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Searching for Bids

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Whether accessing the Bid List for the first time directly after initially setting up your Bid Profile or logging back in to review more bids, it's good to know how to navigate the system.

    1. Selecting the Bid List is the same experience for future logging into the system. By default, the opened page displays the Bid List. Many pages include a link to return to the Bid List in the upper left-hand corner. You can also navigate using the icons in the upper right-hand corner. Select the first icon to access the Bid List:



    2. From the sub-list, select the appropriate list you want to open (the same list options are available across the top of the Bid List page):



      • New For You= Bids which match your profile, specific to your keywords and activity, pulled from solicitations posted within the last 10 days.
      • Your Saved Bids= Any bids previously selected as bids of interest, or "starred," are stored here for future reference.
      • All Bids= Opens a general search query with current keywords pre-selected to look through all active and open bids.

    3. When selecting “All Bids,” the “Filter” option opens from the left to narrow down search results:



    4. The keywords selected during the set-up process (or any future changes made to them in your Bid Profile) will automatically be selected in the filters. These, however, can be removed or adjusted as needed. Remember that keywords can be multiple terms long (e.g. "parking lot," "bus parts," "mechanical engineering," etc.) or simple terms (like "fleet," "engine," "condenser," etc.). Multiple terms operate like specific phrases the tool uses to search through the Titles and Descriptions of each posted solicitation. Click the up/down arrow on the right to open different sections:



      The Keywords section can also be used to search NIGP Classification codes assigned to bids. As the tool attempts to pull relevant bids, results differ depending on which solicitations are currently posted in the system:




      As an example, searching for the NIGP code “913-50” returns current street construction project bids using that code at the top of the relevancy list; however, the code search isn’t isolated to NIGP, but still searches through Bid Titles, Bid Summaries, and Bid Numbers:



      If there are no exact matches, the system explores other potential matches and expands the search through the 3-digit code if any are available or codes starting with the same number (such as just focusing on 913 from the same example):



      Results include other full 5-digit varieties in the results (such as bids using NGIP Code 913-47, or 913-56, etc., which are still construction related, or again if there aren’t any currently posted bids using the same 3-digit code, then 936-72 or 979-46, etc. could be included pulling from active listings):



      If using an invalid code number (that isn’t assigned to a commodity (e.g. 930)), the returned results are not able to match, so the resulting search will include the closest approximation to other NIGP numbers used in currently active solicitations as well as any matches from bid titles, bid summaries, and bid numbers:



      To use the search feature to its maximum effectiveness, use alpha-character keywords. If looking for keyword term suggestions, use the NIGP Code section to gain access to the code descriptions (as seen below in Step 27-32).

    5. To filter by States/Provinces, turn on the filter first by clicking the blue slide bar (it will turn gray):



    6. Type in the selection or use the drill down method to find the appropriate region. Whether written or clicked, select Plus (+) to finish adding this filter:





    7. By default, initial searches browse through current or live bids. Similar in function to States/Provinces, to peruse previous or closed bids, choose that section and click the slide bar to turn the filter on. Then select from pre-configured time frames or customize a specific period:



    8. Select Search at the bottom to run a search using your selected active filters.
    9. To save past searches for future use or storing different filtering combinations, click on Save Search and then uniquely name the search for easy identification later:



    10. To open up previously saved searches, click in the upper right-hand corner under the main three (3) icons to access a drop down:



    11. Then simply select from the saved history:

 

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