The interface: sidebar, top bar, switching

The parts of the screen

• Sidebar (left): navigation. It changes with the scope you are in: company, project or administration.
• Top bar (above the content): the sidebar toggle, the breadcrumb trail, and on the right BORO, the theme switch, the calendar, the notification bell and your avatar.
• Billing banner (under the top bar, only sometimes): appears for the Company owner of a paid plan when an invoice is unpaid or overdue.
• Content (center): the page you opened. It is the only part of the screen that scrolls.
• BORO panel (floating): the AI assistant, opened from the top bar.

The browser tab title follows the page you are on and the project name, so several BuildColab tabs are easy to tell apart.

The top bar

From left to right, the top bar contains:

If the page has unsaved changes, both My profile and Sign out ask before leaving. Press Esc or click outside the menu to close it.

1. The sidebar toggle collapses or expands the sidebar.
2. The breadcrumb trail shows the company, the project and the current page.
3. The BORO button opens the AI assistant.
4. The theme switch changes between light and dark mode.
5. The calendar icon, Open calendar, opens the company calendar.
6. The bell, Notifications, with the counter of items that need your action.
7. The user menu with My profile and Sign out.

The sidebar and its three scopes

The sidebar picks its scope from the page you are on:

• Company scope: on the project list and on company pages such as Nomenclatures, Files, Requests or Partners.
• Project scope: on any page inside a project (/projects/{project}/…).
• Administration scope: on any page under Admin (/companies/{company}/admin/…).

Entries are grouped, with a thin line between groups. Which entries you see depends on three things: the project phase, your company's role in the project (investor, or contractor/subcontractor) and your permissions. So two colleagues may see different sidebars on the same project.

Company scope entries

The company scope starts with the Organization (Организация) chip, which shows the selected company and opens the company switcher (see "How to switch company" below). Then come these entries, in this order:

1. The Organization chip with the selected company.
2. The Projects entry.
3. The Work tasks entry.
4. The Requests entry. When received requests are still unanswered, a badge with their number appears here.
5. The Admin entry, pinned at the bottom.

Administration scope entries

Click Admin to enter the administration scope. Its header reads Administration (Администрация) with a back arrow that returns to the project list.

Project scope entries

Inside a project the sidebar shows, from the top: one Projects (Проекти) entry that returns to the project list; the Project (Проект) chip with the project's name and logo, which opens the project switcher; then three groups of entries separated by lines. The project phases mentioned below are: Budgeting (Бюджетиране), Offering (Офериране), Offer sent (Изпратена оферта), Update requested (Заявена актуализация), Contract proposal (Предложение за договор), CONTRACT DECLINED (ОТКАЗАН ДОГОВОР) and Execution (Изпълнение). An investor's project goes from Budgeting straight to Execution; the other phases belong to a contractor's offering track.

Main group (under the project chip):

Execution group (shown only when at least one entry applies):

Support group (always at the bottom, in all phases):

Drafts and Budget belong to the investor; Offers and Contract with client belong to a contractor. The same person never sees both pairs on one project, because the label follows your company's role in that project.

1. The Projects entry returns to the project list.
2. The Project chip opens the project switcher.
3. The main group: Home to Outgoing bid requests.
4. The execution group: budget or contract with client, contracts, contracting schedule, Report Register and Construction schedule.
5. The support group: File manager, Work tasks, Meetings and Project team.

How to switch company

1. In company scope, click the Organization chip at the top of the sidebar. Inside a project, first open the company flyout: hover over the company name at the top of the sidebar for half a second, or click its arrow (on touch screens the arrow is the only way).
2. Click the company you want. The list shows every company you belong to, with its logo or initials; the selected one has a check mark.
3. BuildColab saves the choice on your profile and opens that company's project list.

The company menu also contains a settings (cog) icon next to each company, which opens Organization details, and two items at the bottom: INVITES (ПОКАНИ) for the invitations you received and Create a new organization (Създаване на нова организация). See Create or join a company. Before any company is selected, the chip reads "Choose company" (Избери компания); if you belong to none, it reads "You do not belong to any organization" (Нямате организация към която принадлежите).

The company flyout inside a project shows the full company sidebar, including Admin, on top of the project sidebar. It closes when you move the pointer away or pick an entry.

1. The company name that opens the flyout on hover or click.
2. The company entries, the same as in company scope.
3. The Admin entry, which opens the administration entries inside the flyout.

How to switch project

1. Inside a project, click the Project (Проект) chip under the Projects entry.
2. Click another project in the list. The list shows your company's most recent projects; for the full list click Projects instead.

The project menu also has a settings (cog) icon next to each project, which opens the project edit dialog (you need permission to edit projects; otherwise a permission message appears), and Create new project (Създаване на нов проект) at the bottom. See Project list and creating a project.

How to change the language

1. Click your avatar in the top bar and choose My profile (Моят профил).
2. In the Preferences (Предпочитания) section, open Language (Език) and choose Български or English.

The whole interface switches immediately, without reloading, and the choice is saved on your profile, so it follows you to other devices. Bulgarian is the default. The sign-in pages use the language last used in that browser. E-mails to you also follow your profile language (Bulgarian or English). A few server messages appear only in English.

How to switch between light and dark theme

Click the moon icon in the top bar to switch to the dark theme; click the sun icon to return to the light theme. The choice is saved on your profile and applies on every device where you sign in. When you sign out, the browser forgets it until you sign in again.

Where BORO lives

The BORO button sits first in the right-hand group of the top bar. Click it to open the BORO panel next to the page you are working on. BORO is available only when a company is selected, because it works with that company's data and with your permissions in it. The panel header holds New conversation, History, Settings and Close; your company's credit balance is the chip under the message field. See BORO — AI assistant.

Locked entries and access pages

A padlock on an entry has one of two causes:

• Plan restriction: your company's plan does not include the module (for example Financial dashboard on the Free plan). The fix is a plan change, made on Admin → Subscription by someone with the Members permission.
• Missing permission: the plan includes the module but your role does not grant it. The fix is for an administrator to add the permission to your role (or to your project access).

1. Report Register (Регистър на отчети) with a padlock: the Free plan does not include it. Nomenclatures and Partners are locked the same way.
2. The access page Premium feature (Премиум функция) — "This feature is in a higher plan".
3. Browse plans (Разгледай планове) opens Admin → Subscription; Back (Назад) returns.

Clicking a locked entry opens an access page that names the cause. If both apply, the page shows the plan restriction. The same pages appear when you open a link to something you cannot see.

When you can open a page but not change it, a click on an action button opens a short permission message instead: "You do not have permission to access this feature. Contact an administrator." (Нямате права за достъп до тази функционалност. Свържете се с администратор.). For the Company owner the message can instead point to a billing problem ("Access to this feature is limited by a billing issue with your company's plan…", button View invoice / Виж фактурата) or to a paid plan that has ended ("Your paid plan has ended and your company is now on the Free plan…", button Reactivate plan / Активирайте план).

The billing banner

The Company owner of a company on a paid plan sees a banner under the top bar when the latest invoice is unpaid. Other members never see it, and it never appears on the Free plan.

• Warning (Предупреждение): "You have an unpaid invoice" (Имате неплатена фактура) with the invoice number and the payment deadline, which is five days after the start of the invoice period, plus the note that some advanced features may be limited until payment.
• Overdue payment (Просрочено плащане): "You have an overdue payment for the company's subscription plan." (Имате просрочено плащане за абонаментния план на компанията.)

Both have the button View invoice (Виж фактурата), which opens Admin → Subscription. See Subscription, plans and billing.

On a phone

On screens narrower than 768 px the sidebar is hidden. Tap the menu (burger) icon in the top bar to open it as a drawer; it closes when you pick an entry or when the page changes. The breadcrumb trail is hidden to make room. The company flyout inside a project opens only by tapping the arrow next to the company name.

Common questions

Related

• Permission reference
• Roles
• The project page
• Create or join a company