Fifth Edition Upgrade & Training Considerations
With Fifth Edition now officially released, we wanted to provide you with some information to help you prepare for the upgrade. Attached is a document with some critical Fifth Edition Upgrade & Training Considerations.
We are offering services to help with the upgrade of our software as well as What’s New in Fifth Edition training. On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, you will receive all of the information necessary for the upgrade via a Newforma transmittal.
We are focused on providing you with a total solution that makes the upgrade and use of Newforma Project Center as easy as possible. If you have suggestions or comments please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us as our goal is your satisfaction.
Thank you,
Dan, Renee, and Steve
Newforma Nugget Webinar 8th edition: Advanced search and email
Please use the link below to connect to the recorded webinar.
Newforma Search icon missing from toolbar
If you are missing your Newforma icon in your bottom toolbar:
1. Click the up arrow to expose your seen icons and click the Customize option
2. Under Newforma Project Center, select the view option to “Show icons and notifications”.
Newforma Nugget Webinar: Contract Management Punch Lists
Please click the link below to view the Nugget webinar on the new Punch List Android app.
Newforma Search icon missing from toolbar
The tray icon is not always visible by default in Windows 7.
1. Click on the up arrow in your tool bar to show all the icons.
2. You may have to bring up the Customize dialog.
and then change your preference on this dialog:
Best Practice for the Earned line creation on the Project Tracking tab
The Earned line on the Project Tracking tab provides instant feedback for Project Managers and Principals for comparing budget, cost and earned value.
Entering the Task % complete on the Billing tab of Newforma Project Analyzer, is how the earned value line is built. In general, this % complete should be updated on a monthly basis. This may be performed while the Project Manager or Principal is confirming the billing % to be invoiced for the current month and the projection for the future month. It is not necessary for the Task % complete to equal the billing % complete as there may be restrictions on the billing % per the contract with the client.
The Task % complete should be the true and accurate earned value as determined by the Project Manager or Principal.
As the Task % complete is updated on a monthly basis, the earned value line is built on the Project Tracking tab for continuing analysis on the project.
Revit Parameter and Extended Property Mappings
The Newforma Add-In for Autodesk Revit provides the ability to synchronize information between Newforma Project Center and Autodesk Revit. Newforma Project Center stores information in “Extended Properties” which are project specific and created by a user. Revit stores information in “Parameters” which are also project specific and can be created by the user. Project Center has a Settings dialog box that can be used to create Extended Properties and control how they are mapped to Revit Parameters. This settings dialog box can be accessed by clicking the “Edit Settings” button from within Revit when the following actions are performed, “Sync Sheets”, “Sync Spaces”, and “Sync Elements”.
The Edit Settings dialog box consists of two lists. The top list will show any Extended Properties created in Newforma Project Center. You can create new Extended Properties from this dialog box by clicking the “Add” button. The second list will show any mappings created between Extended Properties and Parameters. It will show the name of the Extended Property in the “Property Name” column and the name of the Parameter in the “Mapped Property” column. The “Synchronization Type” column indicated whether the data is being “Exported” from Newforma Project Center into Revit or “Imported” from Revit into Newforma Project Center. A new mapping can be created by clicking the “Add” button.
Plan to succeed
Plan for a more successful 2012. Check out the articles below!
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How do I sync data back to Newforma Project Center from Punch List App
1. Open the administration console.
2. In the Permission Sets tab – Select the permission set to update. For Example: Internal, External.
3. Click on Modify.
4. In the Permission List select to highlight Punch List.
5. Click on Modify.
6. From the drop down list select “Show All”.
7. Check the box to “Allow External Users to add Punch List Items on a field device”.
8. Click OK two times to close the two dialog boxes.
9. Click Save Changes.
10. Update other Permission Sets – if needed.
Newforma Nugget Webinar: Info Exchange for the External User
Please select the link below to view the recorded webinar:
Newforma Punch List for Android Guides
Punch List for Android connects to projects inside of Newforma Project Center though a login process. To use it, you must either be a licensed user of Newforma Project Center version 8.1 or have a Newforma Info Exchange browser account on a project hosted by a company that is licensed for both Newforma Project Center and Newforma Contract Management.
The Getting Started Guide is the first step to setting up Newforma Punch List on your Android Tablet.
The Newforma Punch List tablet app: why we started with Android; where we go from here
We built the first version of our mobile punch list app for Android® tablets instead of the popular Apple product, the iPad® mobile digital device (as is its legal name). Why start with Android? Newforma Vice President of Customer Satisfaction and Construction Solutions Dan Conery answers that question and others in a quick conversation at the Newforma Blog, The Newforma Punch List tablet app: why we started with Android; where we go from here.
Newforma Nugget Webinar: Document Control
Select the link to view the recording of the Nugget webinar on the Document Control activity center. This includes a basic overview of functionality and Q&A.
Best Practices for Ensuring Time Get Charged to the Correct Phase
When using NPA to compare your Budget to Actual information it is important to ensure that users are charging time to the correct elements of your Vision Work Breakdown Structure. There are some common methods firms use to help make sure that their Budget / Actuals comparison is as accurate as possible.
-Use Vision’s Status field to Inactivate phases that are not currently in process. This will warn users before they charge time to the inactive phase. This can be done by a project manager. This is the recommended practice as it only requires user intervention twice, once when the phase is opened and once when the phase is complete.
-Use Vision’s Status field to Dormant completed phases. This will not allow users to charge time to completed phases. This can be used instead of or in conjunction with the Inactive status. It might not be preferred as users will be completely unable to charge to the phase until it is changed from the Dormant state.
-Use Vision’s timesheet approval process to prevent misplaced time from being posted. Employee supervisors can be given this ability. Often a supervisor does not know the correct phases that should be charged by a user.
-Misplaced time can be identified by the Project Manager and transferred to the correct location by Accounting. This is not a best practice as this requires significant extra work for both the Project Manager and Accounting each instance time is misplaced.
NPA can also be used to view which employees have not submitted timesheets as well as the average amount of time it takes for employees to submit timesheets. In the Management Views area there is a report titled Timesheet Latency which clearly lists this information for each employee. However, NPA does not require that timesheets be posted to view time entered in timesheets as actual cost. On the Time Analysis tab on the ribbon there is button titled “Show Unposted Time.” Also on the Time Analysis tab, the “Show Extended Detail” button will allow a Project Manager to view individual timesheet entries charged to their project. This also includes timesheet comments.
How to Show Vacation Time in Utilization Reports
It can be useful to show an employees vacation in Newforma Project Analyzer’s Staff Utilization report as unavailable. This can be done by creating an Opportunity called “Vacation.” You can then add a single phase to the Opportunity called “Vacation.” Then on the Team tab simply add a row for each employee and adjust the Start and End dates accordingly. After the vacation is complete the row can be removed from the plan.
Understanding How Hourly Projects are Displayed in Billing Projections
Newforma Project Analyzer (NPA) requires special handling for hourly projects so that they can be effectively budgeted and used in Billing Projections. By definition hourly projects in Vision do not have a Contract Fee associated with them. This means that NPA’s Billing Projections do not have a projected fee to use in its calculations. As a result the actual costs are subtracted from zero appearing as a project with negative amount remaining to be billed. This negative number is intentional as it clearly indicates the projects without budgets when viewing the Billing Projections. In order to budget and project them we require that an estimated billing amount be entered on the Contract / Fee tab in NPA. If you do not want to use an hourly project in your Billing Projections you can set this fee equal to your current actual cost information. Alternatively, they hourly projects can be filtered out of the Billing Projection report using the column filter in the Contract Type column.
Closeout of Contract Management Logs and Data
Do you have a need to send the full logs and received and sent files associated with Submittals and/or RFIs? See the following instructions to complete this process. This sample will focus on Submittals.
First you will want to go to the Transfers\Outgoing folder in your Project Folder structure(this folder may be named differently). Column filter on the name field by Submittal, if you only want to send the final versions of these then sort using the term “responded”. This will filter the files for all submittals and the corresponding pdf forms. (If you want to send all incoming and Outgoing you will want to do this step in each of the folders, i.e. Incoming and Outgoing.) Select all of these and send to a compressed file or create a .zip file manually. Save this file.
Go into the Submittal Log, Format the log with the columns and order you prefer. Create a Full Detailed Report from this log out to a file (format is your choice). Save this file.
You can now send this data complete on any media you wish to the user you wish.
NOTE: We are working on a Feature in a Future Release to automate this process.
Apply Project Settings across Multiple Projects
If you would like to change a setting across multiple projects at one time you can use the “Apply Project Settings” option in the Projects tab in the Global Administration Console. You must be a Newforma Global Administrator to perform this action.
The easiest way to do this is the edit the setting on a single project. Then export that projects settings to an Excel spreadsheet. Clear all settings except the table or setting value that you want to change across all or some of your projects.
Table Example: (Edit the Project Timeline Events)
1. Edit the settings on a project and save.
2. Export these settings to a Template.
3. Clean Template out, only saving the table of information you want to apply.
4. Apply Project Settings:
Select the projects you want to change, then select Apply Project Settings and select the spreadsheet you just created.
Single Setting Example:(Edit Default Info Exchange Expiration Date)
Follow the same steps outlined above except isolate only the setting you want to change in the spreadsheet.
Now using “Apply Project Settings” Apply as described above.
Creating Subfolders in the Primary Project Folder as a Newforma Project is Created
Update your Project Settings Template and Create a Project with it
See the attached file to step you through re-creating your project settings default settings spreadsheet and the steps to use this template to create a new project manually.
File an Email in Outlook as a Newforma Contract Management Item
If you receive information relating to a Contract Management item via email, you can file the email directly from Outlook to the project item by using the File As option in the Newforma Outlook tools.
Step 1: Highlight the email and select File As (Outlook 2007) or the drop down next to File in Project, File As (Outlook 2010).
Step 2: Select the appropriate project.
Step 3: Select if this relates to a New project item or is a Reviewer Response and then pick the correct item type.
Step 4: Then you would complete the form to create the item or record the reviewer response. The original email will be filed to the project and automatically associated with this project item.
Use Related Items to Link Project Elements in Newforma Contract Management
By linking project items through the Related Items tab, you can see all the actions that led to a Change Order. For example, from the Change Order, you can see the Change Order Proposal and click Select in Log, then see the Proposal Request, and then the RFI along with supporting documentation that directly led to the Change Order. You could also access the Contract that is associated with the Change Order to see how much this Change Order impacted the value and completion time of the Contract.
Newforma Nugget Webinar: Project Images
This webinar will focus on how to use the new Project Images Activity Center to easily manage and search all your project images, photos, and videos in Newforma Project Center 8th edition. Newforma Nugget Webinars are held the third or fourth Monday of each month. Please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information.
Please select the link below or copy this address into your browser to view the webinar:
Going the distance
The stories in this issue of the Newformant user community newsletter demonstrate the growing establishment of Newforma software for AEC project information management.
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Revit® Add-in - System Requirements
The Newforma Add-in for Autodesk® Revit® is currently compatible with the following releases of Autodesk® Revit®:
Revit Architecture 2011
Revit Structure 2011
Revit Systems 2011
Revit Architecture 2012
Revit Structure 2012
Revit Systems 2012
Revit Server hosted models are supported
If you have any questions or concerns about the requirements for the Newforma Add-in for Autodesk® Revit® please contact Support.
Newforma Quick Start - Revit® Add-in
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Newforma Revit Add-in is intended to facilitate the integration of your Building Information Management model with your Newforma Project. The Add-in will allow you to quickly populate your Newforma Project with Elements and Spaces or you can use Excel and Newforma to populate Revit with properties and rooms.
Newforma Quick Start - Spatial Index
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Spatial Index activity center is used to organize the Rooms and Spaces within your project.
Newforma Quick Start - Building Information Management
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Building Information Management (BIM) activity center is used to link your Revit® models to your Newforma Project. Additionally the BIM activity center is where information related to your model Elements are stored.
Newforma Quick Start - Meeting Minutes
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
Streamline the management of agendas, minutes and commitments associated with project meetings. The Meeting Minutes activity center synchronizes with Microsoft Office Outlook to ensure that meeting commitments don’t slip through the cracks. You can link meetings with related action items, supporting documents and more. Track action items, RFIs and other open project items until resolved, even as those issues extend across a series of meetings. Gain remote access to meeting minutes and related documents via Newforma Info Exchange and Newforma Mobile.
Newforma Quick Start - Document Control
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Document Control activity center allows you to standardize the revision management of record documents (usually PDF versions of drawing files) issued for review, permitting and construction. Newforma Document Control does not disrupt existing filing protocol, integrates with Revit, links to related processes and supporting documents and facilitates remote access.
New functions, new products, new opportunities to learn
This edition of the Newformant user community newsletter provides links to customer-authored stories and more.
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Keep ‘Send and File in Project’ Messages in Sent Items Folder
When using the ‘Send and File in Project’ to file a message in Newforma, the default behavior is to move the filed message to the ‘Deleted Items’ folder. It may be desirable to keep a copy of sent messages in the ‘Sent Items’ folder. The steps below describe how to change the behavior:
1. From Newforma Project Center client, click the ‘Preferences’ button, then click ‘Edit my email filing options…’.
2. On the ‘Edit Email Filing Options’ dialog, click the ‘Advanced…’ button.
3. On the ‘Advanced Filing Options’ dialog, change the ‘When filing sent messages’ option to ‘Keep in Sent Items only’
4. Click OK, and then click OK again to save changes.
Quick Starts
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
Download Action Items - Quick Start
Download Info Exchange File Transfers - Quick Start
Download Markup - Quick Start
Download Project Email - Quick Start
Download Project Team - Quick Start
Download Record Copies - Quick Start
Download Timeline - Quick Start
Download Transmittals - Quick Start
Newforma Quick Start - Transmittals
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
Use the Transmittals activity center to create and log transmittals that accompany the exchange of both physical and electronic materials with external project team members. Transmittal forms can be customized to match your company’s existing forms or the needs of the project. Transmittals are often created as by-products of other processes, such as file transfers, markup sessions and RFI or submittal responses sent via Newforma Info Exchange or email. The transmittal log consolidates all electronic and physical exchanges into a single view, providing the project team with easy access to every incoming or outgoing transmittal transaction on the project.
Newforma Quick Start - Timeline
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Project Timeline activity center enables the team to track and manage important project-specific events ranging from phases, tasks and milestones to meetings, phone calls and local holidays. You may import and synchronize items from Microsoft Office Project, Microsoft Office Outlook, and Deltek Vision. Importantly, you can associate events with supporting documents and related items like action items. In this way, you can use it to effectively log and track meeting minutes and action items associated with meetings or phone calls. Events can be displayed in either an event log, calendar or journal view.
Newforma Quick Start - Record Copies
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Record Copies activity center maintains a ZIP archive of the contents of all Newforma Info Exchange transfer and transmittal, submittal or RFI transactions, eliminating the tedious chore of archiving the countless file transfers that occur on a project. Team members can also save record copy archives of document sets or project folders at key project milestones without an associated file transfer or action. All record copies are linked to their source folders, document sets or transactions as Related Items, enabling team members to easily discover and retrieve prior versions and use Newforma Compare to visually identify changes between revisions.
Newforma Quick Start - Project Team
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Project Team activity center is used to assemble, manage, and group project teams; generate project team reports; and view the ongoing and completed activity associated with individual team members. Most importantly, it facilitates communication between internal and external team members when using functions such as Transmittals, Submittals, Action Items and Newforma Info Exchange. Project Team contact data is stored and managed in a central database on the Newforma Project Center Server; project team members can be added from the database, synchronized with the Exchange Global Address list, imported from Deltek Vision or dragged in from your Outlook Contacts.
Newforma Quick Start - Markup
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
Newforma Project Center users can review, mark up and comment on project drawings and documents just as you do in a physical redlining process. You can quickly create multiple markups for a CAD drawing or BIM model, link them to action items, stamp them as part of a design or CA review process and then email or transmit them via Info Exchange as bookmarked PDF files to members of the external project team.
Newforma Quick Start - Info Exchange File Transfers
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
Transfers via Newforma Info Exchange overcome the file size limitations encountered when transferring files via email. Simply select files to be transferred from any activity in Newforma Project Center and designate the recipients. Newforma Info Exchange takes care of packaging the selected files and their external reference files. It posts them to the Newforma Info Exchange website hosted on the Newforma Info Exchange Server within your company’s IT infrastructure. Each recipient then receives an email notification containing a link to the Newforma Info Exchange website, from which the recipient securely downloads the file. This same web interface can be used by external team members to upload files.
Newforma Quick Start - Action Items
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
The Action Items activity center engages the power of the extended project team to identify and manage critical issues. Team members can seamlessly create action items while reading and answering email in their email Inbox; while reviewing a drawing, BIM model or PDF in the Newforma Viewer; or from any other activity center in Newforma Project Center. Internal team members can access project action items from a common, central list and contribute updates or generate reports. External team members receive email notifications for the action items in which they are involved and access the items on the Newforma Info Exchange web site. As the action items are created and completed, the parties involved are notified via email. Any email correspondence, markups or supporting documents associated with the action item can be electronically linked to it, as well, providing a permanent connection and audit trail of all related information.
Newforma Quick Start - Project Email
Quick Start guides are designed to provide instruction, tips and best practices in a concise and easy to read document. Each one page guide focuses on an individual Activity Center, so you can get started with the features that are important to you.
Newforma Project Center enables project team members to gain control of the flow of project information into their email inbox and ensure that project-related email messages are captured as part of the project record. The Project Email activity center shows every email message filed to the currently selected project, simplifying the process of finding emails or any specific information buried in them. Column filters help users navigate quickly to the email they seek. In addition, the Search function makes it easy to find specific items of information in any filed email or email attachment. Messages that are filed to a project are automatically moved to the file server containing your project information and displayed in the Project Email activity center.
What should be backed up for Newforma 7th Edition?
To ensure that the Newforma environment can be restored in the event of a disaster, the following items should be backed up to a safe location:
Newforma Info Exchange Server
• Transfer Data - This data resides on the Info Exchange Server until the expiration date, which is set at the time the file is created. The transfers reside in the following folder: \Newforma Info Exchange\Transfers
A permanent copy of incoming and outgoing transfer data is stored within the context of the project folders and will be backed up as part of normal file-server backup processes. The exact location in which the transfers are stored is defined for each project during project creation.
• SSL Certificate - To recover in the event of a catastrophic failure of your Info Exchange Server, it will be important to maintain a copy of your .cer (SSL Certificate file) which you received back from your Trusted Root Authority when first installing Info Exchange.
• Website Customizations - Any customized Info Exchange web pages should be copied to a safe location off of the server to make the recovery of the site easier in the event of a failure and rebuild.
Newforma Project Center Server(s)
• MySQL Database - Through Project Administration, it is possible to set a “backup” location for the Contact list that contains all the user login and password information for your Info Exchange Server. For instructions on how to back up the Contacts database, see the Change the Contacts Database Backup Location topic in the Project Center online help.
• Customized Templates - If you want to customize the forms used in Project Center, then Newforma recommends copying the existing templates to a directory on your corporate file server and making the changes in the copied version. See the Start Customizing and Using Form Templates help topic in the Project Center online help for more detailed instructions on how to customize templates. The default location for these files is \Newforma\Templates\Seventh Edition\ on the drive on which Project Center Server is installed.
• License Key - It is recommended that a copy of your license key file be kept in a safe location off of the server so that it can be quickly acquired again and used to install the server in the event of a catastrophic failure. The default location for this file is on the drive on which Project Center Server is installed in the following directory:
64-bit machines: \Program Files (x86)\Newforma\Seventh Edition\Newforma Project Center Server\Licensing
32-bit machines: \Program Files\Newforma\Seventh Edition\Newforma Project Center Server\Licensing
• Custom Activity Summaries - If Custom Activity Summaries were created is recommended that those files be copied to a safe location off of the server so that they can be quickly acquired again and replaced on the server in the event of a catastrophic failure. The default location for these files is \Newforma\Templates\Seventh Edition\ActivitySummaryTemplate\ on the drive on which Project Center Server is installed.
For more information regarding Newforma Disaster Recovery for 7th Edition, please see the following knowledge base article: http://newforma.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/989
How to change the font size for all reports
This can be changed by modifying the report_styles.inc file on the Newforma server. The file should be located on the Newforma server at “C:\Newforma\Templates\Seventh Edition\report_styles.inc” (if not found in the C:\ drive, try the D:\ using the similar path).
Once located, open the file in a text editor like notepad.exe. After opening the file, search for any instance of “font-size”. Each font size setting will have a corresponding number size similar to “9.5pt”. This can be changed to a larger number, like “11.5pt”, “12pt”, “14pt”, and so on. After making these changes, save the file and re-run the report from the Newforma client. You should notice the font size has changed for the font styles that were changed respectively.
If you require further assistance with this, please reach out to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for help.
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Talk to experts and learn from peers Registration for the inaugural Nugget2011 user group meeting is underway! Join us in Chicago April 27 and 28 for a day and a half of knowledge, networking and news.
Learn from the best Register now and save 20 percent The Nugget2011 registration fee is US$1,000, but when you register before February 1, you get a 20 percent discount, saving $200! |
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For decades, John G. Miller has been helping individuals and organizations make personal accountability a core value. At Nugget2011, John will present “Personal Accountability and the Question behind the Question.”
Brad Horst is principal and chief information officer at 
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Configure Newforma Items to File Folders for Gmail (for non-Outlook shops)
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FAQ - Newforma Reports for 7th Edition
What are the main reporting options currently available within NPC?
There are several tools built-in to Newforma Project Center that allow users to sort, filter, change columns, and print to various output types like PDF, Excel, Word, etc. For more information about how to create a report from an activity center, please click the Newforma help article link as listed below.
http://help.newforma.com/robohelp/robo/server/general/projects/Project%20Center%20Seventh%20Edition%20Help/Using_1/Create_an_Activity_Center_Log_Report.htm
What Newforma reports can be customized by Newforma Services?
Most activities can have their own custom report. Activities that can have a custom report include:
• Action Items
• Document Sets
• Info Exchange
• Project Keywords
• Markup Sessions
• Multi-Project Summaries
• Project Team
• Record Copies
• Submittals
• Transmittals
• RFIs
What does Newforma Services need in order to customize a report?
An example of the original Newforma report and an example of the desired result of the report using the same report data. This gives an understanding of where the data is coming from and where the data is going to.
What types of report customizations can Newforma Services offer?
Examples of report customization requests:
• Font changes (size, color, type)
• Removal of columns
• Text Replacements (If a field equals something specific, the text can be omitted, or display something instead of the original text)
• Logo placement changes
• Adding spacer rows
What types of report customizations are not possible?
That’s tough to say. While there are some changes that are more difficult to accomplish than others, it is always worth asking Newforma Services whether or not a request is feasible.
What is the normal means of delivery?
After sending your customization request to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), a GoToMeeting session is held with Newforma Services and the IT contact to implement the custom report on the Newforma Project Center Server(s).
What is a general estimate to make such changes?
On average, a custom report may take anywhere from 2-6 billable hours, depending on the complexity of the request.
If you would like assistance customizing a report, simply send your request to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we will be happy to work with you to gather the appropriate requirements for completion.
Can I use another application besides InfoPath to Edit the Newforma forms?
The only application that can be used for customizing the Newforma Template Form Styles is MS InfoPath. Both 2007 and 2010 versions are supported.
How can I add our Disclaimer text into the Newforma Submittal Response form?
To do this, edit the SubmittalResponseForm.xsn file. This file is located in the templates folder on your Newforma Project Center Server. The path will be C:\Newforma\Templates\Seventh Edition\SubmittalTransmittalFormView. The drive letter will reflect the actual installation drive on your Newforma Project Center Server.
To edit this form you will want to navigate using File Explorer to the folder where the files reside. Select the XSN file and right click on this file and select Design from the fly out menu. This will open the form and you are now ready to complete your customization.
Once you are in Design mode in the form, add the Column or Row to the forms and insert your text for your disclaimer.
To complete this change you will next want to save the xsn file. Then select the File tab, navigate down to the Publish option and select Export Source Files. This step will rebuild the .xsl file for publication. Save the xsl file in the same folder as the xsn file.
Your next step is to Publish the file to a Network location. From the File menu again, select Publish and then select Network location. Define the location as the same path that you have saved the xsn and xsl files. This basically compiles the forms so they can be placed on your Newforma Project Center Server and your users will have access via Newforma to create the event type and the form generated will reflect your customization changes.
Removing “about:blank” footers
Headers and footers on the Newforma Form styles retain the Internet Explorer setting. If you are seeing a footer that looks like “about:blank” on your PDF files, this can be removed.
To remove this you will want to edit the Page Setup in your Internet Explorer. Go into IE, select the File pull dn, then move down to the Page Setup. Clear or define the Header and Footer fields as empty.
How Can I change the TO: field Values
In the Default form that Newforma Creates, whether it is the TransmittalFormView or any of the Submittal or RFI forms, the field values that are associated with this repeating section include the Recipients name, Company, Company Address, Phone Number and Fax Number. Some firms prefer to only have the Recipients name, company and address included.
To make these changes, Edit the Form using MS InfoPath in Design mode. Select the Expression box that is embedded in the Repeating table and then select Change Binding.
Change this to either the Recipients Name of their Company name. Copy this field, again by selecting, right click and select copy. Past this on a new line right below the one you edited, this will place this information on a separate line right below. Select this new field and Change the binding to reflect the information you want on the second line. Continue adding additional fields and editing the bindings so you have the exact information you want listed for each recipient.
To complete this change you will next want to save the xsn file. Then select the File tab, navigate down to the Publish option and select Export Source Files. This step will rebuild the .xsl file for publication. Save the xsl file in the same folder as the xsn file.
Your next step is to Publish the file to a Network location. From the File menu again, select Publish and then select Network location. Define the location as the same path that you have saved the xsn and xsl files. This basically compiles the forms so they can be placed on your Newforma Project Center Server and your users will have access via Newforma to create the event type and the form generated will reflect your customization changes.
Once you have completed the published your customized form, copy all of the files from the directory you have been working from to the original directory on your Newforma Project Center Server. If you are using the default style, this will be the installation directory on your Newforma server. If you are using a custom style definition, you would copy these forms into the style location that you defined when you created the custom style.
Default Location: (the drive letter will reflect the installation directory on your Newforma Project Center Server)
C:\Newforma\Templates\Seventh Edition (this will reside on the installation drive on your NPCS)
How do I edit the Newforma Form Templates
To edit these forms you will need to have a copy of MS InfoPath either 2007 or 2010. Install this on the computer that you want to do the custom editing on. I recommend that you make a copy of the forms you want to customize so you can edit and test prior to placing the custom form in the original location.
To edit these forms you will want to navigate using File Explorer to the folder where the files reside. Select the XSN file and right click on this file and select Design from the fly out menu. This will open the form and you are now ready to complete your customization.
Once you customize your form and are ready to have these available on your projects, copy the edited forms to the original Templates location on your Newforma Project Center Server and the projects will automatically use the updated form.
In the Project Folders tab when creating a project, what does the Modify Label button do?
In the Newforma Administation console, navigate to the Projects tab and then, Click to open the Modify Project Folder Label dialog box to customize the name of the folder as it appears in Project Center without changing the actual folder name in the Microsoft Windows hierarchy. This feature enables you to re-label project folders in the Project Files activity center that have similar names, or to add drive letters to them for ease of identification. The new labels will appear in the Add Files dialog box and the Select Folder dialog box.
Be aware that re-labeling a folder is separate and different from using the Rename task in the Project Files activity center. The Rename task renames the actual folder name in the Microsoft Windows hierarchy.
What is the project image used for and where is it visible?
The project image is shown in the Task Panel when a user opens a project and is also shown on the Info Exchange Server when a user logs in and navigates to the Project Information link. This value is optional as a project setting.
Image preview box - The image is previewed here.
Select - Click to locate and select an image to represent the project. The image will appear in the Project Overview panel of the Project Home activity center.
Clear - Click to remove the project image.
What do the Latitude & Longitude values add to our project setup?
If you want to open this project to its exact location in Google Earth, enter the latitude and longitude values.
Use this feature. When creating the custom activity, you must enter [EarthLocation] (exactly as shown) in the Command-line field of the Custom Activity Editor dialog box. No matter which format you enter, Project Center converts all latitude and longitude values to decimal degrees. If you enter values in the Location and the Latitude and Longitude fields, Google Earth uses the latitude and longitude values. You can use Google Earth to find the latitude and longitude of the project location. If you enter the Location only, Google Earth will not go directly to the project location. You have to double-click the location listed in the Google Earth’s Places panel. If no values are entered in the fields above, Google Earth will not go to the project.
I created a custom Keyword list, how do I associate it to my projects.
The steps to associate a custom keyword list to your project, first, navigate to the Newforma Global Administration Console, select the projects tab and filter/sort and find the project you want to edit the keyword lists. Select the project and either double click or select Edit Settings from the task panel.
Navigate to the Action Items tab first, on the right side of the screen, select the list and double click. This will open the “Assign Project List” dialogue box. Using the drop dn list select your custom list. Select save and this list will now be assigned to the keywords available for this project.
If you want this list associated for all Keyword lists across all activity centers, navigate to each of the rest of the tabs in this dialogue and edit the list for each event type.
Select OK in the Edit Settings dialogue and your settings changes have been saved and are available for your users on this project now.
Why would I set a user’s license type to “Express”?
There are two license types that you can set in Newforma Project Center. Professional, which is full featured and is the default setting. There is also an Express license that can be set. Express users can view all Project Center information.
Express users can create, modify, and delete items in the following areas: Newforma Viewer, markups; project email; project files; My Project Center activity center; project timeline; search; project team; Project Center administration; and the Info Exchange website.
An example use case for an Express license would be a temporary Intern or part-time employee that needs to work in Newforma as part of the team and yet you want to limit the events that this specific user can create.
If a user loses their login to our NIX, how can I resend this to them?
In the Newforma Administration Console, Navigate to the Contacts tab. Filter and sort the list until you find the user that needs their login information. Highlight this user and either right click and select “Resend Login Information”.
If you are not a Newforma Project Center Administrator, you can still resend a team members Info Exchange Login information. To do this open up the project that the team member is on. Navigate to the Project Team Activity Center. Filter and sort the list until you find the user that needs their login information. Highlight this user and either right click and select “Resend Login Information”.
What are Ad Hoc contacts?
Ad hoc contacts are any contacts that were entered in a project item as just an email address. They are automatically added to the database so that they can be completed in the future.
What are the implications of turning off the Auto filing check box in the Admin console?
If you deselect this filing option, your users will be able to use the drag and drop folders within their email mail box but instead of Newforma filing these emails into the corresponding project, the user will need to select the “synchronize” button on the Newforma toolbar in Outlook so these emails are pushed into their corresponding project email folder location.
I want a different logo on my Template Form Styles vs. Our Info Exchange WEB site Can I do that?
To alter the image that you are using on your Newforma Template Styles, first establish the Logo file you want to associate with your Form Template Styles. Copy your logo file to the following location on your Info Exchange Server. The path will be slightly different as it should reflect the path to you specific Info Exchange server address.
https://infoexchange.yourdomain.com/remoteweb/logo.img
This image file can be any of the following formats: .img, .bmp, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .tif, or .tiff.
After Placing the Logo image in its correct location, go into the Newforma Administration console, and navigate to the Servers tab. Highlight your Newforma Project Center Server; below navigate to the Notifications/Forms tab. In the lower area of this screen, you can highlight your Default style; if you are changing this on a custom style highlight that style. By double clicking or selecting modify from the left side of the screen. The following dialogue will come up and you can modify the path to the new image file that you want to use on your Form Templates.
This new image will now be displayed on your Newforma Form Templates.
Implications of setting the toggle to only have administrators edit internal email addresses
This setting is located in the Global Administration Console, under the Servers Tab within the General Tab of your Newforma Project Center Server, located in the Licensing area on this screen. Navigate to the Newforma Global Administration Console. Go to the Servers Tab and check the box shown below.
How do I change our logo on our Info Exchange server?
This can be changed easily in the Newforma Administration Console and navigating to the General tab after selecting your Info Exchange Server. The logo can be changed just by navigating to the image file you want posted. You must be a Newforma Project Center Administrator to complete this task. To accomplish this please follow the steps below.
To set this you would navigate to your Newforma Administration console, (you must be a Newforma Global Administrator to complete this action). Now navigate to the Servers Tab. Select you Info Exchange server and go to the General tab below.
Select the Browse button .
and navigate to the location of your image file. This image can sit anywhere on your network or even on your local system. After you select this image, Newforma will place this image file in the correct location so it will resolve on your Info Exchange server and in your Newforma Template forms.
Global Project Lists vs. Project Settings (upgrade) – Timeline is still a project settings table.
In Seventh Edition we have expanded the Global Project Settings to include the Physical Transfer Methods, Submittal Settings, and RFI settings instead of these settings being defined on a project level.
Timeline events are still a project level table that is setup in your Project Settings template used when creating new projects.
What does the email setting do on Info Exchange?
When the email check box is selected the project emails that have been filed will be published to your Info Exchange Server. You must be a Newforma Project Center Administrator to complete this task. Read on to see the steps to accomplish this.
To set this option you will navigate to the Global Administration Console, navigate to the projects tab, select a project by double clicking or select “Edit Settings” from the task panel. Navigate to the Info Exchange tab and select the email check box.
These will be accessible to users that log into your info exchange server based on that users access privileges that are setup when the user is added to that project team.
This setting will copy the header information for the emails to your Info Exchange Server. This will use some of the hard drive space you have on this server for this storage and will lower the amount of hard drive space available for transfers, transmittals, submittals and RFIs. This setting should be set when the need arises for access to emails on an as needed basis so you will continue to have the most available space for transfers of data via your Info Exchange Server.
What are my choices for Newforma Items To File Email folder names?
A folder called Newforma - Items to File gets added to your email application so you can sync with Project Center. Each time a project gets added to your My Projects folder in the My Project Center activity center, a subfolder for the project gets added to the Newforma - Items to File folder. Use this field if you want to change the name of the project folder as it appears in your email application. The label is used in two places in your email application: under the Newforma - Items to File folder and under the Newforma - Copied Messages folder. You can either choose a name from the drop-down list or type in a new one. This name must be unique for each project.
Template Style Forms – What are these and can we customize these ourselves?
Template Style Forms are the paper version of Transmittals, Submittals, Rfis, and more. Prior to your use of Newforma these forms were usually generated in MS Word or Excel. Newforma is using an intelligent system to gather the information that the user provides when they create the transaction. This information is then placed in the output format that is created in an InfoPath format and then saved in a pdf format for the record of the form.
These forms are customizable using MS InfoPath. This way you can edit the format of the output form to match as closely as possible to the Word or Excel documents you are used to using.
To Learn more on the customization please review the Take 5 videos.
Email Folder Options
Newforma does have the ability to setup multiple folders that your users can file emails into on a project level.
The Pro’s of this setup is that this can conform closer to the way the users are filing today and these additional folders will be created under the default folder for the Drag and drop filing method.
The Con’s for this setup include the ability for emails to be filed and duplicates created as Newforma cannot parse duplicates that are placed in different folders.
What do the confidential project settings do?
Newforma has three different setting in Seventh Edition for confidential projects.
In the Project Information tab, click the confidential drop-down list and select
• Select No to make this project visible in the All Projects tab and available to all users regardless of operating system permissions for the project folder.
• Select Yes - Administrator Access, so that only Project Center administrators can access the project.
• Select Yes - Project Team Access so that only contacts on the internal project team can access the project.
Once a project is designated as confidential, Project Center checks the file system permissions for the project’s files for each user, and displays the project in the All Projects tab accordingly. Projects marked as Confidential can only be seen by users who have access rights to the project files at the operating system level. The project will not appear for users who do not have access rights to the files at the operating system level.
By default, projects do not show up on Newforma Info Exchange, and public transfers are disabled. Verify that the Make this Project Available on Your Newforma Info Exchange Server and the Allow Public File Transfers checkboxes in the Info Exchange tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box are set appropriately for your confidential project.
Implementation process in a nutshell
1. Hardware in place
2. Pre-Deployment verification
3. Deployment
4. Configuration
5. Training
For detailed information, please visit the Services page here: http://www.newforma.com/Support/Services.aspx
What does taking a project off-line do?
To Move a Project Off-Line you need to navigate to the Newforma Administration Console, select the Projects tab and highlight the project that you want to take off-line. In the Task Panel, select the option to “Move Project Off-Line”.
The following dialog will come up and if you select the Click here option the descriptive text from help will launch.
When you are finished with a project, you can take it offline to free up space on the file system. When you take a
project offline, it will be listed with a status of Offline throughout Project Center. Project Center users can view
and search items in an offline project, but not files, and offline projects cannot be edited.
Folder permissions
Windows folder permissions are not applicable to offline projects since the folders have been removed from
the file system. Additionally, be aware that search results will be returned in offline projects that otherwise
would have been excluded since the files have already been indexed but the Windows folder permissions no
longer exist.
Offline projects versus archived projects
• The difference between an offline project and an archived project is that the project files are not
available in an offline project, whereas they are still available in an archived project. Files and record
copies for offline projects are moved offline and stored on external media. Files and record copies of
an offline project can be searched if they were indexed before they were moved offline, but you cannot
preview or access them.
• Project items in both types are still available and indexed by Project Center, so users can still search
those items in both types.
• Windows folder permissions are not applicable to offline projects, whereas in archived projects,
Windows Explorer folder permissions still take precedence, which means that users can still modify,
copy, move, or delete files and file email messages to archived projects as long as they have
adequate permissions to do so in Windows Explorer. Additionally, search results that would have
been omitted due to Windows folder permissions in archived projects will be returned in offline
projects since the Windows folder permissions do not exist.
When a project is offline, all project items in the project become read-only. You can return an offline project to
Active or Opportunity^ anytime. The ability to edit files, drag and drop files, and file email to offline projects is
governed by the underlying prevailing Windows permissions on the project folders, which Project Center does
not change.
Offline projects versus active projects
Active projects are fully editable. Offline projects are read-only when opened in Project Center, and cannot be
edited.
What happens to a project in Newforma when a user renames a project folder in File Explorer?
If you only want to rename a project folder without having to repair broken links, simply select the folder in the Project Files activity center and click Explorer Tasks > Rename. The folder is also renamed in Windows. If you need to find the folder follow the steps below:
1.To locate the project folder, open the Project Files activity center by clicking Project Files from the Project Home activity center or the Activities list.
2.Select the project folder you are renaming.
3.Click Explorer Tasks > Select in Explorer from the Tasks panel to open Windows Explorer to the exact location of the folder.
4.Rename the project folder in Windows Explorer.
To repair the broken links in Project Center caused as a result of renaming a project folder
1.If you are not already there, open the Project Center Administration activity center (shown below) by clicking Project Center Administration from the Tasks panel of the My Project Center activity center, or from the Activities list.
2.From the Projects tab, select the project containing the renamed folder.
3.Click Edit Settings from the Tasks panel to open the Edit Project Settings dialog box, as shown here:
4.Click the Project Folders tab. From the Project Folders section, select the folder that was renamed. It is indicated with a broken link 
icon, then click Repair Broken Link. If the following message appears, click Yes.
5.In the Choose a Folder dialog box, locate the folder in its new location and click OK.
6.Click OK in the Edit Project Settings dialog box to save the changes.
When I archive a project, what is the process to point to the project data in the new location?
How to Re-path a project when the project files have changed File Server locations
1.If you are not already there, open the Project Center Administration activity center by clicking Project Center Administration from the Tasks panel of the My Project Center activity center, or from the Activities list.
2.From the Projects tab, click Re-path Projects from the Tasks panel to open the Re-path Project Folders dialog box.
3.In step 1, enter the full path to the parent folder of the original project folder location in the Original Location field, then enter the full path to the folder’s new location in the New Location field. Click the 
button to locate the folders if necessary. Click Next.
4.In step 2, mark the checkboxes of the projects whose project folders were moved to the new network location. Click Finish to notify and update the Project Center Server about the moved project folders.
5.When the process is complete, the following screen appears showing the status of the process. Click Open Log if you want to view and save the log file.
Publishing PDF options
I couldn’t find any way to change publish to pdf options, so I got multi-layered, full detail, color pdf’s of my dgn files instead of flat monochrome files. Can’t figure out how to change, and neither help files, online help, nor forum can tell me. Hoping that changes.
Newforma User Group April 27 & 28, 2011 - save the date!
The inaugural meeting of the Newforma User Group promises tips, tricks and strategies for success!
Mark your calendar now for the premier Newforma User Group event
Who should attend? Come to Nugget2011 if you:
What will you gain?
Because a Newforma license includes periodic upgrades, the user community often has questions about recent releases of our software.
Arrive early on the first day for conversations with Newforma personnel:
What will it cost? Event registration (includes sessions, materials and meals):
Hotel and travel are additional. Special Marriott rate: $199/night plus tax. Soon we’ll be announcing registration details and special sessions for executives. We’re looking forward to seeing you in Chicago! |
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Your information will not be shared with other parties. To view a complete description of Newforma’s Privacy Policy, click here. To stop receiving emails from Newforma, click here. |
Getting clarity
Newforma customers play a major role in defining our product. This edition of the Newformant community newsletter tells how.
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Feature description - Action Items
Feature description - Action Items
The Action Items activity center engages the power of the extended project team to identify and manage critical issues, helping to keep your projects on budget and on schedule. Click to view the full feature description.
Feature description - Compare
The Compare functionality of Newforma Project Center graphically identifies differences between iterative sets of drawings, eliminating the time-consuming process of manually comparing different versions. Click to view the full feature description.
Can I customize reports within Newforma Project Center?
Newforma Project Center Seventh Edition opens up new abilities to create custom reports using 3rd party reporting services. An example of one such reporting service is SQL Server Reporting Services (aka ‘SSRS’).
Here are a few simple examples:
• Font changes (size, color, type)
• Remove columns
• Replacements (If a cell equals something specific, we can choose not to display the cell, or display something instead of that cell)
• Logo placement changes
• Adding spacer rows between rows
If you would like assistance customizing a report, simply send your request to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we will be happy to work with you to gather the appropriate requirements for completion. If you have an “end result” or a marked up version of a report you’d like to customize, please send that along as well so we can quickly see what you’re trying to accomplish. Once requirements are understood a statement of work will be provided.
Take 5 introductory video tutorial - RFIs
Take 5 introductory video tutorial - RFIs
Learn how to process and manage RFIs in Newforma Project Center. Click to view the video tutorial.
Learn how to process and manage RFIs in Newforma Project Center when using MIcrosoft Office Outlook email. Click to view the video tutorial.
Feature description - RFIs
An RFI can be logged from an incoming email in Microsoft Outlook, from a filed email message in the Project Email activity center, received via Newforma Info Exchange or simply entered from the RFI activity center. Click to view the full feature description.
Take 5 introductory video tutorials - Submittals
Take 5 video tutorial: Log a physical submittal
Learn how to process and manage physical submittals using Newforma Project Center.
Take 5 video tutorial: Manage electronic submittals received via email
Learn how to process and manage electronic submittals received through email.
Take 5 video tutorial: Mange submittals received via Outlook email
Learn how to process and manage electronic submittals received through Microsoft Office Outlook email.
Take 5 video tutorial: Manage electronic submittals received via Info Exchange
Learn how to process and manage electronic submittals received through Newforma Info Exchange.
Feature description - Submittals
Feature description - Submittals
Use the Submittals activity center to log, forward for review, capture reviewer response and respond to submittals. Click to view the full feature description.
Feature description - Record Copies
Feature description - Record Copies
The Record Copies activity center maintains a ZIP archive of the contents of all Newforma Info Exchange transfer and transmittal, submittal or RFI transactions, eliminating the tedious chore of archiving the countless file transfers that occur on a project. Click to view the full feature description.