Summer Vacations 2013

Hope all of you have had the opportunity to relax, kickback, and recharge your batteries this summer.

We have been since been working hard on pushing out our next big update on our web app set out to launch on the last week of September. The new version includes a major overhaul in terms of functionality and conceptual model. We have focused on the basics, how to organize all our project tasks and files and keep everyone together on what’s happening.

Here is a sneak preview :-)

Ap4 Integrates with Box OneCloud to Help Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Companies Go Mobile in the Cloud

We are really proud to announce that Ap4 now integrates with Box.com for smarter and better collaboration for your mobile teams and co-workers.

So how does this perfect match help you?

Let’s start off. First of all, Ap4ProjectManagers is a file and task project manager for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) industry.

Ap4 connects your construction project files and tasks with everyone. It turns your project information into tasks, allowing you to easily access, share, and manage your project deliverables and progress, on time.

Box simplifies online file storage, replaces FTP and connects teams in online workspaces. Read more here.

With Box for Ap4, you can turn your construction project information stored in your Box folders into projects tasks right from your phone.  Within Ap4 your project teams now know when and how to carry out their AEC information because their files, drawings, and photos are now time and progress driven and connected with the right project members.

How-to Guide:

To use Box for Ap4, simply open a Box file and select the “Open With” action button and choose the Ap4ProjectManagers app. If you already have an Ap4 account you will prompted with Ap4’s Turn File into Task page with your Box file attached. Just enter your task information, add assignees, and a due date. Within Ap4 you can then share, comment, download the Box file task, and manage its progress.

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An Example:If you need someone’s feedback and review on a project drawing stored on Box, simply create a task, assign it to your project collaborator and attach the Box file to the task. Your project collaborator will have access to the Box file and can add comments directly to the Ap4 task and update its progress.

Let us know what you think! Please send us your feedback. What other apps would you like to see integrated with Ap4?

Android Ap4 Mobile App

Today we are delighted and proud to announce the launch of the new Android Ap4 Mobile app. It is pretty awesome might we say!

You can now access, create, and manage your project files, drawings, photos, tasks, and projects on the go, anywhere, anytime with your Android phone.

And yes, you can turn files and photos into tasks right from your phone now!

           

Our first Android version was thought out as an extension of Ap4’s web app, where one could just basically view recent project information created from the Ap4 web app. With the new Ap4 Mobile version you can now actually manage your projects and project information from your Android phone, literally.

Here is a quick feature list overview:

To-do’s

-          Create and delete project to-do’s

-          Share to-do’s

-          Comment to-do’s

-          Edit to-do progress

-          Add files and photos to your to-do’s

 
Files & Folders

-          Upload, download, and delete files

-          Share files

-          Comment files

-          Turn files into to-do’s

-          Create, delete, and share Folders

Photos

-          Upload, download, and delete photos

-          Share photos

-          Comment photos

-          Turn photos into to-do’s

-          Create, delete, and share Folders

Projects

-          Add new projects

-          Edit project information

-          Invite Users

-          View project progress

We will be working hard on the Android app, tweaking and pushing out new updates, such as the Android Tablet version. Stay tuned!

Check out our how-to guide for using the new Android Ap4 Mobile app to manage your files. Please give us your feedback! Let us know how you work with the new Android Ap4 app.

New Photos

This afternoon we rolled out an update that brings you a slew of sublte improvements that drastically improves Ap4’s Photos.

The entire uploading, editing, and sharing experience is now coherent with the new Files & Folders module.

Uploading Photos

You can now simply drag and drop multiple photo files directly into your Ap4 Photos page. Unfortunately, users using Internet Explorer (IE) will not be able to use this feature. You will have to uploading photos files manually.

Photo Updates

You and all your project members now know which photos have been updated or are new since your last login in Ap4.

You can now also visualize which photos have been shared or have comments. The share and comments buttons turn light blue when photos are shared or commented.

Check out our how-to guide for using the new Photos module to manage your files. Plus, please give us your feedback, and let us know how you work with photos on Ap4 internally in your company or externally with other project teams and organizations.

New Files & Folders

We just made collaboration around files easier and we did some significant design improvements to the Files & Folders module. The entire uploading, editing, and sharing experience has just gotten a whole lot better!

Uploading Files 

You can now simply drag and drop multiple files directly into your Ap4 Files & Folders page. We have used HTML5. 

Folder Sharing 

Users can now view and access their project folder structure using the folder dropdown or through the folders links found at the top of the Files & Folders page. 

Folder Navigation 

Users can now view and access their project folder structure using the folder dropdown or through the folders links found at the top of the Files & Folders page. 

File Updates 

You and all your project members now know which files have been updated or are new since your last login in Ap4. 

You can now visualize which files have been shared or have comments. The share and comments buttons turn light blue when files are shared or commented. 

Check out our how-to guide for using the new Files & Folders module to manage your files. Plus, please give us your feedback, and let us know how you work with files on Ap4 internally in your company or externally with other project teams and organizations.

New Dashboard

We have finally rolled out the new dashboard for everyone. Check it out!

Quickly get an update overview on your project status. See what project information is new or has been updated and by whom. Easily navigate right into the project updates.

New Ap4 Dashboard

What is new about it? What can you do and see?
 

1. With just one click you can now edit the project name and description and start and end dates.
2. New project progress indicator bar (we divide the number of closed to-do’s by the total number of to-do’s).
3. Project totals. We report the total number of project files, to-do´s, project planned tasks, photos, comments, submittals, meeting minutes, and daily log entry reports and a quick link to each project item.
4. See all of your project’s latest information updates. Everytime someone updates any information in your project you will know once you log back into Ap4. All updates are coloured in orange.
5. We have posted your upcoming to-do’s on a post-it. Simply click and work your to-do.
6. Visualize all of your project members and their 5 last activities, or invite new project members.

Lets us know what you think about our new dashboard at sales@ap4projectmanagers.com !

New version available to all users!

Thank you all for your strong support for AP4 Project Managers. We have grown and are now being used in over 46 countries worldwide in a very short period of time. The new AP4 Project Managers has formally launched today!

The release of the new version of AP4 Project Managers features a redesign, faster experience, and new features.

Since our launch, our team has taken the best of what customers loved about AP4 Project Managers, and responded with the tool we release today.

We have listened and talked to customers and have decided to focus AP4 as a task and project collaboration manager tool for the AEC market.

The new AP4 Project Managers will allow you to turn everything into a task (RFI's, Safety, Defect Issues, Files, Photos, Messages, Meeting Minute Topics). You will never again lose control over what needs to be done. Organize what needs doing and communicate with others to get it done.

Please feel free to drop us a line/tweet and let us know what you like (or don’t like) about the new Ap4 Project Managers. When you talk - we always listen and respond; your feedback is what makes AP4 Project Managers the best cloud collaboration app available for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) sector.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us in case of questions: +351 910209370 - sales@ap4projectmanagers.com

Happy Construction Project Management!
Sincerely,

The AP4 Team

Survey Reminder! We want your feedback to keep improving

If you have questions you can reach our support team at
help.ap4projectmanagers.com

New Improved Design!

The New Version is a redesign: cleaner, faster, and more intuitive
Following a lot of great feedback, we're excited to present AP4 Project Managers in a new and improved design!

Easier navigation – AP4's main actions are now 1 click away
Accessing AP4's main features is now much easier. We moved every module's main action button into a dropdown navigation style, making them always available.

More room to visualize your project information – More space, easier to work and read!
A cleaner look and feel welcomes you in your project workspaces.

• We have organized and combined all task related modules into one working area. Your Gantt Chart, To-do List, and Calendar are now grouped together, helping you to easily move from your to-do list that help carry out the project plan to your Gantt Chart. 

• We have grouped all action buttons into dropdowns called Actions, giving you now more room for an easier navigation and more space to read your project information.

New Improved Design - AP4 Project Managers
We are never done improving AP4 Project Managers. We want to meet the future needs of our users as well and we hope that these improvements reflect how dedicated our team is to make your work smarter and better looking. Feel free to leave your comment or let us know you think in the poll bellow.

Update - Signup, Login & Invite Changes

We have an important overhaul ready to be implemented in Ap4 Project Managers on the 12^th of December at 19:00 GMT. (Our servers will be down for 5 minutes.)

What is happening?

We are substituting the use of usernames in our login page for email addresses.

The next time you login to Ap4 Project Managers simply now use your email address you signed-up with. The password maintains the same.

Why are we doing this change?

We are making the signup and invitation process simple.

Ap4 Project Managers now works as our construction community does, you can add any of your project partner companies or collaborators, and apart from using the software for free with the projects you shared with them, they will also be able to work on the same application on other projects of their own. Or, you yourself may be invited to another company´s project.

We can now support this with the use of a common denominator, your email address.

Users will be able to access and manage their own projects and projects they were invited to with just one Ap4 account.

We believe that this will allow Ap4 Project Managers to establish a market standard for construction project communication.

And… to help you further share your project we have just added unlimited user usage  to your free plan account!

Also check your new user invite button. It makes sharing your project much easier. Start inviting!

Any additional necessary steps?

None, unless you have the Ap4 Mobile Android app and / or our Ap4 Outlook pluggin installed, it will be necessary to update to the available new version found in the Android Markeplace (found here) and reinstall the new Ap4 Outlook pluggin version found inside your Ap4 User Profile page.

If you have any difficulties get in touch with our support team (support@ap4porjectmanagers.com)

What else is new?

Meanwhile we also improved our Timesheet and Gantt task functionalities in our Gantt Module.

• You can now easily log in your project resource hours and manage your resource costs.

•  You now also have the option to select the start and end date of a new gantt task or simply insert the number of days when entering a new gantt task.

Thanks!

Roadmap 2011

É já a partir de Outubro que vamos lançar uma grande actualização do Ap4 Project Managers em que incluiremos diversas novas funcionalidades e módulos que ficarão acessíveis a todos os nossos clientes.

Apostámos em fazer do Ap4ProjectManagers a melhor ferramenta de gestão colaborativa de projecto.

O feed-back de muitos dos nossos clientes que utilizam o Ap4 nos seus projectos foi determinante para que a equipa da Apond, de forma entusiasmada e intensa,  prosseguisse com o desenvolvimento contínuo de novos módulos e funcionalidades que irão tornar mais fácil e indispensável a utilização do Ap4 para:

• Ajudar a gerir os projectos de forma fácil e intuitiva centralizando num único ponto toda a informação tornando-a disponível a todos os intervenientes a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar;
• Resolver o chaos que representa a caixa de emails dos intervenientes num projecto;
• Fazer disparar a colaboração das equipas envolvidas num ou mais projectos;
• Duplicar a produtividade das equipas.
  

Sincronização com Ms Outlook (emails e ficheiros) Agora pode sincronizar os emails que recebe na sua caixa de correio electrónico no Ms Outlook com o módulo de comunicação do Ap4 Project Managers. Consegue guardar agora todos os emails referente ao seu projecto no Ap4 Project Managers organizado por projecto. Sincronize e todos os emails entre o Ms Outlook e o Ap4 Project Managers Sem sair do Ms Outlook, guarde os ficheiros que recebe no seu email Ms Outlook directamente nas pastas existentes no módulo de gestão documental no Ap4.

Registo de Comunicação Registe todas a entregas e distribuição de informação, documentos e mensagens do projecto com o novo Registo de Comunicação Faça a distribuição de novos ficheiros aos colaboradores do projecto e registe essa mesma distribuição Registe o envio de mensagens entre os vários membros do projecto

Gestão de Permissões através de Matrizes Para visualizar e gerir rapidamente a globalidade de permissões atribuídas por empresa, por departamento/grupo ou por utilizador criámos uma matriz de permissões de fácil leitura e gestão dos acessos referentes às pastas partilhadas no módulo de gestão documental.

Lançar Orçamentos e Autos de Medição por Empresa Permite inserir  orçamentos, de forma fácil e expedita, de acordo com a estrutura de um mapa de quantidades e preços unitários tradicional ou através da importação de ficheiros Excel. O utilizador autorizado pode também criar um orçamento global a partir de vários outros orçamentos específicos, por especialidade/sub-empreitada e/ou por empresa. A partir das quantidades do orçamento referentes aos autos de facturação,  pode-se visualizar, em cada momento, o progresso do projecto já que existe uma perfeita integração entre este módulo e o módulo de Gantt Chart.

Novo Módulo de Gantt Planear o seu projecto ou obra utilizando o Gantt Chart do Ap4 integrado com a informação do projecto: As tarefas do plano de trabalhos podem estar integradas com o mapa de quantidades inerentes ao auto de facturação; Ou seja, ao elaborar-se um auto de medição, o mesmo pode automaticamente actualizar a percentagem do progresso das tarefas no plano de trabalhos; Visualizar os plano de trabalhos por empresa, departamento ou sub-empreitada; Permite utilizar o “timeline” para relacionar a evolução do projecto com as datas de registo de fotos e documentos entregues e analisar os trabalhos Previstos Vs. Real Exportar e Importar do Ms Project

AP4 Mobile Agora, pode aceder à informação do projecto a partir do seu smartphone Android, mesmo quando se está fora do escritório , no estaleiro ou junto a outro dos intervenientes do projecto, tornou-se muito simples. Na realidade,  a partir do seu smartphone ou tablet PC Android, quer esteja online ou offline, crie, registe, partilhe e controle a informação do seu projecto e obra, em qualquer lugar e a qualquer hora. Com o Ap4Mobile, mais do que nunca, os membros das suas equipas vão estar mais envolvidos  e ligados entre si, simplificando o trabalho e trabalhando mais depressa, garantindo o sucesso de cada projecto.

Novo Interface Mais rápido e mais user-friendly. Melhorámos a velocidade de abertura das páginas Ap4 e desenhámos novos botões e tabs para tornar mais fácil a experiência de navegação do utilizador.

New and improved Tag Cloud

New and improved Tag Cloud, just added an autocomplete search box to help you quickly find all of your tags.



Tags gather all the information about a subject or issue posted in the project. They will help you find and organize all subjects scattered throughout the vastness of the project.




Search or click on a tag in the Tag Cloud, and immediately visualize every project item with that tag.