December 2020 Newsletter: Tabbed Details Trays

What's New

Tabbed Details Trays.The previous single-page trays were great for seeing information in one place, but quickly became overwhelming for busy projects, forcing us to limit how much information was shown. The new tabbed trays add valuable content and functionality.
- All project-related content is now accessible in one unified location. Details and comments reside in the Overview tab of project and task trays. Files and associated versions, approvals and comments are now accessible from the Files tab. Project-related requests are on the Requests tab. Users can now remain within the Projects module for interacting with all their project-related information, without needing to go to the Documents or Requests modules.
- "All Comments" sub-tab within the Overview tab of the project tray shows all comments made on any item related to the project (project, task, file or request). This replaces the item in the tray "more" menu. Users can add a new comment to an item directly from this sub-tab.
- Project request comments are now visible from the Requests tab of the project tray.
- The add/edit time page for a task has been moved to the Time tab on the task tray, allowing for time to be added directly from the tray.
- The # of comments or files contained within a tab is now shown next to the tab label.
- The last selected tab is remembered for each tray type so that you are returned to that tab the next time you access that tray type (project, task, request).
- New comments are now added at the top of a comment list, just above the most recent comment.
- A symbol is shown at the top of each tray to quickly indicate the type of tray (project, task, request, document). For project and task trays, the icon turns green, yellow or red to indicate that the item is complete, at risk or late. Hovering on the icon shows summary information about the item.

View the knowledge base article for screenshots and more specifics on what's new in the details trays.

Resizing tray width. Users can now drag the tray to their desired width to avoid horizontal scrolling, and Workzone will remember that width by module. Those who don't need/want to see the Task List while viewing the tray details can drag the tray to nearly full width to hide the Task List behind it.
Other enhancements
- New filters on Requests dashboard for Request Date and Requested Deadline
- When filtering on Task List only for project filters, results now expand only to the project level.
- Task List filters for a specific project are now cleared when clicking a link to a task or project (so as not to have the filter prevent access to the linked content).
- Additional filters for priority on To-Do List
- API now requires pulling one page for specific calls and rejects new requests if a previous request has not yet completed.

Internet Explorer support ends Dec 31, 2020;Workzone access for IE users ends Jan 31, 2021

As previously announced, Workzone will officially end support for Internet Explorer at the end of this year, because of its lack of compliance with web standards, security vulnerabilities and the discontinuation of ongoing support by Microsoft. As of February 1, 2021, users will be blocked from accessing Workzone with any version of Internet Explorer.

To ensure continued access to Workzone, Internet Explorer users should switch now to one of these modern, secure browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari (Mac). See the knowledge base article for additional assistance.

What We're Working On / Exploring

View trays from reports. Click on an item to view its tray details without leaving the report. We'll start with the To-Do List and likely extend to other reports. This should be available by the end of December.
Edit own comments. Ability for users to edit their own previously posted comments. This should be available by the end of December.
New project state of "Cancelled". This is currently scheduled for the end of December.
User homepage. A user-specific dashboard that shows tasks due soon, recently viewed and favorite projects, and recent activity relevant to the user. This is currently scheduled for the end of Q1-2021.
Threaded comments. Currently each item has a single string of comments. Frequently these comments can involve several distinct sub-topics, and it's very useful to be able to group these sub-topics into their own "threads", so that related comments stay together. Threaded comments will also allow for adding reaction emojis (e.g., thumbs up) to another user's comment. This is currently scheduled for the end of Q1-2021.
Allowing tasks to have no start or end date. This is currently scheduled for the end of Q1-2021.
Board view for projects, as alternative to list and Gantt views. This is currently scheduled for the end of Q2-2021.