What's New in 2022 R6

What's New lists the enhancements and changes made in the 22.6 release. This release is available as of 6/8/2022. Android users can download the Field Management mobile app the same day as its release. For iOS users, the Field Management mobile app can take 24 to 48 hours following the release date to become available in the App Store.

Customers hosted in a Viewpoint cloud solution receive the latest update automatically. For customers who update modules manually, see Update the Portal for help.

Important: Complex passwords now required
  • Complex passwords are now required for all users who log in to the portal with their employee number.

    • A complex password must be at least eight characters long and must contain at least three of the following: lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters (such as #, $, or %).

    • Existing users will not have to update their passwords immediately. Instead, they will be required to enter a complex password the first time they request a password change following the update to version 22.3.

      Note: As part of this change, the portal setting Enforce complex password requirement has been removed from Admin > Portal Settings > Security / Login > Log In Page.

Highlights and General Changes

  • Checklists

    • Checklists are now available for all Field Management users! This used to be a legacy tool, and is now available to everyone. To add users as a Checklist Administrator, add User Groups to portal setting User Group for Checklist Administrator Permissions. Checklist Admins can assign users to a Checklist, and manage Checklist Templates, Workflows, and Lookups.

      For more information on using Checklists, see Configure Checklists.

  • Crew Timecards

    • New Bulk Add Feature for Grid Timecard! Users can now add Grid Timecard lines for multiple employees. Select the + Row drop-down, and select Bulk Add. The Add Lines for Multiple Employees window displays. When you have completed each field in the window, select Add Line(s) and the new timecard lines will be displayed on the Grid Timecard.

      For more information on Bulk Add, see Grid Timecard User Guide.

  • Field Management Mobile

    • Production units submitted through the Field Management Mobile app are now routed through Production Approval when the portal setting Enable Progress Entry Approval is selected (defaults to off). Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Progress Entry > General Configuration.

      Note: If you enable this setting, we recommend that you also enable Restrict Production Approval to Job Time Approvers so that Production Approval is available only to the Job Approvers set up in Vista.

  • General Improvements

    • Improved backend operations for customers who use custom database names.

    • Named user logins are now supported when single sign-on has been enabled for the Login page (Log in mode 4 in Admin > Portal Settings > Security / Login > Windows Authentication Login.

    • New advanced portal setting Temp File path allows you to set a file location for temporary files generated by web portal operations. If this setting is blank (default), the Windows system temp folder will be used. Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Administration / Initial Setup > Advanced Configuration.

    • Multiple attachments can now be uploaded to Checklists, Performance Reviews, Field Service forms, Applicant Tracking, and Onboarding.

  • New! Enhanced styling for Web: Styling updates have been made to the Update My Personal Info page to enhance the look and feel of the web portal. These changes have no impact on portal workflows or functionality.

HR Management Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Document Library

    • When adding documents to the library, you can now add attachments that are spreadsheets with file extensions .XLSM or .XLSB and documents with the file extension .DOCM.

  • Expenses

    • The Expense Report now displays the same number of decimal places as the unit cost or mileage rate on the Expense item.

  • Onboarding / Applicant Tracking

    • Create custom header text for the Personal Info and Emergency Contacts sections of your core onboarding forms using the following two new portal settings:

      • Custom header text Emergency Contacts task

      • Custom header text Personal Info task

      Both settings are located under: Admin > Portal Settings > Onboarding / ATS > Custom Headers. Select the Edit Text button for either setting to customize that text on your onboarding forms.

    • In Applicant Tracking, you can now make the How did you hear about us? field required for job applicants by enabling the new portal setting Require the How did you hear about us? As part of this change, the Req Source column has been removed from the Job Requisition and Applicant Search grids. Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Onboarding / ATS > ATS.

  • Time Off

    • In Extended Leave Code Configuration, you can now configure leave codes in increments of 3.5 and 3.75 hours.

  • Timecards

    • New Bulk Add Feature for Grid Timecard! Users can now add Grid Timecard lines for multiple employees. Select the + Row drop-down, and select Bulk Add. The Add Lines for Multiple Employees window displays. When you have completed each field in the window, select Add Line(s) and the new timecard lines will be displayed on the Grid Timecard.

      For more information on Bulk Add, see Grid Timecard User Guide.

    • Portal setting Enable full time worked editing on Grid Timecard page outside of modal window has been removed. This is now standard behavior.

    • The date on Grid Timecard lines in Job Time Approval now displays three characters (Sun, Mon, Tue, etc.).

Field Management Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Checklists

    • Checklists are now available for all Field Management users! This used to be a legacy tool, and is now available to everyone. To add users as a Checklist Administrator, add User Groups to portal setting User Group for Checklist Administrator Permissions. Checklist Admins can assign users to a Checklist, and manage Checklist Templates, Workflows, and Lookups.

      For more information on using Checklists, see Configure Checklists.

  • Crew Timecards

    • New Bulk Add Feature for Grid Timecard! Users can now add Grid Timecard lines for multiple employees. Select the + Row drop-down, and select Bulk Add. The Add Lines for Multiple Employees window displays. When you have completed each field in the window, select Add Line(s) and the new timecard lines will be displayed on the Grid Timecard.

      For more information on Bulk Add, see Grid Timecard User Guide.

    • Portal setting Enable full time worked editing on Grid Timecard page outside of modal window has been removed. This is now standard behavior.

    • The date on Grid Timecard lines in Job Time Approval now displays three characters (Sun, Mon, Tue, etc.).

  • Field Management Mobile App

    • Production units submitted through the Field Management Mobile app are now routed through Production Approval instead of being processed automatically when the portal setting Enable Progress Entry Approval is selected. Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Progress Entry > General Configuration.

      Note: If you enable this setting, we recommend that you also enable Restrict Production Approval to Job Time Approvers so that Production Approval is available only to the Job Approvers set up in Vista.

    • New portal setting Add Usage Units to Employee's Default Equipment for all labor hours allows you to control whether usage units are added to the employee's default equipment for labor hours (defaults to on). Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Field Management Mobile > General Configuration.

    • Zero-hour timecard lines are now supported for all time entry line types when you enable the portal setting Allow zero hour lines to be saved and submitted. In addition, if this setting is not enabled and you submit time entries that include zero hour lines, a message pops up with a list of the employees who have zero hour lines and need to have hours entered. Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Timecard > Standard Timecard.

  • Job Approval

    • New filters on the Job Time Approval page:

      • Pay Period Status allows users to filter by Open or Closed pay periods. When portal setting Number of past pay periods to have available in Job Approval is set to zero, the Pay Period Status drop-down on the Job Time Approval page defaults to Open and cannot be changed.

      • The Pay Period Ending drop-down on the Job Time Approval page is now filtered by the currently logged in user. The user is able to see pay periods for which they have employees to review, and any closed pay periods.

    • The Job Time Approval PDF, generated by selecting View as PDF, now includes processed and unprocessed job time.

    • The following options have moved on the Job Time Approval page:

      Approve All, Reject All, View as PDF, Production Approval, and Clear Filters are now located in the Actions drop-down.

  • Purchase Orders

    • The PO Dashboard now includes Change Order units from Vista in the Current and Received Units columns.

Financial Controls Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Billing Compiler

    • The Bill number is now displayed on the Billing Compiler Next Gen Bill drop-down. Previously, the Bill drop-down only listed the Invoice number.

    • When downloading attachments as a ZIP file on the Billing Compiler Next Gen page, the attachments now download in the order they were created on the bill.

  • Progress Billing

    • Portal Setting Show SM Fields has been renamed to Show Stored Material Fields. Use this setting to add stored material fields to the Billing Details grid.

      Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Billing > Progress Billing.

  • Purchase Orders

    • The PO Dashboard now includes Change Order units from Vista in the Current and Received Units columns.

Vista Field Service Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Work Order Dashboard / Work Orders

    • You can now create custom portal lookups for Equipment, Material, and Standard Items added to work completed. Use Manage Lookups to create lookups in the portal. Then add those lookup names to the following new portal settings available under Admin > Portal Settings > Field Service > Work Complete:

      • Equipment Lookup Filter

      • Material Lookup Filter

      • Standard Item Lookup Filter

  • Form Templates

    • Default forms can now be generated based on SM Tasks! Set up a default assignment in Field Service > Form Templates and select the new Standard Task option as the Assignment Type. Then associate this Standard Task with a Work Order in Field Service.

  • Portal Setting Changes

    • For improved usability, the portal setting User Group for Field Service Admins has been changed to User Group for Field Service Admins (includes Form Creation). Setting location: Admin > Portal Settings > Field Service > General Configuration.

    • The portal setting Always hide attachments from displaying in the Trip Completion process and PDF output has been changed to Always hide attachments from displaying in the Trip Completion process. This setting does not prevent attachments from being sent in emails.