Release Notes v3.5.7

Release Date: 13-03-2021

iPassport v3.5.7 is another small improvements release, adding a number of features across the application.

Small Improvements

Competency Tests & Assessments - Save Progress (#IV-12929)

This change makes it possible to save progress on a competency test or assessment, allowing these to be completed in multiple sittings rather than forcing the test to be completed in a single visit.

This can be configured on a test-by-test basis, by configuring the Allow Progress to be Saved? option in the test template.

When you receive an email from iPassport relating to a controlled document this will include a link directly to that document. You just click the link and are taken directly to the doc in iPassport. We have expanded this so most task-based emails across the system will include a direct link to the record in question (e.g. an email relating to equipment maintenance task will include a link to the equipment record).

Companies - New Contacts Tab (#IV-13777)

When editing a Contact record it is possible to select which company they belong to. However, this information was “one way” and contacts were not displayed on the Company record.

We have added a new Contacts tab to a Company record, making it easy to see any key contacts relating to that company. These contacts still need to be created and managed from the Contacts area but they are now visible when viewing the Company.

Make iPassport User Guides More Accessible (#IV-14963)

We spend a lot of time writing and updating our user guides with each iPassport release. We are aware that this resource is not utilised as it could be, partly because the guides are hidden away and difficult to navigate.

As a first step to address this we have moved the link to our user guides into the Global Menu, up in the top right of the screen.

We will be putting more effort into making our user guides more accessible in the coming months. The next step will include adding in-context links to the appropriate user guide, direct from the relevant part of iPassport. We hope these guides will prove to be a useful resource and our goal is to make it easy to find the information you need at the moment you need it.

Controlled Documents - Require PIN on One Click Authorisation (#IV-14808)

This change fixes a hole when two iPassport settings are used in conjunction.

  • Account Settings / Miscellaneous Settings / Enable option to Request Authorisation - includes the ability for the user to authorise a document directly from an email, without logging into iPassport.
  • Organisational Unit Preferences / Document Control / Pin and Signature required for authorising… - requires a PIN to be entered when authorising a document.

When both of these settings were enabled the user was able to authorise the doc from an email without entering a PIN. We have changed this so they will now be required to enter their PIN, even when authorising from an email link.

Admin Function - Rename iPassport Menus (#IV-14853)

We have added the ability for site admins to customise the names of iPassport’s menus. This can be achieved in OU settings and will be applied to all users who have this OU set as their Home OU.

Users - Default Home OU and User Visibility (#IV-15266)

Based on customer feedback, when creating a new user the Home OU will default to that of the person creating the user record.

We also changed the permission checks so anyone with permission to create users in a given OU can automatically view and edit user records in that OU. (Previously they would explicitly need to have create, view and edit permissions to do so). This is part of our ongoing effort to simplify iPassport’s permission structures.

Users - Importer (#IV-14978)

We have added a new user importer, allowing admins to populate details in a spreadsheet, save this as a csv file and import the collection of users into iPassport en masse.

Users - CSV Export (#IV-14921)

We have added a CSV export to the Users search screen. This includes the users’ user groups, skilled groups and distribution lists.

New Users - Force Password Reset on First Log In (#IV-14321)

When user accounts are created iPassport assigns a secure password, which is emailed to the user. As a security measure new users will now be forced to change this password on first log in.

Non Compliances - New Permission to Verify Nc Actions (#IV-15254)

Previously control of which users could verify non compliance action was based on whether the user had permission to add non compliance actions. It was not possible to set up a group of users who could add but not verify NC actions.

We have added a new permission: Non Compliances: Verify Actions to allow further control around NC actions. This permission has been added to all roles assigned Non Compliance:Manage Actions, meaning the functionality for your users will be unchanged. However, if you would like to specify that users can add actions but not verify then you can now achieve this by creating separate user groups and fine tuning the permissions assigned to each.

Equipment - Maintenance Default Sort Order & Cleanup Maintenance Permissions (#IV-15318)

The following default sort orders have been added:

  • Breakdown & Repair (Breakdown date, most recent first)
  • Maintenance (Completion Date, most recent first)

We also fixed some incorrect/confusing permission checks:

  • To add a breakdown event users now require the permission Equipment:Report Breakdowns only. Previously users ALSO needed Equipment:Edit Equipment.
  • To add a maintenance event users now require the permission Equipment:Schedule Maintenance Events. Previously users required Equipment:Edit Equipment.

Account Backups - Limit by Facility (#IV-15344)

This improvement will only affect Enterprise accounts who are subscribed to the optional Account Export Service. It is now possible to limit backups to specific facilities in addition to OUs.

Bug Fixes

Leave Summary in the Side Menu Should Respect Permissions

For customers using iPassport’s Staff Leave feature we display a summary of leave in the left menu bar. This did not check the Staff Records:View Leave permission to see if the current user has permission to view leave requests. We have added this check. Staff leave will now only be visible in the left menu to users with this permission.

Fixed Training Schedule Permission Check (#IV-15485)

It was discovered that control over who could create training events (Training Schedule area) was actually being granted based on users having permission to create training courses.

This has presumably never been an issue as most accounts set up their training course admins so they can create courses and then schedule them. This only came to light because one of our customers wanted to separate out which users could create training course records and which could schedule training events.

This has been corrected. In order to schedule training courses users must have Training Events:Create Training Events permission.

It was reported that clicking the unsubscribe from all iPasport emails link (at the bottom of any iPassport email) was not working. This has been resolved.

We are constantly patching bugs between releases and tend to only highlight bugs which are noteworthy in the release notes. For a full list of bug fixes you can see the iPassport change log at any time. Just go to Help (top right) / About iPassport and change the filter from ‘Releases Only’ to ‘All Updates’.

New User Guides

  • Companies - New user guides covering the Companies module
  • User Importer - How to import a group of users via a CSV upload

Updated User Guides

  • Create User Accounts - Added note that new users will be forced to change their password on first log in.
  • Search/Edit User Records - New section on searching and exporting user records.
  • Permissions for User Mgmt - New Access to Users Created section highlighting what default permissions granted to the person who created the user record.
  • Advanced Competency Settings - New Allow Progress to be saved? section covering the new option to allow users to complete the competency test in multiple sittings or restrict to a single visit.
  • Competency / Performing Assessments - Updated the Performing the Assessment section to include notes on saving progress.
  • Competency Tests - We took the opportunity to do some sprint cleaning on this guide. It has been reformatted and the text has been updated.
  • Non Compliance Actions - Edited the Verifying an Action section to clarify permissions needed to verify actions.
  • Basic Navigation - Updated screenshot to include the addition of a link to the User Guides to the iPassport Global Menu.
  • Basic Usage - Created a new User Guides section, pointing our how to access the iPassport user guides.
  • Simple View - Added screenshots to existing guides.
  • Skill Management - Viewing Skills & Skilled Tasks - Added notes to the Viewing Skills in Staff Profiles section clarifying the meaning of ‘active records’.
  • OU Preferences - New Menu/Tabs Translations section covering how an admin can customise the names of iPassport menu items for all users in a given OU.
  • Account Backups - Updated the Requesting a Backup section to cover limiting backups by facility.
  • Sidebar - Clarified the permissions needed in order to view staff absence data in the left sidebar.

Validation Documents

Validations documents are not included with minor releases. Full validation documentation for these new developments will be published when we launch the next major update of iPassport (v3.6.0).