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2024 Updates

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Our Product Updates offer brief, high-level descriptions of enhancements and new features. We include links to setup information, tips, and best practices to ensure your continued success. Scroll down to see details about each update.

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Contents

Click on the + to view the details of each update.   

If a feature or area has been added or updated, it's noted here. All releases include the continuous improvements and bug fixes we make to ensure the product is the best it can be.

22 Dec

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

15 Dec - Updates to Lead/Contact exports and Browse Collateral in portal

Partners' custom contact information included in lead/contact exports

When your partner users export their list of contacts or leads from their partner portal, the exported CSV file now includes columns for any custom data fields the partner has created.

The partner's administrator creates custom contact fields in portal_settings_icon.png > Settings > Contact Fields.

Partner users can manage and export their contacts and leads from the Contacts and Leads pages, if you've provided them for them in the portal.

portal_leads_export.png

Updated sorting for Browse Collateral

We've improved the sorting of the Browse Collateral page, when provided in your partner portal. Assets are sorted depending on the action being taken:

  • Default - sorted by Content Date (most recent first)

    portal_browse_collateral_sort_content_date.png

  • Search results - sorted by Relevance, with Content Date as a secondary sort for those items that have equal relevance

    portal_browse_collateral_sort_search_relevance.png

Users can use the Sort by filter at any time to sort the assets by Relevance, Content Date, or Name.

08 Dec - icon_new.png AI Expert in Partner Portal

We're pleased to announce the beta release of our Portal AI Expert. When enabled in your partner portal, your partners can chat with the Expert and it'll help them with their marketing tasks by collecting the information and content you provide for them.

portal_ai_expert_conversation.gif

The Portal AI Expert can:

  • Collate all available information you've provided on a particular subject
  • Restructure/reformat the information as required for a user’s own use case
  • Translate a response, or have a whole conversation with a user in their native language
  • Allow a user to copy a response for use elsewhere
  • Regenerate a response to update it based on new information
  • Track up to 10 conversations

You can opt in to providing the AI Expert to your partners in their partner portal. For more information, see ZiftONE's AI Experts.

We're looking forward to finding out what your partners think of the AI Expert, and how it improves their experience of working with you.

For more information about working with the AI Expert in a partner portal, see Our AI Expert.

08 Dec - Update to Collateral Programs

Partner filters on assets in a Collateral Program

We've updated the way partner filters work for Collateral Programs in this release. Previously, partner filters set for the individual assets in a program weren't respected - it was only possible to set a top level one for the whole program. This meant that partners could have access to unsuitable or unauthorized content. Now, you can specify that partners, when accessing a Collateral Program, should only see the individual assets in the program that they are entitled to see.

Note

This option needs to be enabled on your system. Submit a request to your ZiftONE team if you want to take advantage of it.

When the option is enabled, you can set the Enforce partner filters from individual assets option when creating/editing a Collateral Program.

admin_collateral_programs_asset_level_filters.png

Setting this option ensure that the partner filtering set for each published asset in the program applies when the program is published. For example, this Collateral Program contains 3 assets:

  • Red Apple - for all partners
  • Green Apple - filtered to Acme Corp partner
  • Yellow Apple - filtered to Rose Lane Resources partner

The Collateral Program is available to all partners.

In Acme Corp's portal, the program contains Red Apple and Green Apple.

portal_collateral_program_filtered_xx.png

In Rose Lane Resources' portal, the same program shows Red Apple and Yellow Apple, without any additional configuration required.

portal_collateral_program_filtered_yy.png

01 Dec - icon_new.png Templates for Custom Pages 

We’ve introduced the option for you to use templates to style and format your custom portal pages. By using templates, you can be sure that your pages are standardized, consistent, and presented in line with your organization’s branding and business best practices. The use of templates also makes the page creation process a lot more efficient.

You can take advantage of ZiftONE’s proprietary templates, create and manage your own, or use a mix of both, when designing your portal.

When creating a custom page, select one of these types of template:

  • Zift Templates - Pre-built templates provided by the platform

    These cover a range of standard page types, for example About pages, Registration pages, FAQ pages, or a campaign landing page.

  • Saved Templates - Your own custom templates

admin_custom_pages_templates.png

You can create your own custom templates in two ways:

  • Save an existing custom page as a template

    Choose … > Save as Template when editing the custom page

    admin_custom_pages_save_as_template.png

    For more information, see Save a Custom Page as a Template.

  • Create a new template from scratch

    Go to   > Settings > Templates > Pages and choose Create Template

    admin_settings_templates_pages_create_template.png

    You also manage your custom page templates from here - view the list of templates and deactivate redundant ones.

    For more information, see Pages.

01 Dec - Update to Collateral

Make a Partner Group filter mandatory on collateral

We've introduced the option for Partner Group selection to be mandatory when creating or editing collateral assets of particular types. This can prevent accidental sharing of content with all partners.

Notes

  • This option needs to be enabled on your system, for each or all of your configured content types. Submit a request to your ZiftONE team if you're interested in using it.

  • When enabled, the feature doesn't apply if uploading or updating assets in bulk.

When the feature is enabled for a content type, you can't create or save changes to a collateral asset of that type if you haven't provided at least one Partner Group filter.

24 Nov - Update to Campaigns listing and Lead Distribution

New Partner Filters column for Campaigns listing

A new Partner Filters column is available for the Partner Marketing > Campaigns listing page. The column gives a clear view of the partners that have access to each campaign, without having to open and review each campaign individually.

admin_campaigns_partner_filters.png

The column displays partner information in two ways:

  • If a simple Partner Group filter has been applied to the campaign (via the Selected Partner Groups option) - direct links to each of the groups
  • If complex visibility rules have been applied - a text summary of the rule(s)

To add the column to the listing, use the Column Configuration option icon_column_config.png. For more information, see Configuring your Campaigns View.

Distributed leads default to Open when accepted

When a partner accepts a distributed lead from you, either manually or via auto-acceptance, its status is now automatically set to Open. The partner no longer has to manually give the lead a status upon receipt. This eliminates an unnecessary manual step for partners, and will help to reduce the chance of leads being missed because they have an empty status.

17 Nov

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

10 Nov

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

03 Nov - Update to Social Posts

Option to require use of Social Form in Social Posts

You as a supplier can now require your partners to use their Social Form in the Social Posts you provide to them. A system setting can be applied by your ZiftONE team:

  • If the setting is enabled

    • Your Social Posts with Use Social Form enabled will always use it.
    • Partners must have personalized their Social Form or they're not permitted to activate/approve the posts that use the Social Form.
    • A warning is displayed to the partner when accessing the post, if they haven't personalized their form - To use this post you need to personalise your social contact form - with a link to the Social Form. The Use Social Form choice isn't available.

    portal_activate_social_post_social_form_personalIzation_required.png

  • If the setting is disabled, they can choose whether or not to use the Social Form.

    portal_activate_social_post_use_social_form.png

For information on enabling a Social Form for a Social Post, see Creating Social Posts.

27 Oct - Update to Partner Portal configuration

Link to partner portal page from logo

We've added the option for you to hide the first item in a partner portal navigation, and allow users to click the portal logo to go to the page instead.

For example, you might want to have users click on the portal logo to return to the homepage, instead of displaying a physical Home link.

In ZiftONE Admin, go to Partner Portal > Site Configuration. Click Settings then choose Styling in the left sidebar. In Navigation Options, enable the Hide first menu item and link via logo setting.

admin_portal_styling_hide_first_nav.png

  • If the setting is disabled - the first configured navigation item (e.g. Home) is displayed on the menu bar.

    portal_first_nav.png

  • If the setting is enabled - the first navigation item is hidden from the menu bar. Users click on the logo to access the page.

    portal_first_nav_hidden.png

    Note: users can still access any sub-navigation items you've configured for the page when they access it from the logo.

20 Oct - Update to Deals in portal

Partner's Deals listing shows all deals, regardless of type

We've removed the partner group restriction on Deal Types when displaying deals - a partner's Deals listing in the portal now includes all deals for which they are the selected partner. Previously, a partner couldn't see deals that were raised against a Deal Type that the partner was excluded from due to their Partner Group membership.

Note: When a partner's registering a deal in the portal, they still only have access to the default and custom Deal Types enabled for them.

13 Oct

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

06 Oct

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

29 Sep - Updates to Custom Pages, object listings, and ZiftONE Global

New UI for creating and editing Custom Pages

We've updated the UI in which you create and edit your custom pages, making it cleaner and simpler and giving you more room to create your content.

admin_create_custom_page.gif

These areas are new, or have been changed:

  • The content edit area is now full page.

    Note: the location of the Content, Rows, and Settings properties sidebar hasn't changed.

    admin_custom_page_new_content_area.png

  • The page name field is now at the top of the page. Click the Edit icon (pencil) or the Options > Page Name menu choice to add/edit the title.

    admin_custom_page_new_page_title.png

  • The Language selector (for translations) is now at the top of the page. Click the drop down menu to select the language and add a translation.

    admin_custom_page_new_page_language.png

  • The Options menu now includes the Page Name and Page Key fields, and the Requires Partner Login and Active settings. Click the X to close it.

    admin_custom_page_new_options_menu.png

  • The new drop down next to the Save button allows you to add comments when saving a new version of the page.

    admin_custom_page_new_version_comment.png

  • The new ... menu holds the Copy, Delete, View Usages (when applicable), View History, and Change Template actions.

    admin_custom_page_new_three_dots_menu.png

For information about working with Custom Pages, see these articles:

Improved display of names in ZiftONE Admin listings

We now show the full name of objects in the ZiftONE Admin listings, to make it easier for you to differentiate between your data and content items. The names now wrap within the width of the column. Previously long names were truncated, indicated by an ellipsis.

admin_listings_name_display.png

Sandbox Environments available from a ZiftONE Global setup

Users logged in to a subsidiary instance in a ZiftONE Global setup can create sandbox environments (introduced in the 25-Aug release of ZiftONE), and switch between other environments on the same instance.

Note: this isn't possible for a user logged into the home (parent) instance in a Global Admin setup.

For information on sandbox environments, see Sandbox Environments.

For information on ZiftONE Global (available to suppliers with a Platinum subscription to ZiftONE), see ZiftONE Global for Multi-Instance Administration.

22 Sep - Updates to Deals in portal

Support for changing unit prices in partner deals

Deal line items are no longer explicitly linked to the pricing defined in their pricebook. When a partner adds a line item to a deal, the current unit price from the pricebook is used, but is retained for that line item for the life of the deal. If the pricebook changes, any new unit prices will be used when creating new line items for the same deal, but the change won't affect line items that have already been added.

This change also means that the prices of line items can be modified via a CRM integration.

Note: if partners need to update a line item to reflect a change in its unit price, they should delete the existing line item from the deal and add a new one.

Option to filter partners' Deals listing by account

It’s now possible for partners to view all the deals raised against a specific account. In the Deals listing in their portal, they can use the Account filter in the left sidebar to search for and select the required account.

portal_deals_account_filter.png

15 Sep

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

08 Sep - Updates to Custom Pages, TPC Emails, and Reports

New formatting options in Custom Page/Email editor

We've added some new formatting options for you to use when creating or editing your custom pages and To-Partner Communication (TPC) emails.

These properties are now available in the WYSIWYG editor:

  • Rounded corners for images and content areas

    A value of 0 gives right angled corners, with no curve.

    A value or 1 or higher gives rounded corners - the higher the value, the more rounded the corner.

    Apply the same value to all corners, or click More Options to access settings for each individual corner.

    admin_custom_page_image_rounded_corners.png

    You can find the properties here:

    • For images - use the Content property Image rounded corners

    • For content areas - use the Row property Content area rounded corners

  • Cards Style setting for rows

    Apply consistent spacing and corner style of columns in a single action, without needing to modify the borders and padding of each column individually.

    For example, this row in a custom page has 4 columns of various sizes, each with an image object:

    admin_custom_page_row_cards_style_none.png

    Applying Spacing settings from the Cards Style property to the row spaces them all out equally:

    admin_custom_page_row_cards_style_setting.png

    You can also give the cards rounded corners, if required.

  • Table content object

    Drag and drop a Table content object into your custom page/email, and use the properties to define table header, table body, columns, rows, borders, colors, font style/size, text direction, alignment, content padding, etc.

    admin_custom_page_table.png

For information about creating custom pages, see Create and Edit Custom Pages.

For information about creating TPC emails, see Message Partners.

Option to include supplier-specific reports in custom pages

It's now possible to provide reports created for you by your Zift team in a custom page to your partners. Previously, they could only be accessed with a standard feature page. Only ZiftONE standard reports could be included in a custom page.

Now, when adding a Dynamic Content widget to a custom page, you can select one that represents one of your custom reports. There is a widget for each report you can access from your organization's sub-folder in Partner Portal Standard Reports, when browsing for reports in ZiftONE Admin.

Browse for the folder by clicking the folder icon here, in the Analytics & Reports tab:

admin_analytics_browse_folders.png

Any custom reports are shown in the sub-folder for your organization (the supplier name is blanked out in this image):

admin_analytics_portal_standard_reports_customer.png

A widget for each report in the folder is available for adding to a custom page - its name is suffixed with your organization name (the supplier name is blanked out in this image):

admin_custom_page_dynamic_content_custom_report.png

01 Sep - icon_new.png Open Ticket dashboard 

The dashboard Open Ticket Dashboard (Support) is available to all suppliers. You can access it from Browse Reports in the Analytics & Reports tab of ZiftONE Admin:

admin_reports_open_ticket_dashboard.png

The dashboard provides a list of tickets you have open with Zift Support, with the information broken down into Client Tickets and Partner Tickets. The dashboard also gives guidance on how to work with Support to log and resolve issues.

admin_reports_open_ticket_dashboard.gif

Note: This example has had all actual ticket data removed, to conform to data governance guidelines.

01 Sep - Updates to Forms, and Deals and Collateral pages in portal

Option to include CAPTCHA in forms

We’ve added an option for you to have CAPTCHA verification included as a default on forms you present to your partners. This helps to reduce spam submissions and requests, by ensuring that the forms are completed by a human.

You can add CAPTCHA to these forms:

  • Password Reset / Forgotten Password form
  • Partner Registration and Partner User Registration forms

CAPTCHA needs to be enabled on these forms - contact your ZiftONE CSM if you want to use it.

portal_forms_captcha.png

Account name included in Deals listing

The Deals listing in the partner portal now includes details of the end customer account associated with each deal. This enables your partners to view their deal landscape in a single location, without having to click into each deal individually.

portal_deals_account_info.png

Improved sorting of Collateral pages by relevance

The collateral pages in the partner portal are sorted by Relevance by default. We've improved the sorting so that assets of equal relevance are now listed by create date, from latest to oldest.

25 Aug - icon_new.png Sandbox environments

We’ve introduced the concept of sandbox environments - a way for your administrator or your IT department to create a temporary copy of your instance of ZiftONE and make and test changes in it, without affecting your production or business environment.

As a default, you can create up to 5 copies of your environment for QA purposes, such as UAT or integration testing. This limit is configurable - contact your ZiftONE CSM if you think you will need more.

When the feature is enabled, you access it with a new toolbar button admin_sandbox_management_button_icon.png in ZiftONE Admin:

admin_sandbox_management_button.png

The button launches a window where you can manage your sandbox environments (permission depending):

admin_sandbox_management.png

  • Create Sandbox Environment - creates a clone of the environment in which it’s launched. It copies system data and configuration from the original to the clone, such as Client Settings, Partner Fields, Partner Groups, Tags, Portal configuration, Emails & Popups, Custom Fields, Data Pipelines (if enabled on your system), App Modules (if enabled), etc. A small set of non-private data is also copied over. Partner Account/Partner User data is currently not copied.
  • Access - switches the logged in user to a sandbox environment. You then have an option to switch back to the parent account (original instance).
  • Delete - removes a sandbox environment.

An environment is auto-disabled after 90 days.

For more information, see Sandbox Environments.

New System Management permissions grant user roles different levels of access to the sandbox environments for your account:

  • Sandbox Access - use sandbox environments
  • Sandbox Management - create, manage, delete sandbox environments

These permissions are assigned to the Administrator and IT Administrator roles in ZiftONE Admin as a default. For more information about managing roles and permissions, see Manage Role Permissions.

25 Aug - Updates to Custom Fields, and Lead import in portal

URL validation for custom text fields

We've added a new type of validation for custom text fields, to allow you to specify that the information being entered in the field must be in valid URL format.

When setting up a custom field of type Text, use the Data Validation type URL.

admin_custom_field_data_validation_URL.png

When implemented, a user will see an error if they try to enter a value that doesn't appear to be a URL in the field.

admin_partner_group_filters_multi_select.png

Notes about validation:

  • http:// or https:// are optional (https://x.com and x.com are both valid)
  • ? (query) or # (identifier) are permitted in the URL (for example, https://www.google.com/search?q=ziftsolutions)

For information about custom fields, see Custom Fields.

Custom field values shown in template for bulk import of Leads

Your custom fields for leads may have multiple configured values for selection. When a partner user is importing their registered leads in bulk into the portal, they need to know what values for those fields are permitted. We've added this information to the template users can download as guidance for a bulk import.

When a partner is using the File Import option in the Registered Leads page, they can choose Download template (existing functionality). The CSV file downloaded now displays the values for any custom fields that have multiple possible values.

portal_leads_export_template.png

The individual values are separated by a semi-colon.

18 Aug - Updates to Partner Groups, and Lead Management in portal

Multi-select values in Partner Group rule filters

It's now possible to select and use multiple values for filters when creating Partner Group rules. If an object, such as a Deal Stage or a Custom Object, has multiple possible values, you can use checkboxes to select one or more of them.

admin_partner_group_filters_multi_select.png

Select All and Unselect All options allow you to set or clear all values with a single click.

For more information about Partner Groups, see About Partner Groups.

Option to include Website field on Lead Registration form

We've made it possible for you to include the lead field Website in a Lead Registration form presented to partners in the portal. This allows you to capture your potential contacts' website details for your reference.

Go to   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Lead > Register > Forms and choose the Lead Registration form (if form editing is enabled for your site).

The field is available for you to add to the form, if required, along with your custom fields of type Lead > Register.

admin_form_lead_reg_website.png

When added to the form, all the standard field display options are available for the field - Display Name, Required, Read-only, Display Condition.

For more information about forms, see Form Configuration.

Communication Status information included in export of Lead data

We've added the field Communication Status to the CSV file exported when a partner user chooses Export > Export Contacts in the Leads pages of their partner portal. Having this information available means that partners can sort their list of leads by contact status and easily identify those who have unsubscribed from communications.

portal_leads_export.png

Opt-In emails not sent for Locator contacts/leads

We've made a small change to the communication/distribution process for leads generated by a contact request from a Locator in the partner portal. The original contact no longer receives an email asking them to opt in to partner communications when they are accepted as a lead by the target partner (if the partner portal account requires Opt-In Authorization for communications).

For information about Locators, see About Partner Locators.

11 Aug - Updates to Partner Explorer and Marketing Tactics,
              and Leads in portal

Setting to disable Create Partner options in Partner Explorer

We've added a setting that will allow you to remove the Create Partner options in ZiftONE Admin. When enabled, these buttons will not be available in Partner Management > Partner Explorer:

  • Create Partner
  • Import/Update Partners (accessed via the ... menu)

admin_create_partners_create_partner_disabled.png

Contact your ZiftONE CSM if you want to have the setting enabled.

Internal Notes for Marketing Tactics

We've added a new field Internal Notes to these marketing activities created in ZiftONE Admin - Website Plugins, Multimedia, Emails, and Custom Activities. The field allows you to capture information about the activity that is only visible to you, as a supplier.

admin_web_plugin_internal_notes.png

The information is not visible to partners when they view the activity in the portal.

Guidance text for lead import

We've added some guidance to the Upload Leads page in the partner portal, where partners map their lead fields to ZiftONE fields while bulk importing leads. This will help the partner understand what they need to achieve in the page.

portal_upload_leads_mapping_guidance.png

04 Aug - Updates to T&Cs, Partner Events, Tag Management,
              Custom Pages, Partner Users, and Site Configuration,
              and Deals in portal

Any user can accept Zift Contract T&Cs

We've updated the way in which Zift Terms & Conditions (T&Cs), shown on first login to a partner portal, are accepted - any user in a partner account can accept them. This means that any user, regardless of role, is permitted to accept Zift T&Cs on behalf of the whole partner organization. Previously, if you only wanted one user to accept, that user had to be an administrator. 

Allow any user to accept Supplier T&Cs

We've added a new option for supplier Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) acceptance for partner portal access - you can now allow any user in a partner account to accept the T&Cs on first login. This means that any user, regardless of role, is permitted to accept your T&Cs on behalf of the partner. Previously, if you only wanted one user to accept, that user had to be an administrator.

The new option Any User is now available for T&Cs acceptance, when uploading your T&Cs in Partner Portal > Terms and Conditions. Go to the Acceptance By dropdown list:

admin_t&cs_acceptance_by.png

Notes:

  • The Partner Admin and All Users options for T&Cs acceptance still remain.
  • If the Any User option is selected for T&Cs, the prompt to accept is not shown again once the first user has accepted the T&Cs.
  • A user can still choose the Remind me later option provided they are still in the initial time period.

For more information about T&Cs acceptance, see About Terms & Conditions of Service.

New dynamic content widget for Partner Events

We've introduced a new dynamic content widget for you to display a list of published Partner Events to your partners. Add the widget to a custom page in a logged in view of the portal.

When adding the widget to a page, four display options are available:

admin_dynamic_content_partner_events.png

  • Partner Events - Next 3 Upcoming Events (Tile)

    Displays the latest three Partner Events, based on each event's Date/Time, in a tile layout.

    portal_partner_events_next_3_tile.png

  • Partner Events - All (Tile)

    Displays all Partner Events in a tile layout. This option allows partners to infinitely scroll for available events.

    portal_partner_events_all_tile.png

  • Partner Events - Next 3 Upcoming Events (List)

    Displays the latest Partner Events, based on each event's Date/Time, in a horizontal row layout.

    portal_partner_events_next_3_list.png

  • Partner Events - All (List)

    Displays all Partner Events in a horizontal row layout.

    portal_partner_events_all_list.png

Note: You may need to select More Content when choosing the dynamic content widget type.

Option to add categories for Social Content and Marketing Activities tags

You can now add categories to classify your tags of type Social Content and Marketing Activities. These tags are used to identify areas of interest for Social Media, Campaigns, Workflows, Custom Activities, Website Plugins, Multimedia and Emails.

You can choose whether to show a category of tags in the partner portal, with the Visibility setting.

admin_tags_add_category.png

Once a category is available, you can use the Edit Category button to update its configuration, edit the tags it contains, or delete it.

Open Custom Pages and Partner Events in a new browser tab or window

You can now use the browser's Open in a new xx option on items in some more ZiftONE Admin listings. Right click on a record name, and select one of the options:

admin_custom_pages_open_in_new_tab.png

These listings now include the option:

  • Partner Portal > Custom Pages
  • Partner Portal > Partner Events

Editable CRM ID for Partner Users

If your system is integrated with a CRM, partner users may have an ID from that CRM in their account. You as the supplier are now able to edit that value if required - previously it was read-only.

Note

This option needs to be enabled on your system - contact your ZiftONE CSM if you want to be able to edit the value. Once enabled, your Admin user will have the option to edit.

admin_partner_user_CRM_ID_editable.png

Warning

Take care when editing this value, as mistakes could negatively affect the integration and impact the user's access to the partner portal.

Merge tag support in site navigation header URLs

We've added support for merge fields (placeholders) in the URL for a navigation header in a partner portal. Previously you could only add links based on these merge fields to page content.

Merge fields representing these data points are supported:

  • {{firstname}}
  • {{lastname}}
  • {{companyname}}
  • {{email}}
  • {{ssocompanyid}}
  • {{partnerexternalid}}
  • {{userid}}
  • {{userexternalid}}

admin_site_config_header_url_merge_field.png

When a user logs into the portal, values for each merge field are dynamically generated from the user's profile, to provide the actual URL.

Editing closed for deals at Closed Won stage

We've updated the edit option for deals in the partner portal - when a deal reaches Closed Won stage, it can no longer be edited. This matches the option for deals at Closed Lost stage.

The Edit Deal button is removed when the deal is at that stage:

portal_deal_closed_won.png

We have made significant improvements to our search capabilities in ZiftONE.

Key Benefit: It is much easier for you to find what you’re looking for in ZiftONE Admin. In addition, you can have more control over your partners' experience when they’re searching and filtering, and the results they get back from a search.

We’ve implemented these changes:

  • A new search engine that improves search performance and the results returned - search terms can be matched in additional fields such as internal names and dates, and within text content of items such as PDFs.

  • A Global Search option, which allows you to search for most objects in ZiftONE Admin with a single search, without having to switch between content pages.

    Access Global Search by clicking the Search icon in the UI toolbar:

    admin_global_search.png

    Global Search searches across these areas for matches in ZiftONE Admin:

    • Campaigns
    • Collateral, including the contents of PDF documents
    • Collateral Programs
    • Emails
    • Multimedia - PDF
    • Website Plugins
    • Email Templates
    • Custom Activities
    • Portal Posts
    • Certifications and Courses
    • Custom Pages

    Clicking on a search result takes you to that item on the appropriate page of ZiftONE Admin.

    admin_global_search.gif

    For more information, see Searching for Content in ZiftONE Admin.

  • A Quick Access bar, which aids navigation to top-level pages in ZiftONE Admin

    Launch the Quick Access bar by using the appropriate keyboard shortcut:

    CTRL+K (Windows)

    CMD+K (Mac)

    admin_quick_access_search.png

    The Quick Access bar lists all ZiftONE Admin pages, for example Partner Explorer, when launched, and you can click one to be taken directly to it.

    You can also launch a search for ZiftONE objects (campaigns, collateral, etc.) from here too, by entering a search term and hitting ENTER. The Search page opens and displays the results of the search.

    Hit ESC to exit the Quick Access bar.

    admin_quick_access.gif

    For more information, see Searching for Content in ZiftONE Admin.

  • An option for you to set search results scoring on a field-by field basis for partner searches

    You can now control the score individual information fields receive when a partner search matches them. This score influences the weighting of each item matched in search results and supports the sorting of search results in your partner portal based on relevance (highest score to lowest score).

    A new ZiftONE Admin area, Field Weighting, contains the controls for you to adjust the weighting of individual information fields. Go to   > Settings > Field Weighting.

    admin_field_weighting.png

    Each field in the categories can have a weighting of Standard, Medium, or High.

    For example, you may have an item with the word X10 in the title, another item with X10 in the description, and some items that have the Product content tag set to X10.

    A search for X10 would return all 3 items alphabetically, as Name, Description and Product tag have the same weighting.

    With the Description field set to High, and the Name field set to Medium, the item with X10 in its description is returned first in results, the one with X10 in the name comes second, and the other items are listed after those.

    These orderings apply when the search is ordered by Relevance.

    A user with the Tag Management permission on their User Role can use the Manage Field Visibility button to specify which fields/tags are presented to be given weighting settings. All available information fields are presented in the Field Weighting window as a default.

    admin_manage_field_visibility.png

    For more information, see Field Weightings for Partner Search.

28 Jul - icon_new.png Partner User Registration form and widget

We've added the option for you to have a Partner User Registration form that you can configure to include your custom Partner User fields, your custom Partner fields and ZiftONE’s core data fields.

Key Benefit: The new form allows you to customize your portal user signup process, and ensure that the information captured on sign up meets requirements for any external systems. ZiftONE’s existing default partner registration form doesn’t allow the inclusion of partner user fields, other than the name and email address of the default user.

Note: The form needs to be enabled on your system - please contact your ZiftONE CSM if you are interested in using the custom form.

When enabled, a new form Partner User Registration appears in   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Partner User > Forms in ZiftONE Admin. You can use ZiftONE’s Form Configuration functionality to tailor the form to your needs. For more information, see Form Configuration.

admin_partner_user_reg_form.png

The form supports all existing form functionality, except a read-only setting for fields.

These fields are required as a default:

  • Email
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Partner Name

All custom Partner User fields, custom Partner fields, and core user data fields are supported in the form.

admin_partner_user_reg_form_configure.png

When you've configured the form, you can add it to a custom page for your portal, using the new Dynamic Content widget Partner/User Registration. 

admin_dynamic_content_partner_user_reg.png

For example, if you add the custom page to your logged out view of the portal, new users can access it and submit an application to connect.

portal_partner_user_reg_form.png

This logic applies when a new user has submitted a registration request in the portal - this depends on whether the user is part of a new partner organization or an existing one:

  • If it's a new partner - a new partner account is created with this user as the Admin user

  • If it's an existing partner (based on an existing email domain) - the user is created and listed in the relevant partner administrator's Manage Users view in the portal, under the Unapproved Users list. The administrator can click Review to access the new user's details. They can assign a role to the user, and make updates to custom user information fields, if required, then click Approve or Reject to continue or terminate the registration process.

    image

    portal_unapproved_users.png

28 Jul - Updates to Collateral Library and Deals in portal

Internal notes for Collateral Library assets

We've added a new field Internal Notes for assets created in your ZiftONE Admin Collateral Library. The field allows you to capture information about the asset that is only visible to you, as a supplier.

admin_collateral_internal_notes.png

The information is not visible to partners when they view the asset in the portal.

Approved / Rejected / Expired dates visible for deals

We've added more information to the details available for deals, when viewed by your partners in the portal. They can now see the dates on which these actions took place:

  • Approved
  • Rejected
  • Expired

portal_deals_expired_info.png

21 Jul - Updates to Partner Groups and Form Configuration,
             and Lead Registration, Lead Distribution, and Partner Events
             in portal

Partner Group rules for Acceptance of T&Cs

You can now create a Partner Group that matches partners or users based on whether they have accepted specified supplier Terms & Conditions (T&Cs).

These options are provided for Partner Segmentation Rules and User Segmentation Rules:

  • Object Type - Terms
  • Object - Terms & Conditions
  • Condition - Accepted or Not Accepted
  • Value - Select the T&Cs document or documents for which acceptance should be analyzed.

    For a Partner Segmentation Rule - lists the Terms and Conditions documents that have Acceptance by = Partner Admin set

    For a User Segmentation Rule - lists the Terms and Conditions documents that have Acceptance by = All Users set

For information about managing T&Cs documents in ZiftONE Admin, see About Terms & Conditions of Service.

admin_partner_group_t&cs_not_accepted.png

Note: The rule matches any users who have accepted or not accepted the T&Cs, regardless of whether they're entitled to see them. For example, if there are separate T&Cs for Gold, Silver, and Bronze partners, a Partner Group based on Partner Has Not Accepted Gold Partner Terms would include all Gold partners who haven’t yet accepted the Gold T&Cs plus all Silver and Bronze partners (who didn't see them). To limit the matches to Gold Partners only, configure the rule to something like: Partner Group Is Gold Partners AND Partner Has Not Accepted Gold Partner Terms)

Partner Group rules for Training Not Completed

You can now create a Partner Group based on users that have not completed specified training courses or certifications.

This option is provided for a User Segmentation Rule:

  • Object Type - Training
  • Object - Certification or Course
  • Condition - Not Completed
  • Value - Select the courses or certifications for which completion should be analyzed.

admin_partner_group_training_not_completed.png

Deactivated users excluded from Partner Group membership

Users that have been deactivated in a partner account are no longer included in a Partner Group that matches the partner's users.

For information about deactivating users, see Deactivate / Reactivate / Delete a Partner User.

Is Not operator for display rules for forms

When configuring the display of fields in your forms, you now have the option to add an Is Not condition for the display rule. The condition is included for all three display rule types:

  • Required
  • Read-only
  • Display Condition

For example, set the Language field to only appear if the value selected for Country is not UK or USA:

admin_form_configuration_display_condition_is_not.png

This logic applies for an Is Not condition:

  • If the selected field has any of the specified values, it returns false (the display rule will not match)
  • If the selected field has none of the specified values, it returns true (the display rule will match).

For more information on managing the fields in your forms, see Form Configuration. 

New display for Create/Edit Lead forms in portal

We've introduced a new display option for Create Lead and Edit Lead forms in the partner portal. It's now possible to display the forms in a page, if required, instead of a popup window. This makes working with long lead forms easier and provides a unique URL for each lead.

These two options are available:

  • Popup window (default for existing customers)

    portal_lead_reg_form.png

  • Page (default for new customers)

    portal_lead_reg_page.png

If you want to use the Page option, contact your ZiftONE CSM to have it enabled.

Lead Feedback fields included in Lead records in portal

Your Lead Feedback fields are now displayed in a Distributed Lead record, when viewed in the partner portal. A lead displays a Feedback section, which is made up of the fields you have configured in your Lead Feedback form (in   > Forms & Fields > Lead > Feedback > Forms).

Partner users can update the feedback fields you've made editable in the form by clicking Edit Feedback.

In this example, the Lead Feedback form includes one field - Comment:

portal_lead_distributed_feedback.png

Local time displayed for Partner Events in portal

When a partner user views your Partner Events on the portal, they see the event time displayed in its original format (from you) and their own timezone.

In this example, this Partner Event has a date/time of April 20, 2024 14:00 - Aug 31, 2024, 22:00 (BST).

admin_partner_event_date_time.png

When a user in EDT timezone views the event in their partner portal, the event shows the equivalent date and time:

portal_partner_event_date_time.png

The timezone is based on the user’s Timezone system setting. If they don't have a timezone setting, the display defaults to UTC.

Warning about ad blockers restored to portal

Warnings displayed to portal users that have ad blockers enabled were being hidden - they have now been restored.

Ad blockers can prevent certain areas of the portal from functioning correctly - the message advises the user to disable their ad blocker to ensure access to all features and functionality.

portal_ad_blocker_advisory.png

14 Jul - Updates to Social Media and Lead Management in portal,
               Custom Fields, and the partner Users list

Updates to filters in Social Media pages in portal

We've made some changes to the filters available in a user's social media pages in the partner portal. To ensure that each user's social media landscape is reflected accurately, these filters are available to them in Upcoming Posts, Library Posts, and Post History:

  • For the social networks to which the user is connected (instead of having a filter for all platforms, as is currently the case)

    For example, this user only has their Facebook account connected to their portal account. Their administrator has connected three accounts for the partner - LinkedIn, X, and Facebook. When the user filters for Company Posts, they see the three accounts as filters, but when they look in Personal Posts but they only have the option to filter for Facebook posts.

    Company Posts

    portal_social_media_filter_company_networks.png

    Your Posts

    portal_social_media_filter_personal_networks.png

  • For the tag values that are assigned to posts in the list (instead of having a filter for all configured tags, as is currently the case)

    For example, this user is working for a supplier that has tags in the Business Size, Language, Objective, Product, and Vertical categories configured, but they can only filter for those in the Vertical and Product categories, as these are the only tags actually used in posts available to them.

    portal_social_media_filter_tags.png

Bulk upload of Registered Leads in portal

Your partners' users can now bulk upload their Registered Leads into the partner portal.

Note: This option needs to be enabled on your system - contact your Zift team if you're interested in using it.

In the Registered Leads page, they can click Register New Lead > File Import.

portal_leads_bulk_upload_registered.png

They then select the file that contains the leads - these file formats are supported: XLSX (maximum size 1MB), and XLS, TXT, or CSV (maximum size 5MB).

They can download a template for the import, which gives guidance on the information to be provided.

portal_upload_leads.png

New implications of deleting custom fields

We've made these change to ensure that other areas aren't affected when a user deletes a custom field:

  • It's not possible to delete a custom field that's currently used in a form. If a user attempts to do so, ZiftONE Admin presents an advisory message that lists the forms in which it is used.

    Users must remove the custom field from all forms before trying to delete it.

    admin_custom_field_delete_field_warning.png

  • A deactivated/deleted partner user custom field is not an available field when creating/editing a partner user group rule

    A deactivated/deleted partner custom field is not an available field when creating/editing a partner group rule

    This applies when creating both regular and Advanced (adhoc) partner groups.

New Column chooser for Users list in partner account

You can now select which columns to display on the Users page in a partner's account in ZiftONE Admin. You can set up the page to provide the information that best supports your business processes.

Click the Column Configuration button then drag and drop fields to and from Available Columns and Selected Columns as required. Selected Columns lists the columns that will be displayed in the list.

admin_partner_explorer_users_column_config.png

07 Jul - Updates to Social Posts, Form Configuration, Custom Fields,
               Partner Groups, and Deal Registration and Lead Registration
               in portal

Export Social Posts

You can now export a list of selected Social Posts from ZiftONE Admin. This allows you to view the social media content you have available for your partners, the type of the posts, their content, and their scheduling. 

In Partner Marketing > Social Media > Social Posts, select the posts you want to export by checking the box next to each one. Click Export.

admin_social_posts_export.png

A CSV file is downloaded to your desktop. The file contains a row for each social post you selected, and columns for each piece of information about each one, including the tags assigned.

Field origin (standard v custom) indicated when configuring Forms

We've added indicators to our form configuration feature which allow you to clearly see which fields in the form are ZiftONE standard fields, and which ones are based on your custom data fields.

These items have been added to the configuration screen for a form, in   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Forms:

  • Tooltip - displays when you hover over the name of a field

    admin_form_configuraiton_field_type_tooltip.png

  • Label - displays when you select a field to edit how it appears in the form

    The label is made up of Standard or Custom plus the field type (how the data will be entered) - in the example below, the field is a custom field of type Select

    admin_form_configuraiton_field_type_label.png

Delete Custom Fields

We've extended the delete option for Custom Fields, to be applicable to all types of custom field. Previously, the option was only available for custom Deal and Account fields, plus those created for a Custom Object.

In   > Settings > Forms & Fields, go to the type of custom field you want to delete (Partner, Lead, Deal, etc.) and click on the field to open it. Click Delete Field.

admin_custom_field_delete_field.png

Note

It's not possible to delete a field if it's being used, for example in Partner Group rules. You'll see a message detailing the objects that use the custom field when you try to delete it.

Partner Segmentation Rules optional when creating a Partner Group

We've improved our Partner Group functionality, to make it easier to manage your groups to flexibly target certain areas of your partner audience.

We've added these improvements:

  • You can now create a Partner Group that is based on user-specific rules only. Partner-level parent rules are now optional. This means you can create Partner Groups that cover users in all your partners.

    admin_partner_group_no_partner_rules.png

  • If you've created a Partner Group based on user rules only, you can retrospectively add a parent group of partners by adding partner segmentation rules.

    admin_partner_group_add_partner_rules.png

  • You can remove a partner or partner user cohort from an existing Partner Group by deleting partner segmentation rules or user segmentation rules.

    admin_partner_group_remove_rules.png

Add/remove attachments for Deals only when editing the Deal

We've made some updates to the way users add attachments (for additional information) when registering a Deal in the portal. The current process is not intuitive and involves several steps.

  • A user can only add attachments to a Deal form when the form is in Edit mode, either when creating a new deal or clicking Edit to update an existing one. The Attachments field/Upload option is disabled if they're just viewing the Deal.
  • An upload of an attachment saves automatically, without having to click additional buttons.
  • Upload of an attachment updates the deal record, which in turn triggers a sync back to a CRM, if an integration is configured.

Hide Contact removed from Lead Registration form

We've removed the Hide Contact option from the form presented when partner users are registering a lead in the portal. User feedback indicated a preference for a cleaner form, with contact fields always visible for reference:

portal_leads_register_lead_form.png

30 Jun - Updates to Social Media, Form Configuration, Partner
               Groups, Deal Management, and Partner User Explorer

Archive a Social Post and filter posts by Publication Status

We've added the option for you as a supplier to archive social posts you've published for your partners. When you open a Social Post in ZiftONE Admin, a new Archive button is available.

admin_social_posts_archive.png

The Social Posts listing includes a new Publication Status filter, which you can set to restrict the list to archived or published posts.

admin_social_posts_pub_status_filter.png

Notes:

  • If archiving a library post, the post is removed from both your Social Posts list and the Library Posts page in the partner portal
  • The effect of archiving a scheduled social post differs, based on whether a partner has approved it for sending:
    • Approved - the post remains scheduled, and is listed in the partner's Upcoming Posts page
    • Not approved - the post is removed from the Social Posts list
  • You can't currently unarchive (restore) an archived post.

Bulk update of Social Posts

It's now possible to perform these actions in bulk on Social Posts in ZiftONE Admin:

  • Remove / add tags
  • Apply Partner Group filters – coming soon
  • Archive

In Partner Marketing > Social Posts, check the box to the left of the posts you want to update, or check the box at the top of the column to select all, then click Bulk Update.

admin_social_posts_bulk_update_button.png

The Bulk Update window opens, where you can walk through a multi-step process to carry out the tasks listed above. Step 5 is a review task, where you can see a summary of the changes you've set up, and approve them.

admin_social_posts_bulk_update.png

Display, required, and read-only conditions for Custom Object fields based on Object Status

You can define if/how fields in portal forms based on your Custom Objects (custom information types) display, using the current approval status for submissions (records) of the custom information as a condition.

You can include these conditional options for a field based on submission status:

  • Display
  • Required
  • Read-only

When configuring a form, choose the Display Condition, Required, or Read-only option for a field, as applicable. Use the Add Condition option to open a drop-down list of values with which you can configure a condition for making the field visible/read-only. Use the Status option and select Approved, Rejected, or Pending.

admin_custom_object_field_display_condition_status.png

You can configure forms in this way for Custom Objects that have Require Approval? set to Yes.

For example, if you have a form that collects case studies from your partner, you might want to make the Summary and Target Publication Date fields read-only once a study has been approved, so they can't be edited further.

admin_custom_object_field_readonly_condition.png

When a partner user edits a case study submission, the fields are editable until the submission has been approved by you as the supplier.

  • Submission still pending - Document Summary and Publication Date can be edited
  • Submission approved - Document Summary and Publication Date are read-only

portal_read_only_condition.gif

Export Users and Partners lists from Partner Groups

We've added Export Users and Export Partners options to a Partner Group record, so you can get information about the members of that group.

The export options are available in the Options menu for a Partner Group.

admin_partner_groups_export_partners_users.png

Selecting one of the options generates a list of members, which is emailed to you.

Improved handling of Deal forms with missing required information

We've improved the way Deal forms behave when a user hasn't completed all the required information. Previously, the Submit button was disabled until all required information had been provided but this did not provide guidance to users as to why they couldn't complete the form.

Now, the Submit button remains active but, when clicked, any missing required information is highlighted in the form, with red markers. The user is taken to the first required field that is missing information.

portal_deal_missing_required_info.png

Note: The user can still save a deal if required information is missing, they just can't submit it.

Improvements to Partner User Explorer

We've made some usability and performance improvements to the Partner User Explorer page we implemented recently:

  • Enhanced response speed when browsers the Users listing
  • The batch size limit for Update User Roles has been increased to 1,000 user records
  • The batch size limit for other bulk actions from the … menu (Add Field Values, Remove Field Values, Activate Users, Deactivate Users) has been increased to 1,000 user records

For more information about the Partner User Explorer, see Manage Partner Users.

23 Jun - Updates to Form configuration, Learning Modules, Web
               Plugin personalization, Marketing Activities listings, Data
               Hygiene tool, and Partner Events

Make form fields required under certain conditions

You can now configure a field in a form to be required if certain conditions are met - for example, make a field required only when a different field has a particular value.

When configuring a form, choose the Required option for a field. Use the Add Condition option to open a drop down list of values with which you can configure a condition for making the field required. The list of options in the list is based on the type of form you're managing - Partner, Lead, Deal, etc. The list includes your custom fields.

This option applies to form used in the partner portal only. It doesn't apply to forms used in ZiftONE Admin.

For example, if you want to target communications to the decision maker in your partner organization, set the Communications Requested field in the New User form to be required if the Decision Maker? field is set to Yes:

admin_form_required_condition.png

You can add multiple conditions, or groups of conditions, to configure the Required setting.

When the form is opened, the field is optional until the linked field meets the given condition:

Decision Maker? not set - Communications Requested is optional

admin_form_required_condition_not_met.png

Decision Maker? set to Yes - Communications Requested is required (indicated with an asterisk)

admin_form_required_condition_met.png

The drop down list displays custom fields of type select, multiselect, radio and checkbox. Old or legacy custom fields may not appear - contact your Zift CSM if you want to base a condition on a custom field, and it isn't available.

Increase in file size limit for PPT in LMS modules

We've increased the limit for Powerpoint files uploaded to learning modules for training courses. You can now use files up to 500MB in size.

Updates to web plugin captured when reviewing

We've made changes to the way partners personalize web plugins you provide to them. Previously, there were two options for reviewing a web plugin after making changes:

  • Apply - applied the changes and showed the new version of the plugin in the preview window
  • View - showed the original saved version for review, but without the latest changes

This caused confusion, especially if the changes made were quite small.

We've clarified the process for users - they now have these options:

  • Apply (as previously)
  • View - now advises that the user must publish their changes before viewing them - the updated version of the plugin opens when they confirm
  • Save and Save & Next are now Publish and Publish & Next - this ensures that the plugin is published for use after updates

Partner users can always be sure that their changes to the plugin have been captured when they navigate around the review options.

admin_right_click_option.pngg

New Created column in Collateral listings

We've added a column for the Created date to the listings in Library Content > Collateral Library. It's also included as a filter for the listing.

admin_collateral_library_created.png

You can sort the column on the date by clicking on the arrows in the column header.

You can use the Column Configuration option to add or remove the column from your display of the listing.

admin_collateral_library_created_column_config.png

New filters and columns for Marketing Activities listings

We've updated the listings for these Marketing Activities in Partner Marketing, to provide new columns and filters:

  • Custom Activities
  • Website Plugins
  • Multimedia
  • Emails

We've added (shown below in the Multimedia listing):

Filters

  • Created date
  • Updated date

  • Expired

    The Expired filter allows you to limit the listing to items that have expired, haven't expired, or will be expiring in the next 7, 30 or 90 days.

admin_marketing_activities_filters_230624.png

Columns

  • Effective Dates
  • Last Modified

admin_marketing_activities_new_cols_230624.png

You can sort the Last Modified column on the date by clicking on the arrows in the column header.

New Scheduled filter for Social Posts listing

We've added a Scheduled filter to the Social Posts listing. This provides a calendar with which you can pick a date range and display the posts that are scheduled in that range.

admin_social_posts_scheduled_filter.gif

Filters for Collateral listing added to Data Hygiene

We've added these filters to the Collateral tab of the Data Hygiene tool, to make it easier to find assets that will be deleted:

  • Publication Status
  • Prevent Sharing
  • Activated
  • Expired
  • Created
  • Updated

Timezone included for Partner Events

The Time for a Partner Event has been updated to display the ZiftONE Admin user's current timezone. This offers clarify on the time at which the event is scheduled.

The timezone is shown when creating/editing a Partner Event, on the event's entry in the Partner Events listing, and in the details of the event. The time of the event updates to reflect the current timezone of the user viewing the event in ZiftONE Admin.

partner_events_timezone.png

The timezone is based on the ZiftONE Admin user’s Timezone system setting. If they don't have a timezone setting, the display defaults to UTC.

16 Jun - icon_new.png Tier Program Summary feature page
               Updates to record listings, Partner User management,
               and Partner Groups for TPCs

Open records in a new browser tab or window

You can now use the browser's Open in a new xx option on items in ZiftONE Admin listings. Right click on a record name, for example a partner account name, and select one of the options:

admin_right_click_option.pngg

Key Benefit: It's much easier to open multiple items from a listing view.

These listings now include the option:

  • Partner Management > Partner Explorer
  • Partner Management > User Explorer
  • Partner Marketing > Campaigns
  • Leads & Deals > Leads pages
  • Leads & Deals > Registered Deals
  • Leads & Deals > Pricebooks
  • Leads & Deals > Products
  • Leads & Deals > Accounts
  • Library Content > Collateral Library

Updates to other listings will follow in an upcoming release.

New feature page for Tier Programs

We've added a new feature page Tier Program Summary, which allows you to display your partners' current status in the tier program for which they are eligible. Previously, a dedicated page for this information didn't exist, and the only option was to add the dynamic content widget Tier Program Summary to a custom page. This option is still available.

portal_tier_program_summary.png

Note

We've retired the Partner Achievements page, as it didn't reflect the current approach to indicating your partner's progress through the tiers.

If your portal view includes the Partner Achievements page, this will not change.

For more information about tier programs, see About Partner Tiers and Tier Programs.

Activate Users / Deactivate Users options in Partner Explorer hidden with App Setting

We've ensured that the app setting to disable Partner User Management in ZiftONE Admin also covers the recently introduced Activate Users / Deactivate Users options. If the app setting Disable Add and Manage Partner User has been enabled by your Zift team, you can't access the options for single users, or when updating in bulk from the ... menu in Partner Management > User Explorer.

Bulk update options with the app setting enabled:

admin_user_explorer_deactivate_disabled.png

Bulk update options with the app setting disabled:

admin_user_explorer_deactivate_enabled.png

For information on activating/deactivating partner users, see Deactivate / Reactivate Partner Users in Bulk.

Change to refreshing of Partner Group membership for TPCs

We've changed the way that Partner Groups are handled when they're used as an advanced filter on the list of recipients for a TPC (To-Partner Communication) email or popup. Currently, the assigned Partner Groups are refreshed continually, on a regular schedule. We've changed that so the refresh only happens when you save a change to the TPC email or popup. This prevents the Partner Group being updated before you get the chance to send the communication.

Key Benefit: You can be sure that the list of recipients you verified when you created and filtered your TPC will be the people who receive the communication.

For more information about TPCs, see Message Partners.

09 Jun - Updates to Portal Posts, bulk import of Partners and Users,
               Page display conditions, Data Hygiene, and Deal Owner
               notification

Gate Portal Posts to logged in or logged out users

We've added the option for you to specify whether a portal post message should be available to all users of your portal, whether they're signed in or not, or it should be restricted to only those users who are logged in to the site.

Key Benefit: You can control access of information to certain groups of users without having to duplicate content.

When creating a portal post in Partner Portal > Posts, enable the new option Requires Partner Login to specify that only logged in users can see the message. The option is enabled by default.

admin_portal_post_requires_login.png

When you include one of these objects to provide portal posts in your portal, the contents of the posts list will adjust depending on whether the object is in a logged in or logged out site view.

  • Portal Posts feature page
  • Portal Posts Dynamic Content widget
  • Latest Posts Merge Tag

For example, if you add a Posts content widget in a custom page to a logged out view of your site, it will only show the posts that don't have Require Partner Login set:

portal_posts_logged_out.png

But in a Portal Posts feature page in a logged in view of your site, logged in users will see all published posts.

portal_posts_logged_in.png

For more information about portal posts, see About Portal Posts.

Option to update Partner information via a bulk action

We've extended our bulk partner management capabilities to allow the update of partner account information via a bulk import from a CSV file. Previously you could only create partner accounts from a file, and the only bulk update option was to update custom field values via the Add/Remove Field Values option.

To update partner account information using a bulk action, go to Partner Management > Partner Explorer > ... > Import/Update Partners (the name of the menu item has changed to reflect its new function). Here you can import a CSV file to update these pieces of information:

  • Partner Name
  • Custom Partner field values

Note: You must include the Partner ID of each entry to be updated, to ensure the correct records are identified. 

Enable the Update Existing Records option to perform an update instead of creating new partners. This will provide a template that you can download as guidance on the fields you are permitted to update.

admin_partner_bulk_update.png

For more information, see Partner Accounts > Update Partner Records in Bulk.

Improved notifications for bulk Partner Import/Update process

We've updated our Partner Import process, to give you more information about the status of the import.

You'll see these changes when you do a bulk import of partners from a CSV file in Partner Management > Partner Explorer > ... > Import Partners (note: the menu option is now called Import/Update Partners, as detailed in the previous entry)

  • Popup message indicating that the import has started
  • Email notification when the import has finished, with the results of the import process - the number of partner accounts created, and how many requests failed with errors

    A request to create a partner account could fail for one of these reasons:

    • The contact email address is already in use
    • The company SSO ID is already in use

Improved guidance for bulk import of Partner Users

We've added some guidance text to the Import Users window, which appears when you are importing partner users in bulk via Partner Management > User Explorer > ... > Import Partners.

The explanatory text advises a user of three requirements for the user information provided in the CSV file for import:

  • Each user record must have a Partner ID that matches one that already exists in ZiftONE
  • A user record can't have an email address or SSO ID that already exists in ZiftONE
  • Email addresses must be valid

The message also advises that users will have a status of Active when imported.

admin_partner_users_import_guidance.png

Partner Group user rules in portal page row conditions

Conditions you set to tailor the display of a row in a custom page based on a Partner Group now honour the user rules that are defined in the Partner Group.

Key Benefit: You can target content of a page to specific subsets of users.

Warning message on Data Hygiene page

We've added a message to the Data Hygiene to warn users of the implications of deleting data with the tool, and advise them that they should proceed with caution.

admin_data_hygiene_warning.png

Update to Deal Owner notification for deals

We've made a small change to the wording of the email notification sent to the supplier Deal Owner when a deal is created outside the partner portal.

The title of the email is now New Deal was Distributed, which better reflects the sharing of the deal.

admin_deal_notification_deal_submitted_external.png

Note: this type of notification needs to be enabled on your system. For more information, see New Deal Notification - Deal submitted outside the partner portal.

02 Jun - Updates to Collateral Library, Data Hygiene tool,
               and Partner Users API

Filter for Collateral that hasn't expired

We've added a new filter option to the ZiftONE Admin Collateral Library to help you select assets that have not yet expired. You can already filter for assets that have expired, or are approaching their expiry date, but it wasn't previously possible to list those that are still valid.

Key Benefit: You have a much clearer view of all active assets.

In any of the Collateral Library listings, choose the filter Not Expired.

admin_collateral_filter_not_expired.png

Audit History for Data Hygiene tool

We've introduced tracking/auditing of all data deletions carried out by suppliers in the Data Hygiene tool.

Key Benefit: You have full transparency of the changes carried out by your administrator.

In   > Settings > Data Hygiene, go to the tab for the object or objects whose deletions you want to view (partner, user, collateral, etc.). Click Audit Log. ZiftONE Admin displays a chronological list of all delete actions that have been performed for the data type in Data Hygiene. Each log entry includes the date and time of the action, the user who performed it, and the ID of the record.

Deactivate/activate partner user accounts via API

It's now possible to deactivate partner users via API. The PUT and PATCH endpoints for /partners/{id}/users/{z123UserId} support the softDisabled field, with possible values of true (deactivate) or false (activate).

26 May - Updates to Custom Fields, and Accounts listing

New Text area type for Custom Fields

We've added a new field type for custom fields - Text Area. This is a field in which users can add text of up to 65,000 characters in length. The existing field type Text is limited to strings of up to 255 characters.

Key Benefit: You can allow users completing custom fields in forms to provide more extensive information.

The field type is available for custom field categories - Partner, Lead, Deal, etc.

admin_custom_field_text_area.png

When used in a portal form, a field of this type displays four lines of text by default. A user can expand the field by using the drag control in the bottom right corner.

portal_custom_field_text_area.png

Export a list of Deal Accounts

It's now possible to export a list of Deal Accounts from ZiftONE Admin.

In the Leads & Deals > Accounts page in ZiftONE Admin, click Export. ZiftONE Admin generates a CSV file and emails it to you.

admin_accounts_export.png

The file includes columns for all account fields, including custom fields, not just those displaying in the Accounts list.

The Partner Access column displays the partners that have access to the account:

  • If the account is restricted to certain partners only, these are listed in Partner Access with their ID
  • If the account is available to all partners, Partner Access is blank

admin_accounts_export_spreadsheet.png

19 May - Updates to Tag Management, Deals, Leads listings,
                and DKIM keys for emails

Export a list of Tags from Tag Management

We’ve introduced the option for your administrator to export a list of your content tags from ZiftONE Admin. Tags allow you to categorize your marketing content, so that you and your partners can use them to sort, filter, and manage data in the content pages of the portal and ZiftONE Admin.

Key Benefit: Exporting the current list of tags allows you to review each one and confirm whether they still meet your needs. You can easily share the information with other teams that work outside the ZiftONE system.

In   > Settings > Tag Management, click the Export All Tags button to download a CSV list of tag types and categories, with a list of tags for each category. The list also details whether tags are visible to partners in the portal, and whether they are required.

admin_tags_export.png

admin_tags_export_list.png

For more information about managing tags, see Tag Management.

New options for adding attachments to Deals

We've extended the options for including and displaying attachments when Deals are submitted via the ZiftONE partner portal. Previously, the inclusion of attachments was either required or it wasn't. Now, there are three options:

  • Attachments Available (default) - The Attachments area displays for a deal in portal, with the upload of attachments optional
  • Attachments Required - The Attachments area displays in portal, with the upload of attachments required. A partner can't submit a deal if it doesn't include an attachment.
  • Attachments Hidden - The Attachments area doesn't display in portal if the deal doesn't include any attachments. If there are attachments on the deal, the Attachments field displays but without an Upload option for partners. This option allows suppliers to include attachments for their partners to see, but the partners can't add their own.

The options are available in two places:

  • In Deal settings - go to   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Deal > Settings
  • When creating Deal Types (if enabled on your system) - go to   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Deal > Deal Types. You can use the deal types to apply different attachment rules to deals of different types.

admin_deal_types_options_attachments.png

External ID included in Leads listings

We've added the External Id value to the lists of leads in ZiftONE Admin. The column indicates the identifier of a lead from an external system, for example if it's been imported into ZiftONE via an integration.

The value appears in these areas of the Leads pages:

  • In the details of a Lead

    admin_lead_external_id.png

  • In the Column Configuration window for the Leads listings

    admin_leads_column_config_external_id.png

Change to DKIM keys for email domains

A CVE issue with DKIM keys used for domains in a From email address has been addressed (CVE-2008-0166). All affected keys have been rotated to more secure 2048 bit keys.

No action is required - this message is for reference only.

12 May - icon_new.png Data Hygiene tool for suppliers

We’ve introduced a Data Hygiene tool, which allows your ZiftONE Admin administrator to delete partner accounts, partner users, leads, deals, end user accounts and collateral (including social media) in bulk.

Note

The tool needs to be enabled on your system - contact your Zift CSM if you’re interested in implementing this feature.

When the feature is enabled, your Administrator users will see the   > Settings > Data Hygiene menu option in ZiftONE Admin.

admin_data_hygiene.png

In the Data Hygiene page, admins can navigate between the tabs to delete selected partner accounts, partner users, leads, deals, accounts, and collateral (including social media) from ZiftONE. This allows multiple pieces of information to be deleted in a single action, instead of the administrator having to remove them one by one.

In any of the tabs, the Administrator user selects the objects they want to delete and clicks Delete Selected xx . They’re asked to confirm that they want to continue, by typing DELETE and clicking I AGREE AND DELETE.

Caution

A delete from the Data Hygiene tool can’t be undone.

admin_data_hygiene_delete_confirm.png

Notes

  • Partner accounts can't be deleted if they have leads or deals assigned to them
  • Partner users that are associated with multiple accounts can’t be deleted

For more information, see Data Hygiene.

12 May - Updates to Partner Groups, Deals, and Leads listing

Partner Group rules based on number of User logins

It's now possible to create a Partner Group with a partner rule based on the number of times a partner's users have logged in to their ZiftONE portal.

Key Benefit: This is another way for you to identify your most, and least, engaged partners, and tailor content or communications to them. For example, you can define a rule such as: Select partners where no users have logged in.

The Events object type Users having logged in is available when creating Partner Segmentation Rules in a Partner Group:

admin_partner_group_user_logins.png

You can also specify a date range for which to count the logins - the field defaults to All Time.

Note: The Partner Group logic counts distinct login events by any user, it's not a count of unique users.

Custom Partner User fields available when creating adhoc/single-use Partner Groups

We've added the option to use custom Partner User fields in the rules for an adhoc/single use Partner Group. Adhoc Partner Groups can be used when you're creating certain objects/activities, to create a subset of partners that applies to that single activity only. For more information, see Use Adhoc Partner Groups.

When creating/editing the object/activity, click Advanced for the Partner Groups filter. In the Advanced Rules window, you'll see the User Rules tab. This is where you configure rules that restrict the list of matching partners to users that match certain user-specific conditions. The list of operators for the user rules now includes User Fields, which contains a list of your custom Partner User fields.

admin_partner_group_adhoc_user_fields.png

This feature can be used when creating adhoc Partner Groups for these objects:

  • Custom Partner Views of the partner portal
  • User Achievements
  • Onboarding Plans
  • TPC Emails & Popups
  • Email Templates

Deal Owner added to Deals listing

We've added the Deal Owner value to the list of deals in ZiftONE Admin. The Deal Owner is the supplier user who has overall responsibility for the deal.

The value appears in these areas of the Registered Deals page:

  • In the details of a Deal (this is not new)

    admin_deal_deal_owner.png

  • As a filter in the Registered Deals listing

    admin_deals_deal_owner.png

  • In the Column Configuration window for the Registered Deals listing

    admin_deals_column_config_deal_owner.png

New notification for Deal Distribution

We've added a new notification type that can send an email to the supplier Deal Owner when a deal is created outside the partner portal - in ZiftONE Admin or via an integration with a CRM.

Note

The notification type needs to be enabled on your system - contact your Zift CSM if you’re interested in implementing this feature.

If the type is enabled, an email is sent to the relevant partner and the deal owner. The deal owner is either the user designated as the Default Deal Owner in ZiftONE Admin, or the deal owner assigned when creating the deal, if different.

If the type is disabled (default), an email is sent to the relevant partner only.

admin_deal_notification_deal_submitted_external.png

Audit Log for leads

You can now access an audit log for leads in ZiftONE Admin. The audit log includes a record of every change/update made to a lead as it progresses through its lifecycle.

Go to Leads & Deals, open the lead whose information you want and click Audit Log.

admin_leads_audit_log.png

You can export the log to a CSV file. In Audit Log, click Export.

admin_leads_audit_log_export.png

ZiftONE Admin downloads a CSV file that includes a row for every log captured for the lead.

The Audit Log is provided for new leads and new edits to existing leads.

05 May - Updates to Custom Fields/Forms, and Partner User Explorer

Text and number validation on forms in portal

Validation of the text and number content of custom fields is now respected in all types of custom field. This was already in place for Deal, Account, MDF, and Custom Object fields; now it's been added for Lead, Partner, and Partner User fields.

You configure the data requirements for custom fields of type Text or Number:

admin_custom_field_data_validation_number.png

When partner users access a form that contains the field in their partner portal, they see a message if they enter a value in the field that does not conform to your requirements. They can't complete the form until the error has been corrected. For example, for a number field that must contain a value between 1 and 5:

admin_custom_field_data_validation_number_error.png

These data requirements are available:

  • Text fields
    • Length - Number of characters
    • Email - Whether the string can be recognized as an email address
  • Number fields - Value

Manage User Roles relabelled in Partner User Explorer

The button Manage User Roles, where you can assign/unassign portal/content access roles to your partner users, has been renamed to Update User Roles in this release. We've listened to feedback, which suggested that the original label did not properly indicate the button's purpose.

The change has been made in two locations:

  • In the Partner User Explorer

    admin_partner_user_explorer_update_roles.png

  • In the Users tab of a partner account

    admin_partner_users_update_roles.png

28 Apr - icon_new.png Partner User Explorer

ZiftONE Admin now provides you with centralized management of all your partner users. Previously you could only manage users in the context of their partner account, now you have a global view of all users in all partner accounts. You can make updates to users from all your partner accounts simultaneously, if required.

A new page in ZiftONE Admin, Partner Management > Partner User Explorer, provides the list of your partner users, with this information for each:

  • Name and email address
  • Partner - the partner account to which they belong
  • Status - whether they are active or inactive in the partner account. Inactive means that the user won’t receive emails, or be able to log in to the partner portal, etc., but their account still exists
  • Roles - the partner user role(s) they have been granted to control their access to portal and content, e.g. Admin, Marketing
  • Created - the date their account was created

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You can filter the list on many properties, including the status of their account and any Partner User custom fields you have configured.

User management options are available in the list:

  • Create User button
  • Manage Roles button - configure the roles that can be assigned to partner users
  • Manage User Roles button - assign/unassign roles to partner users singly or in bulk (this option was previously available in   > Settings > Partner User Roles)
  • … menu
    • Import Users - import a CSV file to create new users in bulk
    • Export Partners - export a CSV file of the partners for the users in the list
    • Export Users - export a CSV file of the users in the list
    • Add Field Value(s) - add a custom Partner User value to one or more users
    • Remove Field Value(s) - remove a custom Partner User value from one or more users
    • Activate Users - make selected user accounts active
    • Deactivate Users - make selected user accounts inactive (this is a temporary state and can be reverted with the Activate option)

Use the Column Configuration option to adjust the display of the list to your preference - add/remove columns, including those based on your custom Partner User fields.

alt

Clicking on a user’s entry in the list takes you to the Users section of the partner account, and opens the user’s profile. Here you have the new option to deactivate/reactivate a user, which performs a “soft delete” on the user, but doesn’t remove their account from the application. They can’t log in to the partner portal or receive emails, etc. but their account remains in the partner account.

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Inactive user accounts can be reactivated later, or deleted permanently.

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28 Apr - Updates to Partner User Roles area, Leads listings,
               Portal Forms, and Campaigns listings

New location for Partner User Roles configuration

The area for managing the roles that control your partner users' access to the partner portal and content has moved in this release.

New location:

Partner Management > User Explorer > Manage Roles 

Previous location:

  > Settings > Partner User Roles

Filter leads listings by Source

We've added the Source value as a filter option in the lists of leads in ZiftONE Admin. The column indicates a lead's origin, e.g. manually added by supplier or created via upload of a CSV file.

The value appears as a filter option for the All Leads, Distributed Leads and Registered Leads pages:

admin_leads_source_filter.png

Add custom header to portal forms

We've added the option for you to create a header for each of your portal forms. This allows you to add additional information to the top of your forms, without having to rely on custom scripting. For example, you might want to add some guidance text to help your users complete the form.

Note: The option to add headers to ZiftONE Admin forms will be added in a later release.

In   > Settings > Forms & Fields, select the form to which you want to add the header. Go to the Other tab to access the Help Text field. This is a rich text field that allows you to add your header and format it, and include links, lists, tables, etc.

admin_forms_other_tab.png

When completed, the header shows at the top of the form when it's presented to your users:

portal_forms_help_text

Search for campaigns by Display Name

You can now search for campaigns using their Display Name (the name that appears to partners in the portal). When searching for a campaign in the Campaigns list in ZiftONE Admin, the search term is matched against campaigns' Display Name as well as their Internal Name.

21 Apr - Updates to Leads, Deals, Partner User Accounts, and SFDC
               Queries

Sales stage added to Leads listings

We've added a sales stage indicator to the lists of leads in ZiftONE Admin. The column indicates a lead's current status in the sales cycle - for example, Open, Unqualified/Invalid, Qualified.

The value appears in these areas of the All Leads, Distributed Leads, and Registered Leads pages:

  • In the details of a Lead (this is not new)

    admin_lead_sales_stage.png

  • As a filter in the Leads listings - filter on the Lead Status value

    admin_leads_sales_stage_filter.png

  • In the Column Configuration window for the Leads listings - add/remove the Lead Status column

    admin_leads_column_config.png

For information about managing Leads in ZiftONE Admin, see About Lead Management.

Export option for a deal's Audit Log

It's now possible to export the whole history of a deal from its Audit Log page. Go to Leads & Deals, open the deal whose information you want and click Audit Log. Click Export Audit History to download a CSV file that includes a row for every log captured during the deal's lifecycle.

admin_deal_audit_log_export_history.png

For information about Deals in ZiftONE Admin, see About Deal Registration.

Ability to manage additional phone numbers for partner users

You can now manage the Mobile [Cell] Phone and Office Phone numbers for partner user accounts in ZiftONE Admin. Previously, this could only be done in the partner portal or via a custom Partner User form.

Go to Partner Management > Partner Explorer > Partner Accounts, select the partner, and go to the Users tab. You'll see Mobile Phone and Office Phone fields when you create a new user, or edit an existing one.

admin_partner_user_phone_numbers.png

For information on managing your partners' user accounts, see Manage Individual Partner Details.

Merge fields for custom Partner User fields in SFDC SOQL queries

If you're accessing Salesforce data via SOQL query, you can now include any of your custom Partner User fields in the query. Use the syntax {user.customfieldname} to use merge fields that represent the custom fields - for example, for the custom field Preferred Language, use the merge field {user.preferredlanguage}.

For information on using SOQL queries to display data from Salesforce, see Set up a Zift Labs SFDC Query.

14 Apr - Updates to Deals, Forms/Fields, Marketing Content
               in Portal, and Workflows

Source field for deals

We've added a Source field to deals to indicate their origin, e.g. registered by a partner or created via a CRM integration. The value appears in these locations in ZiftONE Admin:

  • In the details of a deal

    admin_deal_source.png

  • As a filter in the Deals listing

    admin_reg_deals_source.png

  • In the Column Configuration window for the Deals listing

    admin_reg_deals_column_config.png

Distributed filter for deals in portal

It's now possible for partners to filter their Deals page to distinguish between distributed or registered deals. The filter Distributed has a value of Yes (to show distributed deals) and No (which will show registered deals).

portal_deals_distributed_filter.png

The classification of deals depends on their Source value in ZiftONE Admin:

  • Registered - deals that have Source of ZiftONE Partner
  • Distributed - deals that have Source of ZiftONE Enterprise, Salesforce, MS Dynamics, or External API

Partners can delete draft deals

It's now possible for partner users to delete a draft deal. Previously, they could only edit a draft or submit the deal if it was at Draft stage. Now, the user that created the deal is able to delete it. A Delete button is provided in the details view of the deal.

portal_deal_delete.png

One-click add of fields to forms

We've made it easier for you to add fields to standard or custom forms you're configuring. When editing a form, each field has an Add icon icon_add_field.png next to it in Available Fields. Click the button to add it to Selected Fields.

admin_forms_add_field_single_click.png

You can still drag and drop the fields into and around the form.

Commas not permitted in Internal Name of custom fields

We've added the restriction that commas aren't permitted in the Internal Name for Custom Fields. You'll see a message if you try to enter a comma in Internal Name.

admin_custom_field_internal_name_no_comma.png

Saved indicator when personalizing marketing content in portal

We've added an indicator that assures partners that changes they've made to marketing content have been saved. The Saved message appears in the Personalization area for marketing emails, web plugins, and collateral when a partner has made a change then clicked Save.

For example, for a marketing email:

portal_email_changes_saved.png

Saved indicator when updating workflows

We've added an indicator that assures you that changes you've made to steps in a workflow have been saved. The Saved message appears in the Workflow Steps area when you've made a change then clicked Save.

admin_workflow_changes_saved.png

07 Apr - Updates to Deals

Option to require line items to submit a deal

A new setting for deals, Require Line Items, allows you to specify that a partner is only permitted to submit a deal if they have included line items in it.

If the setting is activated, a partner receives a message when trying to submit a deal that does not include any line items. The Submit Deal button is disabled. The message also advises if any other required information is not included - attachments, contacts, values for required fields.

portal_deal_submit_require_line_items.png

You can manage this setting in two ways, when working in   > Forms & Fields > Deal Types:

  • If deal types are in use - configure the setting for each individual deal type, when creating the type. Each deal type can have a different value for the setting.
  • If deal types are not in use - click the Settings button to open the Deal Options page and configure the setting there. Settings made here will apply to all deals.

admin_deal_type_deal_options.png

Note: If deal types are in place/available, using the setting from here will have no effect. You must still configure the setting for each individual deal type.

For more information about deal settings, see Manage Deal Settings.

31 Mar - Updates to Deals and Locators

Deal settings when Deal Types aren't in use

ZiftONE Admin currently provides settings for deals, which can have different values for each type of deal in use. With this release, we've also made these settings available as a standalone configuration option, so that they can be used when deal types aren't in use or available.

These settings are available:

  • Require Attachments - Whether a partner must upload file attachments to the deal when submitting it.
  • Require Contacts - Whether a partner must include a contact or contacts for the deal when submitting it.
  • Email Sales Rep on Stage Change - Whether to send a notification to the assigned/default Partner Sales Rep when the stage of a deal is changed.
  • Reapproval after Edit (if enabled) - Whether a deal needs supplier approval after being updated by the partner
  • Send a reminder email x days before the expected close date (if enabled)

admin_deal_type_deal_options.png

A new Settings button in   > Forms & Fields > Deal > Types provides access to these settings.

admin_deal_type_settings.png

Using this method, the settings will be applied to all deals when deal types aren't in use or available.

Note: If deal types are in place/available, using the settings from this new location will have no effect. You must configure the settings for each individual deal type.

For more information, see Manage Deal Settings.

Alternative layout for Locator cards

You can now choose to have the cards in your Partner Locator (and Provider Locator, if you're using) display in one of two layouts:

  • Standard - this is the current layout

    portal_partner_locator_card_standard.png

  • Single Column - new

    The logo, details, and action buttons are stacked vertically. The card also includes a link to the partner/provider details. Note: Social Media and Website links aren't captured in this layout.

    portal_partner_locator_card_single_col.png

A new option when creating a Locator, Card Style, allows you to select the layout you require.

admin_partner_locator_card_style.png

Short Address option for Locator cards

You can now add a Short Address as an information field in Partner and Provider Locator entries. When selected as a field for a locator card, this information will show up in each partner/provider's card:

  • If the partner/provider's country is USA or Canada - City and State
  • All other countries - City and Country

The screenshots below shows the difference between an Address field (existing) and the new Short Address field in a locator card.

Address

portal_partner_locator_card_standard.png

Short Address

admin_partner_locator_card_short_address.png

A new Fields on Card option when creating a Locator, Short Address, allows you to include the reduced format address:

admin_partner_locator_short_address_field.png

24 Mar - icon_new.png OAuth authentication for SFDC Queries
               Updates to Campaigns page, rows in custom content,
               and Custom Object submissions in portal

OAuth authentication for SFDC Queries

We’ve changed the way in which you configure connection credentials to SFDC to generate SOQL reports.

Currently, SFDC Queries (to generate SOQL reports) have connection credentials built into their configuration. This means that every time you need to change credentials, or re-authenticate with a new token, you have to update every individual query.

Now, queries and credentials are held as separate objects. You create a Query object with the required query and display template, and link it to one of your Credentials objects. You only need to update the credentials in a single location and every linked query will use the new details automatically.

We’ve also added OAuth 2.0 as an available authorization/credential type. These types are available when you’re creating a Credentials object:

  • Classic - uses Username, Login Domain, and optional Password and Security Token

    This is the existing method and can be used to create new queries. Existing queries will still function correctly.

  • OAuth 2.0 - uses Client ID and Client Secret

    Selecting this option allows you to define how an access token is generated for a request, with a Grant Type:

    • Authorization Code - exchange an authorization code for an access token. This works in the same way as authentication for connections to social platforms.
    • Client Credentials - generate an access token with every request

SFDC Queries are located in   > Settings > Labs > SFDC Query in ZiftONE Admin.

This area now has two separate tabs:

  • Queries - query configurations
  • Credentials - credentials sets

You can create and manage both types of object in these tabs.

admin_labs_sfdc_queries.png

For more information, see Set up an SFDC Labs Query.

Bulk update of Campaigns

We’ve added the option for you to update certain details of your campaigns as a bulk operation.

Key Benefit: Being able to update multiple campaigns in a single action both saves time and ensures consistency of data.

In Partner Marketing > Campaigns, select the campaigns you want to update, then click Bulk Update to start making your changes.

admin_campaigns_bulk_update.png

You can make these types of update to the selected campaigns:

  • Add / remove tags
  • Apply filters based on your Partner Groups
  • Update Start/End dates
  • Publish / unpublish

ZiftONE Admin takes you through a stepped process so you can touch all these areas, as required.

admin_campaigns_bulk_update_window.png

For more information, see Update Campaigns in Bulk.

Column chooser for Campaigns page

You can now select which columns to display on the Campaigns listing page.

Key Benefit: You can set up the page to provide the information that best supports your business processes.

Click the Column Configuration button then drag and drop fields to and from Available Columns and Selected Columns as required. Selected Columns lists the columns that will be displayed in the list. You can also choose to display your tag categories of type Marketing Activities as columns.

admin_campaigns_column_config.png

For more information, see Configure your Campaigns View.

Vertical alignment option for content rows

When editing content in a custom page, TPC email, portal post, or the portal footer, you can now set a vertical alignment setting for the rows. This gives you an extra level of control over the layout of custom content.

admin_email_row_vertical_align.png

Select a row in the WYSIWYG content editor of your page, email, post, or footer, then go to Rows > Layout > Vertical align in the right hand sidebar. You can choose to align at top, align on bottom, or center.

Confirmation of Custom Object submission form in portal

We've improved how we acknowledge that your partners have made a submission of a custom information form from one of your custom pages. Now, when they click Save when submitting the form, the message Your form has been submitted appears directly. Previously they only saw the confirmation if they scrolled back to the top of the form.

Key Benefit: Your partners will be confident that they have completed their submission, which will result in fewer duplicates of the same information being sent to you.

portal_custom_object_form_submission_confirmation.png

Industry Benchmarks removed from Reports menu

We've removed the report Industry Benchmarks from the Analytics & Reports page. The report is only really used for internal instances

17 Mar

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

10 Mar - icon_new.png Self Service Email Configuration
               Updates to Custom Pages, Portal Posts, Emails & Popups,
               Portal Footer, and Campaigns listing

Self service verification of From address and DNS settings for email

To be able to use your own From email address and domain for sending partner emails, and authenticate your email communications, you need to add settings to your DNS record, as detailed in Authenticating the From Address for Emails. This release of ZiftONE Admin allows you to define your From email address and verify your DNS settings in ZiftONE Admin yourself, instead of raising a request to your Zift implementation/services teams.

Key Benefit: You can send emails from ZiftONE using your own From address and domain, and be confident that the email will be delivered and not treated as spam. You can manage the settings yourself, saving you time.

A new Email Configuration page, accessed from   > Settings in ZiftONE Admin, includes these options for you to set:

  • From Email Address
  • From Alias
  • Email Verification - testing that the given From email address is one of yours

    An email with a confirmation link is sent to the given From Address by Amazon Web Services.

  • DNS Settings - guidance on the DKIM, SPF, and DMARC authentication you should add to your DNS record to support the use of your own From address

    ZiftONE will also validate the DNS settings you have in place.

admin_email_configuration.png

For more information, see Email Configuration.

When creating To-Partner Communication (TPC) emails, these points of guidance are used for the sender information:

  • If your From address has been verified, you can use any email address that uses the same domain as the verified From address.

    admin_tpc_email_from_address_select.png

  • If you haven't got a verified From address, all TPC emails will be sent from notifications@ziftsolutions.com, with no option to change.

    admin_tpc_email_from_address_notifications_only.png

An Application Setting, Override DNS Verification for From Email Address, allows emails to be sent from your From address, but ignoring the results of DNS checks on the email domain. This can be enabled by Zift for your account - it is useful if you need to use a non-standard domain configuration, but it may cause emails to be treated as spam.

Please contact your Zift CSM if you think you need to work in this way.

Note

The override setting is enabled for existing customers to ensure no break in service. Existing customers are advised to update their DNS settings to conform to email providers' authentication requirements.

The message Your email address has not passed our checks, but use of this domain has been authorized by Zift Solutions is shown to suppliers in the Email Configuration page when the override is enabled:

admin_email_configuration_override_suppliers.png

The message Your email address has not passed our checks, but use of this domain has been authorized by Zift Solutions. The app setting to manage this is 'Override DNS Verification for From Email Address' is shown to internal Zift users:

admin_email_configuration_override.png

Linking to Collateral assets from comms content and the portal footer

We've added an option to add a link to a collateral asset when you're creating/editing Custom Pages, Portal Posts, TPC Emails and Popups, and the portal Footer.

Key Benefit: You can now add these links without having to leave the edit screen to get the target URL.

When creating/editing one of the objects, click the Link to an asset option when you're in a text block. Note that the option may be located in the More menu - for example for Custom Pages, TPC Emails, and the portal Footer.

The image below shows the Link to an asset option when editing a Custom Page:

admin_custom_page_link_to_asset.png

You can then browse for any of the assets in your Collateral Library, using the filtering options to find the right one.

admin_custom_page_add_link_to_collateral.gif

Notes:

  • The link points to the asset itself, not a specific version. If a new version of the asset is uploaded to ZiftONE Admin, the link will automatically point to the latest version.
  • Tracking of downloads from these links will be added in an upcoming release.

Additional filters for Campaigns listing

We've added some new filters to the Partner Marketing > Campaigns listing in ZiftONE Admin, to make it easier for you to find the content you need.

These filters are now available:

  • Activated - based on campaigns' Effective Date Begin date
  • Expired - filters for content that is expired, or that will expire in the next 7, 30, or 90 days
  • Created date
  • Last Modified date
  • More - a list of filters based on your content Tags of type Marketing Activities

admin_campaigns_filters.png

03 Mar - icon_new.png Custom Partner/Partner User Forms
                icon_new.png Custom Field Relationships
               Additional Merge Tags, Updates to User Achievements,
               Partner Groups, and Partner User profiles

Custom forms for custom Partner and Partner User information

Sometimes you want to capture information about your partners, or their users, that isn’t included in a standard ZiftONE Partner or User Profile. Or you may want to call out specific pieces of information that you see as important for maintaining an effective relationship with the partners.

With this release, you’re able to create custom forms to gather custom partner or partner user information. You can have multiple forms for different types of information. The forms can be as long or as short as you like, contain core or custom fields, and be set up how you want.

You can publish a form in any of your custom portal pages so it’s clearly visible to your portal users.

You could also include completion of a custom form as a partner or user level task in your Onboarding Plan - use the Submit Partner Form or Submit Partner User Form task.

You have the option to create a Partner Group based on whether a partner or user has completed one of your forms. Use these events:

  • Partner Segmentation Rules: Event = Custom Partner Form Submission
  • User Segmentation Rules: User Event = Custom Partner User Form Submission

Data from custom partner/user forms can be synced back to an integrated CRM.

For more information, see Custom Forms.

Custom Partner/User Form management is available in these areas in ZiftONE Admin:

  •   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Partner

    This area allows you to manage forms for information that will be added to the Partner Profile (Partner Management > Partner Explorer > partner > Profile)

  •   > Settings > Forms & Fields > Partner User

    This area allows you to manage forms for information that will be added to a user’s profile (Partner Management > Partner Explorer > partner > Users > user)

Both of the areas include a Custom Fields tab, where you create/configure/manage custom (non standard) fields for partner/user information, and a Forms tab for creating/managing/publishing the forms themselves. ZiftONE standard forms are already provided.

An example of a Custom Fields tab, displaying custom fields Working Hours and Preferred Contact Time:

admin_custom_form_custom_fields.png

For more information about Custom Fields, see Custom Fields.

An example of creating a custom Partner User form in the Forms tab, using both the custom fields Working Hours and Preferred Contact Time, and ZiftONE core partner user information fields:

admin_custom_form_custom_form.png

For more information about configuring forms, see Form Configuration.

This is how the same portal form could appear in a partner portal. You use the new Custom Partner/User Form dynamic content widget to add a specific form to a custom page, and add the custom page (named Preferred Contact Details in this example) to your portal site configuration:

portal_custom_form.png

The partner can enter the requested information and click Save to submit it to your record.

Relationships between Custom Fields in forms

When configuring forms, you can now create a relationship between custom fields so they are linked as a dependency. Options presented in one field/menu can be filtered and displayed based on the value selected in a previous field or menu.

For example, you might want a dependency in a particular partner form between Product Area and Products Offered, where the Products Offered field is automatically populated with a list of products that depends on the value a user selects for the Product Area field:

  • Product Area = Office Supplies

    Products Offered = Paper Supplies, Furniture and Cabinets, Office Decor

  • Product Area = Cloud Services

    Products Offered = File Hosting, Domain Management, Database Services, Laptops and Hardware

  • Product Area = Retail Management

    Products Offered = Inventory Tracking Services, Risk Management Analysis, Customer Support Services

Key Benefit: Forms are simpler/more intuitive to complete. Having relationships between fields and their values can ensure data consistency is maintained with an integrated CRM (Salesforce supports this type of dependency).

You create a mapping between the controlling field and its dependent field(s) in ZiftONE Admin. Relationships can be between core or custom fields, provided they are of any of these types: Select, Multiselect, Checkbox, or Radio.

Note: Conditional display logic on fields is not supported, i.e. hiding or showing fields based on previous selections.

For more information, see How to Add a Relationship between Custom Fields.

A new Field Relationships area in the sidebar for a field category (e.g. Partner User or Lead) in Settings > Forms & Fields allows you to manage and view the relationships between your fields.

Including dependent fields in a form is a three-step process - carry out the steps in the Field Relationships window:

  • Add a controlling/dependent relationship between the two fields

    For the example, specify that Product Area is the controlling field, and Products Offered is the dependent field.

    With this relationship, the values presented in the dependent field (Products Offered) will change based on the value of the controlling field (Product Area)

    admin_field_relationship_create.png

  • Configure the mapping between values of the two fields

    For the example (green cells indicate the value(s) of Products Offered that will be shown for each value of Product Area):

    admin_field_relationship_matrix.png

    Note: The Product Area field is set up with the possible values Office Supplies, Cloud Services, and Retail Management.

    The Products Offered field is set up with the possible values Paper Supplies, Furniture and Cabinets, Office Decor, File Hosting, Domain Management, Database Services, Laptops and Hardware, Inventory Tracking Services, Risk Management Analysis, and Customer Support Services.

  • Add the linked fields to a Portal or Admin form

    A field with a relationship shows a link icon.

    When a field with a relationship is added to a form, both controlling and dependent fields are added together, next to each other in the form.

    admin_field_relationships_form.gif

This is an example of how a field relationship could appear in the partner portal - in this case, in the Partner Registration form. The user has selected Office Supplies for the Product Area field, so Products Offered is showing Paper Supplies, Furniture and Cabinets and Office Decor for the partner to choose from:

portal_field_relationships.png

Custom Partner User fields available as Merge Tags

New merge tags (placeholders) for custom Partner User fields are now available.

Key Benefit: Having these tags available supports the creation of custom content, with the option for it to include custom information you’ve collected about each user.

You can find merge tags representing custom Partner User fields in these areas in ZiftONE Admin:

  • Custom Pages
  • Emails and Popups
  • Portal Footer

Merge tags representing custom Partner User fields are identified with a Partner User - prefix.

admin_merge_tag_custom_partner_user_field.png

Notes:

  • The replaced content for fields that allow multiple selections (Checkbox and Multiselect types) is presented as CSV formatted data.
  • Merge tags are not substituted for actual values in test emails.
  • Merge tags are not substituted for actual values in custom pages added to a Logged Out site view.

Lead Registration counts for User Achievements and Partner Groups

We’ve added Lead Registration as an evaluator when creating User Achievements and Partner Group filters.

Key Benefit: You can encourage your partners' users to register leads by giving them points for each one, and easily identify user’s performance based on this criterion.

You can find Leads > Registered as an object in these areas:

  • The Requirements area when creating a User Achievement

    admin_user_achievement_leads.png

    For a one-off achievement, you set an At Least value for the number of leads registered.

    The task can be repeatable, so that the user gets credit each time they achieve it. For a repeatable task, you set an Every value for the requirement, to specify the point at which the user gets credit for the achievement. You could set the requirement to Leads > Registered > Every > 1 and a user will get points every time they register a lead.

    For more information about creating User Achievements, see About User Achievements.

  • The User Segmentation Rules area when creating a Partner Group

    admin_partner_group_leads.png

    You can set an At Least value for the number of leads registered, and the time period for which to review lead registration.

    For more information about creating Partner Groups, see About Partner Groups.

Note:

  • Manual and auto-generated lead registrations are counted when evaluating the rules for both areas.

Social Post counts for User Achievements and Partner Groups

We’ve added Social Post counts as an evaluator when creating User Achievements and Partner Group filters.

Key Benefit: You can encourage your partners' users to post to their connected social media platforms by giving them points for each one, and easily identify user’s performance based on this criterion.

You can find Social > Sent Posts as an object in these areas:

    • The Requirements area when creating a User Achievement

      admin_user_achievement_socials.png

      For a one-off achievement, you set an At Least value for the number of social posts made.

      The task can be repeatable, so that the user gets credit each time they achieve it. For a repeatable task, you set an Every value for the requirement, to specify the point at which the user gets credit for the achievement. You could set the requirement to Social > Sent Posts > Every > 1 and a user will get points every time they post to socials.

      For more information about creating User Achievements, see About User Achievements.

    • The User Segmentation Rules area when creating a Partner Group

      admin_partner_group_social.png

      You can set an At Least value for the number of social posts made, and the time period for which to capture the data (based on Post Date).

      For more information about creating Partner Groups, see About Partner Groups.

Note:

  • The sending of a social post is accredited to the user who set up the connection to the media platform to which the post was made (shared (Company) or non-shared (Personal) access).
  • Company, personal, and Create Your Own social posts are counted.
  • Posts sent by manual creation, auto approve, and manual approve are counted.

Zift and external (CRM) IDs captured for partner users

If your Zift system is synchronized with a CRM, and partner users are mapped to contacts in the CRM, each user's profile in ZiftONE Admin now displays their ID from the synced CRM.

The ID is shown in the read-only area of the user's profile. We've also exposed their Zift User ID here for reference.

admin_partner_user_crm_id.png

icon_new.png Authentication Requirements for Marketing Emails

Zift now strongly advises that partners who send marketing emails authenticate their email addresses/domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Previously, this has been a recommendation only.

Gmail and Yahoo have implemented changes to reduce the amount of spam email relayed through their systems by requiring that email marketers authenticate their domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC. If authentication is not in place, they will not deliver the email. Considering that these email service providers account for about a third of all emails sent worldwide, this change will significantly impact deliverability of your partners' emails.

Please note that Zift has implemented a fallback process to handle domains that are not yet authenticated. If a partner’s domain does not have proper SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place, their sender email address will be sent from @bounce.zift123.com. For example:

sales@partnercompany.com will send from sales+partnercompany@bounce.zift123.com

This will ensure that the email will not be rejected due to domain authentication, but it may result in emails being flagged as spam due to an unexpected domain (@bounce.zift123.com)

These articles give information and instructions on setting up authentication:

25 Feb - icon_new.png Self Service Translations
               Updates to Learning Management, Marketing Activities pages,
               and Partner Events

Self service translation of custom content

We’ve added translation support for custom portal content such as custom fields, tags, terms and conditions, partner user roles, tier programs, and onboarding plans. Previously, you could add translations for native ZiftONE default navigation items, tooltips and Feature Page copy but any custom content had to be translated externally or by your Zift team. Now you can manage translation for both core and custom platform content yourself in ZiftONE Admin.

Key Benefit: It is now much easier for you to provide a consistent experience for your international partners.

For more information, see About Translations.

There is a new page in ZiftONE Admin - Partner Portal > Translations. Go to the page and choose the language for which you want to provide translations by selecting it in the English to… drop down menu at the top of the page.

admin_portal_translations_select_language.png

You can add translations for these types of custom content - there is a tab for each content type in the left sidebar:

Every object of the content type is listed in the tab. Choose the one you want to translate. Alternatively, use the Translate All option at the top of the tab.

admin_translations_tabs.png

Enter the translation for each piece of text in the boxes provided. Click Not translated to expose the box, add the required translation, then click Save. ZiftONE suggests a translation for the chosen language - you can use that if it suits your needs.

admin_translations_suggestion.png

All available translations for that language are pushed to the partner portal and presented to a user who is set up in that language.

Custom Fields

Every custom field in your system is listed in the window, grouped by custom field field category.

These items are available for translation for each custom field. If a custom field’s configuration in Settings > Forms & Fields includes these, they will be shown for translation for the field in the Translations page:

  • Display Name
  • Field Values (for fields of type checkbox, select, radio and multiselect)
  • Tool Tip
  • Help Text

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the Deal custom field Partner Rating.

admin_translations_custom_fields.png

For information on configuring custom fields, see Custom Fields.

Tags

Every Tag (from all tag categories) in your system is listed in the window.

These items are available for translation for each tag:

  • Display Name
  • Values

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the Marketing Activities Tag Product Range.

admin_translations_tag.png

For more information about Tags, see About Tags and Taxonomy and Tag Management.

Terms & Conditions

Every Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) object in your system is listed in the window.

This item is available for translation for each T&Cs object:

  • Guidance Text

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the Terms & Conditions file Image Library Terms of Use:

admin_translations_t&cs.png

For more information about T&Cs, see About Terms & Conditions of Service.

Onboarding Plans

Every Onboarding Plan in your system is listed in the window.

These items are available for translation for each plan:

  • Group Name
  • Task Name

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the Onboarding Plan Onboarding Admins.

admin_translations_onboarding_plan.png

For more information about setting up Onboarding Plans, see About Onboarding Partners.

Partner Events

Every Partner Event in your system is listed in the window.

These items are available for translation for each event:

  • Event Name
  • Summary
  • Description

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the Partner Event PartnerCon 2024.

admin_translations_partner_event.png

For more information about setting up Partner Events, see Partner Events.

Tier Programs

Every Tier Program in your system is listed in the window.

These items are available for translation for each program:

  • Tier Program Name
  • Tier Name
  • Goal Name

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the Tier Program Gold Partner Tier Program.

admin_translations_tier_program.png

For more information about setting up Tier Programs, see About Partner Tiers and Tier Programs.

Partner User Roles

All default and custom Partner User Roles in your system are listed in the window.

These items are available for translation for each role:

  • Name
  • Description

For example, the image below shows an in-progress French translation of the custom Partner User Role Sales Manager.

admin_translations_partner_user_roles.png

For information about managing Partner User Roles, see Partner User Roles.

Import/export translations of custom content

ZiftONE Admin now includes a page in which you can export and import translations of your custom content.

Key Benefit: It may be that you use an external agency to provide your translations. With this feature you can export a file of custom content items, send it to your translators for translation (or re-translation), then import the file to translate the content items in ZiftONE Admin.

In the new Partner Portal > Translations page in ZiftONE Admin, choose the Import/Export option from the left sidebar.

admin_translations_import_export.png

You can export a file of content items for a single language here. Select the language from the drop down list then click Export to download the file in CSV format.

The file includes these columns of information for each content item:

  • Object, e.g Field Definition, OnboardingPlanGroup
  • Object type, e.g DEAL or PARTNER for a Custom Field, or ONBOARDINGPLANS
  • Object name
  • Item being translated, e.g. displayName for a Custom Field, name for an Onboarding Plan Group or Task
  • English text
  • Translation in selected language (if translation already exists)

You or your translators can add the translations as required then re-import the file.

On import, a summary gives the number of translations that will be imported, and shows any errors (items that failed to match with an existing item in ZiftONE). If re-importing translations, existing translations that aren’t included in the file are unaffected in ZiftONE.

admin_translations_import_summary.png

New User Role permission to access translations

Access to management of custom content translation is controlled with a new permission in ZiftONE Admin, which you can assign to any of your user roles: Partner Portal > Content Translation.

As a default, this permission is only enabled for the Administrator role.

Permissions are assigned to user roles in the ZiftONE Admin page Settings > Users > Manage Roles:

admin_settings_user_roles_content_translation.png

Manage progress against individual LMS modules

You can now monitor and manage your partner’s progress against the individual Modules in a training course or certification.

Key Benefit: You can get a more detailed picture of how well your partners' users are progressing against your training objectives. Previously, it was only possible to review and update training progress at the overall Course or Certification level.

The new Modules tab in Partner Management > Learning Management > Training Progress allows you to carry out these tasks:

  • View user progress against each Module in your system
  • Add or revoke a user progress
  • Import progress for multiple partners from a CSV file

admin_learning_training_progress_modules.png

The progress of a partner’s users against training Modules is also available in a new Training > Modules tab in their partner account:

admin_partner_modules.png

For more information, see Manage Partners' Training Progress.

Improvements to Marketing Activities pages

We've made some changes to these pages in ZiftONE Admin, which makes the creation and management of marketing activities much more straightforward. The changes apply to these pages:

  • Partner Marketing > Workflows
  • Partner Marketing > Custom Activities
  • Partner Marketing > Website Plugins
  • Partner Marketing > Multimedia
  • Partner Marketing > Emails

These are the main updates to each page:

  • Updated the Create option to be item-specific for the particular page, e.g. Create Workflow, Create Email, rather than a drop down list of all activities for selection.

    Note: the Multimedia page still shows a drop down list. The options are Create > Print Media Asset and Create > Video Asset.

  • Removed the icons column (except for the Multimedia page, which shows icons to differentiate between PDF (admin_multimedia_pdf_icon.png) and video (admin_multimedia_video_icon.png).
  • Removed the View button, which switched between activity lists.
  • [For Zift users only] Added a Review Status column and filter.
  • [For Zift users only] Hidden activities aren't shown in the list by default. They can be displayed by checking the Hidden option in the View Status filter.

admin_marketing_activities_updates_250224.png

Registration options for Partner Events

When you create a Partner Event in Partner Portal > Partner Events, a new Registration area allows you to choose how your partners should register for the event. You can choose from three options:

  • None (default) - registration isn't required.
  • Portal - partners register in the portal, and you define the maximum number of attendees and whether attendance should be approved by you.
  • External - partners register via an external event registration form, and you provide the URL to the form.

admin_partner_events_registration.png

For information about managing Partner Events, see Partner Events.

18 Feb - Update to Campaigns, and Custom Partner Views

Summary of adhoc Partner Group filter on a Custom Partner View listing

If you've added a filter based on an adhoc Partner Group for a Custom Partner View, you can see details of the group in the summary of the view.

Key Benefit: You have more visibility of how your site views are filtered to your partners.

admin_portal_view_adhoc_partner_group_rules.png

Previously, the Partner Access field showed the text Rules defined.

Social Platforms removed from Add Content for Campaigns

We've removed some social media platform options when you're adding social posts to a campaign. These platforms are unused/unsupported so we've taken them out as options:

  • Xing
  • HubSpot
  • Pardot
  • Hootsuite
  • WeChat

admin_campaign_add_content_social_posts.png

11 Feb - Update to Custom Domain with SSO

Custom Domain update warning when SSO is in place

If your partner portal is configured with login via SSO, you must work with the Zift team if you want to add a custom domain or make changes to an existing domain. This is to ensure that your SSO mechanism is updated with the new information. We have added a message in ZiftONE Admin Custom Domain page to remind you to reach out to your Zift contact to make changes.

admin_custom_domain_sso_warning.png

04 Feb - Updates to T&Cs, Supplier Email notifications, and Deal
               notifications

Supplier T&Cs accepted by individual users

The Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) feature has been extended and now provides the option to choose whether your T&Cs should be accepted by the Partner Admin (as currently) or by all partner users individually (new).

Key Benefit: You can specify that all users in your partner program, or in the relevant partner group, have to review and accept your terms and conditions before accessing your data. You can then be satisfied that they comply with your company requirements for accessing your partner portal.

When enabled, the updated feature provides an Acceptance by field when you upload T&Cs in ZiftONE.

admin_t&cs_upload_acceptance_by.png

These options are available:

  • Partner Admin - the Admin user for the account has to accept T&Cs on behalf of all users. Non-Admin users see a message requesting that they contact their administrator if they try and login before the Admin has accepted the T&Cs.

    portal_t&c_acceptance_admin.png

  • All Users (default) - all users are asked to accept the T&Cs before they can log in, if it's their first time or the T&Cs have been updated.

    portal_t&c_acceptance_user.png

If the other new setting for T&Cs, To Partner Email Opt-in, is also enabled, a user’s Supplier Emails notifications are automatically activated when they accept the T&Cs in the portal. This means they will be set up to receive your To Partner Communications (TPC). If the Administrator is accepting the T&Cs on behalf of everyone, this will opt all users in the organization into receiving TPC.

It is recommended that you include text in the T&Cs to advise partners if accepting T&Cs opts the partner in to receiving TPC.

Note:

  • Existing T&Cs are treated as accepted by Partner Admin.

  • The Acceptance by value can't be edited for existing T&Cs.

For more information about T&Cs, see About Terms & Conditions of Service.

To view T&Cs acceptance records, open your Partner account in Partner Explorer and go to the Terms and Conditions tab. For more information, see View Terms and Conditions Acceptance.

Suppliers can opt partners in to Supplier Emails

You can set up your Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) to specify that, when partners accept the T&Cs, they are automatically opted in to receive to-partner emails from you.

Key Benefit: You have an automated way of prompting your partners to opt in to your communications.

When uploading your T&Cs to ZiftONE, a new setting To Partner Email Opt-in allows you to specify whether acceptance of the T&Cs will also opt the user into receiving emails. The default setting is off.

admin_t&Cs_email_opt_in.png

This setting works with the option (also new in this release) to choose who you want to accept your T&Cs - every individual partner user, or the partner administrator on behalf of everyone. If the partner administrator is set to accept the T&Cs, this will also update the opt-in status of all the partner’s users in a single action, if To-Partner Email Opt-in is enabled.

Note:

  • The To Partner Email Opt-in value can't be edited for existing T&Cs. If you want to change the setting for existing T&Cs, upload a new T&Cs and enable the setting there.
  • When a T&Cs configured to not opt users in to supplier emails is accepted, the opt-in status for all accepting parties is set to off.
  • If partners get opted in to receiving emails, they can update the preference in their portal settings.

For more information about T&Cs, see About Terms & Conditions of Service.

Partner email notifications for Deal stage changes

A new option in ZiftONE Admin allows you to confirm that changes you make to the stage of a deal will trigger email notifications to be sent to the deal's assigned/default Sales Rep. The option can be enabled/disabled for each type of deal you're managing.

Key Benefit: Your partners are kept up to date on how their deals are progressing in real time, without having to log in to the partner portal.

When creating a Deal Type in ZiftONE Admin, in   > Forms & Fields > Deal > Types, enable the Email Sales Rep on Stage Change option. 

admin_deal_type_email_sales_rep.png

When you as the supplier update the stage of a deal in ZiftONE Admin, or it is changed via a CRM integration, an email notification is sent to the Sales Rep.

Note: Notifications aren't triggered if the deal is updated by the partner.

For information about custom deal types and updating deal stages, see Add Custom Deal Types and Update Deal Details.

28 Jan - Updates to Portal Posts, Partner Groups, Deals, and Custom
               Fields

New UI for creating Portal Posts

We’ve added the option for you to provide translations of the posts/updates you provide to your partners in the portal.

Key Benefit: It is now much easier for you to provide a consistent experience for your international partners.

When enabled, the new Portal Post Translation feature provides a reworked UI for you to create/edit Portal Post content, and the new option to add translations into any of the languages supported by ZiftONE.

For more information about translations and supported languages, see About Translations.

For more information about managing Portal Posts, see About Portal Posts.

The UI for creating and editing the content of Portal Posts has been updated to support the option to provide translations of portal post content. Here’s a rundown of the changes in Partner Portal Posts:

  • When creating a new post, you can select how its content will be provided - directly in the ZiftONE Post Editor or via a link to an external file

    admin_portal_posts_create_new.png

  • Different view/experience based on whether the post has content created in ZiftONE or links to an external content resource:
      • If you’re creating post content in ZiftONE (Create Post > Post Editor)
        • Content edit area

          admin_portal_posts_create_new_post_editor.png

        • Options button that exposes the configuration details of the post (Display Name, Summary, Image, Effective Dates, etc.)

          admin_portal_posts_post_editor_options.png

        • Three dots (…) menu for managing a post
          • Delete - deletes the post
          • Copy - copies the post, and any translations that are available for it. Note: you copy the English post and all its translations come with the copy. It’s not possible to copy only a translation of the post.

          admin_portal_posts_post_editor_3_dots.png

        • Language selector to support the management of translated versions of the post

          admin_portal_posts_post_editor_lang_selector.png

      • If linking to external content (Create Post > External Link)
        • Single form for entering the configuration details of the post, including the content URL.

          admin_portal_posts_external_link.png

        • Options menu for managing a post:
          • Delete - deletes the post
          • Copy - copies the post, and any translations that are available for it. Note: you copy the English post and all its translations come with the copy. It’s not possible to copy only a translation of the post.

          admin_portal_posts_external_link_options.png

        • Language selector to support the management of translated versions of the post

          admin_portal_posts_external_link_lang_selector.png

    For more information, see About Portal Posts.

Portal Post translations

You can now provide multiple language versions of a Portal Post. Create the base English version and save it, then follow this process to add translations of it:

  1. Choose a different language from the language selector to add a translated version in that language.
  2. Add the translations for the post.

    These areas of the post can be translated/edited:

    • Display Name
    • Summary
    • Post content (if you’re creating the content in ZiftONE). You can’t translate the content of a linked external file in ZiftONE.

      If you subscribe to our Premium Feature Automatic Translations, you have the option to copy the English version as the template for the non-English one, and add the translations yourself (Use the template), or have the content auto-translated by ZiftONE (Translate).

      admin_portal_posts_translate_options.png

      If you don’t have the Automatic Translations feature, the English content is provided for you to translate.

  3. Save the translation. The language you’ve used shows a check mark in the language selector, to show that a translation exists.

    If the post is in Published state, the translation will show up in the portal for users who select that language.

For more information, see Translating a Portal Post.

admin_portal_posts_translate.gif

Partner Group rules based on Partner address fields

It's now possible to create a Partner Group based on ZiftONE standard partner address fields.

Key Benefit: This will help you easily group Partners based on their region. Previously you had to rely on Custom Fields to gather this information.

These attributes are available when creating a Partner Group (in Partner Management > Partner Groups) or when creating adhoc Partner Rules for objects (in the Advanced Rules window). Use the Partner Profile object type. Each has an operator of Is, Is Not, Is Blank, Is Not Blank:

  • City
  • Zip Code
  • State

    This value is matched against the list of states from countries enabled in Settings > Countries, with Show States enabled

admin_partner_groups_partner_profile_address_info.png

The Partner Group logic will match any address associated with a partner, not just the default one.

Scrollable Product menu when creating a Deal Line Item in portal

The Product menu in the New Deal Line Item window now lists all available products and users can scroll through the whole list to find and select one. Previously, it was difficult for users to find the product they needed, if there was a large number.

Key Benefit: This has improved the user experience for your partners that are managing deals.

portal_deal_line_item_product.png

No option to delete Partner User fields

It's no longer possible to delete custom Partner User fields. There's a risk of undoing Partner Group filters based on the fields if they're deleted, so the option has been removed.

21 Jan - icon_new.png Support Hub
               Updates to Supplier T&Cs, Collateral Library, and Partner Groups

Enhanced Support Hub with Zoe, your ZiftONE digital assistant

We've introduced a Support Hub (formerly Chat) to help you get access to the information and services you need from a single location.

admin_support_hub.png

In the Support Hub, Zoe, your digital assistant, can help you access our Academy sites, search for articles, log in to CustomerONE, view and create requests for Support, Services or Partner Enablement, or chat with an agent. Additionally, if you're a Gold or Platinum customer, you can schedule a meeting with Support.

To access the Support Hub, click the icon in the lower right corner of any ZiftONE Admin page.

For more information about the Support Hub, see Zoe and The Support Hub.

admin_support_hub.gif

Guidance text for supplier T&Cs

You can now change the advisory text that accompanies the Terms & Conditions you provide to your partners for accessing the ZiftONE portal.

Key Benefit: You can help your partners understand the benefits of accepting your Terms & Conditions, or the implications of ignoring them.

In the New Terms & Conditions window, accessed from Partner Portal > Terms & Conditions > Upload Terms & Conditions, a new field Guidance Text is included. Check the box to enable the option of providing custom guidance text - this activates the text field where you can enter your own advisory note.

The field shows default text, which will be used if you don't enable the Guidance Text option and change the message.

admin_t&cs_guidance_text.png

You can also access the field by editing an existing Terms & Conditions.

For more information about managing Terms & Conditions, see About Terms & Conditions of Service.

Option to remove Preview for collateral assets

A new application setting Disable Preview for downloadable assets allows you to hide the Preview option for download only collateral assets.

Key Benefit: This change allows you to ensure that all downloads of content are tracked. Previewing a document allows a user to download it from their browser, and this action is not tracked in ZiftONE.

Enable the setting in  > Settings > Application Settings - it's disabled by default. Contact your Zift CSM if you want this setting activated.

The Preview button is hidden for download only PDF files in the Browse Collateral and Collateral Programs portal pages when the setting is enabled.

portal_browse_collateral_no_preview.png

This option applies to non-co-brandable content only. Your partner users can still preview co-brandable/customizable content if they have access to it.

Partner Group rules based on Locator attributes

It's now possible to create a Partner Group based on availability of data in Partner/Provider Locators.

Key Benefit: This will help you identify the Partners/Providers that have completed their Locator profiles, and which ones are missing key data.  You can send emails or popup reminders to encourage partners in the group to complete them.

These attributes are available when creating a Partner Group (in Partner Management > Partner Groups) or when creating adhoc Partner Rules for objects (in the Advanced Rules window). Use the Partner Profile object type:

  • Partner Logo
    • Is Blank (logo not uploaded)
    • Is Not Blank (logo uploaded)
  • Locator Profile
    • Is Blank
    • Is Not Blank
  • Marketplace URL
    • Is Blank
    • Is Not Blank
  • Social Media URLs
    • Any (one or more is selected)
    • None
  • Website URL
    • Is Blank
    • Is Not Blank

admin_partner_group_partner_profile_not_completed.png

These attributes are only available if you have a Locator enabled.

For more information about creating Partner Groups, see About Partner Groups.

For more information about enabling and managing a Locator, see About Partner Locators and About Provider Locators.

14 Jan - Updates to Currencies

Czech Koruna and New Taiwan Dollar currencies added

ZiftONE Admin now supports the currencies Czech Koruna (CZK) and New Taiwan Dollar (NT$). Currencies are enabled in  > Settings > Application Settings > Deal Currencies - once activated, use them for Deal Registration, and for entries in Pricebooks, to support you or your Czech/Taiwanese partners. Contact your Zift CSM if you want this setting activated. 

07 Jan

This release includes general improvements and bug fixes.

01 Jan - Updates to Partner Locators, Dynamic Content widgets, and
               Reports

Only display completed profiles in a Partner Locator

We've made it easier for you to ensure that your Partner Locator only contains entries with complete profiles of information.
When creating a Partner Locator in Partner Portal > Locators, the form includes a set of properties and you can confirm which of these must be completed by the partner for their entry to display in the Locator:

  • Logo
  • Locator Profile
  • Website URL
  • Social Media URL - partner can provide one or more of Facebook, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn
  • Marketplace URL

admin_partner_locator_create_required_partner_details.png

If a property is required, and a partner's locator profile doesn't include a value for it, that partner will not be listed in your Partner Locator. As soon as they add the value, they will be dynamically added to the Locator.

Note: This option is also available when creating a Provider Locator. Contact your Zift CSM if you want to implement this feature.

For more information about Partner Locators, see About Partner Locators.

Locate a Collateral Program when adding to a custom page via Dynamic Content widget

We've improved the experience when adding a Collateral Program to a custom page. Now, when you select Collateral Program as the type when adding a Dynamic Content widget to the page, you can select one of your existing Collateral Programs from a drop down list instead of having to search for it by name.

admin_custom_page_collateral_program_select.png

Once you've selected the program you want to use, the window shows a preview/thumbnail.

admin_custom_page_collateral_program_preview.png

For information about managing custom pages, see Create/Edit Custom Page.

Campaign Summary and Marketing Reports reports updated

We've updated some of the reports available in ZiftONE Admin:

  • Analytics & Reports > Marketing Performance > Campaign Summary

    admin_reports_campaign_summary_2024.png

  • Partner Explorer > partner account > Marketing Reports

    admin_partner_explorer_marketing_reports_2024.png

If you're using these reports as a basis for your own analytics, please revisit as the updates provide some standard Looker functionality that you may find useful.

We've also removed the Marketing Performance > Topic Analysis report from Analytics & Reports, as it wasn't widely used.

For more information about reports in ZiftONE Admin, see About Analytics & Reports and Exploring, Personalizing, and Distributing Reports and Dashboards.

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