Vendor Bid System (VBS) Overview Release 1.0 – October 2010 Supported by

If you need additional Help, click this button. *New Advertisements on VBS Have the document you wish to upload processed and burned to a.PDF file before you reach this point. To get to this page, go to: Click on State Purchasing under the “Business Operations” heading. 3.Click on the “Solicitations (Vendor Bid System)” link 4.Administrator Log-In 5.New Advertisement *New Advertisements on VBS Have the document you wish to upload processed and burned to a.PDF file before you reach this point. To get to this page, go to: Click on State Purchasing under the “Business Operations” heading. 3.Click on the “Solicitations (Vendor Bid System)” link 4.Administrator Log-In 5.New Advertisement

CONTACT PERSON: Select the Contact Person for this advertisement (will add relevant information like phone number, address, and address) The Contact Person name listing is by LAST NAME If you need to add a new Contact Person, use the button next to the drop down and fill out the requested information (phone, address, , etc.) CONTACT PERSON: Select the Contact Person for this advertisement (will add relevant information like phone number, address, and address) The Contact Person name listing is by LAST NAME If you need to add a new Contact Person, use the button next to the drop down and fill out the requested information (phone, address, , etc.)

ORIGINAL ADVERTISEMENT NUMBER: This field is NOT REQUIRED. If this is a New Advertisement and not a Posting that needs to be linked to another previous Advertisement – leave this BLANK If this is an Award Posting or a Notice that needs to link back to another existing VBS advertisement: Type, copy, or paste the original Advertisement number EXACTLY (including spaces) as it appeared for the initial advertisement. ORIGINAL ADVERTISEMENT NUMBER: This field is NOT REQUIRED. If this is a New Advertisement and not a Posting that needs to be linked to another previous Advertisement – leave this BLANK If this is an Award Posting or a Notice that needs to link back to another existing VBS advertisement: Type, copy, or paste the original Advertisement number EXACTLY (including spaces) as it appeared for the initial advertisement. NUMBER: Fill in Advertisement Number. --If this is a Single Source, enter in the Company name as part of the number (ex Blah Inc) NUMBER: Fill in Advertisement Number. --If this is a Single Source, enter in the Company name as part of the number (ex Blah Inc)

TYPE: Choose the advertisement type. This determines some of the generated language displayed on the Advertisement Detail page. All solicitations require at least 24 hours between the Begin and End dates. **Certain types of publications will not generate s to vendors signed up for notification. TYPE: Choose the advertisement type. This determines some of the generated language displayed on the Advertisement Detail page. All solicitations require at least 24 hours between the Begin and End dates. **Certain types of publications will not generate s to vendors signed up for notification.

TITLE: You should be able to fit the whole document title in this field. The space does have a limit though, so you might have to abbreviate for some of the longer titles. TITLE: You should be able to fit the whole document title in this field. The space does have a limit though, so you might have to abbreviate for some of the longer titles. DESCRIPTION: A good amount of text can be added here either through typing or copy/pasting from a Word document. This field is Optional, but I usually put in something simple like what type of Advertisement it is. There is no Spell Check / Grammar feature for the VBS system so please double-check your work. DESCRIPTION: A good amount of text can be added here either through typing or copy/pasting from a Word document. This field is Optional, but I usually put in something simple like what type of Advertisement it is. There is no Spell Check / Grammar feature for the VBS system so please double-check your work.

BEGIN DATE: This date is the one that determines when the Advertisement will become public. This date can be the current day or any time in the future. It is highly recommended that you use a ‘future date’ for your initial posting as this will allow you to easily make corrections or changes before the advertisement becomes public. Once your solicitation is error free, you can ‘roll back’ the date to the day you wish it to become available to the public. Non-Administrators will not be able to see the advertisement if you use a future date, but you will be able to see, edit, and delete the Ad which will appear in red font in the Search results. The Date must be in MM/DD/YYYY format. BEGIN DATE: This date is the one that determines when the Advertisement will become public. This date can be the current day or any time in the future. It is highly recommended that you use a ‘future date’ for your initial posting as this will allow you to easily make corrections or changes before the advertisement becomes public. Once your solicitation is error free, you can ‘roll back’ the date to the day you wish it to become available to the public. Non-Administrators will not be able to see the advertisement if you use a future date, but you will be able to see, edit, and delete the Ad which will appear in red font in the Search results. The Date must be in MM/DD/YYYY format. You can use the ‘Date Picker’ icon to make it easier to choose the correct date.

BEGIN / ENDING TIME: These times are for internal records and protest time-tables. They should be listed on the Advertisement Request / PUR Form. This time does not determine what time of day this Advertisement will appear. Remember, if you choose the current date for your “Begin Date” – the advertisement will show immediately. If you choose a future date, the ad will appear at midnight that day – and will disappear at midnight on the “End Date”. BEGIN / ENDING TIME: These times are for internal records and protest time-tables. They should be listed on the Advertisement Request / PUR Form. This time does not determine what time of day this Advertisement will appear. Remember, if you choose the current date for your “Begin Date” – the advertisement will show immediately. If you choose a future date, the ad will appear at midnight that day – and will disappear at midnight on the “End Date”. Unlike for the ‘Begin Date’, the ‘Date Picker’ for the ‘End Date and Time’ field includes a time stamp.

ADDRESS: Address of wherever the ‘solicitations’ should be sent to. ADDRESS: Address of wherever the ‘solicitations’ should be sent to. CLASS & GROUP CODE: This is the main commodity number for the Ad. If the system kicks back saying that the commodity code is bad, try another one. The Group code 000 is not acceptable. CLASS & GROUP CODE: This is the main commodity number for the Ad. If the system kicks back saying that the commodity code is bad, try another one. The Group code 000 is not acceptable. ADDITIONAL COMMODITIES: If you have more than one commodity code, CHECK this box and it will take you to a second page when you click ‘Save Advertisement’ that will allow you to enter in more Codes. It will not allow for duplicates so make sure each Code is unique. ADDITIONAL COMMODITIES: If you have more than one commodity code, CHECK this box and it will take you to a second page when you click ‘Save Advertisement’ that will allow you to enter in more Codes. It will not allow for duplicates so make sure each Code is unique. SAVE ADVERTISEMENT: Click here to save the Advertisement. If there are any problems with the information you entered above, a red text message page will pop up explaining which areas are incorrect Hit the back button then to correct the errors. If everything is good, you will get a message saying that the Advertisement was Successfully Saved. SAVE ADVERTISEMENT: Click here to save the Advertisement. If there are any problems with the information you entered above, a red text message page will pop up explaining which areas are incorrect Hit the back button then to correct the errors. If everything is good, you will get a message saying that the Advertisement was Successfully Saved.

If you CHECKED the “Additional Commodities” option before clicking “Save Advertisement” you will be directed to this page. For each Code you wish to add, the Class and Group columns must be completed with three digits each. There is no set limit to how many codes you can use, but each number sequence must be unique: Ex: As with before, the Group code 000 is not acceptable. If you CHECKED the “Additional Commodities” option before clicking “Save Advertisement” you will be directed to this page. For each Code you wish to add, the Class and Group columns must be completed with three digits each. There is no set limit to how many codes you can use, but each number sequence must be unique: Ex: As with before, the Group code 000 is not acceptable. If you still have more Commodity Codes to enter after filling these fields out – Check here. When you are completely finished, adding Commodity Codes, click here. VENDOR NOTIFICATION: During vendor registration, they are given the option to indicate if they wish to receive electronic notification when a solicitation they might be interested in is posted. Please be aware - not all posting types will spawn notification s, however: It is important that you include ALL Class and Group codes appropriate for your solicitation to ensure that all interested vendors are notified. If Commodity Codes attached to an advertisement match those a vendor is interested in, an automated is generated and sent to the vendor. VENDOR NOTIFICATION: During vendor registration, they are given the option to indicate if they wish to receive electronic notification when a solicitation they might be interested in is posted. Please be aware - not all posting types will spawn notification s, however: It is important that you include ALL Class and Group codes appropriate for your solicitation to ensure that all interested vendors are notified. If Commodity Codes attached to an advertisement match those a vendor is interested in, an automated is generated and sent to the vendor.

BROWSE: Use the BROWSE button to find the file that you wish to use as the Advertisement document. Please keep in mind that the uploadable file size limit is 4MB. (Scanned PDF documents are not ADA Compliant, please use only documents created electronically through Adobe Acrobat.) Be sure that the document path name does not have any special characters (#, $, /, etc.). Also make sure that the document name is not more than 25 or so letters/numbers (this goes for the folders that the document is saved in). Uploading a copy of the document from your desktop is the most successful method as it is not as prone to server hiccups or permission errors. BROWSE: Use the BROWSE button to find the file that you wish to use as the Advertisement document. Please keep in mind that the uploadable file size limit is 4MB. (Scanned PDF documents are not ADA Compliant, please use only documents created electronically through Adobe Acrobat.) Be sure that the document path name does not have any special characters (#, $, /, etc.). Also make sure that the document name is not more than 25 or so letters/numbers (this goes for the folders that the document is saved in). Uploading a copy of the document from your desktop is the most successful method as it is not as prone to server hiccups or permission errors. FILE DESCRIPTION: This is what the link to the uploaded file will say. I usually pick a short descriptive term or phrase that will help the vendor understand what is in the document. (ex.: “Addendum No. 1: Questions & Answers) Special characters are allowed in this field since it is not the actual document path name. FILE DESCRIPTION: This is what the link to the uploaded file will say. I usually pick a short descriptive term or phrase that will help the vendor understand what is in the document. (ex.: “Addendum No. 1: Questions & Answers) Special characters are allowed in this field since it is not the actual document path name. DOCUMENT TYPE: This lets you choose if the document you are uploading is a complete file, an amendment or just a page-replacement. Use the dropdown menu for the different options. DOCUMENT TYPE: This lets you choose if the document you are uploading is a complete file, an amendment or just a page-replacement. Use the dropdown menu for the different options. UPLOAD BID SPECS: Once you’ve filled out the above info, click Upload and it will take a moment to send the document to the web. If there is a problem, an error page will direct you back to fix it. UPLOAD BID SPECS: Once you’ve filled out the above info, click Upload and it will take a moment to send the document to the web. If there is a problem, an error page will direct you back to fix it.

SUCCESS: While the advertisement Begin Date is future, you may review the uploaded documents and replace them with corrected documents as necessary. If you did not set a future Begin Date, then uploaded documents are locked in the public record and visible to the general public. You may withdraw individual documents from public view, but you may not delete them from the public record or completely replace them with corrected documents SUCCESS: While the advertisement Begin Date is future, you may review the uploaded documents and replace them with corrected documents as necessary. If you did not set a future Begin Date, then uploaded documents are locked in the public record and visible to the general public. You may withdraw individual documents from public view, but you may not delete them from the public record or completely replace them with corrected documents FINAL NOTES / REMINDERS: Anything uploaded and published through the VBS is considered Public Record. If there are spelling / formatting errors in the document, they cannot be altered once it has “gone live”. Postings that are not set for future dates appear immediately, no matter what you put in the time field. The VBS system cycles during the night ~ documents that are set to come off posting will disappear at Midnight of their “End Date”. Changes to published information must be made through Addendums and Amendments (see Versioning below) If you do not wish to publish an Addendum or Amendment document, but still need changes made to the advertisement detail itself – you can version the advertisement and hit “Cancel” when it reaches the upload page. FINAL NOTES / REMINDERS: Anything uploaded and published through the VBS is considered Public Record. If there are spelling / formatting errors in the document, they cannot be altered once it has “gone live”. Postings that are not set for future dates appear immediately, no matter what you put in the time field. The VBS system cycles during the night ~ documents that are set to come off posting will disappear at Midnight of their “End Date”. Changes to published information must be made through Addendums and Amendments (see Versioning below) If you do not wish to publish an Addendum or Amendment document, but still need changes made to the advertisement detail itself – you can version the advertisement and hit “Cancel” when it reaches the upload page. You did it!

AMENDING/CHANGING: There may be times where you find you need to make changes or amendments to existing Advertisements. Only ‘open/active’ solicitations can be changed/amended. SEARCH ADVERTISEMENTS: Since you’re not starting a new advertisement, you need to choose “Search Advertisements” to find the appropriate solicitation. AMENDING/CHANGING: There may be times where you find you need to make changes or amendments to existing Advertisements. Only ‘open/active’ solicitations can be changed/amended. SEARCH ADVERTISEMENTS: Since you’re not starting a new advertisement, you need to choose “Search Advertisements” to find the appropriate solicitation.

SEARCHING (Open Solicitations) Since the VBS database is extensive, it’s necessary to narrow your search parameters by using filters. Searching by specific solicitation number is the least reliable method. The VBS system will not recognize a solicitation number that is not typed EXACTLY as it appears on the advertisement (including spaces and punctuation). Typically Agencies have perhaps a few dozen solicitations/advertisements at the very most, therefore choosing the appropriate Agency on this drop down before clicking “Search Advertisements” will net the best results. SEARCHING (Open Solicitations) Since the VBS database is extensive, it’s necessary to narrow your search parameters by using filters. Searching by specific solicitation number is the least reliable method. The VBS system will not recognize a solicitation number that is not typed EXACTLY as it appears on the advertisement (including spaces and punctuation). Typically Agencies have perhaps a few dozen solicitations/advertisements at the very most, therefore choosing the appropriate Agency on this drop down before clicking “Search Advertisements” will net the best results. SEARCHING (Closed Solicitations) If the solicitation you are looking for has already closed and been archived – you can use the Search by Date function in addition to the Agency dropdown. By putting a range of dates in these fields the VBS system will return only posted items that closed during that time period. You can also Search by Fiscal Year by using the drop down marked: “Search for Closed Bids”. SEARCHING (Closed Solicitations) If the solicitation you are looking for has already closed and been archived – you can use the Search by Date function in addition to the Agency dropdown. By putting a range of dates in these fields the VBS system will return only posted items that closed during that time period. You can also Search by Fiscal Year by using the drop down marked: “Search for Closed Bids”.

SEARCH RESULTS PAGE: Here you can see a list of advertisements that are still open based on your search parameters (when the solicitation reaches its end date, it automatically shifts to the “Closed Bids” section of the VBS and will no longer appear on this list.) SEARCH RESULTS PAGE: Here you can see a list of advertisements that are still open based on your search parameters (when the solicitation reaches its end date, it automatically shifts to the “Closed Bids” section of the VBS and will no longer appear on this list.) RED TEXT: This solicitation is either starting today or is not yet “Live” – meaning that it was set to open at a future date instead of immediately. RED TEXT: This solicitation is either starting today or is not yet “Live” – meaning that it was set to open at a future date instead of immediately. SORT ADVERTISEMENTS: Solicitations will be sorted by “Ad Type” but you can search the web page text itself for key words by clicking “Ctrl+F” and using a Web Browser popup window. SORT ADVERTISEMENTS: Solicitations will be sorted by “Ad Type” but you can search the web page text itself for key words by clicking “Ctrl+F” and using a Web Browser popup window.

EDIT SELECTED ADVERTISEMENT: Click on the number of the advertisement you wish to modify, if you have the appropriate administrator permissions, it will take you to an expanded Advertisement page with options including ‘Edit’, ‘Cancel’, and ‘Delete’. There will not be a confirmation page, however – you can discard the edit if you do not wish to make any changes or clicked on the wrong advertisement by mistake.. EDIT SELECTED ADVERTISEMENT: Click on the number of the advertisement you wish to modify, if you have the appropriate administrator permissions, it will take you to an expanded Advertisement page with options including ‘Edit’, ‘Cancel’, and ‘Delete’. There will not be a confirmation page, however – you can discard the edit if you do not wish to make any changes or clicked on the wrong advertisement by mistake..

ADVERTISEMENT CONSOLE: The Advertisement Console is located at the top of the Advertisement page and will only be visible/accessible to users with proper permissions. This panel allows you to: Edit (Amend) Delete (Close) Cancel Modify Attachments (make them visible/invisible) View previous published versions View Notification Log for each version ADVERTISEMENT CONSOLE: The Advertisement Console is located at the top of the Advertisement page and will only be visible/accessible to users with proper permissions. This panel allows you to: Edit (Amend) Delete (Close) Cancel Modify Attachments (make them visible/invisible) View previous published versions View Notification Log for each version CURRENT ADVERTISEMENT: The most current published information on the Advertisement is listed below the console for reference. CURRENT ADVERTISEMENT: The most current published information on the Advertisement is listed below the console for reference. ADVERTISEMENT DOCUMENTS: The Advertisement detail will also list any document attachments that may be included with the solicitation. ADVERTISEMENT DOCUMENTS: The Advertisement detail will also list any document attachments that may be included with the solicitation.

EDIT ADVERTISEMENT: Editing the advertisement will create a new version for you to make changes and upload new documents. EDIT ADVERTISEMENT: Editing the advertisement will create a new version for you to make changes and upload new documents.

DELETE ADVERTISEMENT: For published advertisements, Delete will set the end date to yesterday and move the ad to the Closed Bids section. This final saved version will allow you to identify for the public record exactly when the ad was forced to close. For unpublished advertisements, Delete will completely remove the Ad and the advertisement number can be reused. DELETE ADVERTISEMENT: For published advertisements, Delete will set the end date to yesterday and move the ad to the Closed Bids section. This final saved version will allow you to identify for the public record exactly when the ad was forced to close. For unpublished advertisements, Delete will completely remove the Ad and the advertisement number can be reused.

MARK AS CANCELED: Marking an advertisement as ‘Canceled’ will lock the solicitation from allowing any further edits, but will keep the publication visible to the public until the originally designated ‘End Date’. Canceling will create a final version of the advertisement, making it show for the public record exactly when the advertisement was canceled. This option should not be used if you want the advertisement to be removed from the public view right away. MARK AS CANCELED: Marking an advertisement as ‘Canceled’ will lock the solicitation from allowing any further edits, but will keep the publication visible to the public until the originally designated ‘End Date’. Canceling will create a final version of the advertisement, making it show for the public record exactly when the advertisement was canceled. This option should not be used if you want the advertisement to be removed from the public view right away.

EDITING ACTIVE SOLICITATIONS: If you advertisement is available to the public, attempting to edit the posting will prompt this message. Complete your changes, upload any additional files and review the advertisement before you change the Begin Date. The entire advertisement will remain hidden from public view while you work. When you are satisfied with the new version, you may set the Begin Date to its original value or to today’s date to immediately publish it. If you do not edit the Begin Date, the advertisement will remain hidden until the new Begin Date is reached. EDITING ACTIVE SOLICITATIONS: If you advertisement is available to the public, attempting to edit the posting will prompt this message. Complete your changes, upload any additional files and review the advertisement before you change the Begin Date. The entire advertisement will remain hidden from public view while you work. When you are satisfied with the new version, you may set the Begin Date to its original value or to today’s date to immediately publish it. If you do not edit the Begin Date, the advertisement will remain hidden until the new Begin Date is reached.

PROCESSING YOUR EDIT: After clicking a confirmation message, you will be taken to the Advertisement Information page, which shows all of the text and choices you made on the solicitation. You can edit and change anything/everything except for removing the Class and Group codes you included as part of the initial posting, (you can add more or delete extra codes if needed – but at least one set of Class and Group codes must remain associated with the advertisement.). PROCESSING YOUR EDIT: After clicking a confirmation message, you will be taken to the Advertisement Information page, which shows all of the text and choices you made on the solicitation. You can edit and change anything/everything except for removing the Class and Group codes you included as part of the initial posting, (you can add more or delete extra codes if needed – but at least one set of Class and Group codes must remain associated with the advertisement.). DESCRIPTION UPDATE: If you added or made any notes or justifications on the Edit Explanation box, you will see those appended here on the Description field. You can make changes to the text here if you need to tweak the language. DESCRIPTION UPDATE: If you added or made any notes or justifications on the Edit Explanation box, you will see those appended here on the Description field. You can make changes to the text here if you need to tweak the language. DONE EDITING: When you’re finished making your changes to this page, click ‘Save Advertisement’. If the VBS system does not kick up an error, you can edit one final time to correct your Begin Date to be appropriate for your solicitation. DONE EDITING: When you’re finished making your changes to this page, click ‘Save Advertisement’. If the VBS system does not kick up an error, you can edit one final time to correct your Begin Date to be appropriate for your solicitation.

EXISTING ATTACHMENTS: When you edit an existing advertisement version, any files already attached to that version will be removed when you upload the first file. **Note that you can only edit an existing advertisement version while it has a future Begin Date. All files attached to this advertisement will be listed for your reference, and the Disposition will tell you how they will be affected by your next upload: If the file is “Locked”, it is on a prior version and cannot be affected by any operation on this page. If it is “Will be deleted”, then the file will be removed if you upload even one new file on this page. If it is “Uploaded”, then it will be unaffected by any operation on this page. If the disposition for a file is “Uploaded” and the Begin Date is set to a future date, you can change it to “Will be deleted” by using the Cancel/Finished button and then editing the advertisement version again. EXISTING ATTACHMENTS: When you edit an existing advertisement version, any files already attached to that version will be removed when you upload the first file. **Note that you can only edit an existing advertisement version while it has a future Begin Date. All files attached to this advertisement will be listed for your reference, and the Disposition will tell you how they will be affected by your next upload: If the file is “Locked”, it is on a prior version and cannot be affected by any operation on this page. If it is “Will be deleted”, then the file will be removed if you upload even one new file on this page. If it is “Uploaded”, then it will be unaffected by any operation on this page. If the disposition for a file is “Uploaded” and the Begin Date is set to a future date, you can change it to “Will be deleted” by using the Cancel/Finished button and then editing the advertisement version again. NEW FILE: Simply add your new/edited file through the browse function. You will need to include a File Description as well. NEW FILE: Simply add your new/edited file through the browse function. You will need to include a File Description as well. DONE: Once you are finished, either click ‘Upload Bid Specs’, or ‘Cancel/Finished’ if you don’t want to save your changes. DONE: Once you are finished, either click ‘Upload Bid Specs’, or ‘Cancel/Finished’ if you don’t want to save your changes.

The VBS system is undergoing several phases of change. These instructions will be updated as each new development is available. If you need additional help or have questions, please contact the Help Desk at: Final Notes: