Dear AODocs users,
Please find below a list of the major new features and improvements in AODocs version 51.
Launch details
Rollout pace: From 8 to 10 October 2019
Impact: All end-users
Videos: AODocs 51 highlights
Check out these videos highlighting the major changes we made for AODocs 51.
Changes for super administrators
Domain administration: library creators
We improved the pages for managing library creators and storage accounts to reflect the different combinations of settings for users to be able (or not) to create libraries in the domain.
Also, Google groups are now accepted in the list of library creators.
Learn more: Select who can create libraries.
Learn more: Create a storage account.
Domain administration: licensed users
As an AODocs super administrator, you can now delete up to 50 licensed users at once.
This makes it quicker and easier to manage the licenses on your domain.
Note: Bear in mind that you can’t re-allocate licenses to deleted users for a certain amount of time, as stated in our Terms of Service.
Learn more: Revoke user licenses.
Domain administration: end-user interface
AODocs super administrators now have quick access to the Domain administration page from all pages in the end-user interface.
Learn more: Access the domain administration options.
Changes for library administrators
Library administration page
Document class configuration
We completely revamped the document class configuration screen for release 51.
This revamp is a major improvement to the user interface, but we also added new features, such as the possibility to configure sections to better organize document properties.
Sections in the end-user interface:
Below is a list of some of the functional improvements to the new document class configuration screen:
- advanced settings for properties:
- validation rules on category properties
- choice of mandatory / read-only / hidden attributes specific to the document creation page
- new version management settings:
- define who can see the past versions listed in the document page (by default, anyone with access to the document)
- set the name of the first version when creating or duplicating a document
- along with a visual revamp of the templates page (which was created 3 years ago), document templates have a new setting: you can define who can see (and therefore use) a given template when they select the New button
With this revamp we aim to greatly improve the user experience of configuring document classes, whilst introducing some new components that we’ll reuse in future revamps.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of improvements to the user experience in terms of design and accessibility:
- Document classes are sorted alphabetically, to be able to find the right one more easily.
- The actions on a document class are centralized in a single More actions menu.
- The settings for properties of document classes are now accessible via expand / collapse panels, so you can scroll through the settings rather than open separate pop-ups for each property.
- The property creation flow is now composed of two steps in a single pop-up:
- First choose the property type among types bundled together into groups like Date / Time types
- Then define the name of the property and (optionally) its description, in which section to create it, and whether the property can have several values in a given document
Note: You can now create a category directly in the document class configuration screen and then follow a link directly to the dedicated screen under Categories to add the category values.
- We introduced a new component (to be reused in future screens) to select items in a list and order the selected items. In the document class configuration, administrators can select which panels to display in the document page and define their order.
- Regarding security settings / permissions at the document class level, we make it easier to select standard roles (contributors and readers).
Note: This applies to Secured Folders and Document Management libraries only, not Team Folders.
- Advanced users have a clear view of the custom actions (and their parameters) applied to the document class:
- Two independent lists showing the two types of custom action: Update and Viewer
- Drag and drop to reorder the actions in the lists
When we put together the different parts of the configuration screen, we identified some improvements that are likely to come in the next release. Feel free to raise feedback, so we can ensure any future changes meet our users’ needs.
Notes: When we revamped the screen, we also:
– ensured the unicity of the name of the document class within a library
– simplified the unicity constraint on the name of the document template: templates can now have the same name in different document classes within a library
– we also organized the New menu, so each document template is displayed under its document class
Workflows
We reworked the Workflows page in the library administration to integrate workflow email templates. You can reference templates when you configure notifications for workflow states.
Email templates are a way to centralize your configuration across workflow states when the content of the email to be sent through a workflow is the same in different contexts (states).
You can still choose to configure notification and action emails for each workflow state (feature introduced in AODocs V50).
The Workflows page now has three tabs:
- Workflows: the list of workflows in your library, with the same actions available as before – open the workflow configuration (same screen as before), mute notifications, access the corresponding document class, create a new workflow, etc.
- User actions: there are no changes to this page in release 51
- Email templates
Note: As requested by our users, we also enriched the list of available placeholders to include actionName and appliedActionName, for even more customization of workflow emails. These placeholders are used in notification or action emails that are sent when a document reaches a given workflow state. They’re replaced with the name of the action used to trigger the transition to the state concerned. They remain empty if the document enters the state in any way other than a simple or parallel transition executed by a user.
Library trash
In the library trash, administrators can now choose a folder when they restore items (by default, the root folder of the library). In addition, once the restore process is complete, a button provides direct access to the folder in a view.
View configuration
In user filters in views, the operators is empty and is not empty are now also available for category properties.
Note: We plan to revamp the Views configuration screen in the next release of AODocs! This will bring to light some hidden features.
Bug fixes
- In the Categories configuration page, we removed the possibility to reorder categories because the reordering wasn’t taken into account in any case. This is part of the groundwork to prepare for future improvements to the user experience of this page.
- The unsaved changes banner is no longer displayed in the Workflows configuration page... until an actual change is made!
Changes for contributors
Document creation flow
The new document creation flow aims to resolve obvious operability issues that arise when there are several items in the menu. We improved the organization of the menu by making the user experience the same across library types. Now, the only difference is that documents must be created with an attachment in Team Folders and Secured Folders.
This is also a technical milestone to allow us to expand the possibilities of the Smartbar in Gmail. We plan to make the same selection menu available when users import emails into AODocs.
Main changes
In Team Folders and Secured Folders with several choices for creating documents, such as document classes or templates (depending on how the library is configured), contributors first have to choose the type of document from the menu before selecting a file for the attachment.
The list displayed in the menu is grouped by document class (if there’s more than one in the library).
For each class, the choices are:
- Blank: no template
Note: There’s no Blank option when a default template is defined for the document class.
- any number of document templates
Additional changes
The list of items in the menu is sorted alphabetically by document class then by document template.
On the document page:
- the options for creating related items are grouped under a specific button to the right of the New button
- a new option, Copy current document, is available to all users with permissions to create documents in the current document class
In views with Browse by folders configured, a button Create new folder is available next to the New button.
Note: You can still create new folders in the contextual menu in the folder tree.
Note: In Document Management libraries, we stabilized the save process when creating a document with more than three attachments. A dedicated pop-up alerts the user that AODocs is saving the files, to ensure that all files are imported into AODocs before the user refreshes the document page.
Improved import process using Open with AODocs from Google Drive
We improved the process for importing files from Google Drive into AODocs. When users select a file or folder and then select Open with AODocs, there’s a new pop-up that offers a better user experience in terms of selecting the library and folder to import into.
Learn more:
- Import Google Drive files and folders into a Secured Folder or Team Folder
- Switch between the AODocs interface and Google Drive
Bug fixes
- In the move folder pop-up opened from a view, we removed the recap of the selected items (when the user selected several documents or folders in the view). The aim is to focus on the selection of the target folder.
Also, the wording in the folder selection pop-ups is more adapted to the context in which the pop-up is opened.
In coming releases, we’re planning to rework the breadcrumb so it’s more scalable with deep folder structures (just like in Google Drive). - We fixed a regression introduced in the previous release in the flow to edit a document (notably its properties) after changes were saved by another person or yourself in one of the attachments. The action Reload and edit is available again in the pop-up Document seems out of date.
Changes for end users
Views
The navigation between views with the same browsing layout is enhanced. The selected item (folder, workflow state or category) in the Browse by panel stays selected when you switch to another view with the same browsing layout.
Document page
We’ve reached a new milestone in our long-standing work on improving user experience in document page. The last remaining options in the legacy action bar, Edit document permissions and Document history, have been integrated as buttons in the document page.
- The Edit document permissions button is available in the action bar in the document page along with the Edit, Move and Workflow buttons.
Note: The pop-up that opens when you press Edit document permissions remains the same.
- The Document history button is available at the bottom of the left side panel, along with the Versions button, which has also been moved to the bottom of the panel.
Note: The screen that opens when you press Document history remains the same for now, but we’re planning to revamp it in the coming releases!
User preferences
Users can manage a handful of preferences in a dedicated new page.
For now, the following settings are available:
- Two settings for workflow emails:
- Users can choose in which platform-supported language workflow emails are sent. Only system texts are translated (just like in the AODocs interface). The content of the email – customized by a library administrator – is not internationalized. Configuring the language in the user preferences overrides the locale chosen in the library's general settings.
- The user can choose their timezone, so any date available in workflow emails is localized according to the chosen timezone! This setting also overrides the timezone chosen in the library's general settings.
- One setting to choose density mode for rendering the document page: if selected, the display is more compact.
Learn more: Set your user preferences.
Minor change
We changed the wording from Revert to Restore on document versions as this action creates a new version based on a previous one rather than rolling back to a previous version.
And so much more brewing…
In the next release we hope to have an integrated yet configurable solution for workflow action reminders!
We have plenty more new features and improvements at various stages of readiness, so stay tuned for more details as the developments move forward. You can keep up to date on our community and via the Pre-release announcement that we send out ahead of all our releases (see for example the Pre-release announcement for AODocs V51).