New and Improved Administration Features in Project Center Version 11.9

See New and Improved Features in Newforma Project Center for new features that apply to all Project Center users.

Document Control

        New Document Controller role: If you have had problems with team members creating, modifying, or deleting record documents when they are not supposed to, you now have the ability to remove these capabilities. From the Project Center Administration Activity Center Licensing tab, open the Modify User dialog box and clear the Document Controller checkbox for the selected user, as shown below. The user will still be able to view record documents and report on them, but will not be able to create, modify, delete, or issue record documents.

Email filing

        New option to force file email messages: Sometimes users don't file email messages even when it's company policy. There is a new option to automatically make users file all email messages they send. In the Project Center Administration activity center Licensing tab, select the user(s) you want to apply this option to, click Modify User(s) to open the Modify User dialog box, and mark the Force Email Filing When Sending Email Through Outlook checkbox, as shown below. When this option is selected, the File in Project dialog box opens requiring the users to select a project  to file their messages to.

        There is also a new related Force Email Filing column in the Licensing tab so you can see who this option is applied to:

MaxPath violation notifications

        As you know, Microsoft unfortunately imposes path limitations of 256 characters. Project Center has identified the projects with these violations for a long time, but the notifications you receive now contain a link to a helpful Knowledgebase article that explains how to download the MaxPath utility, what it does, and how to use it.

Microsoft compatibility

        Windows Server 2016: The Project Center Server is now compatible with Windows Server 2016!

        Outlook 2016 support: The Project Center Server is now compatible with Outlook 2016 (the 32-bit version is required). The Project Center clients have been compatible since version 11.7.

Miscellaneous

        Newly added Info Exchange Servers: When you add an additional Info Exchange Server to your environment and move projects to the new Info Exchange Server, there is no longer an issue accessing the projects from the original server.

        Slow nightly maintenance: Slow nightly maintenance for projects containing large numbers of DWGs/PDFs is now much faster.

        Licensing tab error: The Licensing tab once again displays the number of users.

 

New and Improved Administration Features in Project Center Version 11.8

        Project Center license notification: Project Center Administrators will now receive a notification 60 days from term end date with weekly notifications and then 15 days from term end date with daily notifications. This will help to make sure Project Center stays running for your users!

        Project migration: When merging Project Center Servers from two companies, some projects failed because there were contacts with the same addresses. This has been resolved.

        Project templates: We’ve fixed a problem when editing subfolders for a new project template – crashes have been resolved.

        Re-pathing projects: Fixed a problem where files in folders weren’t matching when the project was re-pathed.

        Pre-deployment tool: We were showing unknown when running the pre-deployment tool, but we did not share the information. We do now! This only affects new deployments.

        Project Center projects shortcuts: When modifying users' My Projects from the Licensing tab, My Projects lists for administrators were changed too. We’ve fixed this so you can keep your projects list.

 

New and Improved Administration Features in Project Center Version 11.7

Refer to the following document for an overview of what's new in Project Center 11.7: Project Center 11.7 and Cloud Services Release Notes.pdf

 

New and Improved Administration Features in Project Center Version 11.5

This topic applies to Project Center administrators only. To see what's new in Project Center for non-administrative users, see New and Improved Features in Newforma Project Center.

Newforma is pleased to announce the release of Newforma Project Center 11.5. Version 11.5 introduces several new features, including:

        Personal file transfers

        Improved workflow when interacting with project extranets

        Newforma to Newforma enhancements

        Reporting enhancements

        Internal user automatic permissions for easier mobile setup

        Autosave in the Newforma Viewer

        Consolidation of projects after mergers and acquisitions

What's New Videos

Reference Guides

        What's New in Newforma Project Center 11.5.pdf

        What's New in Newforma Mobile Apps.pdf

Detailed information

Information about each of the new features is included below.

        To see what was new in version 11.0, go to the New and improved features in Project Center Eleventh Edition section below.

        To see what was new in previous versions of Project Center, see New and improved features in previous versions of Project Center.


Field notes

        You can now add images to field note report templates. To add images, you must add a tab called Query Definition to your Excel template, and then add the new <images per row>, <split image report>, <max image items per workbook> <image size> and <image resolution> fields. The following example shows the image fields added to the Query Definition tab:

If <split image report> is set to TRUE, the report can be split up into multiple reports. The report will be split according to the <max image items per workbook> setting.

<max image items per workbook> is a numeric value indicating the maximum number of items with images to put into a workbook/report. It is the number of items with images, not the number of images. For example, if you set it to 10 and you have 40 field note items but only nine of them have images, only one workbook/report will be generated.

The image files called up by the report must be located in the field note's Supporting Documents tab, as shown here:


The output would look similar to the following example. Since there are six images but only four are allowed per row in this example, the other two are added to the next row:

 

 

File transfers

        You can now set the threshold at which file transfers must be sent via Info Exchange instead of via email from Project Center. In the Project Center Administration Activity Center Servers tab, mark the Do Not Allow Transfers Larger Than nn MB  checkbox, shown here

to specify a file size limit for users sending files from Project Center via email. If checked, the files will be transferred via Info Exchange if a user tries to send files via email that are larger than the value indicated in this field. A message similar to the following will appear (the numbers used are examples):

        The Project Center Administration Activity Center Licensing tab has two new columns: Allow Personal Transfers and Upload File Link, as shown below. These columns are part of the new Send Personal Email Messages Outside of a Project (Workflow) feature.

        The Project Center Administration Activity Center Transfers tab has a new option called All Personal Projects under the Project drop-down. Use this option to view all personal transfers sent and received by Project Center users. This is also part of the new Send Personal Email Messages Outside of a Project (Workflow) feature.

        You can now send email personal email messages with attachments via Info Exchange that are not related to any Project Center project using the Project Center Add-in for Microsoft Outlook. To use this feature, a Project Center administrator must first enable it for you by marking the Allow Personal Transfer from Outlook checkbox in the Modify User dialog box. To send project-independent email messages, click Send and File in Project > Send Via Info Exchange, as shown above, and then select Personal Transfer from the Project drop-down list in the Send File Transfer dialog box, as shown here:

        You can now create a URL and add it to your Outlook signature to receive personal email messages outside of a project. To use this feature, a Project Center administrator must first enable it for you by marking the Provide an Upload File Link checkbox in the Modify User dialog box. Once selected, Project Center sends you a URL that you can add to your email signature. When you send an email message, the recipients can click the link to upload files to you. You are then notified about the uploaded files and can download them from the email notification or from the View Personal Transfers dialog box.

 

Form templates

        You can now view a list of available merge fields that can be used when creating a template for a particular form. Click your mouse on the form viewer and press Ctrl-Shift-f. A Word document containing all of the available merge fields for the form template opens. You can copy and paste these merge fields into your template. See https://customercommunity.newforma.com/s/article/Advanced-Word-Form-Template-References for more information.

        For site visits, observation rows that do not contain images are no longer included in the form when it is viewed (using the Site Visits Large Photos template).

 

Mobile apps

You can now use the Set Up Mobile Apps dialog box to simplify enabling activity centers for each project on Newforma Info Exchange so that Newforma mobile apps users can access them.

 

Project teams

        The following fields are now available to add to customized reports for project teams:

        Type

        Group

        Roles

        Contact Address

        Contact City (used to be City)

        Contact State (used to be State)

        Contact Zip (used to be Zip)

        Contact Country (used to be Country)

        Assigned Project Name (used to be Project)

        Assigned Project Number (used to be Project Number)

        Primary Contact (Yes/No)

        Use the new Select a Project Culture dialog box to set the language for any notifications that are sent to the project team member that are not project-specific, such as Info Exchange account notifications and password reset instructions.

Projects

Use the new Select a Project Culture dialog box to set the language and date/time format for the notifications that are sent out by Project Center as well as for the forms that are generated for the project.

Punch lists

        The following new punch list report templates are available from the Create Report dialog box by choosing the Specialized Report option, as shown below:

        Punchlist By Space with Images

        Punchlist By Assignment with Images

        Punchlist with Images

        Punchlist Contractor Report

        You can now add images to punch list report templates. To add images, you must add a tab called Query Definition to your Excel template, and then add the new <images per row>, <split image report>, <max image items per workbook> <image size> and <image resolution> fields. The following example shows the image fields added to the Query Definition tab:

If <split image report> is set to TRUE, the report can be split up into multiple reports. The report will be split according to the <max image items per workbook> setting.

<max image items per workbook> is a numeric value indicating the maximum number of items with images to put into a workbook/report. It is the number of items with images, not the number of images. For example, if you set it to 10 and you have 40 punch list items but only nine of them have images, only one workbook/report will be generated.

The image files called up by the report must be located in the punch list's Supporting Documents tab, as shown here:


The output would look similar to the following example. Since there are six images but only four are allowed per row in this example, the other two are added to the next row:

 

        Punch list images are now inline on the same page instead of links to another page.

Reports

        Administrators can now create a custom report template for any contract management workflow item that includes only the latest Description of Contents. To create this report template, add the Contents Current Parameter Smart Markers for the fields you want to include in the report. the available options are shown  here:
Contents Current Parameter fields:


For example, to add the latest workflow, date, quantity, and description, you would add the following Smart Markers to your report template:

        Smart Marker reference guides for creating custom reports are now available for most activity centers. See Smart Marker Field Reference Guides for Creating Custom Reports in Each Activity Center for a list of Microsoft Excel custom report spreadsheets containing available Smart Marker fields, as well as Smart Marker Report Query Definition Tab to add a Query Definition tab to your Excel spreadsheet report templates to specify how data is displayed in your custom reports.

        See field notes, project teams, and punch lists above for report improvements in those activities. See also Reports in the Eleventh Edition section below.

 

New and improved administration features in Project Center Eleventh Edition

Action items

        You can now restart action item ID numbering based on the action item's Type by selecting the new Auto-Generate IDs with a Prefix Based on Type option for action items in the Activity Center Setup tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box, as shown below. The type will be used as a prefix in the ID number, as shown in the next example below.

The Type column in the Action Items activity center is populated by the Name field from the Project Keyword List dialog box. The characters added to the ID field are populated from the Description field of the same dialog box.


        If both the Auto-Generate IDs with a Prefix Based on Type option is selected and the Company Prefix field is filled in in the Edit Project Settings dialog box for action items (as shown above), the ID will look similar to the following (in this example, NEWFORMA is the company prefix and ELEC and AI are the descriptions of the types):

        The Priority column in the Action Items activity center is now sorted by the order an administrator sets it to appear in the Global Priority List in the Project Keyword List dialog box, as shown here. (It was prevciously done alphabetically.)


        The following new custom action item Excel report templates are available in the Action Item/Report Templates folder:

        Action Item Log - By Responsibility.xlsx: This report focuses on who is responsible for action items.

        Action Item Log - By Status.xlsx: This report focuses on the open, closed, and in-progress statuses of action items.

        Action Item Log - Open Items.xlsx: This report focuses on open action items.

        Action Item Log Report.xlsx: This report gives a general overview of action items and their statuses.

 

Building Information Management

Three new custom report templates have been added for BIM under the Report Templates folder on the Project Center Server: Building Elements Schedule.xlsx, Door Schedule.xlsx, and Window Schedule.xlsx, as shown here:

 

Daily reports

        You can now create report templates for daily reports that include data from the Observations, Description, Weather, Subcontractors, Internal Personnel, Visitors, and Equipment tabs. Click here to open a .TXT file containing all of the new SmartMarkers.

        Users no longer need a Contract Manager role to use daily reports.

Document Control

        Manifest files. Document control can now be configured to package the record documents (files) being issued and create a manifest file containing the metadata (title, number, revision, etc.) required to batch upload project documents to a third party project extranet. Additionally, the specified extranet can be automatically opened in your browser ready for you to upload the files. There are several steps to configuring the system to generate manifest files:

  • Set up manifest file templates. Manifest files use a template to generate their content. Newforma provides sample manifest files for some of the more familiar extranet sites, but you can create additional templates as needed.

  • Create a drag and drop transfer method for the extranet site. Part of the manifest file workflow is automatically displaying the extranet site users will be uploading files to. The extranet location can be defined in Project Center as a drag and drop destination. Once defined, the extranet site automatically appears on the desktop when users issue record documents.

  • Select the manifest file template. The final step is to configure the Document Control activity center to generate the manifest file. A new Manifest File section has been added to the  Activity Center Setup tab in the Edit Project Settings dialog box when Document Control is selected. Select the appropriate template from the dropdown list.

Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS)

Project Center now supports the following Electronic Document Management Systems: FileNet, ProjectWise, and SharePoint. Newforma's EDMS plug-in enables your EDMS to integrate seamlessly with Project Center. The new plug-in enables the files in your EDMS to show up in the Project Files activity center just like any other files, as well as any other areas that access files.

 

Form templates

        A Job Title field for project managers is now available for form templates. To add this field to a form template, add the following merge fields:
«NFSectionStart:Project»
«NFField:ProjectManager:jobTitle»
«NFSectionEnd:Project»

        You can now set the number of columns in which to display image files in daily report, site visit, and punch list forms.  To configure the number of images you want to display, add the new NFImageTable:n merge field (where n is the number of columns) to your form template, as shown in the following example. In this case, five columns would be added to display five images side-by-side:

        You can now view the XML for an open form (accessed by clicking View Form from most Tasks panels) to see which fields are available in the form by pressing Ctrl-Shift-L. To enable Ctrl-Shift-L, you must set the SaveXmlForFormViewer registry setting on your Project Center client machine to True, as shown here:

Be aware that if you set it to Yes, an XML file is created and saved to your Temp folder every time a form is open.

        If you use the Send task for an RFI, the answer is now included in the form.

 

Miscellaneous

        Several new tasks are available that enable you to change project settings quickly. Select one or more projects, then click Change Project Settings > Project Information > Task from the Tasks panel of the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, as shown here:

        Several new tasks are available that enable you to modify project folder locations quickly. Select one or more projects, then click Change Project Settings > Project Folders > Task from the Tasks panel of the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, as shown here:

        Several new tasks are available that enable you to modify project administration settings quickly. Select one or more projects, then click Change Project Settings > Admin > Task from the Tasks panel of the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, as shown here:

        In Project Center, a new project-level setting has been added to the Info Exchange tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box to allow global administrators to decide whether or not user credentials are required for shared folder synchronization schedules, as shown below. The option is selected by default. When enabled, users are requred to enter their Windows domain username and password when setting up synchronization schedules. If disabled, the Newforma Service account is used for sychronization schedule updates.

Require User Credentials for Shared Folder Synchronization Schedules is selected by default on all new and upgraded projects.

        A new project-level setting is now available that allows administrators to set the record document revision numbering to either a numeric or alphabetical scheme. The new option is located on the Activity Center Setup tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box when Document Control is selected, as shown below. If you switch revision numbering schemes after several record document revisions exist, the revision numbering will restart. For example, the numeric revision numbering scheme is in use and a record document has a revision number of 3. The revision numbering scheme is then changed to alphabetical revision numbering. The next revision number for the same record document will be A.

        Administrators can define custom record document package statuses using the new Global Record Document Package Status list.

        The Project Center Administration activity center Permission Sets tab has been renamed the Security tab. An Info Exchange Password Settings section, shown below,  has been added to allow global administrators to configure password requirements.

        A Send Password Reset Instructions task has been added to the Project Center Administration activity center Contacts tab. Click to send password reset instructions to the selected Info Exchange contact. An email message is sent to the contact. This option is only available when an external contact is selected.

 

Newforma Work Services

Newforma Work Services (NWS) are a brand new feature designed to remove the need to have a Newforma Project Center Server in each remote office. These servers are a more powerful version of the existing light-weight Filter Servers that can be deployed on machines in remote offices without having to have multiple Project Center Servers installed across the company. Administrators can configure and monitor the NWSs from the Project Center Administration Activity Center Servers tab. Newforma Work Services perform the following tasks:

        Filtering (just like the Filtering Servers they replace)

        Scanning file systems for any file changes

        Rendering .DWG files

        OCRing .PDF files

        Summarizing email messages

 

Password Security

        Password security for Newforma Info Exchange has been enhanced to allow flexible definition of password requirements by global administrators for all users accessing Info Exchange. You can now set he following password requirements in any combination desired:

        Expiration dates

        Prevent users from reusing previous passwords

        Minimum character length

        Require a mix of upper and lowercase letters

        Require both numbers and letters

        Require at least one symbolic character

        Prevent users from creating passwords that are words in the English dictionary

        Prevent users from creating passwords that contain their username

        The Project Center Administration activity center Permission Sets tab has been renamed the Security tab. An Info Exchange Password Settings section, shown below, has been added to allow global administrators to configure password requirements.

        If password requirements have changed since the last login, users are automatically directed to a Change Password page to reset their password to one that meets the new requirements. The requirements are listed on the page.

        When a password expires, users are sent an email with password reset instructions.

        Users no longer see their password in notification emails. Both the initial notification and the password reminder contain direct links to change their passwords. The link is only valid for two hours and can only be used once.

        The Remember Me option on the Info Exchange login screen has been changed to Remember Username. Passwords are no longer remembered and users must enter their password each time.

        A Send Password Reset Instructions task has been added to the Project Center Administration activity center Contacts tab. Click to send password reset instructions to the selected Info Exchange contact. An email message is sent to the contact. This option is only available when an external contact is selected.

 

Project Center Server

        A folder called Report Templates is now automatically added to all activity center folders on the Project Center Server under Templates\Eleventh Edition, as shown in the following example. A readme.txt file explaining how to add your custom report templates to the folder has been added to each folder. After you create your custom reports, you can Configure Project Center to Use Specialized Report Templates in Activity Centers. After doing so, you can access the new report templates by opening the appropriate activity center and clicking the Create a Report task to open the Create a Report dialog box. The new template will be listed in the Specialized Report drop-down list.

 

Project templates

Project templates are now stored and maintained in the Project Center Server database, which enables easier access and administration to the project templates, and ensures they are upgraded along with projects whenever Project Center is updated to the latest version.

        Project templates are now SQL-based and stored in the database.

        Project templates are now listed and accessible from the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, and they have their own tasks, as shown here:

        You can now create SQL-based project templates in the following ways:

        Manually, using the Create > Create Template task from the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, which opens the Create Template dialog box, and choosing the By Manually Entering Template Information, as shown here:

        By importing from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet by clicking the Create > Create Template task from the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, which opens the Create Template dialog box, and choosing the By Importing a Template Definition option, as shown here:

        From an existing project using the Create Template from Project task from the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab (shown below), which opens the Create Template dialog box. Most of the data from the project is copied over to the new template except for the name, description, and project folders.

        From another project template using the Create Similar Template task in the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab (shown below), which opens the Create Template dialog box. Most of the data from the selected template is copied over to the new template except for the name and description.

        You can convert your existing Excel templates to the new SQL-based format to the new format and use them from then on to create your new projects directly in the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab. You can convert them by clicking the Create > Create Template task from the Project Center Administration activity center Projects tab, which opens the Create Template dialog box, and choosing the By Importing a Template Definition option. Locate and import the Excel template using the Import from Spreadsheet Template dialog box, as shown here:

        New fields added to the template:

        Project folder subfolder structure creation - This applies to Project Folders tab of a project's settings. The value can be set to True or False. The value is set to False by default. This setting allows for the creation of subfolders inside the primary project folder. This setting is only used for batch project creation imports.

        Require credentials on synchronization schedule - This applies to the Info Exchange tab of a project's settings. The value can be set to True or False. It requires the Windows username and password to be entered when defining a shared folder synchronization schedule.

        Action Item Type -This applies to the Activity Center tab of a project's settings. This has been added to accommodate the new Global Action Item Type keyword list.

        Record Document Package Status - This applies to the Activity Center tab of a project's settings. This has been added to accommodate the new Global Record Document Package Status keyword list.

        Your existing Excel templates are still supported, but will not be upgraded automatically. Once you upgrade them, they will be updated automatically in future Project Center releases.

        Templates are pinned to a specific Project Center Server; they are replicated across servers, and you can back them up and restore them like projects.

 

Projects

        Batch project creation has been vastly improved and simplified. You can now batch create projects using the Batch Project Creation dialog box to define, modify, import, and create large numbers of Project Center projects using project numbers to link them to their respective project folders.

        The new batch project creation also enables you to add contact and companies automatically from a spreadsheet if they don't already exist using the Auto Create: Contacts and Companies options in the Batch Project Creation dialog box.

 

Punch lists

        You can now set the number of columns in which to display image files in daily report, site visit, and punch list forms.  To configure form templates to display the number of images you want, add the new NFImageTable:n merge field (where n is the number of columns), as shown in this example, in which five columns would be added to display five images side-by-side:

        You can now restart punch list ID numbering based on the Type field by selecting the new Auto-Generate IDs with a Prefix Based on Type option for punch lists in the Activity Center Setup tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box). The type will be used as a prefix in the ID number.

        You can now restart punch list ID numbering based on the punch list's Type by selecting the new Auto-Generate IDs with a Prefix Based on Type option for punch lists in the Activity Center Setup tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box, as shown here. The type will be used as a prefix in the ID number, as shown in the next example below.

The Type column in the Punch List activity center is populated by the Name field from the Project Keyword List dialog box. The characters added to the ID field are populated from the Description field of the same dialog box.




 

Reports

        A folder called Report Templates is now automatically added to all activity center folders on the Project Center Server under Templates/Eleventh Edition, as shown below. A readme.txt file explaining how to add your custom report templates to the folder has been added to each folder. After you create your custom reports, you can Configure Project Center to Use Specialized Report Templates in Activity Centers. After doing so, you can access the new report templates by opening the appropriate activity center and clicking the Create a Report task to open the Create a Report dialog box. The new template will be listed in the Specialized Report drop-down list.

        Related to the feature above, the following five new custom submittal Excel report templates are available in the Submitttal/Report Templates folder:

        Submittal Log Report.xlsx: This report focuses on managing subcontractors' initial submissions and final responses, not the design review cycle.

        Submittal Log Report - By Status.xlsx: This report focuses on managing subcontractors' initial submissions and final responses; it gives a quick view by submittal status to see what is owed, in review, and closed.

        Submittal Log Report - By Resp Company.xlsx: This report focuses on what items specific subcontractors owe.

        Submittal Log Report with Design.xlsx: This report focuses on subcontractors' responsibilities, including a summary of design review.

        Submittal Design Review Report.xlsx: This report focuses on detailed tracking of submittals currently in the review cycle to measure the responsiveness of the design team. Accountability is based on the full review cycle, from the first forward to the final review response.

        Related to the feature above, the following new custom RFI Excel report templates are available in the RFI/Report Templates folder:

        RFI Log Report.xlsx: This report focuses on making sure RFIs are answered in a timely manner.

        RFI Log Report QA - By Status.xlsx: This report shows the text of the questions and answers.

        RFI Design Review Report.xlsx: This report focuses on the turnaround time of the design team for items in the design cycle.

        Related to the feature above, the following new custom action item Excel report templates are available in the Action Item/Report Templates folder:

        Action Item Log - By Responsibility.xlsx: This report focuses on who is responsible for action items.

        Action Item Log - By Status.xlsx: This report focuses on the open, closed, and in-progress statuses of action items.

        Action Item Log - Open Items.xlsx: This report focuses on open action items.

        Action Item Log Report.xlsx: This report gives a general overview of action items and their statuses.

        Related to the feature above, the following new custom BIM Excel report templates are available in the Building Model/Report Templates folder:

        Building Elements Schedule.xlsx: This report is a general BIM report.

        Door Schedule.xlsx: This report focuses on doors.

        Window Schedule.xlsx: This report focuses on windows.

 

        An Expected From Company field, which enables you to track the company a submittal is expected from, is now available for custom reports. To add this field to an Excel report template, add the SmartMarker as shown in this example:

        Two new reports have been added and are accessible from the Tasks panel of the Project Center Administration Activity Center Servers tab:

        The Multi-Server Indexing Report provides statistics on the selected indexing servers.

        The Multi-Server Work Service Report provides statistics on the selected work services.

The Multi-Server Project Center Report is still available.

        Four new fields are available that you can add to custom contract management reports: All Forwarded To Company, All Forwarded To Name, First Forward To Name, and First Forward To Company.

        All Forwarded to Company contains a list of all company names that the contract management item has been forwarded to.

        All Forwarded To Name contains a list of all of the names of contacts that the contract management item has been forwarded to.

       First Forward To Name contains a list of the names of contacts that the contract management item was first forwarded to.

       First Forward To Company contains a list of company names that the contract management item was first forwarded to.

        Formatting:

        Last Action Type and Last Action Action are now available as separate fields for custom reports for contract management items (they were previously appended together in reports). To add these fields to an Excel report template, add the SmartMarkers as shown here:
Last Action Type       &=Rows.[Last Action Type]
Last Action Action     &=Rows.[Last Action Action]

       Last Review Action, Last Review Response Action, Last Review Response Company, Last Review Response Date, and Last Review Response Name are now available for custom reports for contract management items. To add these fields to an Excel report template, add the SmartMarkers as shown here:
Last Review Action                        &=Rows.[Last Review Action]
Last Review Response Action       &=Rows.[Last Review Response Action]
Last Review Response Company  &=Rows.[Last Review Response Company]
Last Review Response Date       &=Rows.[Last Review Response Date]
Last Review Response Name        &=Rows.[Last Review Response Name]

        You can now create report templates for site visits that include the data from the Observations tab. Click here to open a .TXT file containing all of the new SmartMarkers.

        You can now create report templates for daily reports that include data from the Observations, Description, Weather, Subcontractors, Internal Personnel, Visitors, and Equipment tabs. Click here to open a .TXT file containing all of the new SmartMarkers.

        You can now add filtering, sorting, and grouping fields to report templates. To filter, sort, or group, you must add a tab called Query Definition to your Excel template, and then add the <group>, <sort query table>, and <filter query table> fields. You can group by one field, but can filter and sort by multiple fields. You can apply these features to any activity center that uses custom reports. The following example shows grouping, filtering, and sorting added to the new Query Defintion tab:


The following shows an example using filtering, sorting, and grouping:

 

RFIs

        You can now restart RFI ID numbering based on the RFI's Type by selecting the new Auto-Generate IDs with a Prefix Based on Type option for RFIs in the Activity Center Setup tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box, as shown here. The type will be used as a prefix in the ID number, as shown in the next example below.

The Type column in the RFIs activity center is populated by the Name field from the Project Keyword List dialog box. The characters added to the ID field are populated from the Description field of the same dialog box.




        The following new custom RFI Excel report templates are available in the RFI/Report Templates folder on the Project Center Server:

        RFI Log Report.xlsx: This report focuses on making sure RFIs are answered in a timely manner.

        RFI Log Report QA - By Status.xlsx: This report shows the text of the questions and answers.

        RFI Design Review Report.xlsx: This report focuses on the turnaround time of the design team for items in the design cycle.

 

Site visits

        You can now set the number of columns in which to display image files in daily report, site visit, and punch list forms.  To configure form templates to display the number of images you want, add the new NFImageTable:n merge field (where n is the number of columns), as shown in this example, in which five columns would be added to display five images side-by-side:

        You can now create report templates for site visits that include the data from the Observations tab. Click here to open a .TXT file containing all of the new SmartMarkers.

        Users no longer need a Contract Manager role to use site visits.

 

Submittals

        An Expected From Company field, which enables you to track the company a submittal is expected from, is now available for custom reports. To add this field to an Excel report template, add the SmartMarker as shown in this example:

        The following five new custom submittal Excel are available in the Submitttal/Report Templates folder on the Project Center Server:

        Submittal Log Report.xlsx: This report focuses on managing subcontractors' initial submissions and final responses, not the design review cycle.

        Submittal Log Report - By Status.xlsx: This report focuses on managing subcontractors' initial submissions and final responses; it gives a quick view by submittal status to see what is owed, in review, and closed.

        Submittal Log Report - By Resp Company.xlsx: This report focuses on what items specific subcontractors owe.

        Submittal Log Report with Design.xlsx: This report focuses on subcontractors' responsibilities, including a summary of design review.

        Submittal Design Review Report.xlsx: This report focuses on detailed tracking of submittals currently in the review cycle to measure the responsiveness of the design team. Accountability is based on the full review cycle, from the first forward to the final review response.

Templates

See Form templates, Reports, or Project Templates above.

 

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