Version 9.3 Release Notes

Version 9.3 of the Smokeball Desktop App contains the following new features and refinements.

New features

Linking email attachments to the originating email

We have made improvements to linking attachments back to the originating email. When right-clicking an attachment from the Files List, select Open originating email.

You can also select the mail icon next to the attachment. 

Email attachments will also appear in search results. This is only available for emails with attachments associated to a matter from Version 9.3 onwards.

Also, when attaching documents to an outbound email, you will now be prompted to attach the documents to the associated matter only after selecting Send in Outlook. Before, the prompt to save a document to a matter from an outbound email appeared when you attached a document to the email.

Staff signatures in Letters

We have introduced the ability to assign a staff signature to a staff member, for use on any document container. This will allow for the automated display of the signatures on specific documents when generated. Gone are the days of automating If/Then/Else statements for signatures!

This functionality also extends to Firm Logos. For a full guide on implementing this, from upload to editing your letterhead, refer to Add your firm logo and signature to documents.

Kanban board dashboard widget

We have added a new Kanban widget to assist users to visualise their matters grouped by stage. There is also a filter by person responsible.

Learn more about dashboards and how to add a dashboard widget.

Assigned matters dashboard widget

We have added a new widget to visualise how many matters a staff member is involved in (Person Responsible, Person Assisting, Staff Tags).

• Use the Numbers View to see at a glance how many matters and leads a staff member has been assigned.
  
• Use the List View to view a clickable list of matters, grouped by staff member.
  

The widget can be customised to allow you to select what statuses to include, select between matters, leads or both matters and leads, and select specific staff.

Learn more about dashboards and how to add a dashboard widget.

Folder/File Explorer

We are introducing a File Explorer button in the files section of a matter.

Selecting this button opens a pop-up window that displays a comprehensive area to navigate and manage your folders and documents.

Assign priority to tasks

You can now set an Urgent, High, Medium, Low or No Priority to tasks. 

Priorities are an optional field and can be set when creating a task, or can be edited after the task is created.

A new Priority column can now be viewed next to the task name, wherever tasks appear (e.g. Task List, Tasks tab in a matter, Daily Digest email and widget).

Refinements

Settlement Date column returns to the Matter List

The Settlement Date column which was removed in a previous update, has now been restored in response to client feedback.

Search logic improvements for Matter Numbers

When searching for a matter number, results will now appear if you enter an exact match or partial match.

Examples of exact and partial matches:

• Exact match: 123
• Prefix partial match: 123-001
• Suffix partial match: 001/123
• Infix partial match: 2024/12345

Display up to 200 matters or contacts per page

You can now display 50, 100 or 200 matters or contacts per page on the Matter and Contact Lists.

Trigger workflow prompt when transitioning stages on a matter

When creating a workflow, you can now check a box in the stage set configuration to trigger the Workflow prompt window to appear when transitioning stages on a matter. Traditionally this prompt was only displayed at Matter Creation. 

This new feature will allow users to create more nuanced and relevant task workflows that can apply to different stages in a matter.

Publish Online enhancements

When using the Publish Online feature, you can now publish multiple files with one link. 

• If you select one file, Smokeball will download the file and copy the local file path to the your clipboard so you can upload and publish the document online.

• If you select multiple files, Smokeball will download the files and copy the local file path to your clipboard so you can upload and publish the documents online. The files no longer combine into one PDF to be uploaded.

• If you right-click one or more files, the option to Open Browser will appear, which will open your default browser and copy the file or folder path.
  

Notable Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where users couldn’t update time worked quantities without a workaround.
• Fixed a bug where settlement financials were not saving correctly.
• Fixed a bug where specific dropdown menus data was being cleared without intention.
• Fixed a bug where custom referral types fields were populating IDs instead of the referral name in precedents.
• Updated wording to be clearer with setup instructions for 2FA.
• Fixed an issue where the Smokeball Google Chrome Extension wasn't searchable on the Google Extension Store.