sections, and Subsections views that allows users to navigate with clarity and speed to the areas of the templates as needed.
- Document Builder: Export to Word: Download exported file from within platform - Updated the Export to Word feature functionality so that the file generated can now be downloaded from a notification message within the system.
- Document Builder: Export to Word: Download exported file from email notification - Updated the Export to Word email confirmation to include the ability to download the generated file from the notification and removed the file as an attachment.
- Document Builder - Document Building Speed - Speed of building documents when creating projects and rebuilding documents when questions are answered has dramatically improved.
- Application Builder: Audit Tracking for Questions and Answers - Adding ability to add multiple stages within an Application Builder project to allow for multiple rounds of form publication, form submission, and evaluations all within the same project with only vendors passed from prior stages being passed onto the next configured stage.
- Document Builder: Duplicate Sections and Forms - Added the functionality to duplicate a section and a form within Projects for easier Project setup and customization.
- Document Builder: Header and Footer Layout Options - The layouts of headers and footers will now be a bit more customizable with an additional configurable option to display them as one, two, or the current option of three columns.
- Application Builder: Multiple Stage Application Builder and Publication Stages - Adding ability to add multiple stages within an Application Builder project to allow for multiple rounds of form publication, form submission, and evaluations all within the same project with only vendors passed from prior stages being passed onto the next configured stage.
- Evaluation Builder: Vendor Submission Emails - Project Owners and Admins receive an email informing them that a Vendor has completed a submission.
- Document Builder: Summary of Changes Hierarchy - Updated the hierarchy of the Summary of Changes document for better organization of information and structure.
- Bugs and Small Enhancements - This release includes a number of general bug fixes and technical foundation improvements.
January 5th, 2023
- Evaluation Builder: Sealed bids - New feature allowing Admins, Owners, and Editors the ability to seal vendor submissions until a specified date to ensure submissions aren’t visible until the period has ended.
- Evaluation Builder: Vendor submission lock - New feature in Evaluation Builder allowing the ability for Admins, Owners, and Editors to lock and/or unlock vendor submissions within a submission period; disallowing vendor editing. This can also be done if the submission period has ended.
- Document Builder: Adding a new view on the Projects page which separates out projects that have been Completed. Now there are three project lists - Active, Completed, and Archived.
- Document Builder: Configuration - When configuring templates, the Sections table in Document Templates will now include a column to differentiate between a Document Section vs Form Section.
- Document Builder: Team Invites - Updated team invites to only allow selection of one role when inviting a new team member.
- Document Builder: Updating list functionality - will have the ability to add content blocks and elements such as tables, paragraphs, and others.
- Document Builder: Updating Export to Docx functionality such that a new tab will open while the export is processing and automatically downloads when ready to the user's device.
- Evaulation Builder: Adding to the new feature where forms can be hidden or visible to a vendor, and hidden forms can be shared via URL when the procurement team deems necessary; these forms will now be accessible in the Vendor portal without needing to re-access the URL.
Bug Fixes:
- Document Builder: Fixed an issue where table/cell default values for width, height and padding were not displaying.
- Document Builder: Corrected a bug in the Inbox view where users were seeing inaccurate notification badge counts and weren’t able to access the Inbox if it was empty.
- Document Builder: Fixed unexpected errors when running the ADA/Accessibility check with documents that have references.
- Document Builder: Fixed an issue where the Task side-modal did not close after marking a section complete.
- Evaluation Builder: Fixed a bug where assigning tasks for applicants wasn’t working as expected.
December 15th, 2022
Enhancements:
Document Builder: Export to DOCX, Document Level: Improving the document-level export to word feature and how the documents are delivered to the user.
Bug Fixes:
Document Builder: Guest Contribution Permissions - Corrected a bug where guest contributor permissions weren’t giving the appropriate feature access.
Document Builder: Wrong Owner Displayed - Fixed an issue where there was a different owner between the Projects page and Solicitation Details page.
Document Builder: Sections Not Opening - Corrected an issue where certain users weren’t able to open/edit sections within a document.
Document Builder: Incorrect Questions for Solicitation Type - Corrected a bug where questions associated with another solicitation type were being pulled into the solicitation inadvertently.
Document Builder: Unanswered Questions Reappearing - Corrected an issue where unanswered questions kept appearing while users were navigating around a solicitation.
Document Builder: Projects Table Sorting - Fixed an issue where, when sorting by Owner, the projects list wasn’t grouped accurately.
Bugs, Performance, and Security: Various other bug fixes and enhancements to application performance and security.
November 23rd, 2022
- Evaluation Builder: Published forms can now be hidden - Owners/Admins can now choose to make any form visible or hidden from a vendor at their discretion once they decide to publish
- Document Builder: List Properties Enabled in Track Changes - When track changes are enabled, ordered list properties/options such as restarting the list number are now available within the editor
- Document Builder: Hyperlinks in Documents - Upgraded abilities to add a hyperlink into a document via the editor window
- Document Builder: Table Default Properties - Updated default properties for new tables when they are created
- Document Builder: Updated Default Settings for Print Layout/Preview and Export to PDF for better consistency - Default properties for Section Titles, Tables, Text Wrapping, and Font Defaults updated when exporting documents as PDF
- Document Builder: Incorrect Document Name Appears in Section - Corrected a bug where the title of a document, when referenced, is updated in another section/document when that document’s title has been changed
- Document Builder: Other Bugs and Small Enhancements - Addressed minor bugs and added other enhancements throughout the platform within questions/answers, tasks, section editor, headers/footers, and exports
November 3rd, 2022
- Document Builder: Pre-Solicitation SOW - Releasing a feature which allows the ability to create a Pre-Solicitation Stage where users are able to create a working SOW document to gather initial information before a solicitation type has been determined. The feature will also allow the transfer of ownership so that a Procurement Official can then select the appropriate procurement vehicle and carry on with the procurement using the other modules. If this is a feature that interests your organization, please contact your City Innovate representative.
- Document Builder: Global Track Changes Enabled in Addendum Stage - Global Track Changes will be enabled when a solicitation is in an Addendum phase to ensure all changes during this process are captured and can be reviewed.
- Document Builder: Font Size Updates for Compliance - For further ADA/WCAG compliance, the minimum and default font sizes in our tool have been updated.
- Evaluation Builder: Various enhancements and UX updates to how an Admin can configure Evaluation Worksheets to be used in solicitations.
- Document Builder: List Formatting when Track Changes Enabled - Fixed an issue where certain list styles weren’t being applied correctly when track changes were enabled.
- Document Builder: Other Bugs and Small Enhancements - Addressed minor bugs and added other enhancements throughout the platform including tasks, permissions, formatting, and exports.
October 13th, 2022
- Document Builder: Task reminders are now only sent for tasks with due dates less than 30 days old
- Document Builder: Table headers in Export to PDF are now all capitalized.
- Document Builder: Exporting to Word updated to ensure all headings are respected.
- Document Builder: Inbox Messaging Bug -Corrected an issue where an Editor who was unable to access the Inbox if they had a mention. Editors can now access with no issues.
- Document Builder: Section Subtitles -Corrected a bug where section subtitle titles appear when section settings are not configured to do so.
- Document Builder: Inadvertent Comment Threads in Inbox-Corrected an issue where comments with mentions were inconsistently appearing in the Inbox
- Document Builder: ADA Check Completion Time -Fixed an issue where the ADA Accessibility Check
- Document Builder: Removal of Attachment on Form Field -Corrected an issue where attached files on form fields weren’t being able to be removed, if needed.
- Document Builder: Date Picker Within Tasks -Fixed a bug that wasn’t functioning correctly while choosing the Due Date within Tasks
- Document Builder: Document Configurations Search-Fixed an issue in Document Templates Search that wasn’t loading all the valid search results when the user was updating their search parameters.
September 22, 2022
- Document Builder: Export to Word - This feature allows Admins and Procurement Officials to export Solicitation documents as .DOCX files from the Project level (not document level, as of yet)
Document Builder: Enable Word to DB Conversion - This new feature allows our users to convert a document from Word to Document Builder where the styling is respected and the document can be edited within the platform.
Bug Fixes:
Document Builder: 500 Error - Addressed a bug where a project when trying to access substages when a project hasn’t been associated with it yet. Now it directs the user to create a project, instead of an error.
Document Builder: Task Select Project Validation - Fixed a bug where users could create tasks without a project assigned.
Document Builder: DB Stage when a collaborator is removed from the DB stage, the project is still displayed in his/her project list view - When a collaborator is removed from the DB stage, the project is still displayed in his/her project list view. We fixed this bug so that the project does not display for the collaborator who was removed from the project.
Document Builder: Fixed ADA bulk check bug - Fixed a bug where the bulk ADA check was unexpectedly stuck for multiple days
Enhancements:
Evaluation Builder: Evaluation Worksheets Reordering and Archive - Allowing admins to drag/drop/reorder worksheets as they deem fit, in addition to being able to archive them
Document Builder: ADA Check Banner Update - Updated the ADA Check Banner to properly direct the user where they can access the results.
Document Builder: Enable editing table and cell properties while in global track changes mode. Users previously were not able to change the table properties and cell properties when global track changes were turned on. When you are in a section and modify a table with track changes, you need to go to the project and turn off track changes for the entire solicitation. We made an update so that users can change table and cell properties while in global track changes mode.
September 1st, 2022
- Document Builder: Tables cut off when exporting DB document to DB - fixed an issue where tables copied into DB would display correctly in the tool, but be cut off when exported.
Missing profile photos from Cloudinary: profile photos for some users were not displaying because they did not exist on Cloudinary. Now there will be a default backup to display instead.
Document Builder: Inconsistencies with numbering in editor mode - Addresses bug with numbering formatting when entering the editor.
Fixed unread messages count: addresses a bug where message would persist as unread even after opening them
Document Builder: “Show Example” for Guest Contributors - addresses a bug where guest contributors were not able to see the "see example from previous solicitations" feature.
Evaluation Builder: Evaluators taken to Your Evaluations - Addresses a bug where evaluators were shown evaluation summaries and substages instead of properly being shown their evaluations.
Enhancements:
Document Builder:
Improved how users can interact with Tasks - Updates include:
Default filters are now as follows:
Assignee = logged in user
Status = Incomplete
Sort by due date descending
Applied to all task tables below:
Tasks (Main menu)
Project Tasks
Document Tasks
Section Tasks
Fixed an issue where filtering by date was cutoff.
When there are multiple assignees, they are now listed in the task details screen.
Tasks associated with a question now appear in "Associated With", and in the task detail page as hyperlink.
Updated task title in table, and in task edit, to "Complete Question: <question title>".
Changed "Complete this section" title to "Complete section: <section title>" in task table and task edit.
Guest Contributors and Viewer Roles to allowed to view criteria: ability for Guest Contributors and Viewer roles to view criteria (not edit)
Evaluation Builder
Criteria Editing Restrictions - Updated so Criteria editing is only possible for in-process sections and documents, and un-editable for completed sections and documents.
Adjust Reviewer role to account for new form and evaluation capabilities - Updated so Reviewer role only has view capabilities in evaluations to see criteria, see fields, open workbook, but no edit access, etc.
Adjust viewer role to account for new form and evaluation capabilities - Updated so Viewer role only has view capabilities in evaluations to see criteria, see fields, open workbook, but no edit access, etc.
August 12th, 2022
- Within context of DB, an LPA is an Leveraged Procurement Agreement that can be templatized on the configuration side by Team Administrators. Thanks to a user’s report, CI fixed a bug where users were unable to delete an LPA after all objects (i.e. associated documents, questions, variations) were removed [Resolved via hotfix 07/26/22].
- We have fixed a bug to ensure that the correct alert message will display when a user provides invalid login credentials.
- We provided a fix last week for a bug that incorrectly crossed out dynamic references (that could be seen in document view) that had not been marked for deletion in section view. Moving forward, this functionality will be working as expected. Please be advised that the color of the strikethrough line seen in document view for dynamic references will be blue (as it historically has been). [Resolved via hotfix 08/02/22]
- As previously reported, users were not able to paste copied text into section titles when working in DB. This bug has been fixed so that moving forward users can copy and paste content into section title fields via section settings.
- Previously, within the Evaluation project stage users noticed that they would receive an error when attempting to export a summary of their evaluations using the “Download Stage Data” button. This will be working as expected moving forward. For more information on project stages, refer to the Projects article found within our help center.
- Previously when Vendors applied to a challenge, prior to drafting their application they are given an option to “Preview the form”. We have fixed a bug to ensure Vendors can access every page of the form rather than only seeing the first page.
- In the future, when a Vendor creates an account from a public challenge page, password guidelines will appear and will be enforced via error message if not met.
- We have provided a fix for a bug that unnecessarily created multiple forms/evaluation forms within Evaluation Builder.
- Improved the visual interface for users when new form fields are added within a solicitation.
- As a reminder, Guest Contributors for a solicitation will not have the permissions to reorder sections, add or remove sections/subsections unless document settings is marked to allow guest contributors.
- Text editor: users can now choose the starting digit or letter for ordered lists, if you have text or other objects to insert between list items.
- Text editor: users can now adjust table column width by dragging and dropping columns. Please refer to our Formatting article for more information on both features.
- Automatically convert formatted Word Document --> Solicitation Document. Previously, when users uploaded their Microsoft Document and then checked the box to convert the document to an DB document, it took several different steps on the CI team to ensure that the document would be changed and formatted to become an DB Document Template. We have automated this process so that when users upload their Word Document to DB and check to convert this Word Document to an DB Document, the template is automatically transformed to an DB Document. It should now take 1-2 minutes for Word Documents to become DB Documents, as opposed to taking 1-2 days for the conversion to occur. If there are any errors with the upload process, the system will display the relevant errors for the user to be able to proceed.
July 21st, 2022
- We have proactively addressed a bug concerning how documents are numbered when utilizing the drag & drop functionality in DB. This function should be working as expected.
- We resolved an issue that prevented the status of a section from appropriately updating. This function should be working as expected.
- We resolved an issue that would not pull in name of field as described when the evaluation field blank was left blank. Moving forward, the system will render an error message if a name for evaluation criteria is not provided.
- Thank you for those that reported an issue regarding track changes not being applied to dynamic references and variables. Click on the following links for more information on Track Changes and Smart Fields. Moving forward, if a variable or dynamic reference has a tracked change edit, it will appropriately appear in document view and in the PDF export.
- We have resolved an incorrect help text link as it relates to the Header & Footer which can be found within document settings. Moving forward, when this link is selected, it will transport the user to a list of Header & Footer options located within that specific project.
- Previously, we noticed the link for Key Staff Roles on the configuration side was missing in the breadcrumb link typically found underneath the main toolbar at the top of the webpage. This issue has been resolved and Key Staff Roles will now appropriately appear.
- Fixed a bug on the configuration side that transported users to the incorrect page when selecting the hyperlink of a solicitation type.
- Recently we released a new Recommendations feature. Continuing on that work, there is now a link to an activity log on any and all actions taken on recommendations within document sections. Customers can find this link while in document view at the top of the page next to ‘Document Settings’.
- Similar to the inclusion criteria that can be added to objects on the configuration side, Team Administrators can now add inclusion logic to templatized Key Staff Role Titles. Click the following link for a refresher on Inclusion Criteria.
June 30th, 2022
- Within Document Builder, there is currently a functionality that allows folks to re-order documents using a drag & drop method within a solicitation. For a refresher on this functionality, please refer to the Reordering Sections & Documents knowledge base article located in our help center. City Innovate has now extended this functionality to document templates which can be found on the configuration page. Please note access to the configuration page is typically limited to Team Administrators.
- City Innovate is releasing a merged view which encompasses minor visual changes. While your view from within the tool might look a little different, functionality is still the same. Please refer to the Home Interface knowledge base article located in our help center. We also recommend looking over the Projects Knowledge base article for information on project stages.
- After much request, City Innovate has implemented a new feature to allow changes made on existing document template sections on the configuration side to be propagated down to existing, in-flight projects. Currently, when Team Administrators make an edit to a document template on the configuration side, there is a lack of visibility regarding the impact of these edits on existing projects that have a status of “In Progress”. This new feature, we will allow users to:
- View any template edits made on the configuration side that impact any of the sections for existing projects that have a status of “In Progress”. Moving forward, these edits will be referred to as “Recommendations”.
- Review the recommendations on a new page to get a broad view of the new content.
- Accept or dismiss the recommendations, based on the updated section/variation content.
We ask for your patience as we develop the necessary resources to ensure we can answer all of your questions regarding this feature. - CI has made a change to the document/section status functionality. Moving forward, the following will be true:
- If a document and section are complete, and then a user marks a section back to "In Progress", the document will go back to "In Progress".
- If a document is "In Progress", but is then marked complete via document settings, all sections in that document will be marked complete.
June 9th, 2022
- Due to visual display issues, the navigation panel within Evaluation Builder for the form builder will now appear on the left-hand side of the screen.
- We resolved the issue of a 500 error appearing when attempting to open evaluation settings in past projects within Evaluation Builder.
May 26th, 2022
- As part of our commitment to ensure your account and information is secure, City Innovate has improved its password creation process when creating a new account to use the tool. To facilitate this process, new and existing customers will be required to create a password that meets the following guidelines:
- 8-128 characters
- At least one upper & one lowercase letter
- At least one special character
Please note that there is no change for customers who use Azure Active Directory for authentication. Read this article for more information. - New user interface enhancements have arrived for Evaluation Builder users! Previously when working with form templates, a static panel would live on the left-hand side of the screen as you input the necessary information. Now, these form fields are embedded in the available options. That means, when you select to add a page or a section, the input panel will only appear while you are actively inputting information.
- Administrators of organizations will notice a left navigation sidebar to improve system performance and getting to where you need to go faster. Stay tuned for additional updates at a later time!
- The tool will have a new and improved dashboard display. From the projects tab, you will have the ability to see current and archived projects by the switch of a tab. You will also have the option of searching and filtering solicitations and projects by name, status, stage progress, solicitation type, and owner. For those with a lot of projects, the ability to search a project by name will make your lives that much easier! More information can be found in KB articles soon!
- Previously, when you embedded dynamic references into your documents, you could only be quickly transported to the section/document in question while viewing an exported PDF of your project. Now, those references will be clickable while you are in document view to help you quickly navigate to sections/documents while in the tool. Read this article for more information.
- Dynamic references associated with documents will open a new window for viewing. Dynamic references associated with sections will quickly transport you to the section in question while in the same window/tab.
- If section titles for smart fields are not updating initially, try refreshing your page.
- Thank you to all those that reported the issue of being unable to copy text when in document view while editing your projects/solicitations. Moving forward, you should be able to copy text from your projects while in document view.
- In line with task improvements, we have also addressed an issue with inconsistent behavior in regards to messages/ mentions added to tasks.
- We have addressed and resolved an issue with inconsistent behavior regarding the color of table/cell borders when applied.
April 28th, 2022
- Improved system performance when changing the status of a solicitation.
- Admins and Owners reported issues when attempting to access documents/sections that they had the permissions to access. We have updated the logic to ensure those with the appropriate permissions can access projects.
- Previously, when a user attempted to export their task list, the task name would not appear within the export. This has been resolved and should be working as expected.
- Recently, some users were experiencing login issues when accepting new invitations. This has been resolved and should be working as expected.
- For EB users, we have implemented a fix to ensure your team names appropriately appear on your applications within the tool.
- An issue was reported when a user attempted to view a task using the link within the DB task email notification. This issue with the task link has been resolved and should be working as expected.
- Previously within Evaluation Builder, users could only see vendor contact information when in the tool. Now, users can download an export of vendor contact information.
April 07th, 2022
- You spoke, and we heard. This week, City Innovate to release brand new improvements to visual designs within DB that will positively impact how users navigate through sections when in document view. These new visual improvements can be seen in document view when editing, locking/unlocking, user permissions, and status within Document Builder. More to come in KB Articles!
- City Innovate has improved upon our account creation process for new and existing team members. Moving forward, if a user has an existing account with with DB/EB, they will be greeted by a screen requesting them to sign in. Only newly invited users with no existing account will be greeted with a prompt to create their account. More to come in KB Articles!
- CI Product and Engineering have made technical performance improvements to areas concerning managing your organizations team members. These improvements will impact user roles/permissions, sending and receiving account invitations, inviting collaborators to organizations, allowing team members to edit their profiles, and removing team members from an organization. More to come in KB Articles!
- For visual enhancement, we have removed the “Suggested Search” from your DB/EB Inbox.
- Document View Section Editing Updates: Working a set of feature enhancements that will allow better team collaboration when editing a solicitation document in document view. More to come on the KB Articles!
- Thank you to all those that reported the issue of task due dates jumping ahead one day than originally selected by the user. We are happy to announce that this bug has been addressed and resolved.
- In line with task improvements, we have also addressed an issue with inconsistent behavior in regards to messages/ mentions added to tasks.
- We have addressed and resolved an issue with inconsistent behavior regarding the color of table/cell borders when applied.
March 17th, 2022
- Some users reported being unknowingly transported to the top of their document when working within document view. A fix was implemented to prevent users from losing their place when working within document view.
- Similar to the fix above, users reported being unknowingly transported to the top of the Table of Contents (ToC) when selecting a desired section. A fix has been implemented to keep the user on the selected section.
- A reported issue of the incorrect document title being displayed for uploaded files within DB. When a document is created and the document category type is inputted by the user, the original PDF upload title would be displayed rather than the document title given during the upload into DB. Moving forward, the correct title will be displayed for uploaded files.
- We fixed inconsistent behavior with duplicate task labels appearing.
March 2th, 2022
- A fix has now been implemented when performing Accessibility checks within the tool. Previously, users were unable to resolve reported image errors within the tool when attempting to complete an ADA check. Users should now be able to resolve image-related ADA errors.
- Product has repaired an issue experienced when attempting to reorder sections within documents. A fix has now been implemented and users should be able to successfully reorder sections. For more information on how to reorder a section, refer to this article.
- Improved performance of renumbering reordered sections.
February 17th, 2022
- By popular demand, City Innovate has done a complete overhaul of the task list and some of its functionality within DB. Tasks has been given a complete redesign with added features to assist in a more streamlined, collaborative, and efficient workflow. For an in-depth view, see the Knowledge Base article here.
- Users with the appropriate permissions can now add a section to a document from the three-dot menu in document view. They can now also add a subsection on the same level as a section; 2 for 1 folx! For more information, refer to this article.
- Moving forward, Exports will have a new column that is numbered in chronological order with a new and improved date format. For more information, refer to this article.
- Now teams can personalize their projects by adding their organization logo to the Header and/or Footer templates within DB. For more information, refer to this article.
- City Innovate Product team has introduced a new feature that allows user to import a Microsoft Word document into Document Builder. This newest feature aims to reduce the tedious task of the eternal copy/paste method that users have been currently using to transfer over vital project data. For more information, refer to this article. More to come on this!
- Prior to this release, Reviewers were able to select ‘section settings’ when viewing sections within a solicitation. In line with the permissions of this role, section actions for Reviewers have been removed. For more information on the permissions for this role, refer to this article.
January 27th, 2022
- Several performance improvements to enhance the customer’s experience as they navigate the tool
- The name of the project will now appear in the subject line of email notifications within Evaluation Builder when a vendor posts a question
- Bug fixes for Evaluation Builder
- Fix to ensure accurate word count for CKEditor form fields
- Ensure vendors are directed to EB platform
- Fix to show task counter on EB navigation
- Resolve terms of service (TOS) conflicts for existing vendor users
January 12th, 2022
- New Reviewer Role to allow users to comment and track their edits. Find article here.
- Display document view near instantly
- Improved design and usability of Table of Contents
- Ability for Administrators to reset user passwords. Find article here.
- Improved messaging UX for projects with large number of users. Find article here.
- Ability for City Innovate staff to archive/unarchive organizations within Document Builder.
- Ability for City Innovate staff to create DB document templates from MS Word documents
- New features and designs for the Inbox including search and filtering. Find article here.
- Fixed an issue where hidden section titles were being displayed in the exported PDF Table of Contents
- Fixed an issue where bolded text was not appearing in the document view
December 29th, 2021
- Performance improvements
- References to Documents/Sections in the Summary of Changes document are now hyperlinked. Click here for more information.
- Remove extra spaces after some document/section references
- Ability for Admins to move section templates to a new parent section template in configuration. Click here for more information.
- Remove "Hide comments and changes" button
- Fix issue with existing Azure Active Directory users not able to accept invitations
- Improve fidelity between document and section view: resolved intermittent display issue where tables in the document view only would display incorrectly outside the page borders
October 13th, 2021
- Updates to Sandbox Environment Refresh Schedule
- The data in the DB Sandbox Environment will refresh will refresh automatically on the 1st of every month starting November 1st 2021.
- All data including solicitations, members, and product functionality will be copied from Production to Sandbox, and all previous data in Sandbox will be replaced with Production data.
- Users with active accounts can login to the Sandbox Environment to test, practice, and learn.
- Sandbox is accessible at https://sb-sandbox.cityinnovate.com. Users with active accounts at sb.cityinnovate.com can use the same email and password to login to Sandbox.
September 16th, 2021
- Guest Contributors can now administer ADA checks
- Guest contributors can now run ADA checks on individual documents, view results, and can resolve ADA errors if they have permissions for the document/section.
- User Management for Admins. New information is displayed to help Admins manager user accounts on the Organization Members page:
- The unique invitation web address for users who have been invited but haven’t created an account yet. This URL can be copied and sent directly to users if they haven’t received or can’t find their invitation email.
- Admins can now view user email addresses associated with user accounts. This can be used to verify if a user has an active account or duplicative account, and manage memberships accordingly.
- Admin Access to Analytics module. We resolved a permission issue that prevented some Admin users from accessing the new Analytics module.
- Procurement Officials can now run and remediate ADA suggestions and errors. Previously PO users were unable to resolve some ADA suggestions and suggestions. PO users can now run and resolve all ADA errors for documents and sections they have access to.
September 1st, 2021
- Single Sign-on Integration
All users will see a two-step login process: email prompt then password prompt either in DB or redirection to your SSO provider.
For customers utilizing Single Sign-On (SSO), we offer multiple protocols (SAML, OAuth) and providers (Microsoft Azure Active Directory) to seamlessly manage authentication centrally instead of within Document Builder. Speak to your account manager if you’re interested in learning more.
Analytics
We’ve released a completely redesigned and more powerful reporting module called Analytics for customers who have this as part of their subscription.
Administrators now have access to the entire portfolio of solicitations and can visualize various metrics and the underlying data.
Administrators can use different features to limit the data being analyzed: search, filters, and sorting.
All charts, metrics, and the table of data are synced when searching and filtering.
Users can export the raw data via CSV or API for further analysis.
Improvements
Inbox
Comments: Mentioning a person by @name in a comment or a track change will now appear in your Inbox, and the Inbox of the person you mentioned by @name.
Table default properties
Page border: Style: Solid; Color: Black (#000000); Border: 1px
Automatic header row: The first row of a new table created in Document Builder will automatically be designated as a header row. This can be changed using table toolbar > row.
Performance, Reliability, and Security
We continue to make improvements in performance and reliability.
We’ve improved memory management for very large documents (> thousand pages) with complex graphics.
We’ve worked closely with AWS GovCloud to improve our reliability and security by using proven and secure technologies to scale our resources based on user activities.
August 16th, 2021
Upload Files as Documents
Administrators, Owners and Editors can now choose between DB created documents or upload files.
Acceptable uploaded files include MS Word, PDF, Excel and others with file size maximum of 100MB.
If you typically distribute your master PDF file and are now including an uploaded file in your solicitation, you will need to download the master file and the uploaded file from your Export page. Read more about exporting uploaded files in this support article.
August 9th, 2021
New Features
Version History for Sections
Admins, Owners and Editors can save the current version of all solicitation documents and sections in the Action Center.
The application automatically saves a version at project creation and when documents are exported.
To restore a version, users can go to a section and click on Version History to view and restore saved versions
Additionally, users can save versions of individual sections.
Find and Replace in Sections
You can find and replace words in a section by clicking on the icon in the toolbar.
You can also search within a section using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + f
Improvements
Inbox. We’ve made several improvements to the Inbox including moving to a more streamlined format of focusing on messages; indicating which solicitation a message belongs to; marking messages as read/unread; ability to archive messages; performance improvements; and more.
Inserting images. Ability to apply the following image styles: Inline, Wrap text, Break text. Improved resizing of images. Image captions allow adding descriptive text under the image. The contextual toolbar available on image mouse click gives access to image features.
July 14th, 2021
This release includes improvements for all users, including Guests, Procurement Officers, and Administrators.
New Features
Global Track Changes. Track changes can now be turned on for all users writing in a solicitation. When track changes are turned on, users will see a banner at the top of all documents and also see written changes tracked. Only Administrators and Solicitation Owners can enable and disable Global Track Changes.
Global Headers and Footers. To streamline updating headers and footers, Document Builder now gives Editors the ability to apply global headers and footers to documents. Additionally, administrators have the ability to configure header and footer templates to further streamline managing headers and footers.
Solicitation Statuses. As part of our efforts to streamline addendums, we’ve updated our statuses to include: In Progress, Published, Addendum, Contracting, Completed, Archived. Additionally, when you export documents, Editors can indicate the purpose of the export and update the status if they want. Read more about statuses here.
Exporting. Administrators, Owners, and Editors have new options to bulk export all or specific documents, and automatically update the status of their solicitation as they export. All users can download individual documents. Guests can no longer export packages of documents. Read more about exporting here.
Improvements
New Addendum Experience. The experience of creating and managing Addendums has been streamlined, giving Editors more control and flexibility. Specifically, Editors manage addendums similar to traditional word processing tools using track changes that they can enable/disable any time. Only changes that are tracked will be visible and appear in the new Summary of Changes document.
New Summary of Changes Document. We’ve replaced the changelog document with a new Summary of Changes document that summarizes the number of edits that have been tracked as changes instead of showing the entire section where the edit was made. This feature is useful when managing addendums but also can be used when developing solicitation documents.
Visibility of Track Changes in Document View. Track changes are now more visible and appear when editing sections and also viewing documents.
Streamlined Action Center. As part of our efforts to streamline addendums, we’ve simplified the Action Center, removing multiple ways to export documents and have added tooltips.
Performance Improvements. We’ve improved performance by an average of 25% and in some areas by 90%. We’ll continue to make improvements over time.
May 14th, 2021
This release lays the foundation for a more traditional document editing experience and greater fidelity with the exported PDF. It also contains a number of new features, improvements, and fixes.
New Features
New Document View. Documents in Document Builder now look more like a traditional word processing document when you open them. Documents viewed in Document Builder now have a fixed width instead of a width that is responsive to the size of your web browser window, so you can get a better idea of what your PDF documents will look like before you export them.
New Quick-Action Menu for Sections. In order to reduce the number of links on the document view, we’ve introduced a “three dot menu” that appears when you hover your mouse over a section. You can use the menu to quickly mark a section as complete, and take other actions as well.
Copy Section Text in Document View. You can now select and copy text from the document view.
New Icon to Indicate Number of Comments. In the document view, there will be a speech bubble icon to the left of a section if there are any comments in a section. You can hover over the icon to see the number of comments.
Comments with @Name Now Sends an Email. Tagging a person with @ and their name in a comment will now prompt the system to send an email to their work email inbox.
Improvements
Improved Section Reordering. You can no longer drag and drop a section from the document view. This is to prevent Admins and Procurement Officers from accidentally moving sections. The new workflow to reorder sections starts by clicking “Reorder Sections” at the top of the document page. This will take you to a list of all the section titles, like a table of contents. From here, you can drag 1 or more sections to new positions within the document. The numbers of the sections will automatically update in this document. Any live links to the sections in tasks or other documents will automatically update, also.
Improved Question Performance. You can now answer questions more quickly when you’re facilitating a working session or working on your own.
Updated “Complete Section” Button. The previous design of the Complete button was causing people to inadvertently mark sections as “Complete” when they were trying to navigate back to the document view. The button has been adjusted from a primary style button to a secondary action.
Improved Section Editor Stability. The section editor is now more efficient and improves stability for Admins.
See an overview of the biggest changes in the video, below.
April 13th, 2021
New Features
Action Center: We grouped the actions that affect your solicitation in one place under the title Action Center. The Action Center is listed at the top of the solicitation page in the Solicitation Details Box.
Solicitation Status: A Solicitation’s Status indicates how close the solicitation is to being finished. There are 5 different statuses, that flow in this order: In Progress → Publishing → Published → Tracking Changes → Under Review → Publishing → Published. The status is listed at the top of a solicitation page in the Solicitation Details box. Only Solicitation Owners can change the status. In the Action Center, you can click actions to move forward to the next status or back to the previous status. Watch the video below to see statuses in actions.
Improvements
Addendums.
When in Addendum Mode, the status will say Tracking Changes.
After you create a changelog, your solicitation’s status will change from Tracking Changes to Under Review.
During Under Review all objects in the solicitation will be automatically locked. No users can edit documents, questions, or tasks.
To unlock your solicitation, go to the Action Center and click Delete changelog and unlock. Improvements to ADA.
Changed font color for tracked changes during addendum mode to increase color contrast and improve ADA compliance.
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