1.23.0
Features:
Permissions Rework
One of the ways we manage navigation and access to features on the platform is via Permissions given to roles. Over time, these permissions became bloated, hard to understand and were causing issues in performance. The system was also hampering our ability to design new features, as we had to abide by the rules of the old system.
For those reasons, we worked hard in this release to re-work the Permission system. While there are no big visible changes with this re-work, these changes add stability when interacting with features on the platform and when navigating between the portals. We also expect to be able to develop more complex and entertaining features with the freedom given to us with the new system.
HireNow/DevelopNow - Improved Interview/Review Meeting Experience
Now that we have fully committed to using the Zoom Video platform for our video meetings, we are now looking at the features available to stabilise and improve the experience for all users. We have worked on implementing some of features provided by Zoom, which will result in smoother video calls.
HireNow - Reason for Rejection dropdown
When rejecting or withdrawing an application, the recruiter had an option to insert a reason for the rejection. However, since this was both optional and free-form, we found the Reasons field wasn't being used often and when it was it was difficult to interpret or create a report on the data.
When rejecting or withdrawing an application, there will now be a dropdown list of reasons to select from. This is required to complete the process, and if none of the options fit the reason there is an 'Other' option in the dropdown, which allows you to enter a free text reason.
If you have any common reasons for rejection/withdrawal that you wish to be on the list, contact us at features@skillsnow.com
DevelopNow - Skillset Management
One of the parts of the CPD process which was originally inaccessible via the platform was the ability to assign Skill Categories to Skillsets. This required you to contact support to create a Skillset with the correct categories.
This release introduces the Skillset Management page on DevelopNow. Accessible by the CPD admin, this page allows you to attach existing Skill Categories to Skillsets or create new Skill categories for the same reason.
A user guide for the Skillset management page is here: Skillset Management user guide
In addition to this, we have change the logic behind Skills, Skillsets and Skillset members.
In DevelopNow, Skill Categories will only be shown in the Skill section of both Personal and Team development if the user is currently a Skillset member of the skillset. This action can be done by a Company Admin - User Groups user guide
If a user is a Skillset member, then only the Skill Categories from that associated Skillset will be displayed in DevelopNow. Any Skills not in those Skill Categories will not be displayed, although the Skill values will not be deleted. If the Skill Category is associated with the Skillset again, or with a new Skillset, then the previous Skill scores will be displayed again.
User Management - Search Bar dropdown
Our previous version of the search bar was a universal search, which meant that it would try and find a match for your search term in all categories(Users, User Groups, Companies). This would often leave the list very cluttered and unorganised, as well as requiring more resources than a regular search.
The search bar in User Management now has a dropdown to select your category. For example, if the dropdown is set to Users then the search bar will only show Users where part of the name matches the search term. This change means that your search results will now be more refined and easier to filter through.
Bugs and Defects :
Login page
We noticed that some users were having issues with the URL provided, or that they would enter the company specific URL to login but not be presented with the correct login method. We found this was because users were not being re-directed correctly due to a fault in how the URL was partitioned.
We have now updated this logic, so that if you enter your company name before the SkillsNow URL, you are now correctly re-directed to your company specific Login page.
Emails
With the addition of both Review Process and Learning emails, we noticed the increased volume of emails was causing a bottleneck in our email service, meaning some emails were failing to be sent.
We have updated our email service to handle the larger volume of emails correctly, ensuring all emails are being sent in a reasonable time frame.
HireNow - Search Bar
Resolved an issue where applicants with preferred names would show in the search bar, but when selected would not show any applications in the table.
Searching for a user with a preferred name now will show the relevant applications correctly in the table.
DevelopNow - Review Process scores
Due to a permissions issue, CPD admins could see the progress score on a review process but not the final score.
Since we have re-worked how permissions work, a CPD admin is now able to view both the progress and final score of a review process as intended.
User Management - Custom Imports
When users were created via a Custom Import, they would automatically be marked to change their password after they login for the first time. This clashed with the SSO login feature, causing a loop where the new user was unable to login.
The Change Password mark will now not be applied to any company which has disabled the local login method.
Minor version changes
1.23.1
Updated Learning Progress colours to be easier to distinguish between In Progress and Completed courses.
1.23.2
Reduced the size of a request made when assigning learning, to improve performance and resolve an edge case when assigning courses to lots of users.
1.23.3
Resolved an issue where the CPD Admin role did not have the correct permission to assign learning via the Team Development page.
1.23.4
Updated the logic surrounding elements displayed on a learning queue, so that duplicate courses assigned as part of a Training Path are displayed with the Training Path attribute.
1.23.5
Changed how we store files, which allows for files larger than 2Gb to be uploaded.