New features in evasys V8.1
With version 8.1 evasys has been expanded to include some new functions that support and simplify your work with the software on various levels. In addition to numerous innovations in the areas of reporting, online surveys and interfaces, we have also improved and refactored the software core to ensure a stable and secure basis. All other new features and adjustments are presented here.
New features in evasys V8.1
- Simplifications in the login process:
- Functional extensions in the reporting:
- Modern online view and new default template:
- Functional extensions for the Data Bridge:
- Data privacy in evasys logfiles
- QuickWins
- Online Help
Single Sign-on
In many organizations, access authorizations to online services and web applications are increasingly regulated by a single sign-on. With version 8.1 this will also be possible with evasys.
With single sign-on the user‘s login data is no longer authenticated directly by evasys. The authentication is done by the single sign-on solution in your own organization. It verifies the identity of the users and returns the information to evasys after successful verification.
Evasys supports all common single sign-on procedures based on the SAML 2.0 format, e.g. Shibboleth.
Account selection upon log-in
If users in evasys have several accounts (e.g. subunit administrator, instructor and report creator), it will be possible to link these accounts. After log-in, users can decide in which role they want to act in evasys via a selection mask.
This function can be combined with the single sign-on procedure or used without external authentication.
Login with external ID
In evasys the external ID of the user can be used instead of the login name to log into the system.
Login with the external ID can be combined with Single Sign-on.
Automatic comparison lines
Automatically generated comparison lines, which can be defined in the details of a questionnaire, allow for an uncomplicated reporting on different levels.
For each questionnaire, criteria can be defined with which the respective survey results can be compared without additional effort. It is not necessary to generate corresponding comparison reports in the report creator beforehand – the required comparison data – if available – is automatically compiled from the database and displayed as profile lines in the PDF report.
Up to 5 criteria can be defined per questionnaire and these can be combined with the already known comparison lines from previous periods. Thus, up to 11 comparison lines can be automatically included in a PDF report.
HTML Report – Dispatch
In evasys version 8.0 2202 Service Pack 2 the HTML report was fundamentally revised and modernized. Now, in version 8.1, you cannot only view the reports as an administrator, but also send it to instructors by email.
The new placeholder can be used in the relevant text templates, which allows for batch mailing of survey results including a link to the HTML report. The report access can be password-protected, if required. The PDF report will of course still be attached to the email.
Percentile ranking
Version 8.1 introduces an additional form of norming: the percentile ranking. In contrast to the already integrated norming, it is not based on standard values but on percentile ranks.
With the percentile ranking the results of the indicators of all courses of a comparison group are divided into 100 ranks according to a given procedure. A higher percentile rank is always better. The percentile rank 100 means that one‘s own course was better than all others. A percentile rank of 50 means that half of the courses were rated better, the other half worse.
PDF report elements
With version 8.0, the new PDF report editor was introduced, which allows the individual elements of the PDF report to be arranged and settings to be made flexibly. A further flexibilization, which provides for the replacement of existing report elements by programmed elements, was already prepared at that time.
Starting with version 8.1, the report management is now extended by an import function for report elements. These can replace existing report components (e.g. replacing the previous bar chart for scaled questions with another representation) or add new report components including calculations (such as the „Net Promoter Score“ in the form of an adapted legend, an adapted histogram and an additionally calculated value).
Online view in VividForms Editor
The online view in the VividForms Editor has been completely redesigned. Like the paper view, it now also supports drag & drop and thus allows a very simple and comfortable arrangement and repositioning of questions and design elements on the questionnaire. All questions on the sheet are displayed one below the other on one page, making it easy to edit even large sheets.
For the new online view, the VividForms Editor has been fundamentally revised. The new display is now activated as the default view in the system.
New Default Template
With version 8.1 the “Design Template” becomes the default template for online surveys in evasys.
It covers all functions that were previously included in the evasys default template and the extended templates. With version 8.1 it is also accessible according to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Online templates – new features
The standard online template and the Design Template integrated in evasys will include all the functions of the „Extended Online Template“ available up to now:
- Arrangement of dual scale questions either side by side or one below the other
- Calculation of the progress bar based on questions or groups
- Exclusive answer options for multiple choice questions
- Recording of the time required by participants to complete the questionnaire
- Option „Other“ as a supplementary field for single-choice and multiple-choice questions
- Filtering of question texts that should not be displayed in online surveys
Webservices with the Data Bridge
With version 8.1, the Data Bridge supports web services and thus provides additional methods for data transfer via the API.
Data Bridge Import protocol
In the „System Information“ menu, an „Import Log“ can accessed via a new menu. The log provides an overview of important information on the status of the import processes for Data Bridge and XML imports.
It allows you to check at a glance whether an import process was successful or whether errors occurred during the import. Additional information on the error can be accessed in a detailed view.
Data privacy in evasys logfiles
In the configuration in the section „Data Privacy“ two settings have been added which allow to delete the contents of the protocols available in evasys if they are older than a time period to be defined by the user. In this way the logbook and the deliveries as well as the deletion log can be cleaned from old data.
QuickWins
For existing evasys functions, there will be the following three improvements in evasys starting with version 8.1:
- Questionnaire comparison: When comparing questionnaires manually in the report creator, the question number will be displayed in the future, so that it can be assigned more easily.
- Ranking question: The diagram of the ranking question in the PDF report has been adjusted so that the highest rated answer is displayed in the bar chart at the top. All other answers are displayed in descending order.
- Subunit administrators: In the future, the subunit administrators can be deprived of the right to create their own questions or import them into the question library. Then questionnaires may only be created based on the library questions specified by the administrator.
Online Help
The online help will no longer be installed during the setup locally, rather on an external server that is managed centrally. Any textual changes in the online help will be applied directly.
If access to the server is not possible, the online help can still be installed locally.
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