In This Release… [Click here for a video overview of all the new features]
Striven Test Drive
Try Striven Without Having to Manually Populate Data
Grab the keys because you’re going on a test drive! We’ve added a feature to allow users to test out a Striven system without having to first create one, be added to one, or populate test data to play around with while learning the ins and outs of Striven.
The goals for this feature are twofold. We want to allow prospective Customers who are looking for an ERP or CRM system and are considering Striven for their business needs to try Striven and see how easy it will be for them to provide excellent customer service and manage their business successfully with Striven.
We also want to provide our current subscribers who may be interested in expanding their use of their own Striven system the ability to take a test drive of other areas of the system with furnished test data so they don’t have to worry about filling their own system with unnecessary information.
Any data used during the test drive will be retained for 48 hours, after which the user account will be deactivated and the data created will be deleted.
For new users, the test drive systems will be accessible through a URL which will direct them to a Test Drive Striven sign up page. Users will be able to use a Microsoft or Google single-sign on option, or can enter their name and email address to get started. The next page will ask for the user’s Company name and phone number. Once this information is provided, they will be redirected to the Dashboard of the test drive system and will be able to use the system based on the access provided by the default User Role for that test system.
For current Striven subscribers wanting to explore a test drive system, there will be a link within the Striven Diamond menu to Test Drive Company. This link will redirect the user to a page that shows all the test drive systems available. Users can select any system to test drive for 48 hours.
Calendar Integration Updates
Subscriber Setting to Turn on Calendar Integration Modules
Previously, you would have had to contact a Striven Team Member in order to activate your Google or Outlook/Office365 Calendar Integration before you would be able to sync your Calendar with Striven.
Now we’ve added the setting under Company → Settings → Employees → Appointments → Integrations wherein you can turn the Calendar Integration on/off at your convenience.
- Note: Your User Role will require the “Google/Microsoft Calendar Settings” permission in order to make changes to these settings.
This Calendar Integration Settings page will display the current status of your Calendar Integration, as well as provide the option to turn on the Google Calendar Integration, the Outlook/Office365 Calendar Integration, or to turn off either of the Calendar Integrations as desired.
- Note: You may only have one Calendar Integration activated at a time.
Discussions Updates
Search Discussions
We’ve added an eagerly awaited update to Discussions. Users will now have the ability to search across all Discussions for specific details and text from the Discussions List. The Discussions Search is located in the menu bar at the top of the Discussions List next to the Start Discussion, Archive, Refresh, and kebab menu buttons.
There are 2 ways you can use the Search Discussions feature to find what you’re looking for:
- Type in the Search Discussions field for the specific text you wish to find. This will perform a general search of the Active Discussions in your Discussions List. These results should return any Discussion that includes that particular text.
- Note: This will ONLY search the Active Discussions, not the Archived ones. In order to search through Archived Discussions, you will need to click on the kebab menu and select Show Archived and then complete the search.
- Use the Customized Search option to filter and refine the results. Clicking on the Customize Search button will display a popup window wherein you can select filter options to narrow your search.
- The Customized Search option provides filters for Employee participants, Contact participants, Related To (such as Tasks, Projects, Sales Orders, etc.), Date Ranges, and Discussion Labels.
- If you check the box for Include Archived, the search results will include matches for both Active and Archived Discussions in one view.
To cancel a search, click the X button next to the Search Discussions field or switch between Active & Archived Discussions views.
Discussions - Stop Replies
If you find a particular Discussion thread is receiving many unwanted emails, such as Spam or Junk mail, Striven now has a feature to help curb the issue.
This feature allows users with the proper User Role permissions to Stop Replies on a Discussion thread. The permissions required are as follows:
- “Discussions: Stop replies on a thread” - A user w/ this permission can Stop Replies on ANY Discussion thread.
- “Discussions: Stop replies on thread they are part of” - A user with this permission can only Stop Replies on Discussion threads in which they are a participant.
This setting feature will display for all users, but only those with the required permissions will be able to activate the setting. A message will display advising users that do not have access that they do not have the permission needed to perform the requested action and will prompt them to contact their system administrator for further assistance.
- NOTE: It is recommended that the use of this feature be limited to Discussion threads that are experiencing extreme spamming or other such issues since there are no notifications or indications to the email sender that the Discussion thread replies have been stopped and/or that their replies are not being delivered to the thread.
- The choice is up to the system administrator/subscriber, of course, but it is also recommended that permissions to this feature be reserved for higher level access users in your Striven system.
To Stop Replies on a Discussion thread, click on the kebab menu on the thread in Striven and select Stop Replies. This will trigger a warning message that will prompt you to confirm that you want to stop replies on the thread. Clicking Yes will result in the removal of the text field where a user would type a response, effectively making responses to the Discussion thread inaccessible.
At the top of the Discussion thread you will see a notation that the replies were stopped on this particular thread, the date they were stopped, and by whom.
If an email response is sent to this particular Discussion thread, it will be ignored by the system and will not create a Discussion message from the email to the thread.
To reverse this setting, replies can be allowed again by clicking on the Discussion kebab menu and selecting Allow Replies.
Accounting Updates
Manual Invoicing for Recurring Orders
We’ve added the ability for users to manually create Invoices for Recurring Sales Orders that are not set with automatic Invoicing. For access to this option, your User Role must include the “Sales Orders - Edit Billing Method” permission.
Settings for this new feature will be configured at the Sales Order Type level. From the Sales Order Type Info page, you can create a new type to use this option. After turning on Contract Management, you can set the Invoicing Type to Recurring. The When to Invoice setting defaults to Automated, but this is where you can change it to Manual Invoicing.
Then when creating a new Recurring Sales Order with the Manual Invoicing option, it will default to manually invoice the Order.
- Keep in mind that any Change Orders related to the original Sales Order will have the same invoicing setting and this setting cannot be changed on Change Orders.
If Manual Invoicing is selected, the lead time for Invoice creation will no longer be displayed on the Sales Order. Upon approval or thereafter, there will be no invoices generated automatically for Manual Invoicing Recurring Sales Orders.
Once a Recurring Sales Order with Manual Invoicing is created, you can create Invoices related to the Sales Order from the Actions Menu. This will copy all the Line Items from the Sales Order to the Invoice.
During Invoice creation through the API, Sales Orders that are Recurring and set to Manual Invoicing can also be selected.
- Note: All existing Sales Order Types and Recurring Sales Order Types have been updated to show Automated Invoicing as the default, but can be changed to Manual Invoicing if desired.
Show Bill Credits as Line Items in Voucher Check
We have updated the voucher checks so that Bill Credits are no longer a column, but instead they display as a separate line in the voucher.
Improved Printable Views for P&L Report, Balance Sheet, & Trial Balance
In an effort to enhance the quality of the printable views for exported reports from Striven, we have created a tool that builds the pdf from the ground up and provides a robust and uniform look across all of the reports that have the Export to PDF capability.
Online Banking Updates
Online Banking Skip Vendor Match
We’ve added an update to make it easier for users to match online banking transactions with checks that may have been created in Striven when the Vendor name from the bank is too generic to match with an existing Vendor in Striven.
For example, from the Online Banking Process Transactions page here you can see 2 manual checks that were written, but neither have any information that looks like a match to a Vendor name in Striven.
The information we DO have is the transaction amount, the transaction date, and the check number.
Using that info, we can try to match the online banking transaction with checks in Striven by skipping the Vendor match on this page.
If the system matches the transaction with a check you can associate the selected transaction with the check in Striven.
The Vendor match can then be confirmed by searching for the transaction on the Transactions List.
Custom Fields Updates
“Existing List” Type Custom Fields Link to Entity/Record
Striven will now display links to the values selected from Existing Lists related to Custom Fields. When a Custom Field Type is set as Select Value from Existing List, the value selected in the Custom Fields will link to the entity in the system from the widget on the Customer/Vendor Dashboard.
For example, let’s say you create a new Custom Field Section at the Global Level for Vendors and include Custom Fields using an Existing List. Because they are already existing values in Striven, the system will find them to link to them.
So now you go to your Customer Dashboard and add the new Custom Field Widget to the page. While editing the section (entering values in the Custom Fields) there will be a hover menu to go to for the info related to the value. If there are already saved values in the Custom Fields, you will see the values displayed as hyperlinks to open a new browser tab showing that record’s information.
Dashboard Updates
Happiness Ratings Widgets
There have been updates made to the Customer/Vendor Happiness Ratings widget, along with the addition of 3 new Happiness Ratings widgets for your My Dashboard.
For the Customer/Vendor Dashboards, we’ve added a filter in the widget settings for Include Ratings From with the following options:
- Customers/Vendors (their overall Happiness Rating)
- Sales Orders
- Projects
- Tasks
Clicking on a particular rating in the widget will display the related Sales Order, Project, or Task.
This updated widget will also be available on My Dashboard, with the addition of the Customer/Vendor name displaying with the ratings.
The 3 new Happiness Ratings widgets added for My Dashboard include the following:
- Happiness Ratings: Job Titles
- Happiness Ratings: Teams
- Happiness Ratings: Employees
The Happiness Ratings: Job Titles widget allows you to select 1 or more Job Titles to determine the average Happiness Ratings from those Job Titles with the Logged In User. The settings for this widget are simple to configure; just select the Job Titles you want to include in the widget, and then select any of these available Ratings options:
- Any Task assigned to the Employee
- Any Sales Order where the Employee is the Primary Assignment
- Any Sales Order where the Employee is the Assignment
- Any Project where the Employee is the Primary Assignment
- Any Project where the Employee is the Assignment
- Any Customer/Vendor (overall) where the Employee is the Primary Assignment
- Include Comparison with Me
The Happiness Ratings: Teams widget works similarly to the Job Titles one with regard to the simple settings. This widget allows you to select 1 or more Teams to determine the average Happiness Ratings from those Teams with the Logged In User. The same options appear for the Ratings selection.
And the Happiness Ratings: Employees widget settings configuration also works the same as the others, with some minor differences. When choosing the Employees for this widget, you’re able to select groups of Employees at one time by selecting Divisions or Teams, yet they will display on the widget as individual Employees. The same Ratings options apply to this widget as the Job Titles and Teams widgets as well.
The default date period for all of these new widgets is This Month, but each can be individually edited with a variety of different available date periods.
These 3 new Happiness Ratings widgets will be available for the My Dashboard and the Employee Dashboard (HR Dashboard), but will not be added or configured to those Dashboards automatically and will require you to select them to display as desired.
Portal Updates
2-Factor Authentication for Customer/Vendor Portal
We’ve added a 2-Factor Authentication feature to the Customer/Vendor Portal. Logging into the Portal will still require the usual Username and Password, but you will now be prompted to enter a 2-Factor Authentication Code when logging into the Portal. The code will be sent to the email address and mobile number (as a text) of the user logging into the Portal.
After you have entered your Username and Password, a page will display the following note:
- We have sent a code to your email address and text to your mobile. Please enter the code below. You will be granted 30 days of access for the particular browser on the specific device once validated.
All you will need to do is enter the code, then click the box to remember the device for 30 days. This page will also provide a link to resend the code if you did not already receive it.
Ability to View the Gantt Chart in Full Screen in the Customer Portal
There’s been an addition to the Projects section in the Customer Portal that provides the ability to view the Gantt Chart in a full screen display. Initially when you view a Project in the Portal, if you select the Gantt Chart view it displays a condensed view of the Project.
Now there’s an Expand button next to the Switch View button that you can click to make the Gantt Chart display full screen. When viewing the Gantt Chart in full screen, the Expand button switches to a Minimize button so you can return to the regular Portal view.
Display Task Created Date on Tasks in Portal
Tasks in the Customer Portal will now display the Created Date below the Due Date and other related Task Info which includes the date and time the Task was created.
Printable Format Updates
E-Sign Merge Fields in Sales Order Format
We’ve included a new merge field in the Sales Order Format to display the E-Signature for Approved Sales Orders. This merge field can be added to the Rich Text Editor section of a Content type section in your Sales Order Printable Format.
Add Total Weight to Sales Order Formats
We’ve also added a new merge field to the Sales Order Formats to display the Total Shipping Weight. This merge field is located in the Rich Text Editor section of a Content type section in your Sales Order Printable Format.
Inventory Updates
Copying Items
When copying Items, the Custom Fields related to the Item will copy as well.
Ability to Class Item Builds
While adding an Item Build to your Striven system, you can now select a Class, which will apply to both Manufacturing Items and BOM Items.
If Class Tracking is set as required in your Inventory Settings, you will have to select the Class in order to finalize the Build. Once the Build is finalized, the selected Class will reflect in the Build GL Postings and can be viewed through the History tab on the Item Build page.
- The History page will also track and display any changes to the Class being selected while the Build is editable.
Updates have also been made to the Item Build GET and POST API requests to handle Class Tracking. Additionally, we’ve added a Class filter to the Builds Data Set in the Report Builder.
API Additions/Updates
The following API additions/updates have been added with this release:
- POST v1/purchase-orders/{id}/close-po
- POST v1/purchase-orders/{id}/bill-remaining
- GET v1/purchase-orders/formats
- GET v1/purchase-orders/{id}/format/{formatId}
- POST v1/purchase-orders/{id}/email-vendor-contact?formatId (query string)
For more information about our APIs, visit our API Reference Page, which has also been updated for smoother navigation and access to API details.
Security Updates
Please review the following settings and adjust your User Roles for these new permissions as needed:
- “Google/Microsoft Calendar Settings”
- “Discussions: Stop replies on a thread”
- “Discussions: Stop replies on thread they are part of”
Notifications & Portal Content Additions
The following email and Portal content have been added:
- Added Open Balance as a Merge Field in the email notification “New Manual Invoice that Needs Payment.”
- Added the Public Print Link Merge Field in the Credit Memo Notification to provide a link to view or print the PDF without having to log into the Portal.
Report Builder Additions
The following lists additions to the Report Builder Data Sets in this release:
- Added Project Done Date (when the project is marked as done) as a column in the Projects Data Set
- Added Project Done Date Period & Done Date as filters in the Projects Data Set
- Added Customer/Vendor # as a column in the Projects Data Set
- Added Item Number as a column and a filter in the Lot Numbers Data Set
- Added Asset IDs as a column in the Tasks Data Set
- Added Item ID and Location Name as columns in the Inventory by Location Data Set
- Added a new Data Set: Opportunity Stage Change Data Set
- Added Class as a filter in the Builds Data Set
- Added Inventory Location and Inventory Location Full Name as columns in the GL Postings Data Sets
- Added Job Type as a column and a filter in the Employees Data Set
- Added Non-Exempt as a filter in the Employees Data Set
