How Are Changes to the Platform Communicated?
- Luc Richard
Question
Dual Code is continuously improving the platform and regularly implementing new features with each release. This is great! As an (administrator, course creator, instructor, supervisor) who has been using the platform for a while, how do you communicate those changes to me?
Answer
Dual Code has minor releases every other month, and dot releases in between the minor releases. This not only ensures that security issues (if any are discovered) are addressed in a timely manner, but also allows us to apply bug fixes, improvements, and even new features as quickly as possible, thereby ensuring that are platform remains at the forefront of the industry.
We communicate these changes using one or more of the following methods.
Help Desk. If you raised an issue via our Help Desk, they will communicate with you until the ticket is resolved. This may include written communication and in some cases, video conferences.
Release Notes. Release notes, which explain what’s new in our product, are published for every single release. The latest copy of the release notes (and archives) are always available from our general documentation under a section titled “What’s New” (How Are Changes to the Platform Communicated? ). You can also find it in the footer of the learning environment itself (after you log in). Simply look for a hyperlinked labeled “Release Notes” at the bottom of each web page to access them.
User Tours. User tours, which present information to users in a modal window in the learning environment, are also created with each release. These are generally available from the front page (as soon as you log in) following an upgrade of your system. Generally speaking, user tours are only visible to System Administrators, but some tours may be made available to other roles depending on the nature of change. Tours may also appear on specific pages. For example, if a significant change is made to the course settings page, administrators and instructors may see a user tour the first time they view that page following an upgrade of their system. If users dismiss the user tour, they can always access it later by clicking on the question mark icon near the top right of the screen.
System Health Scan. New software sometimes lead to new best practices. When new practices are established, Dual Code may release a system health module that scans your entire system to see if those best practices are in place. If they are not, the module may notify you (or other individuals within your organization, like instructors for courses that do not follow the best practices for example) to inform them. Whenever possible, the system health module may have a report or tool to help you implement the best practice as easily as possible. This may include a “Fix It For Me” button for example that would allow you, with a single click, to make changes across all courses in your system so they adhere to the best practice being evaluated.
Workshops. Dual Code hosts workshops on a regular basis to help our clients better understand and implement our changes. For example, when migrating from the old configurable reports to the new custom report builder, Dual Code held a workshop to help clients better understand how the new report builder works and migrate their legacy reports. Once a workshop is complete, a recording is usually posted on our Training Centre.
Training & Certification. Dual Code offers training & certification on its products and services. Above and beyond the Essentials courses, which are the courses required for users to get certified on our platform, you’ll find in our Training Centre webinars, workshops, videos and other helpful resources.
User Guides. Our documentation contains numerous user guides organized by role (e.g. System Administrators, Instructors, Learners). These guides are always updated with the latest changes in our product. Make sure you visit our online guides on a regular basis. Given the frequency of our updates, we recommend that you do not print the guides to PDF or to paper. This would prevent you from viewing the latest versions.
Knowledge Base. To learn more about best practices, tips, or even help you troubleshoot specific issues, search our Knowledge Base. There are dozens of step-by-step articles that cover a broad range of topics. Our knowledge base tends to expand on the articles in our user guides, and it is there that you would find articles on more advanced topics.