27th February Patch Release

Enhancements and Fixes:

• Gantt Edit View Rendering: Resolved an issue where the Gantt Edit view did not adjust correctly with changes in browser size.
• Bulk Edit Resource Forecast Enhancement: We've strengthened the Bulk Edit Resource Forecast feature, now exclusively permitting financial administrators to modify forecasts for closed months.
• Financial Forecast Edit Dialog Update: The Financial Forecast Edit dialog has been improved to automatically select the instance's default currency.
• Instance Configuration for Flex Boards: You now have the option to configure your instance to restrict Flex Board creation to project administrators only.
• Chat Channel Image Pasting Issue: Fixed a problem that prevented images from being pasted correctly in the chat channel.
• Manage Resource Plan Download Fix: Corrected an issue where the Manage Resource Plan download failed to include values for security roles assigned to inactive users.
• Resource Allocation Modified By Value Fix: The Modified By value was not correctly recorded when the allocation change was done through the user interface.

25th February Patch Release

Fixed:

• Non-Resource Actuals and Forecast Upload: The code has been strengthened to ensure that expense category and type values are processed without case sensitivity, preventing duplicate entries. 
• Placeholder Account Page: We've resolved an issue where custom properties of the catalog type were not displaying correctly. 
• Financials Summary on Project Workspace: The calculation for FY margin percentage has been refined, and the label updated for better clarity and intuitiveness. 
• PDF Page Functionality: Issues with downloading PDF minutes from meeting sessions and exporting PDF pages from meeting dashboards have been successfully fixed.

21st February Release

This release is packed with new features and enhancements, with a special emphasis on enriching the Gantt schedule and project planning functionality. We've introduced task-specific baseline settings, advanced filtering options, and improved schedule navigation to facilitate project planning and tracking. 

Additionally, this release brings improvements to other areas of the system. Project reporting has become even easier with the ability to directly edit project status from project dashboards. We've also enhanced resource management features to offer more precise forecasting and allocation capabilities. Finally, significant enhancements to the user interface ensure a more intuitive and engaging experience for all users.

Project Schedule - Enhanced Task-Specific Baseline Options in Gantt Schedule

This release introduces a new level of flexibility when using the Baseline functionality within Gantt Schedule. It is now possible to set baseline dates for individual tasks, eliminating the need to baseline the entire project simultaneously. This ensures that the baseline dates for these specific tasks can be recorded without overwriting the pre-existing project baseline.

Project Managers now have the flexibility to:

• Save Baseline dates for a Task Only: Capture a snapshot of the current schedule for an individual task. 
• Task and Parents: Save the current timeline of the selected task along with any higher-level tasks it is part of, allowing for a broader view of its context within the project hierarchy. 
• Task and Subtasks: Select this to take a snapshot of the task as well as any lower-level tasks it includes. 
• Task, Parents, and Subtasks: Save the current timeline of the selected task, including its entire hierarchy both above and below. 
• Entire Schedule: Capture a snapshot of the entire project schedule.

This enhancement allows project managers to precisely monitor changes to their schedule plan at a detailed level, preserving the integrity of the established project baseline.

You can baseline an individual task by selecting the Baseline link from the schedule task dialog's Tools menu.

Note that selecting the 'Baseline' option in the Gantt View toolbar will also offers you the choice to baseline the task that is currently selected.

Project Schedule - Assignee-Specific Task Filtering in Schedule View

The new 'Filter by Assignee' feature in the schedule view simplifies tracking and updating the progress of tasks assigned to specific resources. Just choose the 'Select Assignee' option from the filter menu to view tasks for the desired resource(s). You can use this functionality from the Gantt edit view or the schedule view on project workspace pages and project dashboards.

Once you have selected an assignee, only the tasks assigned to this resource will be visible. The filter option will display a small badge to indicate that a filter is applied. To remove the filter values, simply click on the 'Filter' option and select the 'Clear' option.

Project Schedule - 'Collapse All / Expand All' for Streamlined Schedule Navigation

Navigating through extensive schedule plans can be challenging, which is why we've introduced 'Collapse All / Expand All' functionality. This new feature enables you to effortlessly collapse or expand the task hierarchy in your schedule, simplifying navigation and organisation.

You can find the collapse/ expand button on the gantt schedule tool bar.

Project Health - Direct Status Report Editing from Project Dashboard

Have you ever found it cumbersome to navigate away from the project dashboard to update a project's status report? We've listened to your feedback and introduced a new feature that streamlines this process. Now, you can easily edit the project's current status report directly from the project dashboard, saving time and enhancing workflow efficiency.

Just click on a project's name in the Project with Status component to see the menu options. If you are a project administrator or the project manager of this project, the 'Edit Current Status Report' option will be available. Click on it, update the status report and save. The dashboard will immediately refresh with the latest update.

Project Financials - Selective Financial Year Export in Project Funding Feature

We've upgraded the Project Funding Export to Excel feature, providing project administrators with the capability to selectively download project funding information for designated financial years. This enhancement eliminates the previous limitation of having to export funding data for all years in which project funding records exist, offering a more focused and efficient data retrieval process.

Smarter Resource Forecast Bulk Edit: Ensuring Role and Skill Consistency

To improve the accuracy and integrity of resource forecasting, we've upgraded our resource bulk edit function. This enhancement ensures that project managers cannot inadvertently create resource allocations for roles or skills that do not align with the project's defined role or skill configuration list. 

During the upload process, any entries that do not match the project's criteria will be skipped. This safeguard maintains consistency and prevents discrepancies, streamlining project planning and resource management.

Enhanced Forecast Record Retention for Project Community Changes

We've refined the process for managing changes within the project community. Previously, removing project managers or other stakeholders from a project would result in the deletion of their entire forecast record, due to their removal from the project, also deleting past allocations.

To address this, we've updated our system logic. Now, when a project stakeholder is removed, only future allocations starting from the next month are deleted. All allocations up to and including the current month are retained, ensuring that historical data remains intact and accurate.

Export Feature Update: Closed Actions and Decisions Now Available for Word and PowerPoint" 

We've updated our export to template feature to include a new enhancement for reporting: now, all closed actions and decisions can be seamlessly exported to your Word or PowerPoint reports. This new functionality enables you to effortlessly document and present the actions that have been completed and the decisions that have been finalised, streamlining your reporting process and ensuring that key project milestones are easily accessible and shareable.

To export the closed actions / decisions, you need to use the new binding element {@closedactions}. An example to export all closed actions and decisions is given below.

Better User Experience, Enhanced Aesthetics

We've refreshed the icons across our application to enhance user experience and intuitiveness. By updating the visuals for projects, boards, meetings, actions, decisions, and more, we hope to create a more relatable and understandable interface. These new icons are designed to be instantly recognisable, helping users navigate our application more efficiently and with greater ease.

In addition to refreshing the icons across our application, we've also made significant improvements to data entry and usability on forms. Enhancements such as more intuitive date selection and improved readability make it easier for users to interact with and input data into our system. These updates are part of our continuous effort to refine user experience, ensuring that every aspect of our application is not only aesthetically pleasing but also functionally superior and user-friendly.

Others

• Resolved an issue where the Team Allocation view on the My Team page failed to display resource actuals for projects marked as inactive.
• The RAG by Portfolio chart was not showing the correct count for customer-defined RAG status.
• We've made it easier for you to recognise resources in the resource allocation edit view by replacing the user ID by their username.

13th February Patch Release

Enhancing Forecast Management with New Closed Record Visibility Feature

We've further enhanced the Manage Financial Forecast page by introducing the capability to close a financial record. This feature is particularly useful for financial records related to past fiscal years that no longer require forecasting. Once a record is closed, it becomes visible only in the context of fiscal years for which forecasts exist for this record, streamlining your view to relevant data. This enhancement ensures precise management and clarity over your financial forecasting by allowing for the distinction between active forecasting and historical financial data analysis. 

You can use the 'Show Closed Records' option to add to closed entries that are inactive in the main forecast to the current view, offering a detailed view of your financial history. Conversely, the 'Show Open Records' option redirects your focus back to active entries only. Note that you can reopen a closed record at any time.

This new feature ensures you have complete control and visibility over your financial forecasting, accommodating both current and historical data analysis.

Fixed

• The Resource Forecast Bulk Edit feed now only assesses user overallocation in relation to active projects only.
• Previously, updates to a project's managers or editors did not properly refresh the cache correctly, preventing the newly added users to access the project; this issue has now been resolved.
• We have corrected a problem where exports to Word and PowerPoint templates were occasionally causing timeout errors for users.
• The RAG by Portfolio chart was not showing the correct count for customer-defined RAG status.