Release v18.2

When students view their work for the upcoming month it can often be overwhelming and busy. We have now added filtering to the Due Work page. Staff can configure what filters are shown by default, but users will now be allowed to override these and configure their own filters as required.

Screen space on devices can often be at a premium, which is why we’ve made it possible to stash the left-hand side menu. In v18.2, you will have the option to either hide the side menu, or keep it pinned to your screen if it’s more your style. So, if you just want some extra space to do marking, or if you have a small screen and need some room, you will now be able to experience your Schoolbox instance in full screen. Yay!

Please note: If you have custom CSS that impacts the top menu, please review it before deploying this update, as this will mean there are going to be some significant changes to the top menu. 

Over time, we recognised that adding visibility to each pastoral record was time-consuming and prone to errors. This is why in v18.2 we have introduced default audience visibility for pastoral record types and sub-types. This means your schools pastoral moderator will be able to preset the recommended visibility settings for each type of record, which will minimise the chances of making a mistake and will save teachers time when creating new records.

Emoji lovers rejoice! In v18.2, we have updated our text editor to the latest version, which supports emojis. The new emoji tool will allow you to either select emojis from those available in the panel, or directly type them in using the new :[emoji]: notation as a shorthand - for example, :smile:.

• ePortfolio notifications have been improved to notify parents and staff, as well as students.

• Social stream notifications have been configured to send to anyone involved in the group, not just those who have participated in the stream.

• You now have the ability to add custom buttons to a profile screen and the My Students component.

• If you have your SAML details entered into Schoolbox and you disable single sign-on, the system will now create an additional button to on your login page. This will give you the option to either log in through your Schoolbox instance, or log in using single sign-on.

• You now have the option to enable feedback form types. If enabled, users will be able to classify feedback in the submission form as the types specified in your administration system.

• We made several performance improvements:

  • Reduced server connections, per request, by 60%;

  • Limited default admin logs to last month;

  • Limited search results to first 500 results per category, and;

  • Rewrote chrome and error rendering to a new framework.

• Added prevention for double clicking form submit buttons, to avoid creating duplicate records
• Improved the Twitter API to support extended mode, will now display videos and image galleries on posts
• Cyberhound proxy bypass now works in more cases, specifically on links on the links component which do not have the open in new window setting
• Removed groups from ePortfolio that the viewing user cannot access
• Added the students name to the leave request form when a student is submitting a request
• Synergetic: Added ESL and Court Order flags to student profile
• Synergetic: Added support for allowing parents to control parent directory visibility via community portal
• Synergetic: Switched from using vStudents to vStudentsAll to ensure LOA and Leaving students are included in Schoolbox views.

• New field user.hide_sidenav: for storing a user's side navigation state preference.
• New table pastoral_audience: for storing default visibility settings for pastoral records.

Although there haven't been too many changes to the ER diagram, here is an updated version for those who require it: 18.2 ER for Assessments.