USER GUIDE
Bids & RFPs
Post your bid opportunities and requests for proposals online, share the documents, and collect vendor responses — all in one secure place.
Before you begin
- The module must be activated by EvoGov (see the note above).
- You need the Bid/RFP Manager role to work in this area. Ask your site administrator if it is missing.
- Set up Bid Categories first (next section). Categories are optional, but creating them before you post lets vendors filter opportunities and lets interested vendors subscribe for email alerts.
- Have your bid documents (PDFs, spec sheets) ready to upload, and know your opening and closing dates.
Everything for this module lives under Left menu › Bids & RFPs, which has entries for Manage Bids, Bid Submissions, Bid Categories, Bid Settings, and a link to your public Bids page.
1 Create Bid Categories first
Go to Left menu › Bids & RFPs › Bid Categories and add a category for each kind of opportunity you post (for example, "Construction," "Professional Services," "Supplies"). A category has:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | The category name shown to staff and vendors. |
| Parent Category | Optional — nest a category under another to build a hierarchy. |
| Description | Optional explanation of what belongs in this category. |
| Subscribers | People who receive an email when a new bid is posted in this category. |
2 Manage Bids
Go to Left menu › Bids & RFPs › Manage Bids to see every bid on your site. The list shows each bid's ID and Name, buttons to view its Submissions, and when it was last Updated along with its status (Open, Closed, Filled, or Cancelled).
Use the status filter at the top to narrow the list, and use the buttons on each row to see page views, plan holders (vendors who downloaded documents), and a download report. Click Add Bid to post a new opportunity.
3 Add a bid or RFP
Click Add Bid. Fill in the General tab, then save and use the Bid/RFP Documents tab to attach files. The most important fields:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Title | The name of the bid or RFP. Required. |
| Bid ID | Your own reference number for this bid. |
| Start Date | When the bid opens. (Your site may rename this label, e.g. "Open Date" or "Posted.") |
| End Date | When the bid closes. (May be renamed, e.g. "Close Date" or "Due By.") |
| Status | Open, Closed, Filled, or Cancelled. |
| Additional Status Info | Optional short note about the status. |
| Active | Whether the bid is live. |
| Hide Bid | Keeps the bid off the public list while you finish preparing it. |
| Description | The main write-up of the opportunity. Add documents on the Documents tab, not as links here. |
| Categories | Check the categories this bid belongs to. |
There are additional optional detail fields for things like Qualifications, Special Requirements, Pre-Bid Meeting, Contact Person, Fee, Business Hours, and an Addendum Date — fill in whichever apply.
Click Save Bid. Now open the Bid/RFP Documents tab and upload your files (each upload field accepts one file). Use the Preview and View Bid buttons to check how it looks before it goes public.
4 Review Bid Submissions (vendor responses)
Vendors respond from your public Bids page by opening a bid and completing its submission form — company name, address, phone, fax, comments, and any files they attach. Everything they send is saved securely.
To review responses, go to Left menu › Bids & RFPs › Bid Submissions. You can search by bid ID, title, submitter, or company, and sort by columns including Bid ID, Title, Status, End Date, Submitted By, Business, and Date Submitted. An "Initially Viewed By" column records which staff member first opened each response.
5 Adjust Bid Settings
Go to Left menu › Bids & RFPs › Bid Settings to control how the public bid experience behaves. Settings include:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Bids Page Header | The heading at the top of your public bids page. |
| Start Date Label / End Date Label | Rename the date labels shown to the public (e.g. "Open Date," "Due By"). |
| Login Required for Bid Details | Require visitors to log in before viewing full details or downloading documents — useful for tracking who takes your bid packets. |
| Hide Plan Holders | Hide the public list of plan holders (still recorded internally). |
| Bidder Approval Email Address / Bidders Require Validation | Require new bidders to be manually approved before they can submit, with approvals sent to the address you set. |
| Disable Bid Submissions | Stops all online submissions site-wide — for emergencies or planned downtime. |
| Required fields on the submission form | Choose whether address, company name, phone, and fax are required from vendors. |
6 The public Bids page
Your public bids live at your site's /bids address, and there is a shortcut to it under Left menu › Bids & RFPs › Bids Page. Vendors see your open, active bids (with the header and date labels you set), open a bid to read details and download documents, and — if they are logged in and the bid is open — submit their response.
Next steps
Consider linking your Bids page from a navigation menu (Menus) and posting a News item when a major opportunity opens. See the User Guides index for related topics.