Tags are properties in your proposal and WBS where you assign the field's label and allowed values up-front and the various people completing BOE's or estimates assign values for that field to their estimates. These values are in turn passed onto the cost model and can be used to slice and dice costs in the costing workbench.

Tags are initially set-up by your implementation consultant, and get inherited from the proposal type settings. You can subsequently edit, add or delete tags in the proposal SET-UP tab.

At the bottom of the SETUP tab under the heading "Special Fields & Tags" you can:

1. Assign values to tags which are already present in your proposal by selecting a value from the list
2. Add a new tag to your proposal, either assigning a tag which your company previously setup, or by defining a new tag and assigning it
3. Delete a tag from your proposal.

Assigning values is simple - just select the value from the list. Depending on how the tag was set-up you may be allowed to define new tag values "on the fly" in other words type in free text and have that value added to the list for other users.

Any tags assigned to your proposal are automatically inherited down to the proposal WBS and to the estimating records (labor, material, travel and other costs) in your proposal. Options (2) - Add tag and (3) Delete tag are explained below.

To add a new tag to your proposal click (2) Add Tags link above the last existing tag as shown in the screen image above. Then in the popup which you will see:

1. Enter the name of your new tag, as you would like it to appear in the proposal SET-UP tab, in the WBS tab and in your estimating tabs as a column, and in the make/buy part consolidated list popup ADDITIONAL DATA tab.  Make sure your description is unique i.e. not the same as a previously created tag
   • In case you wish to assign a previously created tag to your proposal, WBS and estimates then select it from the drop-down list
   • Do not modify the tag properties such as the list of allowed values for a pre-existing tag unless you are only adding values and you either created the tag or you talked to it's creator. Deleting values from a tag which has been previously used can be dangerous
2. The value list is defined and set-up automatically for new tags so you should not normally change this field. Only select a "list" from this field if you are creating a new tag and you want to use the same set of values as a pre-existing tag or as some other list in this application, for example work-streams or sub-workstreams, estimating methods or estimating sources
3. The list of values allowed for this tag appears in the table below, blank if you are creating a new tag. Click the + button to add a row for each tag value you want to permit users to choose from and enter the tag's "code" (which is how the tag is stored in the database and is not language dependent) and the tag's value or description (which is what users will see and is specific to their language)
   • Having a separate tag code vs. text value is useful if you make a mistake in how the tag is named or wish to modify the name or value of a tag after you have started using it. In this scenario change the tag value only do not edit the code and existing tagged estimates will reflect the new value without any updates being required
4. If you want to allow users to add new values to the list of tags "on the fly" as they are assigning values in their estimate, then check this box. Leaving this box unchecked means that users must choose a valid tag from the list of values in the table below
   • The benefit of allowing others to add values on the fly is when you don't really know what values the tag might take at the beginning, for example if the tag represents something which is changing in your organization. The drawback of allowing others to add values on the fly is they will add values instead of selected from the existing list resulting in duplicate value such as "Red", "RED" and "red" making their way into the list
5. Optionally enter a longer description of the tag. Include information to the user about how to select the right value for example the criteria for each value
6. Confirm this popup to add your new tag, which can then be used on or assign to other proposals. In other words tags are shared across your organization by default.

Tags are normally added to the next available position or "slot" in your proposal set-up tab, though in exceptional circumstances and empty slot vacated by a deleted tag might be re-used. You cannot modify the position of tags in the SET-UP tab, though you can modify the sequence of tag columns in the WBS, labor, material, travel and other cost estimating tabs.

If you added a tag by mistake, or changed your mind about a tag after you have added it, you can remove the tag from your proposal by simply clicking on "Delete Tag" link (3 in first screen image) which appears above each tag in your proposal SETUP tab.

If you have not yet started using this tag it will simply be deleted, though it remains in the list of tags for other people to assign to their proposals in future. If you or others have started assigning values to this tag then deleting it will impact the assigned values. You will receive a popup like the one shown below warning you of this. It tells you how many WBS elements and how many BOE estimates (labor records, materials, travel or other direct cost items) are impacted.  You then have the option to:

• Cancel and not delete the tag after all, because you want to check why values have been assigned and perhaps manually clear them
• Delete the tag and clear all the assigned values immediately to keep things "clean", because you know the tag was a mistake so any assigned values will be invalid anyway. Click the Delete button with "Clear all" checked by default
• Delete the tag but leave the values assigned. This is dangerous because the values which are assigned are now "orphaned" and will automatically appear against a new tag which is created in the same "spot" in the proposal SETUP tag as the tag which you deleted.
  • To do this uncheck "Clear all" before pressing the Delete button
  • Only do this if you know that the new replacement tag (which you are going to create right away) is similar to the tag you are deleting and therefore the same values can and should be re-assigned to the new tag. That being said it also possible to simply the existing tag's value, being careful not to delete values which have already been used, instead.