Help Contents | VPC Log On | Welcome Page | Tree View | Open/Save Screen | Check Out | Check In | History | Copy to Local | Add | Search (document) | Search (attributes) | Entering and Editing Data in a Table | Workplan | Calendar | Pending Tasks | Notification | Action Items | E-mail Table | Attributes (proposal) | Attributes (general) | Team Members
Administrator Log On | Set Up | Copy to Local | Permissions | Groups | Admin. Workplan | Admin. Notification | Admin. Calendar | Admin. Action Items | Admin. E-mail Table | Admin.Search (document) | Admin. Search (attributes) | Admin. History | Document Merge | Admin. Attributes (proposal) | Admin. Attributes (general) | Banner Message | Broadcast Message | Users | Zone | Glossary (Definitions)

Proposal Creation and Editing

Provides for setup and maintenance of proposals. Allows folders and files to be added, removed, or copied from other proposals and other locations. The left treeview displays source documents. The default source location is the Server view which is the VPC server’s repository. It is zone specific. Admins will only see proposals to which they have been granted access. The Zone Super Admin will see all proposals in their zone. The System Admin will see all zones and proposals. Select the Local radio button for local drives or a network drive attached to the user’s system. Select Other Zone and the zones to which the admin had access will show. The right treeview displays the contents of the specified proposal. Key treeview navigational features are as follows:
  • Roll over file name to view file size and creation date and time
  • Double click on any file in either treeview to open it in native application
  • Archived proposals are not shown in left treeview or pull down menus unless the Show Archived box is checked. If this box is checked, archived proposals show in red in treeview and proposal selection menu.
  • Proposal templates are not shown in left treeview or pull down menus unless the Show Templates box is checked. If this box is checked, proposal templates show in blue in treeview and selection menu. (only available to System Admin and Zone Super Admins)
  • The right treeview shows file checkout status as on user interface. Right click on file and select show owner from menu to see who has the file checked out. It will show all users who have checked out the file, and whether it was for edit or review.
  • Use Ctrl C convention after selecting any folder/file in right treeview to copy folder/file path to clipboard starting with zone name
  • Click on print icon to print right treeview. Have option to print selected folder as if fully expanded, all visible nodes in treeview, or entire tree fully expanded. Version and Review folders do not print
  • Use the Shift key for continuous selection of folders/files. Use the Ctrl key for multiple individual selections of folders/files.

Any admin user can create a proposal. Click on Create and the Proposal Creation Assistant panel opens. (See Proposal Creation Assistant) Once created, only admins who have been granted access to a proposal can modify a proposal. To modify a proposal, select a proposal from the pull down menu and it will appear in the right hand tree view. Only those proposals, to which the admin has been granted proposal access, will appear in the pull down menu. PROPOSALS CANNOT BE MODIFIED IN THE LEFT TREEVIEW!

VPC checks for duplicate file/folder names before allowing creation/copying of files/folders. Proposals can be renamed, but VPC will first give a warning. Proposal and folder/file names can't contain any of the following characters: \ /: *? < > " | or end with a "."

To copy folders or documents from another location to the proposal; select the source, select the folder or file from the list on the left and drag it to the desired destination folder on the right. Selected folders/files must have the same parent node. Files can't be copied to version or review folders. Also version and review folders are not copied when copying a folder. Individual version and review documents, however, may be copied with no problem. After dragging and dropping, a window will open giving you the option to enter any comments that will show in document history view. If multiple documents are selected at same time, only one comment can be entered for all.

Can copy e-mail attachment(s) directly from any e-mail program that supports drag and drop, such as Outlook, by dragging to target folder in right treeview. Will be prompted to add comment if desired. Can do the same from any program such as windows Explorer that supports drag and drop.

To add a folder (blank), first click on the parent folder to which it is to be added (in right tree), click on Create Folder icon, or right click and select Add Folder, type in name and hit Return. To change a file or folder name, click on its name in the right hand tree view, wait a second, then click again to open edit mode, or right click and select edit, enter new name and hit Return. To remove folder or file, click on folder or file (in right tree only) click on Remove icon. You will get a warning. Click OK to proceed. Deleted files are initially removed to a special recycle bin on the server and may be recovered by the system admin, but all history will be lost. Top-level proposal folders can't be removed this way. You will get an error message.

To delete a proposal, select proposal and Click Remove. You will be warned and then have to enter your password to continue. When a proposal is deleted, all related database entries are deleted as well including access and permission settings, document history, Workplan, attributes. Only admins who have been granted permission can delete proposals. Deleted files are initially removed to a special recycle bin on the server and may be recovered by the system admin, but all proposal metadata will be lost.

Files and or folders can be moved in the right hand tree view from one location in proposal to another by selecting and dragging and dropping to desired folder. Related version and review folders/files will be moved automatically, and history and existing checkout state will be keep intact. After moving, you will be prompted to send document notification. This will send a broadcast message to desired target(s) the next time they send any type of request to VPC, and an e-mail as well, if desired. A panel will open, select the target, enter the message, select the hours till expiration or accept the default, check Send e-mail if desired, and click on OK. There will be a warning and request to edit if the message size exceeds the limit. (The default limit is 255 characters) If moving multiple files at same time, only one notification is permitted for all. E-mails sent will not be added to E-mail table.

Non-graphic files larger than 1 MB will be compressed and then decompressed automatically as they transfer to and from the server. If multiple files are transferred at same time, and the total size of files to be transferred is larger than 1 MB, they will be compressed and then decompressed automatically as they transfer to and from the server. Users can cancel the file transfer and copy process by clicking on cancel button in progress icon.

If a file is deleted and replaced with a file with the same name, the admin can restore lost version history by selecting the file and clicking on the restore history button.

Click on Properties button to see Proposal creator, Creation date, RFP Release Date, Due Date, Sender for notifications, and Action Item notification setting. Also set status for Doc notification and Daily report. If the daily report feature is turned off, and then turned on after a period of time, then only activity for the maximum of 24 hours if reactivated on Tuesday through Saturday, 48 hours if on Sunday, and 72 hours if on Monday is included.

Archiving function limited to zone super admin or system admin.

Follow link for further information:

Proposal Archiving

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Proposal Creation Assistant

The contents of the Proposal Creation Assistant panel depends on whether at least one proposal template has been set up for that zone. The common elements to be entered or selected are:

  • Proposal name – Must be entered in text box subject to the following constraints:
    • Default maximum length is 32 characters, but is configurable.
    • Names must be unique, but the same proposal name can be used in different zones.
    • Names can’t contain any of the following characters: \ /: *? < > “ | or end with a “.”
  • RFP Release Date – Enter manually or select from date picker
  • Due Date – Enter manually or select from date picker
  • Doc notification – Green means turned on, Red means off. Default is green
  • Daily report – Green means turned on, Red means off. Default is green
If at least one proposal template has been created for that zone, the admin will have an option to have many elements of the new proposal created from a template. Select the desired template from the pull down menu. Check the desired elements to be copied to the new proposal which include the following:
  • Folder structure – Includes file templates if any. Selected by default if template is selected.
  • Permissions - Group and user permission settings. Groups will be created as necessary. Proposal Access will be automatically assigned as required to all groups and users that have permission settings. Folder structure must be selected for this check box to be selected.
  • Team Member Display Status – This refers to whether users are displayed in Team Member view on VPC user side. Display status set in template on user basis will be copied. Permissions must be selected for this check box to be selected.
  • Workplan - Dates will be automatically shifted so that the first available date corresponds to current date
  • Notifications - If any notification on the template is marked as sent, it will be copied without the sent status and the date it was sent. Workplan must be selected for this check box to be selected.
  • Send Proposal Welcome Message – If a welcome message has been pre-configured by the System Admin, check this box to have it sent to all with proposal access. A panel will open with standard message. Can add to it.
  • Proposal Merge Templates and Periodic Events will automatically be copied as well if a template is selected.
After all elements have been selected, click on Create to proceed or Cancel to abort. Admins who create a proposal are automatically granted access to it. System Admin will given proposal access, and depending on the GiveSystemAdminCreate value in configuration table, create permission to System Admin will be set on proposal root folder. The proposal name appears in left and right treeviews.

Proposal Creation Assistant screenshot

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Proposal Archiving

Archived proposals are not normally visible on any menu or file tree. To view, select the Show Archived button. Attribute search will show archived proposals with an indication of status. The archiving process involves 5 steps:

  1. Option to generate a text file with data from selected Document history, Groups, Workplan, Notification, E-mail and Attributes tables. Also report summary of documents worked on by user with time subtotals. Can generate one report with selected info or a separate report for each. Option to generate reports asynchronously so as not to block server if report generation would be time consuming. Option to view summary text file before continuing process if only one file is created.
  2. Option to copy the entire proposal folder to a local drive.
  3. Option to copy selected subfolders to an archive proposal or proposals in any zone to which have access. Can copy multiple folders at same time. Will copy just selected folder or path to folder if that option is selected. Selected proposal information can be made available to all users for reference purposes. File copy is verified. Option to print.
  4. Option to make the proposal available for attribute search in other zones. Is automatically available for search in zone in which the proposal is located.
  5. Option to retain Workplan, Notifications, Action Items, E-mail, and Attributes tables and selected file folders in proposal shell. Can select multiple folders. Can only select folders at the top level to be retained, but all subfolders contained within will be retained as well.

After all options have been selected, the proposal will be archived. All files in folders not selected to be retained will be deleted and proposal access will be returned to default. Deleted files are initially removed to a special recycle bin on the server and may be recovered by the system admin, but all history will be lost.


Archiving

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