The following list summarizes the new features and improvements included in the Indico 1.9.9 release. Improvements were done mostly regarding the abstract submission and abstract reviewing workflow. The new interface provides users with more intuitive features and give more flexibility to event managers.

Abstract submitted/withdrawn email notification

It is now possible to send email notification also when an abstract was submitted or withdrawn. There is also the possibility to choose from different email templates that can be used as a base for the email notification.

Global reviewers/conveners

A new concept of “global reviewers/conveners” was introduced. It allows managers to give global reviewing rights to selected users, allowing them not only to review abstracts of a selected track but to review abstracts in all tracks of the event. The distinction between reviewers and conveners is now also much clearer:

• Reviewers provide an assessment of the abstract. They can consult only their own reviews.
• Conveners can read all reviews in their tracks. If the event has been configured accordingly, they can also accept or reject abstracts on behalf of the event organizers/managers.

Exclude questions from abstract reviewing score

When configuring abstract reviewing questions, one can now add questions whose responses will not be included in the average of all scores of abstract reviews.

Submission, reviewing and judgment instructions

Very often organizers wish to provide specific instructions that should be read before an abstract is submitted, reviewed or judged. A new feature allows managers to provide a text that will be displayed whenever one of those actions is about to be performed.

Abstract submission announcement

When abstract submission is open, a nicely formatted message is displayed at the overview page of an event, notifying users that they can start submitting their abstracts.

“Call for Abstracts” page

The new integrated “Call for Abstract” page is a place where users can conveniently find all information regarding the abstract submission process, as well as a list of abstracts they’ve authored/submitted.

New Abstract timeline

The biggest addition in version 1.9.9 is probably the new visual representation of the abstract reviewing process. The timeline provides an easy overview of the abstract reviews as well as the overall score of the abstract.

Reviewers can easily add a review stating their opinion whether the abstract should be accepted, rejected, merged, marked as duplicate or moved to another track.

For judges (event managers) there is a review summary at the end of the timeline. This provides them with an overview that facilitates the decision process.

Reviewing area

Reviewers and conveners have now access to a new “reviewing area” where they can easily see in what tracks they are reviewers/conveners of, as well as how many abstracts they reviewed or still need to review.