Revision as of 13:13, 11 November 2013

General Information

Bi-Monthly Upgrades

Upgrades are released on a bi-monthly basis.

The benefits of this approach are as follows:

• The upgrades will be performed in smaller batches.
• New features will come on-stream faster, as we can fast track key enhancements into early updates.

A list of planned upgrade dates is available here: Future Upgrades.

We regularly update the list of upgrade features and schedule for both the backup and production servers on this Wiki page.

This page will provide a general overview of each upgrade, with links to the Wiki articles describing the new or updated features and how to use them. You can also subscribe to the Technical Journal that is sent out prior to each upgrade on the Newsletter Signup Page. (Unsubscribe here).

System Upgrade Process

The objective of the System Upgrade Process is to ensure that customers have a chance to review, without compromising the integrity of their production system, how their applications and information will work following the upgrade. In order to take advantage of this you will need to know how to access your backup instance of SmartSimple. If you need assistance with this either refer to the Backup Server and Testing Instances Wiki article, or contact the SmartSimple support desk.

For clients on a Dedicated Server, please review the SmartSimple Upgrade Process – Dedicated Server page.

Backup Server Update

• Each backup server will be updated to the "release candidate" prior to the upgrade date.
• This update will provide for instance specific testing of release candidate, as you can log into your respective backup server and test the changes against your most current data and configuration.
• Internal staff will also be using these servers to perform instance specific testing.

Update Go/No-Go

• Subject to satisfactory testing on both the pre-production server and the production backup servers, the go/no go decision will be made on Wednesday at 12:00pm.

Current Upgrade Package: October 2013

Watch this video to get a general overview of the new features in our October 2013 upgrade.

To watch these videos full screen, click on the YouTube link

The following server will be upgraded on Tuesday, October 29th 2013 at 10pm EST.

• smartsimple3.biz

The following servers will be upgraded on Thursday, October 31st, 2013 at 10pm EST.

• smartsimple.com
• smartsimple2.biz
• smartsimple4.biz
• smartsimple.ca
• smartsimple.us
• smartsimple.biz
• smartsimple.ie (after 10pm Local Time)
• smartsimple.co.za (after 10pm Local Time)
• factorial.ca
• frontdeskinc.net

Important: The upgrade will be applied to your backup server one week prior to the scheduled upgrade date for your production server.
You are encouraged to log into your backup server during this period to test the changes against your most recent data and configuration. 

If your organization has a dedicated SmartSimple server or you host in-house, SmartSimple will be in contact with your system administrator to schedule the upgrade of your server after October 31st.

Global System Upgrades

The new features listed below are enhancements to the SmartSimple system and will be immediately available to SmartSimple users upon the application of the October 2013 upgrade to your server:

Configuration Error Log

• System Administrators now have a new tool to troubleshoot errors generated by the system when troubleshooting configuration changes. The Configuration Error Log, available from the Business & System Configuration section of the Global Settings page, maintains a log of server-side errors.

New Calendar Format

• The style of the SmartSimple Calendar has been updated and enhanced, allowing new functionality such as the ability to click-and-drag to move events.
• The option to revert back to the classic Calendar style is available by enabling the "Use Classic Calendar" setting on the Global Settings page.

Google Map / StreetView

• On a company or contact profile, users can directly open a Google Maps/Street View of the company's or contact's street address.

Recent-Viewed Objects List Now Enabled by Default

• The Recently Viewed panel, a right-hand panel containing a hyperlinked list of the most recently-viewed records, was introduced in the last month's upgrade. With this upgrade, this feature has been updated to be auto-enabled for all roles.
• For roles which should not have access to the Recently Viewed panel, this feature can be disabled using Manager Permissions.

New Permission Settings

• Restriction settings have been introduced for the Quick Messaging feature which can be set by role in the Email & Email Broadcast Security settings page.
• Permission Settings have been introduced for access to the Discussions feature which can be set by role in the Manager Permissions settings page.

Remember Me Deprecated

• For security reasons the "Remember Me" setting on the login page has been deprecated and removed.

On-Demand System Upgrades

The following features are also available immediately with the application of the upgrade, but must first be enabled or configured by a System Administrator:

Creating Multiple PDFs with a Single Workflow Task

• The Workflow task to create a PDF file from a Web Page View field has been enhanced to allow System Administrators to configure the task to create multiple PDF files from multiple Web Page View fields. See the Creating Multiple PDFs with a Single Workflow Task page for instructions.

Improvements to Arcadia List Views

• In SmartSimple's next-generation Arcadia interface, the column widths of list views can be defined.
• List view headings can also be made static, or in other words always be visible at the top of the page when scrolling through a long list of records on a list view.

Sending Emails from Level 2 Records

• System Administrators can now configure s to allow end users to send emails directly from a Level 2 record. See this page for instructions.

Update Company Categories with Workflow Tasks

• A new Workflow Task Type can been created named Update Company Category which can automate the action of adding or removing a Organization Category from an organization profile.

Previous Upgrades

See the Previous Upgrades page for a list of previously-implemented upgrade features.

Future Upgrades

Click here for a listing of future upgrade dates.