Right Sidebar
I am curious to hear from people who really like the new sidebar on the right and how it may help your workflow. I am asking because I absolutely hate this update and I'm hoping to find people it's actually helping and hear how to shift my perspective.
Right now it just makes my life harder. More clicks. Collapsing and uncollapsing because the two sidebars take up too might space at their minimum allowed width. It's a headache and nightmare for a program that I've always lauded as being incredibly easy and intuitive to use.
So fans of the two sidebar situation, please illuminate me!
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Commentaires
Selene,
It is so new that I have not personally heard a lot of feedback. But, I can tell you that the right panel's purpose is the foundation of several more exciting features. Please don't stay silent on your feedback, we want to know what you think. Keep your ears open for new features coming soon!
I'm disliking it immensely. These are the first immediate issues I've noticed:
Hopefully they give us the option to revert back.
I haven't done an actual takeoff with it yet. I need to today. Previously I was just trying to count unit types for a hotel I'm going to work on. When I create a count take off I need to close it, then re-select it so I can start using it. Something that doesn't seem to happen with area measurements. Not sure about surface area.
I do paint and drywall, which means I mostly use surface area measurements and I'm constantly changing the height for the wall on some projects. Which means either collapse and uncollapse and recollapse for every height change or lose my screen real estate (which honestly, the left sidebar is already wider than I would like it to be) by keeping it open.
I did email stack asking for a way to revert. I'm just not sure what use having the libraries and the menu for the active take off on the right is. Why do I need to see my list of take offs? I can always click the other tabs in the sidebars to see the library or page listing. Make the AI assist an option on the little conversation bubble pop up so it doesn't take up space. Everything can then work again.
Dave Elfers I sent my feedback. And my feedback involves “I'm looking for another platform.” I have been using Stack with four different companies over the last eight years. I've always loved Stack, despite the ever escalating price. But I absolutely hate this feature. I don't need it. It's not useful. It directly, negatively impacts my ability to use Stack. Floorplan AI is already minimally helpful because it is so often not usable. So you're not only not saving me the time I thought you would with that, you're now adding more time for me to do the same work.
I don't know what these supposed “exciting features” are you have in store, but maybe fix Floorplan AI and get some people who actually use the program to beta test these features that no one seems to have asked for. Or at least make them optional because this is terrible.
Dave Elfers I'm in agreement with, Selene Dunham. I would like to see this reverted temporarily and let some users beta test this new feature a little longer so it can be optimized. I know the Stack team works hard and I'd like to give this feature a try in the future, but I'd like to see it more fleshed out before it's pushed on the userbase that pays for the service.
Thank you Selene Dunham and Cole Chamberlin for taking the time to share your feedback. We are actively listening and making changes based on what we're hearing from customers.
As of today, we've already released several updates that directly address feedback and workflow concerns:
✅ Restored guidance when no sheet is open, preventing customers from getting stuck while measuring from the Overview tab.
✅ Added guidance when no scale is set, including scenarios where users switch sheets during a measurement.
✅ Brought back the Start Measuring and End Measuring buttons.
✅ Restored assembly input editing when copying takeoffs, allowing users to quickly review and adjust all assembly inputs before proceeding.
✅ Restored the ability to create and edit labels directly from Measurement Inputs.
✅ Fixed stale quantities after using Change Takeoff so totals now update automatically.
✅ Fixed an issue that caused the Merge tool to fail.
✅ Fixed Item Group dropdowns being clipped when opening near the edge of the browser.
✅ Restored hotkeys such as T and Q, which were not consistently working unless the canvas had focus.
We understand that changes to established workflows can be frustrating, especially for long-time users who rely on STACK every day. Your feedback is incredibly valuable and is helping us identify areas where we can improve the experience.
STACK's mission has always been to provide customers with the latest technology to help speed up takeoffs and produce accurate estimating results. While some of the recent changes are laying the foundation for future capabilities, we remain committed to ensuring that efficiency and usability stay at the forefront of the experience.
Please continue sharing your feedback. We are listening, we are making improvements, and we truly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to let us know what is working and what is not.
Thank you for your patience, your honest feedback, and for being part of the STACK community. Your input helps us build a better product, and we appreciate the opportunity to continue earning your trust.
Thanks, Cristal Elias ! I did notice the sudden appearance of the “start measuring” and “finish measuring buttons” which were very nice to see.
It would be enormously helpful if you guys could allow us to resize both sidebars. Right now they can get wider but there is a minimum for how narrow they can get. Which still takes up quite a bit of space depending on the resolution of the monitors one may be using. Being able to resize those smaller (perhaps being able to drag the edge all the way until it collapses out of sight) would be wildly useful and solve pretty much all my issues with this sidebar (other than needing to learn to look to the right for things I've always looked left for).
I will say, I noticed today when I was checking multiplier quantities on hotel guest rooms so make sure they were all correct, that the take off listing on the left sidebar now highlights all of the takeoffs you've selected when you multi-select or select all. That is actually quite helpful to make sure you didn't miss anything if, say, you need to break out lots of different things or have multiple lines you need to draw for a single wall/area.
Thanks, Cristal Elias!
Selene Dunham Thank you for your feedback! The feedback regarding the size and flexibility of the right-hand sidebar has been shared with the team, and we are actively taking it into consideration while brainstorming potential solutions.
I'm also very happy to hear that some of the recent updates, such as the Start Measuring/Finish Measuring buttons and the improved multi-select highlighting, have been beneficial to your workflow. 😁
We truly appreciate you taking the time to share both your concerns and the features that are working well for you. Feedback like yours helps us continue improving the experience for everyone.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to refine these updates!
Cole Chamberlin You're welcome! Happy to help. 😊
Cristal Elias I actually meant resizing of both sidebars. The left sidebar has always been too wide for me. I've adapted but it's a lot more glaring now with the addition of the right sidebar.
I have to say, I agree with everything that Selene Dunham and Cole Chamberlin mentioned.
The update to it did help relive a few of the workflow issues.
Some things I would like to see changed/added:
A few things I like about the new sidebar function
All,
I'm David Fouché, and I lead product decisions for STACK Takeoff & Estimate – enhancements, new features, and yes, the tough calls on prioritization.
I'm watching this thread closely.
Many of the issues you've raised have already been addressed; others are in progress. Expect daily updates over the next week – we're releasing every day at ~9:30am EDT.
One example: we're actively working on reducing the right panel's minimum width by about half. We're targeting Monday or Tuesday for that one.
I know this release felt like a big change, and I hear you. At the same time, we've heard from many STACK users who are genuinely excited about it. Either way, we're not done – our team is committed to refining this daily until every open concern is resolved.
I'd say more, but... I need to get back to work on this. ;)
Best, David
+1 to everything Chance CBC suggested for further improvements! Especially the ability to swap sidebar sides or move the tabs between the two sidebars!
I strongly echo the sentiments shared by Selene and Cole. To make STACK work best for everyone, please consider adding an option that allows users to customize their setup or revert to the previous layout (with everything on the left).
Specific Workflow Friction:
All,
Two quick updates:
All releases happen at around 9am US Eastern time.
Stay tuned, more to come!
David
I have to agree with Selene, this is absolutely the worst update since I started using Stack 9 years ago. Usually I either find something useful in an update or it doesnt affect me. This time I am affected negatively all over this update. Is it possible to revert back somehow to the previous version of Stack?
Good morning Peter, as David mentioned above, we made some enhancements to the right panel recently. If you can share more details on how this update is affecting your daily workflow that would be greatly appreciated.
All,
Quick Pro-Tip you may not have realized: If you are measuring, and see the measurements input panel on the right, you can click on the Takeoff icon at the top of that panel (on the right) to go to the Takeoff Settings.
Coming soon:
Thanks for the continued feedback - we're listening!
David
Good morning all!
With today's release you are now able to reduce the left panel even more; you'll see the tabs at top switch to icons.
When both panels are fully reduced (not collapsed), if you compare the available real estate to before (a few months ago) it's the same. Lots of advantages with this layout, and no loss of real estate.
As always, eager for your thoughts!
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