Inside Track
Heber Allred zzTakeoffReady to Test: Who's Here, Follow Users, Takeoff Tree Grid, Takeoff + Item Combined, Undockable Reports, & More
We have an update on our Test Server that we're planning to deploy tomorrow (Saturday March 28, 2026 at 8PM MST).
If anyone interested in playing with it, feel free to test. We will be creating a more detailed list of updates with screenshots and more complete descriptions when we release.
Hyperlinks
- Hyperlinks can now be added to highlighter box objects
- Hyperlinks are automatically extracted from uploaded PDFs (if the PDF contains hyperlink data)
Who's Here / Follow User
- "Who's here" indicator in the header showing which users are viewing the same project
- Follow another user's navigation, zoom, and pan in real-time
- Visual indicator (dotted blue outline) on the profile icon when following someone
Workspace Settings Expansion
- New workspace-level setting: "Start New Takeoffs As" (takeoffs can now be either assemblies or items - previous behavior was that all takeoffs operated as assemblies and total their child items...now the takeoff itself can be an item)
- Option to skip the existing takeoff prompt when applying templates and lists
- Default decimal places settings for imperial and metric at the workspace level
- User defaults for template library, list, and default views across takeoffs, pages, templates, lists, projects, and reports sidebars
- Custom properties now support a "Computed" type
Reports Enhancements
- New "Takeoff" report type added; existing reports renamed to "Advanced"
- Reports can be undocked into a separate window
- Undo/redo fixes for reports
Search Improvements
- Search can now target specific pages instead of only searching all pages
- Smart select search remembers your last "current page / all pages" setting
Notes Tool Enhancements
- Auto font size checkbox β text scales to fit the note
- Text alignment options: left, center, right, top, middle, bottom
Takeoff Worksheet Overhaul
- Insert above / insert below functionality
- Takeoffs can be either an assembly or an item
- Item properties can be added directly to takeoffs (previously the takeoff itself could not have item properties such as price / SKU directly attached)
- Ability to Show/hide all dimensions (in the menu when you right click on the page image)
- "Text Case" option in column settings (for example, to export units as lower case)
Sidebar Updates
- Expand or collapse by one level
- Warning when dragging while in "Group By" mode
- Filled icon indicates when Group By is active
- New child item option on sidebar trees
- Automatically expands to show newly created takeoffs/templates
Offset & Array Commands
- New Offset and Array commands (hit / hotkey to see in the tools list)
Lock/Unlock Objects
- Objects on the page can now be locked and unlocked (in right click menu)
Bug Fixes
- Fixed measurement value formatting
- Dropdown fields now display validation errors properly
- Added "Qty" as a measurement value option (for example, if the takeoff is also an item, Measurement 1 can be linked to Qty formula)
Performance Improvements
- Improved server performance and session handling
UI Polish
- Dark mode now available for viewers (not just editors)
- Ability to clear recent projects
- Ability to invite a user as "Not Assigned" license
- Alt + Drag added to hotkeys list
- Improved hover hints on draw objects
- "Assemblies" added as a custom property applies-to option
- Various color and spacing adjustments
Thank you for all your feedback to help us make zzTakeoff better ππ
Now I'm going to skip how amazing all this stuff is and dive into the direct feedback.
1) Hyperlinks only show up on the default layer.....so sad they don't all transfer thru. I was hopeful as a workaround I could duplicate the default layer, but they don't follow....noooooo. Need a workflow to transfer all hyperlinks to layer asap.
2) When in my templates, I want to batch convert all my existing "one" assembly takeoff's to items.
5min link of me kicking things LINK
Canβt wait to check out assemblies. Lots of great updates. Happy about targeted page search. Thatβs a good start to bring able to search and count/highlight feature. Iβm really excited π₯ about takeoff window on a side monitor while QTO. Text scaling sounds like a legit tweak - TY. So many fun things to try next week. Enjoy the weekend!
Yes we can KILL the decimals now, sweet! One minor problem right now is there are still decimals in linear takeoffs and items
Thanks for the input π Yeah, we'll have to figure out how to make those hyperlinks go to all layers. We'll check on that decimals setting to make sure it's properly applying to the right sidebar.
I'd say this is the biggest problem with having the takeoff parent also be the takeoff item is it is super confusing for the UOM. Need to make this more clear! Here is a 2 min vid on this topic.
If you're building assemblies, most users should not use takeoffs that are also items. The cleanest path is to build the parent takeoff (which is already an assembly by default) and add child items to it. They will total up nicely, etc. Using a takeoff that is also an item is primarily for users that don't use assemblies at all. Mix/match is possible, but not the intended use. There may be some ways of using this that we haven't thought of yet, though. We're listening, and also discussing internally.
For the most part, you don't want a takeoff that is also an item having child items. You would want the parent to be an assembly so it totals up its children, etc. This is our first iteration with this feature, so we'll be for sure adding more safety guards and simplifying things as we go.
EDIT: Another thing I want to clarify for any new users reading this: on the live server (before this update) all current takeoffs are already assemblies. With this new update a takeoff can be either an assembly or an item. Most of the time takeoffs should be used as assemblies.
@Kyle
So for example what if the workflow involve a top-level LF takeoff driving a nested assembly? I would want to ensure that a single LF input at Level 1 can correctly scale Level 3 sub-items that require different units (EA, SF, and LF) within that same template. Which I know we all do. Are you just saying the default should inherit the top level qty/UOM?
@Heber,
100% agree with your logic for detail trades work takeoffs AKA selfperform work. Parent - Item. setup that we are rolling with and its a great setup. Was heading this direction for our GC takeoffs too, but every parent would need a item which is confusing for the user.....so low and behold you dropped this update that's getting soooo close.
My problem (that this is getting close to solving) is I'm trying to find the best work-flow for our "GC" estimate people. Most of what we need is only one single parent item so I want a SIMPLE workflow for that.....but there are cases when it make sense to make a assembly for this "GC" Takeoff.....now that we are mixing and matching its confusing now. I feel like the auto-inherit the measurement qty/uom is the final tweak we need.
@Chaz - Yeah, Inherit the top level MEASUREMNET for qty/uom when using a parent takeoff as a item.
Might be an issue with the list items?
I kept getting this error. Ended up just clicking on the new fancy "Convert to Item" button
