http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/index/ The posts in the site en info@newforma.com Copyright 2010 2010-06-24T21:11:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/can_newforma_be_trained_to_automatically_create_a_sequential_submittal_numb/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/can_newforma_be_trained_to_automatically_create_a_sequential_submittal_numb/#When:21:11:00Z Absolutely. You must be a Newforma Global Administrator to do this. Go into Project Center Administration, select the Projects Tab. Highlight the project that you want to set the Submittal Auto-Numbering setting. Select “Edit Settings” from the Task Panel. Navigate to the Submittals Tab. Select the “Auto-Number” radio button on the Top left corner of the dialogue. See screen capture below. Learn, How To 2010-06-24T21:11:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/in_seventh_edition_we_can_now_specify_the_name_of_the_newforma_items_to_fil/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/in_seventh_edition_we_can_now_specify_the_name_of_the_newforma_items_to_fil/#When:20:38:00Z To set this value you must be a Newforma Project Administrator.  To do this you would go into the Newforma Administration Console, Navigate to the Projects Tab.  To edit this setting select one of your project and then select Edit Settings from the Task Panel.  Go to the Admin* tab and on the lower right side of the screen, using the drop dn list select the option you prefer. Learn, How To 2010-06-24T20:38:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/did_you_know_you_can_add_a_folder_table_to_your_project_setup_template/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/did_you_know_you_can_add_a_folder_table_to_your_project_setup_template/#When:19:42:00Z When you create a new project in Newforma you can add a default project subfolder structure that will be created as your Newforma Project gets added. To do this, just add the table shown below to your Project Settings default import template. Insert your folder structure between lines . Below is a Smaple Folder Structure: AdminContracts AdminReports AdminSchedules CADArch CADCivil CADElec CADFP CADMech CADPlbg CADStruc CADOther CommunicationEmail CommunicationFaxes CommunicationMeeting Minutes TransfersIncoming TransfersOutgoing TransfersRecord Copies ConstructionProduct Data Construction1 General Construction2 Site Construction3 Concrete Construction4 Masonry Construction5 Metals Construction6 Wood and Plastics Construction7 Thermal and Moisture Construction8 Doors and Windows Construction9 Finishes Construction10 Specialties Construction11 Equipment Construction12 Furnishings Construction13 Special Construction Construction14 Conveying Systems Construction15 Mechanical Construction16 Electrical ConstructionRFIs ConstructionSketches Management Photos Reports Specifications0 - Cover and Index Specifications1 - General Requirements Specifications2 - Site Construction Specifications3 – Concrete Specifications4 – Masonry Specifications5 – Metals Specifications6 - Wood and Plastics Specifications7 - Thermal and Moisture Protection Specifications8 - Doors and Windows Specifications9 – Finishes Specifications10 – Specialties Specifications11 – Equipment Specifications12 – Furnishings Specifications13 - Special Construction Specifications14 - Conveying Systems Specifications15 – Mechanical Specifications16 - Electrical Learn, How To 2010-06-24T19:42:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/solomon_cordwell_buenz_wins_can_do_award_by_pursuing_new_business/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/solomon_cordwell_buenz_wins_can_do_award_by_pursuing_new_business/#When:02:01:00Z Like lots of architecture firms, Chicago- and San Francisco-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz pitches a lot of new business. When they relied on FTP to share files with partners and prospective clients, they had to set up a new FTP site for every project, because using just one site would have compromised confidentiality. Associate Principal and Director of Information Technology Steven Edwards, AIA, saw how Newforma Info Exchange would not only be easier to use than FTP, but would remove his department from having to set up FTP sites for every RFP and project development initiative. The IT team set up a Newforma Info Exchange project just for SCB project development teams. Emails sent from Info Exchange contain hyperlinks from which recipients download documents. When SCB needs to be on the receiving end of a file transfer, SCB team members email a generic username and password to external team members. The login permits recipients to transmit files to anyone in SCB’s offices.  The Info Exchange server does not bloat with files because it’s set to automatically delete files after they’ve been on the server for two weeks.  Security is much better than FTP solutions, too. Steven and his team set up special Info Exchange sites for projects where information is more delicate and the needs are more robust.  Security is simple. You can determine who sees what. SCB controls distribution by setting users to only see the names and email addresses of selected team members.  This use of Newforma Info Exchange promoted more widespread adoption of the Newforma Project Center solution as a whole. People reasoned, “If file transfers are this easy, what other processes could I streamline?” For this very simple and elegant application of Newforma Project Center, SCB wins the Creative Adoption of Newforma – or CAN Do – Award. Congratulations to Steven Edwards and his team! Learn, Creative Adoption of Newforma, CAN Do award 2010-05-26T02:01:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/case_study_steffian_bradley_architects_frees_up_time_to_focus_on_design/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/case_study_steffian_bradley_architects_frees_up_time_to_focus_on_design/#When:18:56:00Z When Steffian Bradley Architects Associate Bevan Badenhorst shared his Newforma Project Center experiences with peers in the Newforma UK User Group, this is what he told them: Read the SBA case study at newforma.co.uk Summary: Newforma project information management software reduces administrative burden and streamlines operations to enable professionals to focus on higher-value tasks and better design. Learn, Newforma Stories, Action Items, Compare, Document Sets, Markup, Newforma Info Exchange, Project Email 2010-05-21T18:56:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/case_study_hok_adopts_pim_software_to_manage_email_but_quickly_accomplishes/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/case_study_hok_adopts_pim_software_to_manage_email_but_quickly_accomplishes/#When:18:20:00Z In 2010, HOK Director of Emerging Technologies Terry Nichols spoke to the Newforma UK User Group, an organization that Terry has been instrumental in nurturing. In his presentation, Terry presented his firm’s history with Newforma Project Center. Read the case study here: Read the HOK London case study at newforma.co.uk Summary: Newforma® Project Center software for project information management (PIM) makes it easy to manage email. But the solution’s integrated capabilities make it just as easy to perform a host of other tasks necessary to execute successful architecture, engineering and construction projects. Learn, Newforma Stories, Project Email 2010-05-21T18:20:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/aeccafe_newforma_project_center_undergoes_re_architecture/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/aeccafe_newforma_project_center_undergoes_re_architecture/#When:13:03:00Z AECCafé Managing Editor Susan Smith digs deeply into Newforma Project Center Seventh Edition in her AEC Weekly Review. “The reduction of staffing in all AEC firms has changed the balance of work and created a greater need for a distributed environment in organizations. Newforma addresses that need with their new release of Newforma Project Center - Seventh Edition.” Read Susan’s complete AECCafé story in a separate browser window. Visit the article in your present browser window: http://www10.aeccafe.com/nbc/articles/view_weekly.php?section=Magazine&articleid=814463 Learn, Seventh Edition Highlights, Seventh Edition 2010-05-20T13:03:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/cadalyst_newforma_project_center_seventh_edition_beefs_up_e_mail_support_se/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/cadalyst_newforma_project_center_seventh_edition_beefs_up_e_mail_support_se/#When:19:11:00Z In the May 6, 2010, edition of Cadalyst, Nancy Spurling Johnson reviews the ways the Newforma solution for AEC project information management works with any CAD or BIM option to facilitate integrated project delivery. Enhancements include greater remote user functionality and new compatibility with any IMAP-based email system, including Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise and Google Gmail. Read the story here: Open the Cadalyst product review in a separate window Or open the link in the present browser window: http://www.cadalyst.com/data-management/newforma-project-center-seventh-edition-beefs-up-e-mail-support-server-power-and-rem Announcements and news from the Newforma community, Learn, Seventh Edition Highlights, Seventh Edition 2010-05-19T19:11:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/document_management_challenges_and_trends/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/document_management_challenges_and_trends/#When:19:56:00Z Is it our bias, or does this article on document management get hijacked by a discussion of project information management? http://bit.ly/cjA7Vx Newforma Project Center is not document management software per se, but reading this ConnectPress article, you can understand why they’d include PIM. Learn, Project information management for integrated project delivery, BIM, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) 2010-05-18T19:56:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/bimboy_blog_newforma_seventh_edition_re_engineered_to_support_any_e_mail_pr/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/bimboy_blog_newforma_seventh_edition_re_engineered_to_support_any_e_mail_pr/#When:20:35:00Z For five years, Jeff Yoders covered IT, CAD, and BIM for Building Design+Construction magazine. Now he’s blogging full time about the latest news and products for the AEC industries. Here, Jeff reports on Newforma Project Center Seventh Edition’s support for non-Outlook e-mail applications such as Novell GroupWise, Lotus Notes and web-based e-mail applications such as Google’s Gmail. Read the blog post here: http://bimboysblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/newforma-7th-edition-re-engineered-to.html Learn, Seventh Edition Highlights, Seventh Edition 2010-05-11T20:35:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/reflecting_on_newformas_beginnings_6_years_ago/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/reflecting_on_newformas_beginnings_6_years_ago/#When:17:31:00Z Thursday, May 6, 2010 http://newforma-blog.blogspot.com/2010/05/reflecting-on-newformas-beginnings-6.html Newforma Chief Executive Officer Ian Howell has posted a brief history of the Newforma’s initial impetus and path to Series A funding: “Cinco de Mayo 2010 was Newforma’s 6th birthday. It was on May 5, 2004, that we closed our Series A funding. “The idea of starting a new business actually started a full year earlier, in May 2003, in the offices of Borealis Ventures in Concord, New Hampshire. “I wasn’t there, but as the story goes, several participants left that meeting saying “No thanks, and don’t call me again.” Others, including Bob “Batch” Batcheler (now Newforma’s VP Industry Marketing and Product Management) and Larry Nuttall (now a partner with the Ascentage Group) , were inspired enough to commit...” Read the full blog post here: http://newforma-blog.blogspot.com/2010/05/reflecting-on-newformas-beginnings-6.html Enjoy, Newforma history 2010-05-06T17:31:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/2010_integrated_project_delivery_econference/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/2010_integrated_project_delivery_econference/#When:17:41:00Z The following chat with Newforma CEO Ian Howell ran from 11:30 a.m. to noon on April 22, 2010, at the Stagnito Media 2010 IPD e-conference. Ian Howell-Newforma: Good Morning. Welcome to the Stagnito IPD Conference. I am happy to answer any and all questions regard either PIM or IPD and how the two are related. Question 1: Ian, for a small civil engineering firm (under 20 employees), how can your products benefit our firm? Ian Howell-Newforma: We have firms from 4 employees up to 2400 employees using Newforma to manage their project information. Question 2: Whether IPD or BIM, who “owns” the Newforma data, and who is responsible to keep it current. I know all participate, but by contract who owns and has risk? Ian Howell-Newforma: Every player owns their own data on their own central file server in their own folder structure - Newforma manages and shares all of that across the entire team. Ian Howell-Newforma: It is the combination of BIM + IPD (managing the information not in the model) that makes for successful IPD projects. For example, if you have seen the AIA IPD Case Studies, Newforma was used by participating companies on 5 out of those 6 projects Question 3: What do you suggest if some, but not all, team participants have Newforma Project Center? Does everyone have to subscribe/purchase to play? Ian Howell-Newforma: No!  That is the beauty of Newforma design. Newforma customers get the full benefits. Non-customers on the project team (whom we call “external team members” because they’re external to the firm that has implemented Newforma Project Center) can share info with Newforma customers thru web browsers for free. Question 4: When will Newforma run with 2010. I have been beta testing and it does not work with it. Ian Howell-Newforma: Newforma 7th Edition (announced on 4/16/10) supports ACAD and REVIT 2010 and 2011. Question 4.1: Sorry Ian, I meant to say when will Newforma run with Outlook 2010? Ian Howell-Newforma: It will, but MSFT have only shipped Exchange 2010. MSFT has not yet shipped Outlook 2010 and we will test it as soon as we can all get the final version (versus beta). Question 5: We have data into SharePoint and in file servers (classic organization). Can Newforma manage both data? Ian Howell-Newforma: Yes. Newforma’s search capability includes SharePoint libraries, wikis and project websites. Question 6: Ian, I have had experience using Constructware on projects for Document Management, but have not had the opportunity to utilize Newforma. Can you talk about what sets Newforma apart from other Document Management programs? Ian Howell-Newforma: Newforma keeps ALL of your data where it is today. No moving files into a vault or out to an extranet workspace. Also, the security model is your EXISTING windows-based permissions. No separate security model to set up and administer which is an exrat overhead with doc mgt and on extranets. Ian Howell-Newforma: Another important difference is that we index and search content. There is no additional burden to tag everything with meta-data for retrieval as with most Doc Mgt solutions. Ian Howell-Newforma: Newforma is about providing transparency and accountability between project team members. We believe that IPD is all about “trust but verify.” Ian Howell-Newforma: IPD requires more team members interacting sooner in the life of a project. That means lots more emails. Just what you all want - right Ian Howell-Newforma: So having a project information management (PIM) strategy to file and search emails is going to be even more imperative for IPD projects. This risk of relying on email back-ups and having decision trials on an email server separate from your project records, which are in your folder structure on your file server, being backed up regularly, will be increasingly imperative. Ian Howell-Newforma: Making sure that logs can be viewed by the entire team to track RFIs and Submittas versus being kept in manually updated spreadsheets will be key to success. In our view IPD is all about shared accountability so VISIBILITY for the team (not just the individual) is paramount. Ian Howell-Newforma: The problem we are all trying to manage is dynamically changing ad-hoc project information. Newforma Project Center is a proven PIM solution to address these IPD requirements. Newforma Project Center is helping 450 A, E and C firms with 40,000 licensed seats manage over 300,000 projects today! Question 7: If we have a multi-company project can we use Newforma Project Center? Ian Howell-Newforma: Yes. You can choose to set up a project domain (if the project is large enough) using Newforma Project Center. Or your firm can deploy Newforma and the other companies can see selected project information that you publish thru a browser. Jennifer.Goupil MODERATOR: Ian - later today (1:00 Eastern) Johathan Cohen will be discussing the AIA IPD Case Studies, when you say Newforma was used in 5 of the 6...in what capacity was the software used? Do you know? Ian Howell-Newforma: Jennifer. HGA and Kling Stubbins use Newforma on ALL of their projects (including the IPD projects). Question 8: Ian, when will the new version of Newforma be available for end-users? Ian Howell-Newforma: We are currently scheduling 7th Edition upgrades for existing customers now and any new customer would deploy 7th edition from the get-go. Ian Howell-Newforma: Thanks everyone for joining me. I will be in our booth and can talk to you there for any follow-on questions. Learn, Seventh Edition Highlights, Project information management for integrated project delivery, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Seventh Edition 2010-04-29T17:41:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/whats_new_in_newforma_project_center_seventh_edition/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/whats_new_in_newforma_project_center_seventh_edition/#When:00:46:00Z Seventh Edition offers more efficient, robust indexing of a customers’ entire company network, and expands email management capabilities beyond Microsoft Office Outlook to include Novell Groupwise, Google Gmail, Lotus Notes and Domino Server, and other email platforms employing IMAP-compatible servers. In addition, Seventh Edition incorporates numerous customer-requested enhancements that make the software easier to use and administer. For a summary of new features and capabilities, click the following link to download a PDF. Whats_New_in_Seventh_Edition_-_User_and_Admin_Features_-_2010_04_12b.pdf To read the news release at newforma.com, click here: http://bit.ly/b9BnTY To download a PDF of the news release, click here: Newforma_Project_Center_Seventh_Edition_general_news_release.pdf Learn, Seventh Edition Highlights, Seventh Edition 2010-04-15T00:46:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/newforma_project_center_on_a_macintosh/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/newforma_project_center_on_a_macintosh/#When:19:01:00Z Newforma doesn’t have a native Mac  OS/X version of our product.  But if you are a Mac user don’t despair – there are options that will allow you to run Newforma alongside your existing Mac applications. Since Newforma’s product can’t run in the native Mac operating system, Mac users must have access to a Windows operating system.  There are two good possibilities:  First, you can create a virtual PC environment to run NPC on your Mac.  Second, you can use a remote desktop connection to access another computer running Windows.  I use both techniques frequently.  The first method requires a desktop virtualization program.  I use VMware Fusion.  Running a copy of Windows in this environment requires a separate license for the Windows OS.   Once that is setup, you have a new computer running Windows inside of your Mac OS.   You can install and run any Windows application in this computer.  Newforma Project Center in a virtual Windows computer works just like the native Windows version, albeit sometimes more slowly.  Although I have no direct experience, I know several of our customers are also using Parallels as the virtual environment.   In both of these virtual environments it is possible to copy and paste between the two operating systems.  It’s also possible to get the Newforma window to display directly in the Mac OS.  These tricks blur the distinction between the two different operating systems.  Users can work quite seamlessly between applications running in Windows and applications running on the Mac OS. Here’s a screenshot of Newforma Project Center running in VMWare Fusion and displaying its application window in the Mac OS: The virtual environment can require a lot of memory – I wasn’t happy with my virtual computer performance until I added 8 gb of RAM to my Macbook Pro.  (I run a lot of applications and place a high demand on the system.  Other users may be able to get by with less RAM.) The second method uses Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac to connect to an existing Windows computer.  The big advantage is that all computation is done on a different computer and there’s no additional load on the Mac.  Copy and paste between the computers still works.  Because performance is better, this is my favorite setup.  At Newforma we have a Windows Terminal Server that I connect to as my primary ‘Windows PC’.   This server can support many users simultaneously.  I use it to run Newforma Project Center plus a few other apps that aren’t available on a Mac.  This server has an external IP address, so I often connect to it when I’m out of the office too.   That connection can be way faster than our standard VPN connection since it only has to push pixels across the network. Filing Email Newforma can support filing project email using almost any email client.  I have been using the native Mac Mail client recently, but we’ve also tested with Entourage and other IMAP-capable email clients.  You can file an email just by dragging it to one of the folders in the “Items to File” folder structure within your email application.  These folders are created and managed automatically by Newforma.  The folder names map one-to-one to a users “My Projects” list, which is maintained by each user in Newforma Project Center. The screenshot below shows the ‘Items to File’ folders in Mac Mail.   In this case, there is one email that has been dragged into the “engineering” folder that corresponds to my Newforma “engineering” project.  The Newforma Project Center server will automatically file this email during its next filing pass.   It’s also possible to file email by adding a project email address to any email that you send.  This is a new capability in Seventh Edition.  Newforma automatically creates and manages project Email Addresses, and all emails sent to them are routed to a single email account on your company’s main email server.  The Newforma server automatically files email that arrives at this account. Learn, How To 2010-04-09T19:01:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_i_add_project_team_members_to_my_outlook_contacts/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_i_add_project_team_members_to_my_outlook_contacts/#When:04:25:00Z In the Project Team Activity Center, select the team members from the list that you want to add to your Outlook contacts. Then in the task menu or right click and select Add to Outlook Contacts. Easy as Pie! Learn, How To 2010-03-29T04:25:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_i_add_meeting_requests_to_the_project_timeline_calendar/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_i_add_meeting_requests_to_the_project_timeline_calendar/#When:03:55:01Z If you receive a meeting request in Outlook,select the meeting request and on the Newforma toolbar in Outlook select File As a New Timeline Event. Choose the Project from the list and click OK. Any information that came from the meeting request will appear in gray and can not be edited in Newforma. You must edit the information in Outlook and update the changes. The meeting event will appear on the Project Timeline Calendar. Learn, How To 2010-03-29T03:55:01-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_internal_team_members_enter_new_submittals_that_have_been_posted_to_/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_internal_team_members_enter_new_submittals_that_have_been_posted_to_/#When:03:24:00Z In 6th edition, if an external team member uploaded submittals to Info Exchange, then you can easily enter them into the Submittal Activity Center. You will receive a notification email once the submittal has posted. From the Info Echange Activity center, select the Pending Submittal in the Inbox and in the Task menu or double click to receive the pending submittal. Then you will see a window that allows you to Record this File Transfer as a New Submittal. Another window will appear and keep the radio button on a new Submittal and click OK. Finally, the Log an incoming submittal window will appear and anything the external team member posted will appear on the received files tab. Enter your Submittal ID number and any other information and click Log Submittal. Learn, How To 2010-03-29T03:24:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_external_team_members_upload_submittals_to_info_exchange/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/how_do_external_team_members_upload_submittals_to_info_exchange/#When:02:23:00Z In 6th edition,if an external team member has been given access to Info Exchange, then they can upload shop drawings and other submittals that may be too large to email.  They would simply login to the website and choose the project they would like to upload the submittal.  Then, they would select Contract Administration from the task panel and select Send a Submittal. They would enter the submittal ID, subject, and select the internal team member that is receiving the submittal. They can also add any remark. Finally, they would browse to select the submittal or a zipped file if there are multiple files and click Send Submittal. Learn, How To 2010-03-29T02:23:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/setting_who_will_receive_newforma_administration_notifications/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/setting_who_will_receive_newforma_administration_notifications/#When:13:00:00Z There are 2 settings in the Administrative Console defining who receives Newforma Administration Notifications. These Notification include: If your NPCS is disconnected from your Info Exchange If you are running our of Hard drive space on your Info Exchange Server To Set Who will receive these email notifications, you need to go into your Newforma Administrative Console, navigate to the Servers Tab, highlight your Newforma Project Center Server. In the General Tab on the lower left side of the screen you will see the area called Administrative Notifications. You can leave the default setting which will send these notifications to all Newforma Global Administrators or by selecting Explicitly Defined List from the drop down list and then add the specific emails, separated by a comma, in the box above this selection. See Image included. AdminNotifications.pdf Learn, How To 2010-03-23T13:00:00-05:00 http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/adding_secondary_locations_to_your_projects/ http://www.newformant.com/index.php/site/postdetail/adding_secondary_locations_to_your_projects/#When:16:01:00Z To add the secondary Locations to your projects you will open each project, edit it’s settings and add the secondary location.  To do this go into the Newforma Admin console, select the projects tab, double click on the project that you want to add the additional location to.  Select next to move to the second screen in the projects settings wizard.  In the top portion of this dialog you can select the add button then navigate to the unc path of the server location for this project data.  AddSecondaryFolderLocations_(1).pdf Learn, How To 2010-03-19T16:01:00-05:00