Version 5.20.0 - 02/04/2024
Production Release Date: Apr 2, 2024 | Version: 5.20.0 |
UAT Release Date: Mar 5, 2024 |
The Release webinar is available from https://skilltechsolutionsltd-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/lisa_clancy_skilltechsolutions_co_uk/ETrPXYjGGLhFmlMd8g-rGUwBNQPs328Mg8mkJCaXCE3-Jw?nav=eyJyZWZlcnJhbEluZm8iOnsicmVmZXJyYWxBcHAiOiJTdHJlYW1XZWJBcHAiLCJyZWZlcnJhbFZpZXciOiJTaGFyZURpYWxvZy1MaW5rIiwicmVmZXJyYWxBcHBQbGF0Zm9ybSI6IldlYiIsInJlZmVycmFsTW9kZSI6InZpZXcifX0%3D&e=QpSyHz (following the Friday demo meeting);
Note: you can copy and share this link with other people in your organisation
We have added a new column on the table below called “Action Required” this shows several new status labels:
SETUP_REQUIRED - some setup will be required to use this element
NEW_PERMISSIONS - new permissions have been added
RECOMMEND_TRAINING - training is recommended - usually for new major features.
screen_changes - changes have been made to existing screens
This is to help highlight to you anything you need to ensure is set up for the day of release or in advance of this. We do still recommend that all of the release notes are read.
low impact medium impact high impact We are also adding a column for Potential Impact to you our customers, this is an estimation of any impact to your businesses the work may have. This is just offered as a guideline, as we appreciate you all use EPAPro slightly differently.
We recommend you check any Comms settings with the release notes, as whilst newly introduced comms will be listed in them, we may not mention if an existing comm needs to be enabled, which we assume may be on from previous releases.
What you have enabled can be seen via the System Management → Communications .
Epic | Key | Type | Action Required | Summary | Release Notes Description | Potential Impact |
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| feature |
| Assessment Plan - Cleanup of obsolete code around external services | OverviewWe have removed and cleaned up some obsolete code around how external services are stored and used against an assessment component. Impacted Areas
| low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes | Apprentice Side Drawer - Adding Company Name | OverviewThe address within the apprentice side drawer has been extended to include the Company Name. As part of this the directions buttons within the system will now also include both Company Name and Site Name for the apprentice if provided. | low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes setup required | Comms - Add apprentice first name and username | OverviewCommunication templates have been updated to allow the use of the apprentice’s first name and username as available variables. The list of variables when editing a template has also been ordered alphabetically to make finding them easier. Affected TemplatesAppealsAppeal Created/Updated/Closed AssessmentComponent Resit External Assessment Result Available/Required Retake Review Approved/Rejected Assessment BookingAssessment Approved/Rejected/Pending Assign ApprenticeApprentice Accepted/Rejected by EPA Apprentice Allocated/Reallocated CertificationCertification Available Course Survey GatewayGateway Complete/Rejected/Submitted/Unconfirmed PlanningAssessment Element Milestone Assigned/Cancelled/Unassigned Component Cancelled/Invitation/Rescheduled Component Reminder 1st and 2nd Meeting Booking Rejected Meeting Cancellation/Invitation/Updated/Rescheduled Meeting Provisional Booking Meeting Reminder 1st and 2nd Plan Cancelled/Completed QAQA Created QA Updated by EPA/QA UserReasonable Adjustment Accepted/Rejected/Submitted Communication TemplatesWhen editing a template in this area the variables available are now ordered alphabetically. | low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes | Comms - Gateway Rejected notification to On Programme Assessor/Workplace Mentor | OverviewThe Gateway Rejected notification has been extended to include both the On Programme Assessor and the Workplace Mentor as options. By default these options are disabled. | low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes | Custom Tasks - Show who assigned a task | OverviewThe ToDo screen has been extended for custom tasks that have been assigned to a user by another user. The user’s name who assigned the task will now be shown underneath the task detail so that the assignee can know who to speak to in the event that there are issues, clarifications, or further communication required. | low impact | |
| feature |
| Reporting - Add on apprentice mentor and on programme assessor to Gateway Status Report | OverviewThe Gateway Status report has been updated to include both the names of the Apprentice Mentor and On Programme Assessor if they have been populated against the apprentice record. | low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes | EPA - Default EPA Manager selection to 'None' | OverviewWhen creating an EPA the selection for the primary EPA manager has been changed to default to “None Selected”. Previously this would be set to the first EPA Manager in an alphabetical order and as this is a required field it increases the chance that the user may miss changing this field. The “Additional EPA Managers” field has also had the ‘None Selected’ option removed. This field is a multi select and in order to select ‘none’ a user only needs to deselect and selected options. | low impact | |
| feature |
| Reporting - Add Location/Centre to the Result Tracking report | OverviewThe Result Tracking report has been extended with the following items:
| low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes | Bulk Upload - Helper Improvements | OverviewWe have completed some housekeeping on the bulk upload helpers, most notably the finders. Their functionality will remain the same, however, we have tidied them up behind the scenes which should help with maintainability moving forward. In the process, we have also fixed some bugs:
Impacted areas
| low impact | |
| feature | screen_changes recommend_Training
| Communication - Allow users to control the Subject recipient type separately from their "user type" recipient | OverviewWe have extended the user-based configuration of communication to allow for different settings depending on if the user is the “subject” of the communication (e.g. EPA assigned to an apprentice) vs a non-subject recipient (e.g. the EPAM of the EPA assigned to an apprentice). Allowing for more fine-grained control for each user. For example, an EPAM may want to receive their “subject” communication via SMS as it relates to work they need to do, vs, receiving non-subject communication via Email or In-App notification as it may relate to EPAs they manage. Changes to functionalityCommunication EngineThe communication engine has been updated to take into account the additional configuration fields available to a user. This applies to all communication within epaPRO. Previously when sending a communication epaPRO would consider user overrides for both the “Subject” type and the user’s user type as the same. Now, this has been split. The user’s “Subject” override will be considered when sending to a “Subject” recipient, otherwise the user’s non-subject overrides will be considered. Allowed Methods For SubjectThe allowed methods dropdown has been re-added to the subject special user type when viewing the system-based management screen. This was previously removed as it had no impact but now does control the methods listed for the new subject-based configuration fields. User Communication Management ScreenNew controls have been added to each communication so that the user can apply different settings to both the subject and non-subject options. The layout of this screen has been tweaked to accommodate the additional fields now being similar to the system-based management screen. Clicking on a communication will expand and show the additional options available to the user. The methods dropdown for the subject type will be populated based on the allowed methods of the subject global settings, much like the method for each user type. The restricted toggle will also disable the ability for the user to toggle that version of the communication. We have added a data migration so that when this functionality is deployed any user overrides will be duplicated to the new Subject based configuration. This should maintain currently functionality for existing users. Impacted areas
| medium impact Listed as medium as suggest training/comms to explain the options to users | |
FEATURE | screen_changes NEW_PERMISSIONS recommend_training | Assessment Elements - Added the ability to work by EPA’s being able to accept or reject allocations at the component level | OverviewThe ability for EPA(M) users to accept or reject assessment element bookings has been added into epaPRO. ATTENTION We have located an issue with this work in that it is not possible to book a Teams meeting from within the assessment plan screen, when using an EPA that has the new auto-accept of assessments disabled. This is because our code currently requires an EPA ID to populate the Teams meeting with the required information. We have logged a ticket to investigate the best way to approach this. Changes to FunctionalityThe following enhancements have been made as part of this work: EPA(M) Entity ScreensThe edit/view EPA(M) screen has been updated to have a new toggle within the EPA details tab - “Auto Accept Element Assignments”. This new toggle can be used to determine whether an EPA(M) user will auto accept elements (effectively functioning how the system did prior to this work) or whether the EPA(M) has to accept or reject the booking manually (putting them through the new process). By default this toggle will be on for all EPA(M) users - this is to preserve current functionality. In addition to this new toggle being added, the existing toggles for other decisions (such as “Accepting New Apprentices” and “Is Covid-19 Compliant”) have been made smaller to provide more space. Menu ChangesTo help make this new functionality clear, the menu has been updated. A new menu heading has been added called “Assign Assessments” - this contains three new screens that show elements depending on their state (Awaiting, Pending, and Rejected). The Planning → Assign EPAs to Elements screen has been moved into this new menu item and is now accessed via the “Awaiting” sub-menu item. When logged in as an EPA(M) user, the Caseload → Awaiting Acceptance item has been renamed to Apprentices Awaiting Acceptance, and a new Assessments Awaiting Acceptance item has been added. Assign Assessment ScreensThe Awaiting screen behaves the same as the pre-existing Planning → Assign EPA to Elements screen. Pending and Rejected screens behave similar to the Awaiting screen, but show elements at different states. Details of what is shown in each screen mode can be seen below:
When viewing the rejected version of the screen, an additional option is available to view the reason entered at the point of rejection. New Custom Drop-downsA new custom drop-down entry has been introduced into the system to store the reasons for rejecting an assessment. As part of these new custom drop-downs, a new toggle has been added to determine whether the drop-down value requires additional rejection information if selected. This can be used for an option such as “other”, where more information may be required if that option is selected. New SLA introducedA new SLA has been introduced to track the EPA performance against this new process. The new SLA can be found within the usual SLA configuration screen, titled “Time from EPA element assigned to EPA decision.” A new report has been created for the tracking of this SLA (as per other pre-existing SLAs) and can be found within the SLA tab of the reporting suite (SLA - Time from EPA element assignment to EPA decision). This report has been flagged as an internal report, and permission can be given to access this report via the newly introduced permission (Reporting → SLA - Time from EPA element assignment to EPA decision). New Process for EPA(M)sThe booking process has been changed for anywhere that EPA(M) users can be assigned assessments. This includes:
Assigning an EPA to an assessment when they are not configured to auto-accept bookings will now perform the following:
The EPA then has to accept/reject the assessment. New Accept / Reject screen for EPA(M) usersA new screen has been added to the EPA(M) users, found within the Caseload menu - Assessments Awaiting Acceptance. This new screen will list any assessments that are currently pending a decision from the logged in EPA(M) user, along with a count within the menu. The EPA(M) has the ability to accept or reject the booking - a rejection requires the completion of additional information (rejection reason code, and potentially additional information if configured). Depending on the decision made, the following will occur:
ReportsThe EPA → EPA Information report has been updated to show the status of the new auto-accept assessments toggle. The Assessment → Assessment Elements report has been updated to show whether an assessment is awaiting a decision and, if so, who is the EPA(M) that needs to make this decision. A new report has been created - EPA → EPA Assign Element Decisions. This new report shows the decisions within the system, including their accept/reject outcome. A new filter can be used to change the report to show decisions that are pending, accepted, or rejected to help break down the decisions in more detail. Communication templates screenThe following new communication templates have been introduced as part of this development:
Communications screenThe above communication templates have been added to the communications screen, so that they can be enabled/disabled for different users depending on their preferences. All of the above communications are enabled for the subject by default, but can also be configured for the following users:
Impacted Areas
Permissions
Coming Soon Document can be seen here -New Feature EP-4299 Assessment Elements - ability for EPA’s to be able to accept or reject allocations at the component level This is also covered off on the UAT Demo recording. | Medium Logged as medium impact as this by default will be toggled off so no change to current process. | ||
| bug | screen_changes | Apprentice Dashboard - Scheduled support materials not behaving correctly | OverviewWe have fixed a bug with scheduled support materials where they were being displayed or hidden unexpectedly. |
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| bug |
| File Uploads - Access control improvements | OverviewWe have improved the access control restrictions around support material file uploads and contracts. Links to support material uploads will now recheck the support material configuration to ensure the user has access before returning the file for download. Contracts have also been improved to ensure any terms file downloads are checked before returning the file for download. Impacted areas
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| bug |
| MFA - Security fixes | OverviewWe have fixed a couple of security issues raised in our recent Pentest around setting up and deactivating MFA. Impacted areas
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| bug |
| Assessment Plan - Cancelling only processes first element | OverviewFixed a bug where only the first element in the list will be processed when cancelling an assessment plan. |
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| bug | screen_changes | Assessment Schema - Duplicating milestones | OverviewFixed a bug where it was possible to duplicate milestones within an assessment schema. |
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| bug | screen_changes | Assessment Plan - Reloading a component causes odd behaviour on the form | OverviewWe have fixed a bug where the assessment plan’s form may have some odd behaviour and save incorrect data if the component is loaded multiple times without reloading the screen or changing the component. Impacted areas
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| bug | screen_changes | Users - username validation to not allow spaces | OverviewWe have fixed a bug that allowed users to be created with spaces in their username that subsequently prevented the user details to be updated as the validation for updating a user was being triggered when the space was detected. epaPRO will now, no longer, allow spaces to be included in the username of any user type. As part of this bug fix, the validation message that is sent back to the user have been made more consistent with the error being checked. |
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| bug | screen_changes | Support Materials - User visibility | OverviewWe have fixed a bug where Apprentice and EPA/EPAM users were not getting a filtered list of support materials based on their association with a specific provider or employer, and thus were able to see support materials for provider/employers they had no association with. | Medium_Impact Listed as medium as users may see a change to existing support materials, restricting them to what they should be seeing based on the setup of the material. | |
| bug | screen_changes | Gateway Components - View mode bugs | OverviewFixed the following issues within gateway components:
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| bug |
| Apprentice - Assessor/Mentor duplicate records | OverviewWe have tidied up apprentice mentor and apprentice programme assessor data to remove duplicates from systems that had been effected by bug that allowed duplicate records to be added against the apprentice. Impacted AreasPast programme report |
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| bug | screen_changes | Apprentice dashboard - assessment status | OverviewWe have fixed a bug relating to the assessment status display on the apprentice dashboard to ensure that the colours used for each status mirror those used on the assessment profile screen. Impacted AreasApprentice dashboard |
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| bug | screen_changes | Communications - Subject only communications cannot have methods changed by the user | OverviewAs part of the communication configuration extensions in https://covalenttech.atlassian.net/browse/EP-3534. We have fixed a bug that affected communications that were only sendable via the “Subject” recipient type. When logged in as a user, these communications could not have the sending method adjusted. Impacted areas
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| bug |
| Custom roles - permission integrity | OverviewWe have fixed a bug where users editing custom roles did not have the permissions that were included in the role being edited where causing those permissions to be removed from the role they were editing. For example, Fred is updating a role with the permission Manage Apprentices under the System Management - Configuration section. Fred does not have this permission. Before the bug was fixed, when Fred pressed Save after editing the role, the Manage Apprentices was removed. This bug fix prevents the permission from being removed from the role being edited. Impacted AreasRoles |
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| bug |
| Side drawer - text field focus | OverviewWe have fixed a bug that meant it was not possible to select text fields in the the side drawer in the following places:
Impacted AreasApprentice details screen Gateway screen |
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| bug |
| Assessment Components - Assessment component filter over-limiting for EPA(M) users. | OverviewHave fixed a bug where, when logged in as an EPA(M), the Assessment Component filter requires the EPA to have the corresponding standard assigned to their main standards and QA standards in order to display. Assessment Components should now be shown if the EPA has the corresponding standard assigned to their main standards or QA standards. |
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Epic Link | key | type | Action Required | Release Notes Title | Release Notes Description | Potential Impact |
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