It's Friday, and we have a bit of catching up to do. Our last roundup was October 23, so this one covers the past two weeks of updates. We've added more ways to reuse your team's setup, control what clients can change, and choose how files look when they open them.
I've included walkthroughs for the three updates I've filmed so far, along with Docs links if you'd like to try them yourself.
Save collaborators in task templates and edit tasks in bulk
You can now save team collaborators alongside the assignee in a task template. When you use that template, the saved people are added to the new tasks where they have access. If the same two teammates follow every discovery task, you can set that up once in the template.
Bulk editing lets you change assignees, update collaborators, or delete several template tasks together. Your saved template carries that team setup into future work.
In this video, I use a marketing strategy template to show both additions.
Watch on YouTube · Read the task-template guide
New account task boards can also start with a saved template, bringing its tasks and sections into the board from the start.
Lock the Request answers your team has already filled in
Sometimes a Request needs to include a detail the client should read but leave unchanged, like an agreed budget or contract number. Your team can now prefill and lock that answer before sending the Request.
Clients can read those details while focusing on the questions that need their input. Your team keeps control of the locked answers.
Watch on YouTube · Read about answer protection
Request setup and response review are clearer too. The client summary separates required and optional answers and makes unfinished questions easier to find. On the team side, the Timeline brings answer-lock changes together with answers and Request events.
Give project updates statuses that fit your team
Owners and admins can customize shared status names and colors where status customization is available. A choice such as Waiting on client can describe the work more clearly than a generic status. The same list serves client account boards and internal projects.
You can choose which statuses need attention and which require a written update. For example, At risk can ask the person posting to explain what's holding things up. You can also choose a dot or trophy marker for each status.
Watch on YouTube · Read about company status choices
Choose how files look when clients open them
Your team now has company-wide control over thumbnail fit, preview backgrounds, and whether the full-size viewer opens optimized or original images. Those defaults apply across your client accounts and portals.
Individual files can have their own background, image mode, and starting zoom and position. A long design can open at the top, or an image can start with a particular detail in view. You have more control over how the work is presented when a client opens it.
Read text and Markdown files in the preview
You can now open .txt and .md files directly in the file viewer, on both the team side and in the client portal. Text is selectable, so you can read and copy it without downloading first.
Markdown previews include formatted headings, lists, tables, and code, alongside a source view. It's a useful addition for sharing written notes and technical handoffs in the same place as the rest of your client files.
More reliable Live Chat and clearer alerts
We've made a round of improvements to our newer Live Chat experience used by Healthcare workspaces. Unsent text and attachments stay with the conversation when you move between chats during the same session. PDF attachments open in an in-app preview, and we've improved recovery after connection errors, upload cancellation, and scrolling through message history.
Across Live Chat, we've also updated sound, pause, and notification controls, including Test sound. Better coordination between tabs helps avoid duplicate sounds and alerts for old messages. Delivered browser-notification links also keep working when you return to a conversation.
Clients now have an unread-chat notice on their portal dashboard, with a way to open the conversation. For Healthcare chat email digests, we've shortened the collection window to two and a half minutes. Messages are grouped together, with a pause between digest emails.
See portal visits and get back to the right update
A new portal-login chart shows visits over time, with ranges from the past 24 hours through six months and filters for individual client accounts. The dashboard's visit counter connects to that history, making it easier to see when clients are returning to their portals.
Account-filtered unread counts now match the selected account, and the drawer makes it clearer when you need to clear that filter to see other activity. Task Inbox notices for status-update discussions also open the matching update.
Review Activity and unread notices
Choose whether clients can create tasks
New company-wide and per-account settings let your team decide where clients can create tasks.
Turning off task creation leaves existing tasks available under their usual permissions. It's useful if you want clients to follow and discuss the work while your team creates the task list.
Set client task-creation choices
New signup flow and Sydnee for Healthcare
We launched a new signup flow, and Sydnee for Healthcare is now open for new workspaces. The updated setup brings company details, workspace type, and plan selection into one flow, including a Healthcare option with a BAA.
Workspace owners can now request a Business Associate Agreement right from Billing. You can follow its status there, review the agreement dates, and download your signed copy once it's ready.
Learn about workspace setup · Review or request a BAA
Updated AI help for forms, templates, and services
We've upgraded the AI models behind Request drafts, task templates, and Service Showcase generation. Example prompts also give you a starting point for describing the form or workflow you need.
New services can come with suggested client detail fields based on the service name, description, and category. That gives your team a draft to build on as you set up the information each service needs.
A few more improvements around the workspace
- Bulk account setup: spreadsheet paste, a review before creation, and clearer results make it easier to set up several accounts together. Invitations stay separate so you can prepare the portals before welcoming clients.
- People and messaging: profile cards bring together names, company titles, team members' local time, and clients' last-seen activity, with a message action so you can start a conversation from the work you're reviewing.
- Branding: we've refreshed color presets and app-icon previews, including light and dark backgrounds. Home-screen branding loads earlier, and custom-domain verification has clearer status checks.
- Files and settings: we fixed a file-ordering bug, and saving feature sub-options now keeps the page and expanded settings in place.
- Navigation and layout: the account sidebar keeps the selected account in view more reliably. We've also worked on mobile layouts, font stability, and the illustrations you see when you're caught up.
- App updates: automatic refresh waits while protected editing or upload work is open. You'll now find App version and the manual update check under Personal Settings → Profile.
Thanks for all the feedback over the past couple of weeks. Keep sending it through Support, especially when there's a repeated step in your client work that you'd like us to make easier.
