Construction Viz

Project Management Perfect

Jeff Lydon

SharePoint Importing Made Easy with the Construction Viz Mass Importer

Project Management |

Importing SharePoint and Construction Viz records has never been easier!

Uploading more than one record with metadata (columns) into Microsoft SharePoint is a manual process that can be fraught with unknown errors. What if you could simply drop off an Excel file with your data, have the system notify you of any issues in detail, and then seamlessly update a SharePoint library with a push of a button? It sounds too good to be true. Our R&D team has built the new Construction Viz Mass Importer app for Microsoft 365 to make your life easier. Check out this article to find out more.

The New Construction Mass Importer for Microsoft 365

If you have tried to upload multiple records into a SharePoint library containing columns (metadata), you know how error-prone and time-consuming the process can be. While Microsoft provides an out-of-the-box Excel import tool for SharePoint lists, it only works in creating the initial list, and it can create issues with column field types.

Because Construction Viz utilizes Microsoft SharePoint as the data source, ensuring all of your data is safe in your Microsoft 365 tenant, we wanted to build a tool that you could use to upload Excel file data into SharePoint libraries easily.

Version 1.0 of the app imports data into SharePoint lists, where Construction Viz stores data for apps such as Drawings and Specifications. Future versions of the Mass Importer app will include any list or library in the SharePoint site. Beyond just importing the records from an Excel file, we added many features we have never seen in any other construction management software tool for importing records.

Features of the Construction Viz Mass Importer

The unique features of the Construction Viz Mass Importer app include:

Format embedded into Excel templates

Field formats (dates, currency, numbers, etc.), single and multi-select lookup values, and choice values are embedded automatically into the Excel import template. This feature reduces errors and ensures the correct format is always used when importing records.

Web-based spreadsheet for changes

When imported, Excel files are displayed in an interactive spreadsheet where further changes can be made and saved before updating. Other systems require the user to return to the imported Excel file, make the changes, and re-import.

Robust error handling

The exact error messages are displayed in the Spreadsheet component so you can see the issues live and make the changes before saving. Other systems only tell you which column didn’t import. Our tool tells you the exact cell and what specifically needs to be fixed.

Archive of imports

All Excel files imported are saved to a SharePoint document library for archiving purposes. So, if you need to go back and see the Excel file you used previously, you can pull it up with the date and who imported the file.

More Construction Project Management Tools Coming for Microsoft 365

Keep an eye on this space for future releases, where we will continue to extend the Mass Importer functionality for Construction Viz and SharePoint.

If you are looking for a construction management Microsoft 365-based solution where your data stays with you and you only pay for the apps you need, check out Construction Viz and request a demo.

Old School Meet the New School: Construction Viz File Manager

Project Management Tools |

There are two camps for how to store project files in a project management information system (PMIS): use folders or tag files with metadata. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. With the new Construction Viz File Manager, you can choose either method or both for your projects. Read on to find out how the Construction Viz File Manager can help you manage your project documentation how you want.

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Like the cola wars between Pepsi vs. Coke, storing project files in folders or tagging files with metadata has proponents firmly dug in on both sides of the argument. Knowing that these two camps are resistant to change is why Microsoft offers multiple applications like OneDrive and SharePoint, which store files differently (but they are becoming more similar with each new release).

The case for storing your files in folders

The old-school approach to managing files has always followed the same approach as Windows Explorer, where you drag and drop files into named folders.

A folder-based approach makes storing files simple, but finding them when needed can be challenging depending on the folder hierarchy. You can use search in some instances to find your files by reading the data within them. However, you must often understand the folder structure to find your desired file.

Microsoft 365 OneDrive home screen with folders.

The case for organizing your files with metadata

If you tag files with metadata, you can search, filter, and report on those tags, but it does force some up-front work. The person uploading the file must tag data (depending on how you set up the drop-off workflow) to the file in order to effectively search for the file later. So, while metadata tagging is excellent for document control, it can frustrate users on the front end.

SharePoint Document Library with metadata columns Project and Location.

With Construction Viz, we have been a metadata tagging proponent. The more metadata you collect, the more reporting and analysis you can do. So, we structured the system around metadata collected via our form technology. If users preferred to use folders, we would link to SharePoint libraries or OneDrive since we stored data in SharePoint. But with our File Manager app, things are about to change.

How can I use both metadata and folders?

The new Construction Viz File Manager provides the folder management file storage that users love without leaving the Construction Viz hub. Users can build out a custom folder structure similar to OneDrive or Windows Explorer and can link files into forms within Construction Viz.

The File Manager seamlessly integrates SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams files. 

The File Manager boasts the following capabilities:

  • Select any document library in your SharePoint site to create folders or upload documents without having to navigate to SharePoint.
  • Select the default documents library in SharePoint to have files synced across Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint automatically.
  • Upload files using our standard document attachment uploader that checks file names and allows editing files on the fly.
  • Link files stored in the File Manager to other Construction Viz applications, such as RFIs, submittals, and daily reports.

With the Construction Viz and the new File Manager app you get the best of both worlds of both folders and metadata. You can store files in folders like Windows Explorer or tag them with metadata automatically when adding them as attachments to our forms.

Video overview of the Construction Viz File Manager app

We continue to focus on delivering solutions that meet you where you work and how you work. The File Manager is one of many applications we have implemented that allow you to make the most out of Microsoft 365 to manage your construction projects. You can find out more about Construction Viz here or request a free one-hour consultation with our Microsoft 365 professionals.

Introducing the New Construction Viz Specification App

Specification Management |

The Construction Viz Specification app complements the Drawing app by providing a one-stop shop for storing and organizing contract requirements, managing revisions, and integrating specifications across our suite of Construction Viz form applications. If specification management is a focus area for your projects, read on to learn more about this exciting new tool.

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Key Features of the Construction Viz Specification App

Find the correct specification. Managing construction projects involves strict adherence to the contract drawings and specifications. Team members need to be able to quickly find the latest specifications and reference them in project correspondence. With the Specification app, we added a comprehensive set of metadata fields such as division, set, spec number, and release date to find what you are looking for easily.

Work off the latest revision. Revision management is a common issue in projects. We added our robust revision management functionality, allowing users always to see the latest revisions by default in the logs but can easily toggle to see all revisions.

Manage one set of specifications. More than one set of specifications can float around on projects, especially if uploaded to correspondence forms. To ensure a single source of truth for specifications, we built the Related Specifications Component that can be added to any form. With the Related Specifications Component, users can filter, assign, and download specifications within any form. This feature saves one set of specifications that can be easily referenced anywhere throughout the project.

View specifications your way. We know you want to search for specifications based on your specific criteria, so we included our saved views feature in the Construction Viz Specifications app. This feature enables you to create one or more views to help you quickly find what you need and have that view default every time you visit the specifications. You can read more about the saved views feature in this blog post.

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Lydon Solutions continues to build features and functionality to make construction management easier using the tools that everyone is familiar with, Microsoft 365. If you are looking for a turnkey construction management solution that can be further customized to your specific needs and deployed to your Microsoft 365 tenant, click this link to request a demo.

View Your Data Your Way with Construction Viz Saved Views 

Forms |

Construction projects generate a ton of data that must be tracked and analyzed in real-time. With our latest update to Construction Viz, we wanted to make our form app data views even more powerful by adding the ability to create, edit, and save personal and project views for the entire team to use. Read on to discover how this new feature will allow you to analyze and report on your data quickly and easily.

Construction Viz already includes configurable data views across all our apps. Users can group, sort, filter, reorganize, and search on form columns to get to meaningful data quickly. However, we wanted to provide more capabilities to allow users to create and save their personal and project data views. Since Construction Viz stores your data in your Microsoft SharePoint lists and libraries, we took inspiration from the view configuration options in SharePoint but further enhanced its capabilities for construction management.

New Construction Viz Saved Views UI

We had to make a few changes to our user interface to deliver the new saved views feature in Construction Viz. While maintaining most of our core structure, we re-designed the layouts to align with our Task Manager app for the ultimate flexibility when visualizing data in different configurations.

New Construction Viz Saved Views UI

Now, we can display different data configurations in grouped tabs, such as dashboards, lists, attachments, Gantts, geospatial maps, and calendars. The new tab structure lets users quickly move between different data configurations while keeping the filtering persistent.

We've also added an app-specific settings cog for saved views and future setting enhancements. Users can now create, edit, and save data views from within the app-specific settings or the data view selector.

Construction Viz App-specific settings

In a future post, we will provide more insights into the benefits of this latest re-design. Exciting features to come 😊

Key Features of Construction Viz Saved Views

We packed many features in this latest Saved Views release, but some of the key highlights include the following:

  • Project vs. Personal Views. Quickly find the forms you seek by creating project views for all users or personal views for your own use.
  • Default views. Save time by assigning a default view to display when navigating to any app.
  • My Action Required. Quickly filter tasks assigned to you by clicking the "My Action Required" toggle.
  • Show All Revisions. By default, Construction Viz displays the latest revisions in form data views, but with this update, users can quickly toggle to see all form and related document revisions. This is a great feature for viewing the history of all forms and their attachments and exporting all records.
  • Available in form apps. The new UI and saved views feature are available in all form apps, such as RFIs, Submittals, or Daily Reports.

Construction Viz is a full-featured and enterprise-ready project management information system (PMIS) for Microsoft 365. To learn more about Construction Viz features and apps, check out our weekly blogs. You can request a demo of Construction Viz here. Also, if you need any Microsoft 365 support or have any suggestions for future blogs, you can submit a consultation request here. 

New eSignature Feature for Construction Viz 

Construction Viz, Project Management, Project Management Tools |

As construction organizations move from paper processes to web-based project management tools, the adoption of electronic approvals has been mixed. Clicking an approved button that registers your account name and date is standard in most construction management systems. However, some organizations and specific forms still require digital or wet signatures. While several electronic signature tools are on the market, their ease of use and cost can be a deterrent. We added a free and easy-to-use digital signature feature to Construction Viz to capture signatures in any of our forms. Read on to discover how our simple signature feature might address your challenges. 

Several signature solutions are available for SharePoint, including the new built-in SharePoint eSignature subscription service that will be available soon. The benefit of these tools is that files that receive signatures never leave your Microsoft 365 tenant, ensuring your data remains secure and in your control.  

Leveraging these eSignatures through SharePoint is great but does require additional subscription costs and administration. What if you want something simpler and at no extra cost?  

Construction Viz eSignatures Feature for Construction Forms

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With the Construction Viz eSignature feature, signatures are available on any form in the review components. For example, say you want an inspector to sign a daily report digitally. We can activate eSignatures in your Construction Viz settings to automatically add eSignatures to all your daily report forms. 

Since this new eSignature feature is built into Construction Viz, we included additional controls such as: 

  • Only the user assigned the review can sign their signatures. 
  • If a user is removed from the reviewers, their signature is removed as well.  
  • Administrators are restricted from signing on behalf of a user.  
  • eSignatures are available on any Construction Viz form! 
  • eSignatures print in form reports! 
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Our new eSignature feature is perfect if you need a simple, free solution within Construction Viz. You can find out more about Construction Viz by requesting a demonstration here. 

Break Through the 5K Record Limit in SharePoint Online with Construction Viz 

Project Management |

SharePoint Online lists and document libraries have a 5,000-item limit for filtering data. You could quickly reach that threshold if you want to use a single SharePoint site to house many projects or a large multi-year project.

Read on to discover how Construction Viz can overcome the 5K threshold, continue delivering robust analytics for your projects, and keep ticking regardless of the threshold limit.

SharePoint lists and libraries can store up to 30 million records. At 5,000 records, however, filtering views stop working. And with SharePoint Online, there is no way to change that threshold.

You could re-index the list or library, adding one or more indexes to the list columns, which will fix the error message. However, exceeding the threshold will still adversely impact SharePoint’s functionality. Specifically, column filtering is limited, and lookups can be adversely affected. Removing columns from views can help, but ultimately, you will have a different experience after you hit the threshold.

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Construction Viz Solves the 5K Item Limit in SharePoint Online

Since organizations may need to manage one or many projects in a single SharePoint site, with Construction Viz for Microsoft 365, we built controls to keep your projects running smoothly regardless of the threshold. So, even if you have not implemented indexing on the SharePoint list or library, Construction Viz can continue delivering analytics and reporting.

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With Construction Viz, we take the best of Microsoft 365, fill in any gaps, and deliver a second-to-none project management information system in your Microsoft environment.

Click here for a free demo and consultation to learn how Construction Viz can save you time and money while keeping your data safe in your Microsoft 365.