Settings - Projects - Project Message Status
Updated
QUESTION - Should you be able to delete BID RECEIVED as it is automatically set if a Bid Participants, submits a Bid?
Suggested Prior Reading
Project Message Status
This section is used to setup and maintain statuses and their settings to manage the Bidding process. Status is also referred to as Project Message Status on this form.
There are two different kinds of Project Message Statuses maintained in the list:
- Status (of the Bid itself) - Displays in Status column on the Bidding Messaging List.
- Status (of the project message sent and information downloaded) - this is a separate status from the one above and reflects information about the project message status and download status. Displays in the Info column on the Bidding Messaging List.
Although both kinds of Status are maintained in this list, they are separate statuses and display and are maintained in different columns. To get the full picture of what is going on, both the Info column and the Status column are viewed. See Bidding - Managing for more information.
Both kinds of status in this list can be assigned an Activity Score. An Activity Score is used to help rate Bidding Participants. For example, the higher along a Bidding Participant is in the process, the higher the score. See Bidding Messaging - Activity Score for more information.
Status (of the Bid itself)
The following describes the different types of statuses for Bids, what functionality is available to Administrators to maintain the status, who can set this status type on bids, and examples of those kind of statuses.
This appears in the Status column on the Bidding Messaging List (see Bidding Messaging List - Overview).
There is a default status assigned for new Bids, then this column is updated by by the Estimators or (whomever is managing the Bidding process) and by Bid Contacts (to reflect whether they are accepting the bid or declining the bid).
A Bid can only be assigned to one of these statuses at a time (to reflect its progress through the bidding process).
Each of these statuses can be assigned a color. When a Bid has a status, it will be color coded for easy identification. Administrators can set the color for each Status type except Pending - which is not changeable. Pending is not color coded or may appear as grey on some status bars. The Status text will display on this list in the color applied.
Each of these statuses can also be set to be included as an option on an RSVP response.
Different Types of Status | Administrators Functionality | Who Sets this Status | Status or Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
System Predefined Status - Not Changeable | Can not be changed or deleted by Administrators | It may be used as a default setting, but can then be changed by Estimators (or Bid Managers) or Bid Contacts. | Pending |
System Predefined Status(es) - Required | Can not be deleted but can be changed by Administrators | Estimators (or Bid Managers) or Bid Contacts. | Accept or Decline |
User Defined Statuses - Defaults | Can be changed or deleted by Administrators | Estimators (or Bid Managers) or Bid Contacts. | Bid Received or Award |
User Defined Statuses - Organization Specific | Can be changed or deleted by Administrators | Estimators (or Bid Managers) or Bid Contacts. | Unique to each organization to represent their bidding process |
System Predefined Status - Not Changeable: Pending
There is one Bidding Status that is built into the system and can not be changed or deleted by Administrators (and therefore does not appear on this list), which is Pending. This status is assigned by default to Bids during the preliminary bidding steps such as adding participants and sending messages and while contact is reviewing the information, but prior to the contact making a decision on whether they are bidding or not.
System Predefined Status(es) - Required: Accept or Decline
There are two statuses which are prebuilt into the system and can not be deleted (but other information about them can be changed such as the name and color).
- Accept - The Contact has accepted the bid and is expected to respond (User set status)
- Decline - The Contact will not bid (User set status)
An Accept and Decline status is required as that is the base functionality for Bids. These are used in conjunction with the Pending status. A Bid starts as Pending but then the Contact either Accepts the Bid (as they intend to submit a bid) or they Decline to bid.
Although these statuses can't be deleted, they can be changed, even the name. However even if they are renamed, the name should reflect the base functionality that these represent (i.e. an accept state or decline state as that plus pending, represents the minimal bidding steps).
Additional User Defined Statuses can then be defined such as Bid Received or Award (see below).
User Defined Status(es) - Defaults: e.g. Bid Received or Awarded
User Defined Statuses are those that each organization can set to represent their bidding process. The system by default comes preloaded with two of these types of statuses; Bid Received or Awarded, as these are generally part of all bidding processes.
These statuses can be deleted or changed by Administrators as required.
User Defined Statuses - Organization Specific
Administrators can also setup organization specific statuses to represent their bidding processes.
System Predefined Status(es) - System Controlled (Viewed or Downloaded)
Viewed and Downloaded are controlled by system functions and represent the status of what the Bid Contacts have done in regards to being sent an invitation to bid. This is set automatically. This status appears in the Info column on the Bidding Messaging List (see Bidding Messaging List - Overview).
These types of statuses can not be deleted or changed except for assigning an Activity Score.
These status are set by the system depending on what has happened and they are separate from the Status on the actual Bid, in that they are maintained separately and display in a different columns. For example, a Bid can have a Pending Status and one or both of the Viewed/Downloaded status - as they are maintained separately.
Although the System Predefined Status(es) happen independently of the Status (of the bid itself) column, generally, the Status would be Pending, while contacts are downloading and viewing documents (but does not have to be).
Next Steps
Settings - Projects - Project Message Status - Add/Edit/Delete
