New Features and Updates

*SPR = Software Performance Report

 
TOP REQUEST! Search Performance and Ease of Use Enhancements!

You asked for it and we listened! We've continued to enhance the performance and functionality of our search tools. 

This update provides very dramatic speed and functionality improvements in searching from both the 'Search for Anything' box on the homepage, and the Item Homepage search boxes.

Both Centerbase search boxes now automatically do a 'Contains' search, not just a 'Starts With' Search as previously.  This means you can type the text 'Adams' and Centerbase will find records with 'Mr. Thomas Jefferson vs. Mr. John Adams'.  There is no need to use the asterisk wildcard character '*' any longer for these types of searches.

Performance:  The speed of search results being returned is now from 10 to 30 times faster, especially for users that are non administrators where lots of security restrictions may have been applied to your database.  The specific improvements in this release are:

• Speed improvements have been made to Lookup fields. (SPR #5361)
• The loading speed of Item Details pages (the page that appears when opening a matter or contact) has been substantially improved. (SPR #5371)
• A drastic speed improvement has been added for non-administrators when running the Global Search (the main search on the left-hand toolbar of Centerbase.) (SPR #5441)
• Both the Global Search and Item homepage search now default to a "Contains" search, which eliminates the need to type an asterisk when searching. (SPR #5446)
  
  

 

NOTE: Watch for an update coming in the next release to configure these search boxes on the fly!

 

Matter Originator Settings New Functionality 

Users now have more search and reporting functionality when using the matter origination settings. 

The originator settings on a matter can now be added as a field in Centerbase and used in queries, reports and grids. 

This unlocks new capabilities such as:

• Running a search to find matters that have no originator set.
• Generate a variety of reports using the origination settings as columns or groups.
• Find matters that a particular attorney is an originator on.
• List payments received with originators by using the dataview capability on payment distributions, for example. (Requires a small additional update to be applied the week of 4-23-19)

Setting Up the Field in the Data View

Before using the new field, you will need to configure the field in the Data View editor in the PC Admin Tool.  See your administrator if you are not familiar with how to do this.  Open the PC Admin Tool, click the Admin Tab, then Data Views.  Check off the new field for Matters, as shown below.

 

In order to search matters by their originator in the web browser, go to Matters on your toolbar, then Select Advanced Search. 

 

Under Conditions, you can select Originators from the first drop-down box, and then you will have the option to filter by the following conditions: 

 

• "Contains" - This can be selected to find a matter where the user is one of the assigned originators.
• "Does not contain" - This can be selected to find a matter where the user is not one of the assigned originators.
• Exactly matches -  This can be selected to finder matters where the user is the assigned originator and there are no other assigned originators.
• Is empty - This can be selected to find matters that have no assigned originators.
• Is not empty - This can be selected to find matters that have any assigned originators.
  
  

NOTE: There will be a small update in the next few days to add additional sorting and data view linking to this feature.

 

Bill Template Editor Updates 

We have added more customization to our bill template editor.  

• The default bill template now allows users to specify a separate group header and footer for time and expenses. (SPR #5401)
• The default bill template now allows users to hide a column while still showing the group subtotal. (SPR #5403) 

 

Office 365 Improvements 

We've enhanced our Office 365 integration to improve its overall usability and functionality. 

• The 365 synchronization has been improved in order to handle duplications that were being created in certain instances (for example, when an Outlook 365 sync mixed with a Centerbase Workflow on activities.) (SPR #5363)
• A new system utility has been added that can be used to clean up duplicates in both Centerbase and Outlook 365. (SPR #5389)

 

Outlook Add-in Updates 

We've added new functionality to our Outlook Add-in. 

 

A new Time Entry button has been created to give users the ability to create a time entry without attaching an email. You can find this button in the "Centerbase" tab of Outlook.

Download the Centerbase Outlook Add-in Here! 

 

 

By selected the Time Entry button, users will be presented with a new window where they can enter in any details for the time entry they're creating. 

 

 

• The Attach Selected Emails checkbox located at the top can be selected if the user does end up wanting to attach the email, but by default is unchecked.
  • Please Note: Billing entries can only be linked to matters.

Other Outlook Add-in Updates: 

• Several updates have been made to ensure that properties are immediately updated on emails when changes are made. (SPR #5340)
• Users can now see the entry date of billing entries that have been added to emails. This makes it easy for users to see what emails have or haven't been billed already. (SPR #5344)
• A property has been added to emails in order to show the matter, contact, and anything else that it is attached to. (SPR #5419)

  

  

Other Tweaks and Improvements

Workflow

• Workflows have been updated to allow sending emails to or from the Current User, which will adhere to the user's saved mail settings. (SPR #5369) 
• If an error occurred when running a workflow, users can now view the error details in the Workflow history. (SPR #5447)

Miscellaneous 

• Users can now filter with a "Units" view on the calendar. This displays the users on the top and the time vertically on the left. (SPR #5433)
• The accounting homepage on "Pay Vendor Bills" now only shows a notification number for overdue vendor bills, not all vendor bills. (SPR #5434)
• Labels can now be set on the subtitle footer in reports. (SPR #5417)

 

 

 Issues Resolved

• Resolved an issue where rate tables would occasionally prevent users from adding or removing an exception to a client/matter. (SPR #5361)
• Fixed an error that prevented users from deleting all activity colors in the system or adding any colors back to the system after doing so. (SPR #5368)
• Corrected the issue where reports would occasionally not print their group footers. (SPR #5375)
• The Balance Sheet System Health has been updated so that it no longer shows false positives when there aren't any issues. (SPR #5392) 
• Fixed an issue where the secondary billing code was not saving when entering time in the Outlook Add-in. (SPR #5431)
• Fixed an issue where Vendor Bills would sometimes display the wrong line item date based on the timezone. (5432)
• Fixed an issue with the Microsoft Word Add-in where default rates would not pull automatically when entering a time entry if the matter field was automatically filled in. (SPR #5440)
• Resolved the issue where the "Fee Total" line on an invoice cover page reflected an incorrect amount if the invoice was marked as Flat Rate with a Summary Entry. (SPR #5446)
• Resolved an issue with lookup fields sometimes displaying as an ID instead of a name. (SPR #5453)
• Fixed a problem in the calculations of the balance sheet if there were accounts with two levels of children (for instance, an account with a child account that also had a child account.)