Dear AODocs Users,
We’re pleased to announce the release of AODocs version 57.
In this release, users and administrators will find:
- brand new capabilities that lighten admin workloads, improve end user efficiency, and offer more flexibility to solve complex document management challenges
- new opportunities for extending AODocs with configurable features and integrations with other software
Note: Subscribe to our announcement list to receive our Release notes.
Launch details
Rollout pace: from 18 October to 20 October.
Customers with test domains can preview these features before the release date, starting October 4th.
Enjoy a clearer “New” menu
Creating new documents from the AODocs interface using the New button is a common task for many of our users. However, because of the creation panel’s current makeup and design, this task has at times proven inefficient resulting in a poor user experience.
Your pain has been heard! We’re delighted to announce that the creation panel has been revamped, providing you with a lean, straightforward and comfortable way to create your AODocs documents!
For which users?
All users
Why it's important
This new panel design provides:
- a more compact and usable menu, acting as a great time-saver
- a neat separation between document classes and templates, to minimize selection mistakes
- a look and feel that is aligned to what you are used to in Google Workspace
Additional details
As usual, this revamp is based on users’ feedback and is intended to improve your daily experience. To shape future enhancements, we’d love to hear even more from you via this quick (anonymous) survey.
Availability
All AODocs customers
Learn more: Create AODocs documents
Enjoy an enhanced search experience and other features with revamped views (beta)
As you know, we’re rebuilding AODocs views from the ground up, which includes extensive visual enhancements and additional features. This is an ongoing task that is being spread over several releases.
In release 57, the new views are still available in the beta version. The aim of the beta is to collect your feedback to steer the course of our next steps.
Thanks to your feedback, the R57 beta version brings you the ability to:
- "browse by" categories, workflow states and document classes in a navigation panel on the left of the document list
- select documents and transfer or copy them, to another library or to a user’s drive (see more below)
For which users?
All users
Why it’s important
Views help users organize and browse their documents, so it’s important for these functionalities to be efficient. Our aim with the revamp is to:
- improve the user experience
- enhance performance and search capabilities with the use of new technology and features
- offer customization options to end users so they no longer have to fully rely on library administrators to configure views
- improve the overall display of views to fit with the revamped AODocs interface in previous releases
Additional details
All users can still switch between the standard version and the beta version of views. Your feedback is always welcome, the feedback form is still available next to the button to switch versions!
Note that the following features are not yet available in the beta version of views:
- a New button to create documents
- individual document actions or bulk document actions, except export
- switch to another view without returning to the homepage
Availability
All AODocs customers.
Note: To opt out from deploying the beta version of views on your domain, contact our support team at: support@aodocs.com.
Learn more: Use views (beta version) in your AODocs libraries
Quickly copy documents between libraries
It was already simple to duplicate a document within a library, but not as easy to copy it to another library or a user’s Google Drive. In this release, the Export action now gives you the option to transfer or copy a document. The target location of the document can still be either another library or, in the case of Team Folders and Secured Folders, a user’s Google Drive.
The transfer action is still only available to administrators of the source library, but the copy action can be enabled for contributors as well. This action also applies to folders, and can be applied to several items at once.
For which users?
All users
Why it’s important
Copying or transferring documents between libraries is an operation that’s required in many instances, for example:
- when archiving or reorganizing documents
- when a library is used as a replacement or a follow-up to another
- to move documents that have been created in the wrong place
This operation was feasible but required several tedious tasks and was prone to mistakes. This new feature makes the experience much smoother and more secure.
Additional details
- The feature is available in both standard views and the new beta views.
- Copy is possible if the user is at least a contributor in both the source and target libraries. They must also be editors of the documents they copy.
- Attachments will be duplicated, and metadata will be transferred when their names and types match with the destination document class.
Availability
All AODocs customers
Note: To opt into allowing contributors to also export copies of documents between libraries, contact our support team at: support@aodocs.com.
Learn more: Export and copy documents or folders from AODocs
Ease navigation by organizing relations in the document page
To help navigation between related items, you can now decide where each individual relation to other documents is displayed in the document page.
A relation may be particularly meaningful in given situations. Say you see the parent task of a sub-task, or the project for a meeting. In such a case, you can choose to display the item at the very top of the screen, while leaving other relations (third parties, participants, and so on) in less prominent positions. This adds clarity and offers a visual hierarchy of the importance of certain items.
For which users?
All users
Why it’s important
The document page allows some degree of customization by rearranging the order of the different panels (properties, relations, attachments), but it does not yet allow you to split each panel to further guide users in their reading and filling of information.
This is a first step in that direction, allowing you to split the Relations section and display individual relations in different places. This is especially useful since relations reflect the structure and organization of the library and this allows you to make it more readable at the document level.
Additional details
Note: For now, relations can only be reorganized by API. For more information, contact our support team: support@aodocs.com.
Availability
All AODocs customers
Easily compare two versions of a Word document
In this release, we expanded the capabilities to compare two versions of a Word attachment. As well as previewing the differences, you can save the comparison file as an attachment in a new version of your AODocs document, to make it your new working copy. From there, you can seamlessly accept/refuse/edit the differences with your local Microsoft Word application or with the Google Docs editor.
For which users?
All users
Why it’s important
There are many situations where users work with Microsoft Word attachments and need to compare different versions of a file. For example:
- when negotiating a contract with a third-party using a Word file as the support
- if you receive several iterations of a quote from a supplier
- if you need to iterate on a project deliverable with external partners
This new feature provides you with a handy shortcut to smoothly perform this kind of operation.
Availability
All AODocs customers. However, you need to enable the comparison feature on your domain. For more information, contact your technical account manager or sales representative, or reach out to us sales@aodocs.com.
Expand and integrate AODocs through custom action buttons
You can add new capabilities to your views by configuring custom action buttons specific to your business needs.
Each button can be set to appear in all or only some views, for all or some user roles, and depending on how many documents are selected.
You can configure the button to open an URL, with the list of selected documents as parameters. Many tools support being called through an URL to perform actions, so this can be used to integrate with third-party or custom-built applications for:
- exporting data
- reporting
- scanning documents
- triggering events like notifications or sending emails
This feature is a toolbox that’s waiting for your use cases and ideas to build.
For which users?
All users
Why it’s important
We want to make AODocs as open and customizable as possible, to ensure all your content management use cases are covered.
By adding action buttons in views, it is possible to add completely customized actions and call external tools from the core of the platform: the view page.
Additional details
Note: For now, custom action buttons can only be added by API. For more information, contact our support team: support@aodocs.com.
Availability
All AODocs customers
Improvements and bug fixes
End user interface
We improved the Additional Drive permissions dialog, which allows you to share attachments with external users:
- dedicated icons let you spot granted permissions in one glance
- a warning appears if you try to add an email already in the list
- visual enhancements: user avatars and group icons and an Add button
Learn more about how to set additional Google Drive permission in:
Administration interface
We enhanced the conditional logic, which allows your document properties to have a calculated value, or makes them conditionally mandatory or hidden:
- Formulas carrying a lengthy formula can be automatically set up:
Learn more: Create your own formulas: use the correct JavaScript syntax in conditional logic
- You will get reliable warnings when trying to remove a property which is referenced by a formula.
- You will no longer be prevented from working because of formula hitting errors! The following actions have been made error-proof: moving a folder, checking-out via workflow transition and discarding a draft (either manually or via workflow transition).
And there’s so much more brewing…
- The scope of features for the new views continues to expand! We’re continuing our work on integrating features from the standard version and adding new features. Coming soon:
- single and bulk actions on documents: move, delete, rename, edit properties, edit permissions
- New button to create documents
- Want to deploy and manage complex use cases in AODocs in no more than three clicks? That’s the ambition of packaged and centralized actions that we are currently working on. They will let you:
- take advantage of AODocs’ best-in-class extensions (such as Watermarking, AODocs Mail sender, eSign connector, and so on), deployed in a no-code fashion!
- browse and activate these extensions from a Marketplace
- seamlessly integrate them, in just a few clicks
Design mockup - the final version might differ from this visual
Give us your feedback!
We’d love to get your thoughts on the topics we're exploring!
We're currently gathering feedback regarding the following topics:
-
Integration of Google Drive labels:
- Do you plan on using Google Drive labels on your Google Workspace domain?
- If yes, how? which label do you intend to create? which “filling-in” and creation policy do you plan on enforcing?
- Company branding in the AODocs user interface: Would you like AODocs to offer more opportunities to brand its user interface with your company colors? If yes, how?
Would you like to meet our product team to discuss your needs? Join the AODocs research group!