2022-Q3

Welcome to the Product Newsletter for 2022-Q3 (July, August, September)

GENERAL UPDATES

New standard Color Tags

We have added default color tags for files and folders to allow for easy categorization of documents on the go without using the full tag functionality. For example, you might have to review several documents. To easily mark all the files to review, you can color tag them in yellow. Once you finish with each file, you can remove the color tag.

Thumbnails view on sidebar

When you save a MS Office file (docx, pptx, xlsx), a PDF file, or an image, the server creates a thumbnail of the document in the details pane. This will make it easier for you to quickly identify files.

Outlook for Windows

Re-enabled the functionality to attach files: we have found a fix to the issue users encountered when attaching files from Outlook. Now files and emails can be saved from Outlook by using drag and drop again.

Thumbnails view in drive navigation

You now have the choice between the standard list view and a new thumbnail (Tiles) view. This is particularly helpful when you are browsing folders with multiple image files or documents with a specific visual look and streamlines the identification of files and removes the need for opening the files.

 

SEARCH IMPROVEMENTS

Improvements in search engine with exact search and Boolean operators

We have added several new options to the search engine to make it more powerful to find what you need.

Default search: fuzzy search with OR

A fuzzy search looks for close matches with the search term, rather than exact ones. For example, search for a term and the engine will look for:

• The word
• Similar words. Example: if you search "test", it will search for tests", "testing", "tested", etc.
• Inside other words. Example: if you search for "end", the search results can be "send", "ended", etc.
• If you include several words, by default the search engine uses the OR Boolean operator to search for one search term or the other.

Exact search:

For exact search, you need to use quotation marks (“term here”) before and after the search terms. With the exact search, you will only look for those specific terms.

Boolean search: AND, OR, NOT.

Now you can use Boolean operators to make your search much more powerful. For Boolean search, you need to use CAPITAL LETTERS for the AND, OR, NOT symbols between search terms.  

AND Search

Use AND to search for both terms/phrases at the same time. Example:

 

OR Search

Use OR to search for any of those terms/phrases independently. This is the default behavior of standard search. Example:

 

NOT Search

Use NOT to exclude a term from the search terms/phrases. Example:

 

Combination of several Search options.

You can use any combination of search terms and Boolean operators with parenthesis. Example:

DRIVE MOBILE APP UPDATES

We have made improvements to the iOS and Android Drive app:

Share files

Now the share menu provides visual feedback when it is downloading files before opening the share menu.

Microsoft Office previews

There is a better viewing experience when you open Microsoft Office files. Now you can also control zoom levels.

You can download the apps from here: iPhone / iOS Android

 

VERSION CONTROL SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

We have been working to improve Synergy’s Version Control System based on feedback from our partners. We have made the following improvements and we will keep iterating with the roadmap below.

New version naming for drafts

Drafts are now named logically after the previous version. We have changed from “6.00 Draft” to “Draft post 6.00”. We have heard from several partners that this new nomenclature is much easier to understand. If you have any additional feedback, please let us know.

Add more information about versions in the save version dialog with:

1. Minor: these are internal versions, for sharing within the company
2. Major: these are external versions to be shared outside of the company

In addition, we plan on making the following improvements in the coming weeks:

1. New files created and file uploads to be minor versions by default (internal)

2. New option to overwrite last saved version (if that version was saved by you). This is very helpful when you identify a small typo or small change to be made. Now you can open the file, make that correction, and in the save version dialog you can overwrite the last version (and avoid “noise” in you version history)

3. New option to convert a version (major or minor) back to Draft status (if that version was saved by you). This improvement follows the same train of thought as the previous point. We have more improvements we plan to release next quarter, including the option to receive notifications by email when new versions of a document you have edited are saved. This has been requested by several partners. An initial design of the User Interface has already been produced. If you have any thoughts on this, please get in touch to discuss.

 

2022 Q4 ROADMAP

The upcoming features on our roadmap include:

• 5 recent folders in sidebar.
• Additional version control improvements
• Convert old Office files to current format automatically (.doc to .docx)
• Additional features in public links: enable end-users to customize expiration date, passwords, previews, etc.
• Drive multi-account to connect several accounts at the same time
• Virtual Data Room
• Webhooks and file notifications

Separately, we would like to share (again) with you that our development team is currently hard at work on Synergy’s next product: a Workflow / Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product, which is fully integrated with rest of the Synergy platform. In the first iteration the Workflow we plan to include the following core features:

• Company lists
• Contacts lists
• Pipelines
• Projects / Deals / Matters (same concept but different naming depending on industry. The name can be customized to your industry)
• Tasks
• Time Tracking

We would very much welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions, which in turn might inform and influence the finished article. We are always keen to hear how we can make Synergy better for you and your organization.

Thank you very much for your trust,

The Synergy team