biddable

User guide

The library

Your firm's own library of answers, case studies, CVs, certificates and boilerplate: how it fills itself, what you approve, and how builds use it.

The library is your firm's own store of reusable material, built from your own bids. One library per space; nothing in it comes from anyone else, and nothing is used until one of your people has approved it.

What it is

  • Entries are of six kinds: an answer, a case study, a CV or person profile, a certificate or insurance (with its issuer, number and expiry date), boilerplate, or other. Each has a title, text or a file, tags (sector, buyer type, service, region and your own), where it came from, who approved it and when, when it was last used, and an optional review date.
  • To review is where proposals wait. When you mark a bid submitted or won, Biddable reads its final documents and proposes entries; once your set-up is finished it reads the documents you uploaded at set-up as well. An owner or writer approves, edits or rejects each one.
  • Approved entries are the only ones ever used: in triage, in builds and in the Build chat, and in Biddie's answers to "what do we have on X".

How to use it

  1. Open Library. The tabs are the approved entries, To review, and Retired; filter by kind or search titles, text and tags.
  2. Work through To review: read each proposal, Edit it if the wording or the tags need it, then Approve or Reject. A rejected proposal is not used and is not proposed again.
  3. Add something by hand with Add an entry: a kind, a title, the text or a file, tags, and for a certificate its issuer, number and expiry date. It is approved as you save it, unless you choose Save for review.
  4. Press Read my set-up documents again to have your set-up documents read for entries again (your bids are read by themselves when marked submitted or won). It never counts as a bid.
  5. Retire an entry you no longer want builds to use; Restore brings it back. Only an owner can Delete an entry for good.

Good to know

  • On a bid's Documents page, each document and section that drew on the library says From your library: <entry>. The submitted documents themselves never mention the library.
  • Certificates and insurance show Expires in N days from 60 days out and Expired after. The owners are emailed once, 30 days before an expiry. A triage or a build is told when a certificate lapses before the tender closes.
  • An approved entry unused for twelve months, or past its review date, is flagged Needs review.
  • Biddie answers "what do we have on X" from approved entries only. If you ask her to keep something, she adds it to To review under "Suggested by Biddie"; she can never approve it.
  • The library is part of your space: closed to Biddable staff like everything else in it, included in an export of your space, and removed with it.

Common questions

Why is my library empty?

It fills itself as your bids are marked submitted or won, and from your set-up documents once set-up is finished. Press Read my set-up documents again, or add an entry by hand.

Does a proposed entry get used before I approve it?

Never. Only approved entries are searched, read by a build or recorded as used.

Can I put our ISO certificate in it?

Yes: Add an entry, kind Certificate or insurance, with the file, the issuer, the number and the expiry date. Builds are told when it lapses before a tender closes, and the owners are emailed 30 days before.

How do I stop an old case study being used?

Retire it. It stays in the library under Retired and can be restored; it is not used while retired.

Browse and search the library

Find what your firm already has: approved answers, case studies, CVs, certificates and boilerplate, by search, kind, tag or flag.

Who can use it
Everyone in the space. Reviewers can read the library but not change it.
Where it is
Library: the To review, Library and Retired tabs, the search box, the kinds, Needs review, Expiring or expired, and the tags
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

The Library page is your firm's own store of reusable material, built from your own bids. The Library tab holds the approved entries, the only ones a build, a triage, the Build chat or Biddie ever uses. To review holds proposals waiting for a decision, and Retired holds entries you have stopped using.

Step by step

  1. Open Library.
  2. Choose a tab: To review, Library or Retired. The first two show how many entries they hold.
  3. Type in Search titles, text and tags. Every word you type must appear in the entry.
  4. Narrow it by kind: All kinds, Answers, Case studies, CVs and profiles, Certificates and insurance, Boilerplate or Other.
  5. On the Library tab, press Needs review or Expiring or expired to see only those; press again to clear. Choose a tag to see only entries carrying it, or Any tag.
  6. Tap an entry to open it.

What you see

  • Each entry: its title, its kind and tags, where it came from (for example "Added by" a person, "Suggested by Biddie for" a person, or the bid and document it was proposed from) and, once used, "used N times, last" and when.
  • Badges: To review, Review (it needs checking), and for a certificate Expires in N days or Expired.
  • Opened: why it needs review, the certificate's issuer, number and expiry, the text, the file with Open, the review date, "Approved by" and when, Used in (each bid, document and section, with the date) and History (who added, approved, edited or retired it).
  • While the library is reading documents: "Working…" and "Reading your documents for the library."
  • When empty: "Your library is empty. It fills itself as your bids are submitted, or add an entry by hand."

Good to know

  • One library per space. Nothing in it comes from anyone else, and it is closed to Biddable staff like everything else in your space.
  • An approved entry unused for twelve months, or past its review date, is flagged for review.
  • On a bid's Documents page, a From your library card lists which entries each document and section drew on, "From your library:" and the entry. The submitted documents themselves never mention the library.
  • Rejected proposals are never listed and never proposed again.
  • The page refreshes by itself every few seconds.

Common questions

Why is my library empty?

It fills itself when your bids are marked submitted or won, and from your set-up documents once set-up is finished. You can also add entries by hand.

Does a proposal get used before it is approved?

Never. Only entries on the Library tab are searched, used in a build or recorded as used.

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Review what is proposed

Approve, edit or reject the entries proposed from your bids, your set-up documents or Biddie, before any bid can use them.

Who can use it
Owners and writers.
Where it is
Library: To review: an entry: Approve, Edit, Reject
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Proposed entries wait in To review until an owner or writer decides. Approve puts an entry in the library for builds to use. Edit lets you correct its wording, tags or dates first. Reject drops it for good: it is not used and is never proposed again.

Step by step

  1. Open Library and the To review tab. When proposals land in a library with no approved entries yet, the page opens on this tab by itself.
  2. Tap a proposal to read it in full.
  3. To change it, press Edit, change the fields and press Save. Upload file adds a file to keep with it.
  4. Press Approve to put it in the library.
  5. Or press Reject and confirm.

What you see

  • Each proposal carries the To review badge and where it came from: the bid and document, your set-up documents, or "Suggested by Biddie for" the person who asked her.
  • Reject asks "Reject this proposal?" with "It will not be used, and it will not be proposed again."
  • An approved entry moves to the Library tab with "Approved by" your name and when, and its History records it.

Good to know

  • Proposals come from four places: a bid the first time it is marked submitted or won, the documents you uploaded at set-up (once, when set-up finishes), Read my set-up documents again, and Biddie when someone asks her to keep something.
  • One reading proposes at most 25 entries. Anything already in the library under the same kind and title is skipped.
  • Nothing proposed is used until it is approved. Biddie can add proposals but can never approve one.
  • Reading documents for the library never counts as a bid.
  • A reviewer can read the proposals but not decide on them.

Common questions

Can I approve an entry and change it later?

Yes. Open it on the Library tab and press Edit at any time.

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Add an entry by hand

Put an answer, case study, CV, certificate or piece of boilerplate in the library yourself, approved as you save it or kept for review.

Who can use it
Owners and writers.
Where it is
Library: Add an entry: Save to the library or Save for review
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Add an entry opens a form for something you want builds to be able to use: a standard answer, a case study, a CV or person profile, a certificate or insurance, boilerplate, or anything else. It is approved as you save it, unless you choose to keep it for review.

Step by step

  1. Open Library and press Add an entry. The form Add to your library. opens.
  2. Choose the Kind: Answer, Case study, CV or profile, Certificate or insurance, Boilerplate or Other.
  3. Give it a Title and the Text.
  4. For a certificate or insurance, fill in Issuer, Certificate or policy number and Expiry date (YYYY-MM-DD); the text box becomes Notes (scope, level of cover).
  5. Add tags under Sector, Buyer type, Service, Region and Other tags, separated with commas.
  6. Add a Review by (YYYY-MM-DD, optional) date if it should be checked by then.
  7. Press Attach a file to keep a file with it.
  8. Press Save to the library, or Save for review to put it in To review instead. Cancel closes the form without saving.

What you see

  • The save buttons stay greyed out until the entry has a title.
  • A date in another form is refused with "Write the date as YYYY-MM-DD, for example 2027-03-31."
  • Saved, the entry appears on the Library tab (or To review), with "Added by" your name.

Good to know

  • Files: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, an image or text, up to 25 MB. One file per entry; Replace file on the entry swaps it.
  • Up to 12 tags in each group.
  • The text may never contain the section sign: write "section 4.2" or "clause 4.2".
  • A certificate's expiry date drives its badges, the owners' reminder email and the warnings on bids (see Certificates and their expiry).

Common questions

Can I put our ISO certificate in it?

Yes. Choose Certificate or insurance, attach the certificate, and fill in the issuer, the number and the expiry date.

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Certificates and their expiry

Keep certificates and insurances with their expiry dates, see which are expiring, and get warned before a lapse catches a bid out.

Who can use it
Owners and writers add and update them. Everyone sees the badges and warnings.
Where it is
Library: an entry of kind Certificate or insurance; Expiring or expired
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

A library entry of kind Certificate or insurance carries its issuer, number and expiry date. From that date the library flags it as expiring or expired, the owners are emailed before it lapses, and a triage or build on a tender that closes after the expiry is told about it.

Step by step

  1. Add it: Add an entry, kind Certificate or insurance, with Issuer, Certificate or policy number, Expiry date (YYYY-MM-DD) and the certificate attached (see Add an entry by hand).
  2. To see what needs renewing, open Library and press Expiring or expired.
  3. When you have the renewed certificate, open the entry, press Edit, change the expiry date and press Save. Press Replace file to swap in the new certificate.

What you see

  • The entry's line: the issuer, "No." and the number, and "Expires" with the date, or "No expiry date recorded".
  • Expires in N days in amber from 60 days before the expiry, and Expired in red after it.
  • Expiring or expired, with how many there are.
  • An email to every owner, once per expiry date, 30 days or fewer before it: the subject says the entry "expires on" the date, and the button opens the library.
  • On a bid's Documents page, in the From your library card: a warning that the entry expired on its date, or expires on its date "before this tender closes", with "Renew it before you submit if the tender asks for it."

Good to know

  • A new expiry date gets its own reminder email.
  • Only approved certificates are emailed about and counted under Expiring or expired.
  • No reminder emails are sent while the space is paused.
  • Ask Biddie "what certificates do we have?" and she says whether each is valid, expiring soon or expired.

Common questions

Who gets the reminder email?

The space's owners, each once per expiry date.

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Retire, restore or delete an entry

Stop builds using an entry without losing it, bring it back later, or, as an owner, remove it for good.

Who can use it
Owners and writers retire and restore. Only an owner can delete.
Where it is
Library: an entry: Retire (on the Library tab), Restore (on the Retired tab), Delete
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Retire takes an approved entry out of use: builds, triage, the Build chat and Biddie stop using it, but it stays under Retired with its history. Restore puts it back in the library. Delete, for an owner only, removes the entry, its file, its record of use and its history for good.

Step by step

  1. Open Library and tap the entry.
  2. To take it out of use, press Retire and confirm.
  3. To bring a retired entry back, open the Retired tab, tap it and press Restore.
  4. To remove an entry for good, an owner presses Delete and confirms.

What you see

  • Retire asks "Retire this entry?" with "Builds stop using it. You can restore it later."
  • Restore puts it back on the Library tab straight away, with "restored" in its history.
  • Delete asks "Delete this entry for good?" with the entry's name and "and its history will be removed. This cannot be undone; Retire keeps it instead."

Good to know

  • Retire rather than delete when in doubt: a retired entry can always come back.
  • Only an approved entry can be retired. A proposal is rejected instead (see Review what is proposed).
  • A bid that already drew on an entry keeps its documents as they are; retiring or deleting changes only what later builds use.

Common questions

How do I stop an old case study being used?

Retire it. It stays under Retired and is not used while it is there.

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Read my set-up documents again

Read the documents you uploaded at set-up again and propose library entries from them, for you to review.

Who can use it
Owners and writers.
Where it is
Library: Read my set-up documents again (shown when your set-up documents are on file)
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Read my set-up documents again reads the documents you uploaded when your space was set up (for example past bids, CVs and certificates) and proposes entries from them to To review. It does the same reading that runs once by itself when set-up finishes, so use it when that first reading was before you were ready, or to have another go.

Step by step

  1. Open Library and press Read my set-up documents again.
  2. Confirm.
  3. Wait while it reads. You can leave the page.
  4. Open To review and approve, edit or reject each proposal.

What you see

  • The question "Read your set-up documents again?" with "Reads the documents you uploaded at set-up and proposes entries for you to review. Your bids are read by themselves when you mark them submitted or won. It never counts as a bid."
  • "Working…" and "Reading your documents for the library." at the top of the page, with the button greyed out, until it is done.
  • The new proposals under To review, with the count on the tab.

Good to know

  • The button shows only when the documents from your set-up are still on file.
  • It reads the set-up documents only. Bids in your space are read by themselves, the first time each one is marked submitted or won.
  • Anything already in the library under the same kind and title, approved, retired or rejected, is not proposed again. One reading proposes at most 25 entries.
  • It never counts as a bid.

Common questions

I pressed it and nothing new appeared.

Everything it found may already be in the library, or rejected before. Check To review and the Library tab.

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This page is the same help that sits behind the ? on every page of the app. Something it does not answer? Email hello@biddable.ae.