Release 16.3 Preview: Related Opportunities, Password Reset & More

In October, Grants.gov will bring a set of enhancements and updates to improve the user experience with Release 16.3. Here are a few highlights:

Grants.gov will enhance security in the password reset process with an email authentication step.

Release 16.2 This Weekend, April 21-22

This weekend Grants.gov is undergoing maintenance for Release 16.2, so the system will not be available until Monday, April 23, 2018. Also next week, the Grants.gov Mobile App will go live in Google Play and the Apple App Store.

To review the upcoming enhancements, you can read these Release Preview blog posts:

Release 16.2 Preview: Core Roles and Custom Roles in Workspace

With the coming system update, Grants.gov is adding “custom roles.” We will still have “core roles” (i.e., Workspace Manager, Standard AOR, and Expanded AOR), which the majority of applicant organizations will continue to use.

Custom roles will allow “the privileges associated with these roles…to be mixed and matched with custom roles that applicant organizations can create and name for their own internal workflows.”

If this sounds like it may work better with your grant application process, more detailed information is available in the Release 16.2 Preview: Custom Roles to Give Applicant Organizations More Control post.

Pros and Cons for Using Custom Roles

Release Preview: Applying Made More Clear in R16.2

Based on community feedback, we are making it easier to start your grant application. After the release goes live April 23^rd, you will find a red Apply button on the View Grant Opportunity page regardless of which tab of the funding opportunity announcement you are in.

If you are not logged in to Grants.gov, the Apply button will first direct you to log in to Grants.gov, then you can quickly create a workspace to begin your grant application.

Before Release 16.2 goes live, to start your grant application you need to navigate to the View Grant Opportunity page, access the Package tab, click the Apply link in the tab, then click the Create Workspace button. So, this change saves you a couple clicks and some time.

Release 16.2 Preview: Custom Roles to Give Applicant Organizations More Control

Grants.gov will soon give applicant organizations more control over the roles they can assign to their team members within Grants.gov.

Beginning with Release 16.2 in April, organizations will be able to create custom roles and assign these roles to the users affiliated with their organization.

What Is the Plan? Grants.gov In 2018

After looking back on 2017, we now look forward to 2018. As the Grants.gov program, we are designing forward with the guiding principles of simplify, support, and strategize. What does that mean for this next year?

#1 Increased Commitment to Learning from Grants Community

Grants.gov is committed to improving its service to you, the federal grants community, by transforming itself into a more user-friendly system for years to come. We cannot do that without listening to you.

Grants.gov Release This Weekend—See You Monday

Beginning this Saturday, November 18, 2017, Grants.gov will add improvements to funding opportunity subscription management, Grants.gov account registration, and Workspace. The website will be back up on November 20^th.

Release 16.1’s Workspace enhancements will, among other things, improve form copy functionality—this feature allows you to copy previous Workspace forms into another Workspace to save time on filling out those forms. Here are the specifics:

Release 16.1 Preview of Simpler Account Registration

In order to apply using Workspace and subscribe to funding opportunities, you need a Grants.gov account. Following the November 20^th Release 16.1, it will be quicker for people to create an account with Grants.gov.

Release 16.1 Preview: Funding Opportunity Subscriptions in Connect Tab

We heard your feedback, so Release 16.1 on November 20, 2017, will bring improvements to the funding opportunity and communications subscription process.

How? The new Connect tab will contain ways to subscribe to Grants.gov email updates and alerts. After logging in to your Grants.gov account, you can save custom search queries or subscribe to specific funding opportunity numbers.

Release 16.1 Preview: Enhancements to Opportunity and Saved Search Subscriptions

With Release 16.1, Grants.gov will be adding an Opportunity Subscription Management feature that allows users to update their subscriptions to saved searches and funding opportunities. (Currently, once a subscription is created, there is no way to update it). This enhancement will be deployed on November 20, 2017.

Here are some of the features coming with the release:

One-Click Saves

Logged-in users will be able to subscribe to a funding opportunity – including forecast, synopsis and package – with a single click on the View Grant Opportunity page. Also, users can save searches from the Search Grants page.