What's New in Torque

January 10, 2022

Happy new year and welcome to the second edition of What's New in Torque.

Incorporating Stage 2 documentation into Torque

We want you to be confident that Torque will always have the most up-to-date information whether you're managing a competition or curating proposals for a donor. This means that ALL Stage 2 data is accessible to you in Torque. Working with Kristen and Adi, we've developed a mock-up of what we think a typical proposal should look like with the tabs for the following (Bold = Stage 2):

• Revised Proposal
• Factsheet
• Appendices
• Diligence
• Original Proposal
• Evaluations
• Analysis

Based on feedback from Kristen's team, we're working on the second iteration of the mock-up which we'll share with you all early next week if not sooner.

Torque's API now exporting data to Airtable
Last month we told you we're moving data from the BSN Airtable base to Torque to facilitate search filtering. Now, we're returning the favor. Torque recently pushed all the data for the Stronger Democracy finalists into Airtable eliminating the need for manual entry. To quote Adi:
"This is a great start and has already saved future Adi so much time! . . . Everything I need for my workflow is perfectly in place."

The standard process for submitting data for upload (ETL) into Torque
OK, this isn't completely new . . . instead, it's more of a refinement. The ETL* process (for getting data into Torque) was standardized last year. However, as we learned from the Stronger Democracy Award competition, the twice-weekly timeline won't always align with competition management or donor needs. Understanding this, here's how we'll manage future data uploads:

1. Data to be uploaded into to Torque should be added to the Dropbox folder by the end of the day Monday or Thursday. Data added by Monday will be uploaded on Tuesday; data added by Thursday will be uploaded on Friday.
2. If this schedule doesn't meet the needs of the competition, please email Jeff and Jim with any special requests identifying:
   • The type of data to be uploaded
   • When the data will be available in the Dropbox folder
   • When the data should be accessible in Torque
   • Any special instructions

Based on workload, OTS will expedite special requests. While it may not be possible to meet every deadline, our experience with the Stronger Democracy demonstrated that early notice and good communication ensured that every request could be fulfilled.

*ETL stands for Extract, Transform, Load which is basically the fancy way of saying "putting data in Torque."

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December 1, 2021

Once a month, we'll share a quick summary of what's new in Torque and the competition wikis. These messages will take no more than five minutes to read and will offer links to additional information when relevant. In addition, beginning December 13, we'll be offering Office Hours every Monday afternoon where you can join Jim McGowan (and/or someone from the Open Tech Strategies team) online to ask questions and see demos of new features. So, here's what new in Torque:

This Email Message

This is the first What's New in Torque update. Each update will be posted in the Torque Help wiki.

Torque User Groups

The number of Torque user groups has been simplified to eight and every user (there are 182 of us, currently) is now assigned to a single group (many had three or even four previously). Click here to see the naming and capabilities of the users groups.

Stronger Democracy Maps

Starting with the Stronger Democracy Award, interactive maps and visualizations will become a regular part of competition wikis. Here are two new Stronger Democracy maps:

• Number of Applications by State
• Organization Locations by Solution Category

Airtable to Torque Data Exchange Data can now move from the Bold Solutions Network Airtable base to Torque. We've started with Achievement Leveldata (Awardee, Finalist, Semifinalist, etc.). Eventually, any time Airtable receives new information, Torque will be updated shortly after ensuring it will always be current.

Search Filters

When conducting a search in any wiki (but preferably in Global View), you'll see additional filters you can use to refine your search. We've started simply but more filters like subject area categories and geographies will be added soon.

Torque to Airtable Data Exchange Torque can now push data to Airtable, too! The first effort will be populating the Bold Solutions Network Airtable base with all the data for the Stronger Democracy Award finalist candidates. This will eliminate the need to manually cut and paste data from Torque. Special thanks to Adi Menayang for helping make this possible!

Chicago Prize

Chicago Prize data has been added to Global View. While you won't see an Okta chiclet for a Chicago Prize wiki, search results in Global View will return relevant Chicago Prize proposals.

Torque Office Hours

Join Torque experts online to ask questions and learn more about how you can leverage the application to do your work better.

Every Monday (except holidays) beginning Monday, December 13, 2021

3-4PM CT Join Zoom