Release notes: Citizen Space v7

Citizen Space version 7is being rolled out to all customers in the week beginning 20th September 2021.

This version brings an updated look and feel to the admin side of the platform, as well as a change to the word 'consultation'. Watch our introductory video or read on for more details of what’s new.

Fresh look and feel

The next time you log into Citizen Space after your site’s upgrade window, you might notice it looking a little different. The smart new look includes wider layouts, updated icons and a new font. We’ve not made any significant changes to the functionality so it’s still the Citizen Space you're used to, but this upgrade lays the groundwork for future innovation whilst ensuring it remains as easy to use as possible.

A new and improved navigation

As part of these changes we’ve:

• retired the pale blue menu bar of links you used to see across the top of the admin side when logged in, and instead created a handy new site settings menu which is much tidier while still being easy to navigate
• added a menu where you can manage your user profile and log out of the site
• put the link to preview mode and the total number of responses received so far at the top of each dashboard so they’re easy to find at a glance

and more.

You can watch the video above for a guide to what else has changed in the navigation and where you can still easily find everything you need.

'Consultations' are now 'activities'

As well as these visual tweaks, we’ve also made an important change to the terminology we use within the platform. The events of the past 18 months have made us all even more reliant on digital communication and engagement than before, and we’re seeing Citizen Space used for a wider variety of democratic processes than ever. To reflect all the different ways you use it - and in response to all-important feedback from you, our users - we've changed the name for the content you build in the platform from consultations to activities.

Consultation is of course still a core part of what Citizen Space is designed for, but we recognise that it’s just one facet of the spectrum of engagement work that our customers need to do. This can include a broad range of statutory activities that are not strictly consultations, as well as other less formal exercises and feedback surveys.

In-app notifications

Finally, one other change that you can’t miss when you next log in - we’ve added a brightly coloured in-app notification to Citizen Space. This means that from now on, all your users will receive a heads-up of any changes we make to the product without being reliant on receiving our emails, and can simply clear the notification once they’ve seen it.

Announcing the arrival of Citizen Space 7 felt like a timely moment to introduce this feature, but please rest assured that we’ll be using it sparingly as we know the last thing you need is to be inundated with notifications. We’ll use it only for important announcements, such as updates to Citizen Space releases.