2020 Release Notes

2020-12-31 Release Notes

• Admin can define default contract start/complete dates - Under Company Information, can set values to auto-populate when generating a contract. Values can be defined as either relative to the contract date (i.e. "20 days from contract date"), or specific (i.e. "start on 12/10/2020"). Can set whether user is allowed to modify these dates when generating a contract.
• Admin can define default contract "right to cancel" periods - Under Company Information, can set default value for to auto-populating when generating a contract. Values can be defined as either relative to the contract date (i.e. "20 days from contract date"), or specific (i.e. "start on 12/10/2020"). Can set whether user is allowed to modify these dates when generating a contract.
• User can modify contract "right-to-cancel" and job start/compete dates when generating a contract - Depending on Admin settings, when user generates a contract, user is shown fields that can be edited for the right to cancel period and start/end dates to include in contract.
• Updated User Permissions - Updated UI to make permissions more clear. Added ability to restrict a user from creating and editing solutions within a job.
• API Buildout - Continue updates to API for supporting mobile app:
  • Add search parameter for GET /participants call to support finding referrers.
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Changed field label in milestone editor from "Owner" to "Assign To" to more clearly differentiate from sales "Owner" role.
  • Dashboard refresh performance enhancement.
  • Fixed issue with one case of work order auto-naming.
  • Fixed a case of a secondary predecessor not working.
  • Fixed an issue with sorting by Last Milestone on Installs screen.

2020-12-10 Release Notes

• Removed 'Permit Designer' permission - SolarDesignTool fully removed any support for permit design functionality. This permission no longer needed.
• Moved scheduling date to top of scheduling milestone completion dialog - When completing a milestone that results in a scheduled event, the scheduling of that date is now at top of the dialog.
• Detect types of milestone edits made prior to running milestone propagator - Updated milestone propagator such that it will only run if specific types of edits are made to milestone definitions, thereby limiting the cases that affect milestone operation on current jobs while changes are being propagated:
  • Category A (no changes to propagate, no restrictions to completing milestones): Description and completion criteria, default owner, assign roles upon completion, auto-update close probability, notify third parties on completion.
  • Category A (changes to be propagated, but changes do not prevent completion of milestones): Name before and after completion, milestone group, status values, deadlines, calendar color, subtasks and related fields.
  • Category C (all milestone completions prevented until process changes are propagated across existing jobs): Primary and secondary predecessors, Milestone is a scheduled event, project inclusion rules.
• API enhancements - Sort /jobs by date created, and added lead_source_id as filter for /jobs call
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Fixed minor issue with milestone inclusion rule.
  • Fixed milestone propagation issue for edge case scenario.
  • Fixed issue with some milestone being presented as if they were scheduled events.
  • Updated user message when milestone completion is restricted due to propagation running.

2020-11-19 Release Notes

• New Incentive Type, Annual Backup Energy Value - Provide a means of incorporating an agreed upon annual dollar value for having backup energy into the customer's financial analysis. See Energy Storage - Value of Backup.
• Add battery specific Reporting elements -
  • Detail report outputs: Battery Make/Model, Quantity
  • New summary report dimension: "Primary Solution Battery" (sums by battery make/model)
• Updated User Permissions - Updated UI to make permissions more clear. Added ability to restrict a user from creating and editing solutions within a job.
• API Buildout - Continue updates to API for supporting mobile app:
  • Support changing schedule/appointment for milestone
  • Create /projects/possible_owners API call
  • Fixed a couple API bugs.
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Fixed issue of not populating deadlines to existing milestones when administrator added them to milestone definition.
  • Fixed issue with milestone becoming unassigned after user updates its due date AND the milestone is defined to assign project roles on completion.
  • Fixed issue with AC rating not automatically updating when circuit configuration is changed.
  • Fixed an issue where milestone completion was disallowed because its definition had a previously deleted definition of a subtask with same name as a currently defined subtask, or milestone's due at date was set earlier than the milestone's creation date.

2020-11-03 Release Notes

• API Buildout - Continue updates to API for supporting mobile app:
  • Add milestone status to /tasks output type "subtask"
  • Add job number to /tasks results
  • Support "result in a scheduled event" for milestones
  • Clarify use of "Content-Type" header for determining body format (application/xml or application/json).
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Added summary reporting dimension for batteries, returning counts of jobs with each battery make/model.
  • Modified behavior for picking allowable product as a service item, does not refer to original definition, only the current definition.
  • Updated PDF generation software.
  • Upgraded underlying technology version.
  • Improved performance of milestone updates.
  • Improved analysis performance.
  • Improved performance of rendering energy analysis on Services.
  • Updated Job workspace to always show 3 significant digits for PV kW ratings.
  • Ensured all doc template variables can be used in Email templates.
  • Restricted "Proposed" milestone from being configured as a scheduled event.
  • Copy all milestone definitions set within Template Account to newly created accounts (improve comprehensiveness of process setup for new trials).
  • Fix "required" setting for custom Docusign variables.
  • Fixed issue preventing addition of a new service to a solution.
  • Fixed issue creating a document when a pricing line item quantity is zero.
  • Fixed issue with log notes being duplicated when completing a milestone.
  • Fixed periodic issue with deleting a PDF of a generated doc.
  • Fixed issue where Installs screen "incomplete" filter considered "upcoming" milestones as already complete.
  • Fixed minor reporting error when generating report including a deleted milestone.
  • Fixed issue with sending a milestone notification on a newly created milestone.
  • Fixed issue with Add Solution dialog prompting user for post project customer electric rate, despite the solution template not including any energy storage.
  • Fixed error adding products to an order from a solution.
  • Fixed issue with using Liquid expressions in filling form templates.
  • Fixed issue with customers accessing web-enabled documents when their browser does not accept cookies.
  • Fixed issue with considering Last Completed milestone when account is upgraded from Sales Pro to All Pro.
  • Fixed authentication issue when getting aerial image for some proposals.
  • Fixed issue where end-customers on mobile phone had trouble downloading PDF of a non-web-enabled proposal attached to an email sent from a user.
  • Fixed issue showing "scheduled dates" for already scheduled milestone events after that milestone's definition is changed to no longer be a scheduled event.
  • When "Lead Created" milestone is configured to Result in a Scheduled Event, disabled ability to set "Must input date" as a option, else there would be an error.
  • Fixed issue with showing sample PDF's for SolarNexus provided document templates.
  • Fixed issue setting Primary contact for a customer.
  • Improved system email configurations to reduce likelihood of being caught in Spam filters.
  • Fixed error when trying to switch from one ACPV module to another ACPV module on a PV system.
  • Fixed issue with Self-Consumption values not auto-refreshing on Services screen when energy storage or PV system configurations are changed.

2020-09-07 Release Notes

• Web-Enabled Sales Proposals - Share your sales proposals with customers over the web instead of via PDF. This reduces the need to handle PDFs. Once shared, the customer can refresh the proposal in their browser to view any changes you make to a solution. You can also see when customer last viewed their proposal. A proposal template must be administratively enabled for sharing via web-page. SolarNexus published proposal templates have been web-enabled. See Web Enabled Proposals.
• Updated Docs Screen - We've made some enhancements to the Docs screen interface to accommodate web-enabled proposals and to clarify features.
• Enhanced Notification Controls - On your profile screen you may now turn off Home screen / Dashboard notifications for selected events that were automatically reported. Also enhanced presentation so that events geared toward sales managers and admins are separately grouped and disabled for users who lack those permissions.
• Modified Presentation of Long Text Fields on Job Screen - Long text fields are automatically formatted to be left justified and to take up the entire column width to make them easier to read.
• API Buildout - Dozens of new application programming interface enhancements to support mobile app development occurring in parallel. Neither yet released.
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Performance optimizations on Project and Solution workspace.
  • Upgraded servers with latest version of Ruby.
  • Fix setting brand colors on an Enterprise agency account.
  • Fixed error when downloading project log entries from report.
  • Fixed problem uncompleting a Sold milestone in Sales Pro edition.
  • Fixed product selection validation preventing adding products to an order.
  • Fixed adding products to systems created from subsequently deleted service offerings.
  • Fixed issue preventing some subtask reminder emails from sending.
  • Fixed issue seeing control to replenish Nearmap credits.
  • Fixed disallowing area restrictions to have duplicate names.

2020-05-31 Release Notes

• Work Orders - (All Pro and Project Pro editions) New types of jobs used to manage ongoing customer service and support. See (About Jobs, Work Order Quick Start)
  • Simplified Workspace - Work order provides simplified workspace and workflow. No required sales milestones, no Energy Use screen, only one solution definition.
  • Individual work order processes - Define separate milestone processes for specific service workflows, including defining data fields to include on the Job screen, and use of specific solution templates.
  • Pre-defined Work Order Processes - Admin or Resource Manager can copy reference job process definitions from SolarNexus that reflect best practices for a number of common workflows. Makes it simple for your company to start using work orders without having to learn the complexities of building your own job process definitions. See Work Orders Quick Start.
  • Originating Jobs, Relationships and Fields - Generating work orders from an existing project maintains and shows relationships. Set of new "originating job" fields shows information about the originating job within the new work order, making it less necessary to flip back and forth between jobs for reference information.
  • New lead source "Existing Customer" - Built-in lead source "Existing Customer" automatically populated when adding a work order from an existing project.
• Workspace: Job tab is now fully customizable - renamed from Project to reflect use for work orders or projects. Custom definable sections mixing custom and standard fields, addition of new standard fields (originating job info), field sections that respond to current job phase (milestone group). See Release Bulletin: Apply New Features to your Existing Project Process.
• Workspace: new "Related Work" section added to Management Panel. View all associated work orders and projects.
• "Add New" Job button - When creating a new job (project or work order), user selects the kind of job by selecting its process.
• New screen > "Customer Jobs" - summarizes all jobs associated with a particular contact, either where that contact is the customer, or where that contact plays any other role on a job. Can be accessed from search results, or from anywhere in the app where contact is visible. Provides ability to easily see relationships of all projects and work orders, as well as easily add new work orders or projects.
• Installs displayed by Job process - The Installs screen now has a job process selector, allowing list of jobs to be viewed by process. Milestone filters responsive to selected job.
• Reporting by Job Process - Since each process has its own milestones and data, updated reporting so that each report is on a specific job process.
• Secondary milestone predecessors. For milestones that occur after the "Sold" or "Work Defined" milestones, administrator can specify multiple secondary predecessors that must also be complete prior to that milestone getting created. (Note: "Work Defined" is like the Sold milestone but for work orders). Each secondary predecessor is based on a service type. So for example, "Complete Work" doesn't show up in a project until "PTO Granted" is complete for  
• Removed "Item Type" field from service offering definition -  An item's "type" is now solely defined by its Company Catalog category or subcategory of products. This removes a frequently duplicated (and confusing) categorization. The "Service Type" defined in the Administration > Lead and Job Data is only for defining types of services.
• Solution Templates: Services "Whitelist" - Admin or Resource Manager can define a list of service offerings that can be used in a solution created using that template. This limits what service offerings a user can select from when defining a solution created using this template. Simplifies user experience (fewer selections to search through) for quickly defining the scope of work in a given solution.
• Quote storage only jobs without entering energy use - Adding energy storage to your existing customer's PV installs is a significant market opportunity. Since SolarNexus does not provide energy analysis of storage only jobs, no analysis of utility bill is required, and therefore no Energy Use is required to run analysis. Utility bills are ignored in financials.
• Auto-Close Solution summary - Section for comparing unsold solution options is automatically closed when job is sold.
• Company Catalog Enhancements - You can now create your own product categories and sub-categories. Note that you still may not add your own PV modules, inverters, optimizers, or batteries.
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Added new report criteria allowing specification of a date range for "Archived At"
  • Allow SVG and POLYGON tags in doc templates.
  • Fixed issue with discount not being applied to solution revision price.
  • Fixed issue with services variables (solution_element) being output for services included in a solution, but inactive.
  • Fixed issue preventing user from editing item quantity in a service (when "User can change product selection" is false, disallowed editing quantity but it should only disallow changing the product).
  • "Additional Scope" removed from solution edit dialog. A solution scope is defined entirely by the services included. This feature was temporarily left in place during transition period to service offerings.

2020-02-05 Release Notes

• Updated Lead and Project Data Administration UI - Each section now shown by selecting from the menu at left, simplifying content shown at any one time.
• Updated Company Information UI - Each section now shown by selecting from the menu at left, simplifying content shown at any one time.
• Notify Admin User if a Workgroup becomes empty - If a workgroup's last member is removed by that user being deactivated/deleted, the system is no longer able to do any auto assignment of roles or milestones using the workgroup. If any of your milestones are configured to use such a workgroup assignment, SolarNexus now identifies that situation and notifies administrative users about the need to adjust the assignment configuration.
• Can Specify Secondary Contact as a Referrer - Any contact in your database can now act as a referrer, not just the primary contact.
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:

2020-01-03 Release Notes

• Individual User Time Zone Setting - Each user can now specify his own timezone. Now users in an account based in a different timezone can view their data in their own timezone rather than that of the account.
• Can Add Other Product Items to PV Systems and Energy Storage Systems - Customers have requested to be able to add major items to PV Systems that would be listed in contracts and documents (e.g. racking and monitoring). In addition to having buttons for the specific item types that impact energy analysis (module, inverter, optimizer), we have added another button for adding arbitrary additional items that works the same way as for EE and general elements. These items are best defined as a part of the service offerings.
• New {{project_labels}} Doc Template Variable. Allows documents to include logic for differentiating content based on labels.
• Toggle View of Tasks based on Project Name or Site Address - Same feature on Sales and Installs screen.
• Updated Project Header / Summary - Incorporated user feedback from other recent UI updates, including:
  • Separate "Solution or Record" section into separate section from "Customer and Job Site."
  • Small UI tweaks to display of Customer contacts.
• Bug fixes and minor improvements:
  • Show "Lead Created" as "Last Completed Milestone."
  • Fixed PV energy output analysis to include updates to individual monthly solar access values to site areas, and show in resulting graphs.
  • Fixed issue in clean-up/creation of solution specific milestones when a pre-sale milestone is uncompleted.
  • Removed many "orphaned" instances of "upcoming" (aka "provisional") milestones from current projects after revision of rules for keeping provisional milestones.
  • Fixed milestone completion blocking issue when provisional milestone has a blocking subtask - ignore these as blockers since these are not yet current milestones.
  • Fixed incorrect removal of scheduled dates set for provisional milestones (e.g. "Set Prelim Date for Install").
  • Removed instances of orphaned log entries.
  • Fixed display issue of annual offsets for edited arrays.
  • Fixed display of some last completed milestones (caching issue) and disable display of uncomplete icon for completed milestones with completed successors.
  • Fixed permission issue - disallow regular user from deleting sub-tasks created by another user.
  • Fixed exception when trying to auto-assign member of an empty workgroup - add new feature to notify admin to fix empty workgroup / milestone assignment.
  • Fixed cleanup of deleted projects.
  • Fixed missing icon in delete/inactivate user dialog.
  • Fixed a report run error.
  • Fixed error when no peak TOU is available for typical summer or winter days for some tariff/solution combinations.
  • Fixed thermal array deletion.
  • Fixed notification of user that a scheduled date is added to their subtask.
  • Fixed notification to users when a solution revision is accepted.
  • Fixed issue cloning inverter selections.
  • Removed code for old milestone status section.