Product Updates Archives

New Report and Issue Layouts

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 by simon

We are happy to announce some enhancements coming very soon to the BaseStone PDF reports! They will include more information for each issue and have a new, cleaner layout.

Reports will include:

Issue type
Contractor responsible
Due Date

The new layout design is based on feedback from users and displays information in a more condensed way. So reports will now be shorter but contain more information – what’s not to like!

Next on the roadmap for reports is the ability to choose from a selection of templates to give you more flexibility to create more types of reports. If you have any feedback or suggestions on what kind of report templates we should include, please get in touch.

Issues also have a new layout and design so it’s easier to see the relevant information at first glance:

Let us know what you think!

BaseStone 4.0 is here!

August 12, 2020April 17, 2019 by simon

We are very excited to announce the release of the much anticipated BaseStone 4.0!

This major update incorporates many of the ideas and feedback from our users and aims to add more flexibility to the system.

Here’s a roundup of what’s included;

Link issues to multiple drawings

For many workflows, such as Field Change Requests (FCRs) and Non Conformance Reports (NCRs), many drawings are related to the issue in question. You can now link many drawings and related markup to a single issue. Read more here.

Raise issues without a drawing

Use BaseStone to capture site information, even when you don’t have a drawing to relate it to. You can now create standalone issues simply using the application. Read more here.

New issue view

When you open an issue, it will no longer open the drawing by default. This is to allow for the changes in the issue and drawing relationship mentioned above. Wee hope this will also save you time when issues details need to be edited, but don’t need to be opened on the drawing. Read more here.

Manage your offline and cloud projects

We have improved the management of offline and cloud projects. Offline projects are those that are synced automatically. Cloud projects are only synced when you manually update them. This helps you to manage the storage on your device and ensure you always have the right project information on site. Read more here.

Spreadsheet view

Our new spreadsheet view resembles an excel spreadsheet and can be used for viewing and tracking data. It brings together all of the issues across all of the projects in the account and there are filters to help to display what you need.

You can also make changes to issue from this page which will help to speed up work.

The spreadsheet view is currently only in Beta but will be available very soon on the web application. Read more here.

Download 4.0 today on the Appstore and let us know what you think!

Countdown to 4.0: Changes under the Hood

March 25, 2019March 22, 2019 by simon

With the release of BaseStone 4.0 just around the corner, here is an in depth look at one of the major changes we are making under the hood and why. A fundamental part of the BaseStone system since the very beginning has been the ability to create issues on top of drawings. This helps engineers and construction managers everyday to record design changes and capture data from inspections directly onto drawings. However, as the way in which people use BaseStone has evolved, the same is true of the requirements for the way the system works.

What’s changing?

We are making a change under the hood and breaking the one-to-one connection between drawings and issues to support different use cases. This will allow you to link an issue to multiple drawings. It will also mean you can create an issue linked to no drawing at all. Why?

Historically, it’s only been possible to link an issue to a single drawing. This limits the ability for BaseStone to support Field Change Requests (FCR), Non Conformance Reports (NCR) and other workflows as these often relate to multiple drawings. We found that our users were having to create duplicate issues just to link them to the relevant drawings. First and foremost, we wanted to fix this. Secondly, we found that new users want to use BaseStone for capturing defects and doing inspections but they might not have any drawings yet or at all. As it’s currently only possible to create a BaseStone issue with a drawing, this change will make it easier for people to get set up with BaseStone. We wanted to help people get value from BaseStone more quickly and support inspection and snagging use cases more flexibly.

What does it mean for me?

Although this is a big change in the architecture of the BaseStone system, initially there will not be a huge impact for users. You will soon start to see changes in the interface, starting in BaseStone 4.0, which pave the way towards new functionality. For example the screenshot below shows the new look of issues on the iOS app, which includes a section displaying the linked files. You can tap on the file to open it or you can tap on the issue to open it and edit it directly.

What’s next?

With subsequent releases, we will add functionality what lets you link issues to multiple drawings and create issues without a drawing. We’re excited to be making changes and adding more flexibility to the system to support our users! Look out for the release of 4.0 soon and let us know your feedback as always.

What’s Coming in BaseStone 4.0

March 25, 2019February 22, 2019 by simon

BaseStone starts a new leg of our journey in 2019. In the near future BaseStone 4.0 will be released. This represents some of the biggest changes since we began and builds on extensive user meetings, research and your requests.

If you asked for it, we will be delivering this year. Read on to find out what we’re building and why. We’ll be releasing more blog posts that cover each element in detail.

Get to work immediately.

You will no longer need to upload PDF drawings to BaseStone to start working. Snag, create Site Observations, raise RFIs and create NCRs without drawings.

Why?

Many of you have said that often you need to raise issues without having to relate it to a certain drawing. This will make it easier and faster to capture snags and carry out defect management.

It will also make it easier to get started on BaseStone because you won’t need to import any drawings to get set up.

Manage your data intuitively.
BaseStone is adding a spreadsheet view of data to rapidly speed up editing of issues and provide a replacement for all your data tracking needs.

Why?

We’ve found that the majority of our you use trackers outside of BaseStone for tracking and understanding progress.

We wanted to put your BaseStone data into a view that you were comfortable with, was more flexible and allowed you to extract the right information quickly.

We also spoke to many people that use BaseStone for capturing data from the field and then come back to the office to tidy up and add information on the web application. They told us it was time consuming to have to open each issue to make changes to it. You’ll be able to edit issues in-place so this will really speed this process up.

Issues can be linked to multiple drawings.

You will no longer be limited to raising an issue on a single drawing. You can raise issues and connect them to zero or multiple drawings, adding notes to each PDF and keeping the data in one place. Create NCRs across multiple drawings with ease.

Why?

Those of you using BaseStone for as-built redlining told us that often there is an Field Change Request (FCR) or Non Conformance Report (NCR) that is related to multiple drawings. We found that some of you were having to create the same FCR many times on different drawings and then ended up with duplicates in the system.

BaseStone 4.0 will fix this.

Additional workflow features.

An new option has been added for issue types and contractors. Separate your NCRs, RFIs and snags. Report on individual lines of work and individual contractors. Complex queries are easier to generate and more intuitive.

Why?

Managing multiple workflows such as snagging, redlining and design review at the same time in BaseStone was becoming tricky. The ‘Issue Type’ field lets you separate issues and manage them more effectively.

Find out more about the Issue Type field

You also asked us for a better way to manage the work assigned to specific contractors in BaseStone, in addition to the ability to assign issues to an individual.

Find out more about the Contractor field.

Additional markup support.

The 4.x series of releases will see new features being added including measurement and decal support.

Why?

Those of you creating as-built redlines on BaseStone have asked for a way to add your own decals to BaseStone for the final output. At the moment you’re having to download the BaseStone Snapshot and open it in another editing tool to add the Decal. We’ll make this easier in 4.0.

Many of you have told us that a double-headed arrow would be really useful to add measurements on to drawings. This will be coming soon.

Analytics for better insights.

BaseStone will be adding analytics and graphing across projects in upcoming releases.

Why?

More analytics, dashboards and graphing are a highly requested features. We want you to be able to use the data in BaseStone to really get insights into the project.

This is a big year for us and we hope to make BaseStone better than ever and thank you for giving us your feedback as it helps us achieve that aim!