The Utility Bar consists of five icons, and it is located on the right side of the Main Menu. These icons provide administrative and user capabilities alongside additional help with the system. A diagram of the Utility Bar is shown below. 

Administration

This gear icon opens a picklist of options to help the user manage STIPs, Scenarios, Budgets, Fund Sources, Users, and Code Lists. These six items are the categories in the picklist, and they lead to various pop-up interfaces. The items are only accessible to those with the proper permissions; while STIP Administrators can access any item, other roles have exclusive access to certain ones. The interfaces serve in this manner: 

1. STIPS - provides the ability to create and manage the various versions of the STIP within the application.
2. Scenarios - allows users with the “Scenarios” permission to create and edit Scenarios-- the “test” or “trial” STIPs.
3. Budgets - provides the ability to create and modify versions of the Budget that can be linked to STIP versions and/or Scenarios.
4. Fund Sources - provides the ability to create and modify Fund Sources used for project programming in STIP Manager. 
5. Users - provides the ability to create and modify users of STIP Manager; users with User Maintenance permissions can access this item.
6. Code Lists - provides the ability to maintain the relevant STIP Manager code lists; users with Code List Maintenance permissions can access this item.

User Settings

The icon which resembles a person stores user information. The user information stored in this pop-up window is the user's first name, last name, username, email, user role, location privileges, PIN, and optional permissions. Users have the option to edit the first and last name stored in the system as well as update their email address to receive system notifications.

Quick Links

The bookmark shaped icon holds Quick Links which are attached to other STIP Resources. Only those with the Code Lists or STIP Administrator permission can access these Quick Links. When the user clicks the Quick Links icon on the Utility Bar, a list of all active names from the code list will appear. Selecting one of the names will open a new browser window with the associated URL.

Notifications

The envelope icon notifies a user (1) when there is an action required or (2) when there is important information of which they need to be made aware. If the user has unread notifications, the Notifications icon will contain a number in the lower right corner of how many notifications have not been read. 

Help

The Help icon links to this Help Guide. With its placement on the utility bar, a user can easily access the Help Guide while using the system. The Help Guide is sorted in this manner: 

• Category - NCDOT STIP Manager
• Sections - General, Administration, Map, Projects, Actions, Dashboard, Reports, and STIP Viewer
• Articles - Topics based on actionable tasks or necessary information in the given section