June 27, 2026
Request scoring, priority & effort fields, more email notifications, UX enhancements, and more
In the last week I've managed to make a number of enhancements to Project Echo as I work towards the beta launch.
Below is a list of the major changes that have gone live since the previous changelog entry.
Renamed Public Portal to Feedback Portal - Since the portal doesn't have to be publicly facing, naming it public portal didn't sit right with me. I'm happy with the change and don't expect to change it again.
Introduced two new, default fields on requests, Priority and Effort - I realized that there was no way for users to prioritize requests. To add this functionality I added a standard priority field (low, medium, high and urgent), and an effort field (0 to 10). These two fields were also needed to cover the next feature I added, scoring. These fields can be disabled if users choose not to use them.
Request scoring - When enabled, each request receives a score. The formula for scoring is simple and can be controlled by users. I will enhance this in the future by allowing users to create custom fields and set the weights of the values in those fields. Users can easily disable request scoring if they wish.
Feedback Portal Settings v2.0 - I reworked the layout of the feedback portal settings by organizing them into numerous tabs to help with navigation. I also added visibility settings for vote counts.
Numerous UX improvements - Users can now quickly change values for priority, effort, board, owner, and status directly within the request or roadmap page. "Unselect all" was added to smart filter options to make it quicker to select values. A smart filter was added to the roadmap page.
Request page link added to left hand menu - Users can now get directly to the requests page without having to click on the quick filters in the left hand menu.
Introduced internal notes - Users can now post internal notes on requests. Internal notes are not viewable by non-team members.
Urgent requests are highlighted in the roadmap - When a request has the priority of "urgent", a red border appears around the request's card in the roadmap.
New email notifications (status and board changes) - When a request associated with a member has its status or board changed, Project Echo sends an email to the member to let them know.
Og tags and sitemap added to the public site - To help improve the sharability of Project Echo and discoverability by search engines, OG tags and a sitemap were created.
Improvements to custom domain UI and gated the feature - Small quality of life improvements to how the enabled view of the feature looks in the app. Users will now need to upgrade to a paid subscription in order to set up a custom domain.
Many bug fixes and speed improvements - Including improvements to the similar requests logic, movement between pages in the app, fixing search fields that weren't working, and others.
Below are some screenshots showing my favorite changes listed in this changelog.
Change values of request fields directly in the requests page
Request scoring is shown in a dedicated tab so you can easily understand how the score is calculated
Reworked feedback portal settings + vote count visibility setting
The weight of each impact factor of the request score can be controlled by users
Requests with the priority "Urgent" get a red border on their card in the roadmap
Built from the following requests
- JBAdd a "are you sure?" modal when removing a custom domainFeatures
- JBAdd a Completed option to the smart filterFeatures
- JBAdd a new activity type in the activity tab for owner changes to requestsFeatures
- JBAdd a sitemap covering the public pagesFeatures
- JBAdd actions to the icons in the dedicated request pageFeatures
- JBAdd an "Unselect all" option to the smart filterFeatures
- JBAdd avatar in the assigned to option in the smart filterFeatures
- JBAdd email notification for board changes (members only)Features
- JBAdd email notifications for status changes (for members)Features
- JBAdd individual request visibility settingsFeatures
- JBAdd link to requests page in left hand menuFeatures
- JBAdd priority and effort as options in the smart filterFeatures
- JBAdd priority and effort drop downs to the new request modalFeatures
- JBAdd request prioritizationFeatures
- JBAdd request scoringFeatures
- JBAdd setting to turn off effort field on requestsFeatures
- JBAdd setting to turn off priority field on requestsFeatures
- JBAdd smart filter to requests pageFeatures
- JBAdd smart filter to roadmap page in appFeatures
- JBAdd support for internal notesFeatures
- JBAdd visibility settings for voting in the feedback portalFeatures
- JBAllow admins to change the owner of a requestFeatures
- JBBuild smart navigation in the individual request pageFeatures
- JBChange how priority and effort appear in the new request modalFeatures
- JBChange the url of the feedback portal settings page to /settings/feedback-portalBugs
- JBClosing the new request modal is slowBugs
- JBEmail notification to member when creating a request on their behalfFeatures
- JBFix back button logic in individual request page (when cycling through)Bugs
- JBFix routing issue in feedback portal when request is hiddenBugs
- JBGate the custom domain featureFeatures
- JBImprove the similar requests logic (too many similar)Bugs
- JBImprovements to the domain page textFeatures
- ZBMake a request stand out in the roadmap if its set to "urgent"Features
- JBMake avatar interactive on the requests pageFeatures
- JBMake card icons interactive on the roadmap pageFeatures
- JBMake the boards, priority, icons etc editable on the requests pageFeatures
- JBMove board visibility to the portal settings sectionFeatures
- JBRemove the "Show Feedback tab" from the feedback portal settingsFeatures
- JBRename the public portal to feedback portal (UI only)Features
- JBSet up email templates in PostmarkFeatures
- JBSetup Intercom (from top-to-bottom)Features
- JBStatuses aren't clickableBugs
- JBUI improvementsFeatures
- JBUpdate the portal settings page when a workspace has a custom domainFeatures
- JBUsers can't search through members when creating new requestBugs