Update History

January 2024 Update

Excel-to-Excel Updates is a major new feature requested by many customers.

New Features

• Excel-to-Excel Updates
  • “Excel-to-Excel Updates” enables you to submit values from named ranges and tables in a source workbook. Then, update data in matching named ranges and tables in a destination workbook.
  • Users can update hundreds of items in seconds.
  • Save time by avoiding copy/paste. It uses durable links (named items) that won't break when you change file names
  • Key use cases:
    • Summarize results from a details workbook to a summary or output workbook.
    • Update multiple output workbooks from a single configurator/calculator workbook.
    • Consolidate multiple workbooks into a single workbook.
  • See https://analysisplace.com/Document-Automation/Excel-to-Excel and the "E2E" example in the "Insert Sample Content" in the Excel add-in.

Enhancements

• Timestamps
  • Timestamps are now displayed for Excel Submits and document Updates
  • This helps to clarify if Updates are based on the latest Submit
• AnalysisPlace.com legacy email/password sign-in disabled
  • As announced in September, the legacy AnalysisPlace.com authentication method has been retired. Use one of the new Microsoft-managed authentication methods (sign in using Office, single sign-on, or sign in using email).
  • All existing subscriptions/accounts will continue to work. If you previously signed in using an AnalysisPlace.com account, sign in using one of the new methods using the same email (but a different/unique password).
  • If using "Sign in with Email" for the first time, on the Sign In form, select "Sign up now" (Microsoft verifies your email).
  • Note that there has never been any security issues related to the AnalysisPlace.com accounts (or any other aspect of our platform). We are simply moving to more modern authentication methods to improve future security.

October 2023 Update

New Features

• Auto-Hide rows/columns based on cell value - now available on the "Submit" tab of the Excel add-in. Also see full example in the Excel "Insert Sample Content" on the "Auto-Hide" sheet
• Free Business Trial - qualified users can now instantly add the unlimited free 30-day business-wide trial from within the add-in on the Account page. The user must be signed into the add-in using their business email (using any of the authentication methods). The user becomes an account administer and has access to the admin portal. The free trial can be extended to 60 days (if 5 users try the add-in) or 90 days (if 12 users try the add-in).

Fixes

• Fixed occasional Flex table background color issue.

September 2023 Update

We now offer a new payment provider (Stripe) that replaces the legacy PayPal method.

And a new authentication method ("sign in with email") that will replace the legacy AnalysisPlace.com registration.

New Features

• New payment processor: Stripe
  • AnalysisPlace will now offer 3 payment options:
    • Microsoft Marketplace (AppStore)
    • Manual monthly invoicing (for larger businesses)
    • Stripe
  • Stripe is a global leader in processing payments
  • Customers can use a wide variety of payment methods (credit card, bank transfers, etc.)
  • Existing PayPal subscriptions will continue to work. You do not need to cancel those or switch to Stripe. If you do want to switch to Stripe or the Microsoft Marketplace, cancel your subscription at PayPal.com
  • Stripe subscriptions are easy to set up and manage. You can seamlessly switch between subscription types and cancel subscriptions
  • You can add individual (Standard, Pro, Elite), as well as, business (usage-based and fixed per-user) subscriptions
• New authentication method: "sign in with Email"
  • The new "Sign in with Email" authentication method is managed by Microsoft Azure Active Directory
  • Any email will work with "Sign in with Email". It does require verification.
  • It will replace the legacy AnalysisPlace.com registration and sign in
  • Existing AnalysisPlace.com accounts will continue to work, but in the coming months, you'll need to "sign up" using the same email you've always used (which is easy). Your subscriptions, settings, etc. will continue to work the same.
  • The existing 2 Microsoft authentication options will continue to be the primary authentication methods (especially for business users with Microsoft-connected email accounts). Microsoft SSO (single sign on) is the simplest and most secure method to authenticate.
  • The new "Sign in with Email" should be used if you cannot (or don't want to) sign in using Microsoft SSO. For example: some organizations restrict SSO and some users don't have a business or personal Microsoft-connected account (most Office users do).
  • Users can access business accounts using "Sign in with Email" as long as their email address matches the "User Access Control" settings set in the admin portal.

Enhancements

• Administrators can now sign into the Admin Portal using either Microsoft SSO or the new email-based method.
• New resource pages on how to manage subscriptions and accounts

July 2023 Update

The Word add-in now supports updating of native charts, not just images of charts.

New Features

• Word Charts
  • We now have extensive support for updating native charts in the Word add-in. Previously only chart images were supported in the Word add-in. Native charts can significantly reduce .docx file size and reduce transfer size. Chart resolution will never be an issue with native charts.
  • Charts are updated based on data in a range, table, or PivotTable (destination-formatted) submitted from Excel
  • All chart types are supported: bar, line, area, pie, stock, surface, radar, scatter, tree map, map, sunburst, funnel, histogram, waterfall, and box and whisker charts
  • The following chart types are not yet supported with cloud updates (Word and PowerPoint):  tree map, map, sunburst, funnel, histogram, waterfall, and box and whisker charts
  • It is no longer necessary to append range/table names with "_val". Excel now submits both table values (for charts) and text (for tables) to Word/PowerPoint
  • See the "Sample Content" ("Charts" worksheet) on the "Start" tab of the add-in for examples and instructions

February 2023 Update

This update includes sigificant improvements to how PowerPoint documents are linked.

Enhancements

• PowerPoint linking
  • We added a new method to link content (shapes) in PowerPoint. So, there are now 2 methods: 'New' and 'Legacy' (Alt-Text-based) methods.
  • Both methods will continue to be supported to update documents. So, your existing PowerPoint documents will continue to update the same.
  • The New method is significantly easier to use and includes the Link in hidden tags within the shape. The new method can add and list the tags for each shape in the add-in. The new method cannot view the legacy Alt-Text links in the add-in.
  • If a shape has both link types, the New method will have priority when performing updates. Older versions of Office may not be able to add/view 'New' links in the add-in, but all systems will be able to perform updates with both link methods (because updates are performed in the cloud, not using the add-in).
  • This 'New' method depends on capabilities published by Microsoft in September 2022. If you have an updated Microsoft 365 Office, you should see the 'New' method on the 'Link' tab of the add-in. If you have an older version, then you won't see the new method, but you can continue to use the 'Legacy' method. Supported versions of Office:
    • Windows: Version 2208 (Build 15601.20230) or newer
    • Mac: 16.64.804.0 or newer
    • Office on the web: supported

Fixes

• Fixed issue related to PowerPoint bulletpoint indents

December 2022 Update

Please try the new features and provide feedback.

Flex tables have become the first choice for linking/updating many types of tables, especially large financial tables.

New Features

• Conditional Content (Document Assembly) in Word
  • Conditional Content allows you to control what sections to include/exclude in created reports (by deleting un-needed sections) based on formulas/logic in Excel. Conditional content (conditional sections) is similar to Document Assembly.
  • For example: if your team creates Word proposals, the Excel workbook and Word template could be configured to only include content applicable to the selected industry, product, region, and configuration selected in Excel
  • In Excel, see "Conditional Content" on the "List" tab of the add-in
  • In Word, see "Conditional Content" on the "Link" tab of the add-in
  • This new version of "Conditional Content" is based on Content Controls and is supported in Word. Previously, there was a very limited version that was based on Bookmarks, but was only supported in Word Cloud updates. The PowerPoint Conditional Content feature is still supported and remains unchanged.
  • It is supported in Word add-in updates, as well as all cloud updates (including template-based and API updates)
  • If using Conditional Content in the Word add-in, ensure you are updating a copy of your master template. In Word, if content will be deleted, the add-in will ask you to confirm that you want to remove the listed sections
• Direct Transfers (disable content uploads)
  • The default method to transfer data from the Excel add-in to the Word/PowerPoint add-in is now 'Direct' in supported systems. Word add-in updates can now be performed without uploading any content.
  • Individual users can select "Disable All Content Uploads"
  • Business customers can apply a "Disable User Content Uploads" setting that stops the uploading of content of all users.
  • See https://analysisplace.com/Resources/Transfer-Method
• "This Sheet Only" Excel Submits
  • This option only submits content on the selected worksheet. This has been requested to help simplify management and troubleshooting of links. It also allows users to update only a subset of content; which can reduce transfer size and reduce accumulation of itemPoints.
  • By design, Conditional Content is disabled for "This Sheet Only" submits

Enhancements

• Business Fixed "Per-User" subscriptions
  • We added "Auto-Purchase". This optionally allows the business to automatically increase the number of purchased credits when needed. For example, if a user was originally assigned a "Standard" tier license, and exceeded the usage limits, Auto-Purchase would automatically upgrade the user to Pro and purchase 2 additional credits from Microsoft AppSource/Marketplace.
  • This supplements other existing optional features:
    • "Auto-Upgrade": automatically upgrades a user when needed
    • "Auto-Activate": automatically assigns a Standard license to a new authorized user. For example, you could allow any user with your "@domain.com" email domain to access the add-in.
    • Notifications and Requests: admins can be notified of Auto-Activates, Auto-Purchases, Auto-Upgrades, and requests for upgrades.
  • Note that the "Usage-based" (pay-as-you-go) subscription is still the lowest cost and easiest to manage for most organizations.
  • These options are configured in the AnalysisPlace Administration Portal for all business accounts.
• Flex Tables - HTML content
  • Flex table cells can now contain a wide variety of HTML content
  • Examples: make negative numbers red; bold/underline words; add images
  • Content can be dynamic (based on logic/formulas)

Fixes

• Various fixes/improvements to Flex Tables, including adding ability to align tables. 

September 2022 Update

This update includes some noteworthy changes, especially the addition of Flex tables (Excel-formatted Word tables)

New Features

• Flex Tables (Excel-formatted tables)
  • Excel-formatted table updates have been requested by many customers. Flex tables allow updating of Word tables with Excel-formatting.
  • Allows for custom formatting (e.g. borders, cell padding, background color, etc.) that can override the appearance of the range in Excel
  • Flex tables are better than destination-formatted table for a variety of scenarios, especially financial reports.
  • Only compatible with Word (incl. Word Cloud and template-based updates). Flex tables will not work in PowerPoint
  • For details, see https://analysisplace.com/Resources/Tables, or just try it.
  • It is easy to switch an existing destination table to a flex table (and vice versa). See "Manage Linkable Content" on the Link tab of the Excel add-in. Click "List/Manage Content", select the desired Table or Named Range, then change the "Formatting Control" under "Selected Item" to Flex.
• Management of Linkable Content (Excel)
  • This new UI (on the Link tab of the Excel add-in) makes it easier to modify item types and properties. For example, it allows you to switch between Flex tables and regular (Destination) tables
  • It replaces adding suffixes (such as _vis, _val, _img) to item names. Existing suffixes will still work fine.
  • Allows you to set Workbook default settings that will apply to all individual items that don't have settings applied. For example, you could set default table type to "Flex" -- all new/existing tables (that don't have "Formatting Control" set to "Dest") will become Flex tables. But be aware that this will replace all of those destination-formatted Word tables with Excel-formatted tables when you perform an update.
  • Link property settings for range names and shapes are stored with the item and are transferred when the item or sheet are copied to another workbook. Table, PivotTable, and Chart property settings are saved to the workbook and need to be reset if copying to another workbook. All item property settings will remain when moving, renaming, sharing, or copying the workbook.
• Sheet name removal
  • The sheet name was removed from the link for most item types. This allows you to change the name of sheets without breaking the link. Broken links that resulted from changing sheet names was a major source of frustration.
  • All existing links (with sheet names) will continue to work fine, even if you change the sheet name
  • Links of sheet-scoped range names (uncommon) will still contain and depend on the sheet name
  • Excel requires that workbook-scoped names and Tables to have unique names. Please ensure that other content (PivotTables, shapes, and charts) have unique names -- if you have multiple shapes with the same name (e.g. "r_Chart1"), only one of them will be used to update content.

Enhancements

• For Cloud updates, ItemPoints are now shown by item, making it easier to understand how total ItemPoints are calculated
• Linking in Word and PowerPoint: you can now filter by sheet or item type or display all items
• Easier resolution of link issues (Word)
  • "Show All" now displays all links (which are in Content Controls) in the document and indicates if there is a valid link to Excel content.
    • Green: valid link
    • Red: source from Excel was not found (perhaps the item was renamed or deleted)
    • Gray: no link
  • See the Link tab of the Word add-in, under "Appearance of Content Controls"
• Admin Portal: various improvements and fixes were made to the Admin Portal for Microsoft AppSource business customers:
  • Ability to change the number of purchased credits from within the portal
  • Easier to assign credits (Standard, Pro, Elite tiers) to individual users
  • Improved Usage Reports by user, by month, and by API key
  • Improved management of user access controls
  • More Admin Portal enhancements are coming (Auto Purchase and improvements to Auto Upgrade and Auto Activate)
  • Improved ability to generate and manage API keys

Fixes

• Table corruption issue:  fixed issue when re-sizing tables (when rows were inserted in 2 or more tables in the document)
• Cloud updates: Files names with some non-ASCII characters (such as accents) caused the download of the document to fail. This has been fixed using encoding.
• Partial table linking: if user had only a row in a table selected when linking a table, it resulted in cloud update issues (inserted a table in a table) and occasional table corruption. It now links the whole table when only selecting a row. By design, if your selection is within a single cell, it will insert a table within the table cell (nested table). Only the nested table can be linked.