Core & general features: The Year in Review 2019
Derek Nichols
Blackbaud Employee
Our northern offices have already waded through their first snowstorms of the season and donned their winter caps. Meanwhile, holiday revelers in our southern offices have been pretending its cold enough to don Santa caps and ugly sweaters (despite stubborn trees which still have green leaves).
But, this blog title promised “recaps,” not fashion caps; so I'll move ahead.
Sign In, Sign On, Single Sign ON (SSO), Authentication, Legacy Login, Inbox, Single Sign Out, Domain Settings, and Blackbaud ID
The first half of the year included many updates related to enabling users to authenticate with Blackbaud ID and streamlining related “IN” and “OUT” workflows.
For a summary of the important updates on this theme, I highly recommend this K-12 Tips and Tricks blog post which covers information through Sept 18, 2019. Even if you don’t use Blackbaud ID yet, the blog post includes information about new functional areas (Admin console, Domain settings) that platform managers should understand and use.
In related news, Blackbaud ID for SSO replaced LDAP and Google Apps SSO in August (when those were “sunset.”)
As of October, platform managers can also use Domain settings to put a customized link with a redirect URL on the school’s primary login screen. Use this if your school has parents or younger students in your Active Directory for the purpose of Single Sign On who don’t know their email or who don’t have an email on the organization’s domain.
Since November, platform managers can also customize the text that appears on the login screen. By default, the login page invites users to login with a username or email address. For users who authenticate with Blackbaud ID, their username is their email address. Users who don’t authenticate with Blackbaud ID login with their assigned (“legacy”) username. You can edit this text, such as to only refer to usernames or to only refer to email addresses. From Core, select Security, Authentication settings, Authentication rules, enter text to use as the username label, and then Save your changes.
Core and Academic User Profiles
As of January, both versions of user profiles now include the Groups tab, which includes information about all groups for a user (community, dorms, athletics, activities, academics/enrollment, etc.). If you’ve had any employee turnover this year, use this list of community groups to access each group’s page, notify the group leaders, and remove the employee from groups when appropriate. Remember, past employees are not automatically removed from community groups when you withdraw the user from a current employee role.
In February, we also made it easier to manage a user’s Files & forms from Core, and ensured that Core user profiles appeared whenever platform managers use Handle profile changes to review recent updates. Since summer, if a user’s profile included attachments and links from legacy functions, those items appear in an Attachments tile that appears on the Contact card of the user’s Core profile. However, if you want to keep this legacy content permanently, we recommend you follow the instructions in the online help to migrate the legacy info so that it appears in the user’s Files & forms instead.
March included enhancements for
Contact Card Manager Role
In April, we introduced a new security role called Contact card manager. They manage personal data common to any user (including contact information, demographics, relationships, emergency contacts, business, and education information). (Read the original K-12 Tips and Tricks blog post about it!)
It’s for users who are responsible for keeping user data up to date (use the People finder, use the Core user profile’s Contact card, use Handle profile changes) but who don’t need the more powerful platform manager role.
It’s also useful for schools to grant API access to any of our third party partners who rely on accessing or updating Contact card data. It ensures that the API access is limited strictly to the data they need.
Password Manager Role
In March, we introduced a new security role called Password manager. They have access to the People finder in Core and the Manage logins task is automatically enabled for all users with this role. This enables password managers to use the People finder to open a user's profile and view the basic information in the header at the top of the user’s record, the user’s Personas, and the user’s Product roles. It also enables password managers to view and manage all of the user’s Log In Information (on the Access tab of the user’s profile).
However, to Edit Host ID, you must also have the User profile role enabled.
Profile Publish and Privacy Settings
In October, we enhanced settings (and the related help documentation) to better enable schools and individuals to maintain data privacy. The logic and functionality of which data is visible about a user has not changed. Instead, we reconfigured the layout of the Privacy settings tab to improve clarity and to platform managers more control.
Now, when a user manages their own privacy settings (User account profile > Settings) or when a platform manager does this on a user’s behalf (People finder > Core user profile > Settings), privacy settings are divided into two categories.
Throughout the year, we continued to expand the functionality for data imports. Not only can you add more information in bulk, you can remove more too. If a user in your database already has a value for a field, and the user is also in your import job, you can enter an upward ^ symbol (also known as a caret, hat, control, up, chevron, or wedge) as a value. This symbol instructs the import to delete the corresponding data from the database. If a user in your database already has a value for a field, and the user is also in your import job, but the import does not include a value for that same field, then the data import will use the existing data from the database. For details, review the online help documentation.
Ex-Spouse/Partner Relationships
Since summer, schools can enable and use the “ex-spouse/partner” relationship type. Use this relationship type if you prefer gender neutral relationship types, or if your school’s data include former couples whose genders are unknown, other, same-sex.
Lists
In February, we made it easier for managers to quickly access the User list. Find it from the People Finder in Core. Additionally, the Home dashboard in Core was enhanced to enable managers to search by Roles and Grad year, and so that the search results take you directly to the User list.
Throughout the year, we continued to expand the functionally of lists throughout Education Management. The updates included additionally columns and filters for many lists, including for User list, Students list, Faculty list, and more.
OneRoster and Canvas (LMS) integration (with OAuth)
OneRoster is a standard set of REST APIs which enable schools to securely and reliably exchange information about rosters, course materials, and grades between multiple web services. It reduces the need to manually transfer data between systems and reduces the need to customize the format of import files for each web service. It enables schools to plug into third party tools that require roster data (such as a learning management system or LMS, including Canvas). In OneRoster terms, Blackbaud Student Information System is the "provider" and we support the "consumer driven events" (through a "pull model").
Rostering integration is Generally Available (GA). However, Assignments & Grades are currently in Limited Availability (LA) phase. For more information, review the online documentation in the help panel.
Thank you to all of the schools who participated in the Early Adopter Program (EAP) and who are currently participating in the LA phase for this functionality.
School SKY API versus “ON” API & SDK
As of 2019, we recommend new development use SKY API instead of the legacy “ON” API.
Many endpoints currently available in the legacy "ON" API were added to SKY API to achieve parity between the two APIs this past year.
The “ON” API will be replaced by SKY API. We do not recommend using the legacy “ON” API for building new projects. We haven’t yet determined a specific date for when those legacy offerings will reach “end of life.” We continue to support our legacy offerings. Although “ON” API will be replaced by SKY API, we don’t currently have any plans eliminate the ODBC SQL View access. Thus, ODBC SQL View access remains valuable for the SDK and related costs.
For information about these APIs, review the online help.
December 2019 & and into 2020
As a technical writer, I don’t make promises about future releases and product roadmaps. (You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for roadmap webinars from product managers instead!)
I can say that we have a lot going in our RDO (Research, Delivery, Operations) department for Core and general features, even though we didn’t publish anything official in the December 2019 monthly release letter.
Generally speaking, we’ve been deep “under the hood” working on updates for:
We look forward to sharing more enhancements from our Core team in 2020. Until then, we hope you had a great 2019 and enjoy the holidays remaining this year.
And that is going to wrap up out blog posts for 2019. Fear not, School website users, we have not forgotten about you! If you want to know what 2019 introduced, we'll be doing their year in review in January once the holiday season is over. I'll also have some big news on our recent Contract features and changes for the Enrollment management product.
Happy holidays and we'll see you next year!
But, this blog title promised “recaps,” not fashion caps; so I'll move ahead.
Sign In, Sign On, Single Sign ON (SSO), Authentication, Legacy Login, Inbox, Single Sign Out, Domain Settings, and Blackbaud ID
The first half of the year included many updates related to enabling users to authenticate with Blackbaud ID and streamlining related “IN” and “OUT” workflows.
For a summary of the important updates on this theme, I highly recommend this K-12 Tips and Tricks blog post which covers information through Sept 18, 2019. Even if you don’t use Blackbaud ID yet, the blog post includes information about new functional areas (Admin console, Domain settings) that platform managers should understand and use.
In related news, Blackbaud ID for SSO replaced LDAP and Google Apps SSO in August (when those were “sunset.”)
As of October, platform managers can also use Domain settings to put a customized link with a redirect URL on the school’s primary login screen. Use this if your school has parents or younger students in your Active Directory for the purpose of Single Sign On who don’t know their email or who don’t have an email on the organization’s domain.
Since November, platform managers can also customize the text that appears on the login screen. By default, the login page invites users to login with a username or email address. For users who authenticate with Blackbaud ID, their username is their email address. Users who don’t authenticate with Blackbaud ID login with their assigned (“legacy”) username. You can edit this text, such as to only refer to usernames or to only refer to email addresses. From Core, select Security, Authentication settings, Authentication rules, enter text to use as the username label, and then Save your changes.
Core and Academic User Profiles
As of January, both versions of user profiles now include the Groups tab, which includes information about all groups for a user (community, dorms, athletics, activities, academics/enrollment, etc.). If you’ve had any employee turnover this year, use this list of community groups to access each group’s page, notify the group leaders, and remove the employee from groups when appropriate. Remember, past employees are not automatically removed from community groups when you withdraw the user from a current employee role.
In February, we also made it easier to manage a user’s Files & forms from Core, and ensured that Core user profiles appeared whenever platform managers use Handle profile changes to review recent updates. Since summer, if a user’s profile included attachments and links from legacy functions, those items appear in an Attachments tile that appears on the Contact card of the user’s Core profile. However, if you want to keep this legacy content permanently, we recommend you follow the instructions in the online help to migrate the legacy info so that it appears in the user’s Files & forms instead.
March included enhancements for
- managing Emergency contacts information from user profiles on the Contact card.
- editing personal and public biographies from user profiles on the Contact card. (However, to edit specific biographies for Affinity content types, you’ll still go to Core, Content, Additional content types, Affinity, select the affinity group--such as "Meet the staff"--find the user in the list of members for the group and select to edit the user's Biography. These biographies appear anywhere the group is used as a content type.)
- editing existing enrollments to add a transfer or sending school.
- preventing duplicate user relationships
Contact Card Manager Role
In April, we introduced a new security role called Contact card manager. They manage personal data common to any user (including contact information, demographics, relationships, emergency contacts, business, and education information). (Read the original K-12 Tips and Tricks blog post about it!)
It’s for users who are responsible for keeping user data up to date (use the People finder, use the Core user profile’s Contact card, use Handle profile changes) but who don’t need the more powerful platform manager role.
It’s also useful for schools to grant API access to any of our third party partners who rely on accessing or updating Contact card data. It ensures that the API access is limited strictly to the data they need.
Password Manager Role
In March, we introduced a new security role called Password manager. They have access to the People finder in Core and the Manage logins task is automatically enabled for all users with this role. This enables password managers to use the People finder to open a user's profile and view the basic information in the header at the top of the user’s record, the user’s Personas, and the user’s Product roles. It also enables password managers to view and manage all of the user’s Log In Information (on the Access tab of the user’s profile).
However, to Edit Host ID, you must also have the User profile role enabled.
Profile Publish and Privacy Settings
In October, we enhanced settings (and the related help documentation) to better enable schools and individuals to maintain data privacy. The logic and functionality of which data is visible about a user has not changed. Instead, we reconfigured the layout of the Privacy settings tab to improve clarity and to platform managers more control.
Now, when a user manages their own privacy settings (User account profile > Settings) or when a platform manager does this on a user’s behalf (People finder > Core user profile > Settings), privacy settings are divided into two categories.
- General settings – Use these to determine which information users with various roles should see about you (or on the user’s behalf). For example, you may want to enable certain staff to see more information than students.
- Directory settings – Use these to determine which information should appear in school directories. You may want to limit information in directories more than you limit the general settings.
Throughout the year, we continued to expand the functionality for data imports. Not only can you add more information in bulk, you can remove more too. If a user in your database already has a value for a field, and the user is also in your import job, you can enter an upward ^ symbol (also known as a caret, hat, control, up, chevron, or wedge) as a value. This symbol instructs the import to delete the corresponding data from the database. If a user in your database already has a value for a field, and the user is also in your import job, but the import does not include a value for that same field, then the data import will use the existing data from the database. For details, review the online help documentation.
Ex-Spouse/Partner Relationships
Since summer, schools can enable and use the “ex-spouse/partner” relationship type. Use this relationship type if you prefer gender neutral relationship types, or if your school’s data include former couples whose genders are unknown, other, same-sex.
Lists
In February, we made it easier for managers to quickly access the User list. Find it from the People Finder in Core. Additionally, the Home dashboard in Core was enhanced to enable managers to search by Roles and Grad year, and so that the search results take you directly to the User list.
Throughout the year, we continued to expand the functionally of lists throughout Education Management. The updates included additionally columns and filters for many lists, including for User list, Students list, Faculty list, and more.
OneRoster and Canvas (LMS) integration (with OAuth)
OneRoster is a standard set of REST APIs which enable schools to securely and reliably exchange information about rosters, course materials, and grades between multiple web services. It reduces the need to manually transfer data between systems and reduces the need to customize the format of import files for each web service. It enables schools to plug into third party tools that require roster data (such as a learning management system or LMS, including Canvas). In OneRoster terms, Blackbaud Student Information System is the "provider" and we support the "consumer driven events" (through a "pull model").
Rostering integration is Generally Available (GA). However, Assignments & Grades are currently in Limited Availability (LA) phase. For more information, review the online documentation in the help panel.
Thank you to all of the schools who participated in the Early Adopter Program (EAP) and who are currently participating in the LA phase for this functionality.
School SKY API versus “ON” API & SDK
As of 2019, we recommend new development use SKY API instead of the legacy “ON” API.
Many endpoints currently available in the legacy "ON" API were added to SKY API to achieve parity between the two APIs this past year.
The “ON” API will be replaced by SKY API. We do not recommend using the legacy “ON” API for building new projects. We haven’t yet determined a specific date for when those legacy offerings will reach “end of life.” We continue to support our legacy offerings. Although “ON” API will be replaced by SKY API, we don’t currently have any plans eliminate the ODBC SQL View access. Thus, ODBC SQL View access remains valuable for the SDK and related costs.
For information about these APIs, review the online help.
December 2019 & and into 2020
As a technical writer, I don’t make promises about future releases and product roadmaps. (You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for roadmap webinars from product managers instead!)
I can say that we have a lot going in our RDO (Research, Delivery, Operations) department for Core and general features, even though we didn’t publish anything official in the December 2019 monthly release letter.
Generally speaking, we’ve been deep “under the hood” working on updates for:
- Sky Reporting
- Sky API
- Security, Permissions, and the Admin Console
- and more.
We look forward to sharing more enhancements from our Core team in 2020. Until then, we hope you had a great 2019 and enjoy the holidays remaining this year.
And that is going to wrap up out blog posts for 2019. Fear not, School website users, we have not forgotten about you! If you want to know what 2019 introduced, we'll be doing their year in review in January once the holiday season is over. I'll also have some big news on our recent Contract features and changes for the Enrollment management product.
Happy holidays and we'll see you next year!
3
Comments
-
Hey Derek - great post - looking forward to hearing your 'big news' as regards your recent Contract features and changes for Enrollment management. We plan to release our re-enrollment contracts on Jan 23. Any chance you know when you'll be releasing your news?0
-
Hey Kathy Steinman thank you! So the schedule is never set in stone and it is subject to change BUT I'm currently aiming to have the Enrollment management content up early in the day on Jan 21.0
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