2019 R2: Fitting big things into small packages
By on July 18, 2019
Qualtrax Software Update: 2019 R2
Fitting big things into small packages!
It’s here! Our second major software update of 2019 is here! We’re a little excited about this one, which covers two key features and some housekeeping measures. Buckle up!
You can read the full release notes here.
A Happy Homecoming for our User Group Importer Server Tool!
We’re really excited to announce this BIG upgrade to our platform. We’ve brought back our User Group Importer (UGI) Server Tool. If you’ve ever had to update multiple users or groups in your system, you’re gonna love this.
The tool now allows you to update multiple users and groups in your Qualtrax system. You still have the amazing functionality that UGI provides, allowing you to create users and groups in your system. Yep, you heard me. Rather than spending a good chunk of your day stuck in the tedium of updating one user or group after another, you can simply wave your magic UGI wand and, bing-bang-boom, you’re done in one fell swoop (or in batches, if you prefer)! You’re welcome. Now sit back with your coffee and extra time and get lost down your favorite YouTube rabbit hole until your coworkers figure out that this feature exists!
We threw in a few extra columns for User and Group ID, built in some field requirements and added support for SSO in addition to the existing Qualtrax and LDAP authentication. The tool is now better equipped to handle blank rows and provide more accurate error messaging to allow you to troubleshoot failed loads and imports.
We realize that nobody likes invalid data – especially auditors (“Just the facts, ma’am”). The updated UGI tool has a lot of validation running behind the scenes during the load and import sessions to prevent this troll from rearing its ugly head.
Sidebar: did you know a serving size of Oreos is three cookies? Personally, I’ve never stopped short of a full row, but the moral of that story is that too much of a good thing can give you a stomach ache. With this in mind, our team did remove some functionality in order to improve the overall usability of the tool. For example, creating groups as members or managers of other groups, aka “nesting,” is not currently supported in the tool and will need to be completed manually in the user interface after import.
If any of this is giving you a stomach ache, fear not! We’ve brought the whole process in house to make it easier on you. If you’d like to implement the updated UGI tool, just give our Customer Support Team a shout and we’ll send you the instructions and set up a time to run the tool for you.
Best-in-Class Workflow Addition: Risk Assessment
We’re all about adding value to your user experience whenever possible. I was told that getting each of you a larger drink and extra fries was “cost prohibitive” (I fought hard for you on that one – I really did!), so our team decided that a new, Best-in-Class workflow would be a more appropriate measure.
Seriously though, part of our goal is to keep a finger on the pulse of the industry and respond accordingly. It’s important to us to provide useful tools that can be integrated effectively into your system immediately to help simplify your compliance. The addition of a risk component to the latest version of ISO/IEC 17025 led us to develop a workflow to help you identify, monitor and catalog the aspects of your risk assessments for easy follow-up and reporting.
Like all of our Best-in-Class workflows, this one can be dropped into action straight out of the box or configured to the specific needs of your organization prior to deployment. Unlike those pesky fast-food joints, we’re not gonna nickel and dime you for a few extra slabs of greasy potato. The Risk Assessment workflow can be added to your workflow library for the low, low cost of FREE-ninety-nine. Just follow the instructions on the Best in Class Workflows page on the Qualtrax Support Portal. As usual, our team is here to answer any additional questions you may have.
User Interface Facelift
Even supermodels have blemishes under all that makeup!
Despite our best efforts, the new user interface we rolled out in our last release wasn’t perfect. In this release, we cleaned up a few of the bugs that have popped up. On the login page, we fixed a defect that caused the login page to appear uncentered for our hosted customers.
We also cleaned up a few areas relating to the context and action menus, including a defect that prevented context menu actions from appearing on manual and automatic transfer pages and a defect allowing the actions menu to overlap or be hidden by surrounding components. We also noticed some unintended changes when opening unpublished revisions, so we took care of that as well. Watch out, Victoria’s Secret Runway, here we come!
Finally, we fixed a defect that prevented headers from appearing in workflow instances. If you happen to find anything else that looks out of place or isn’t functioning like it should, please let us know!
We hope you enjoy the new additions to our product and, more importantly, that they help you ease the burden of compliance and quality management in your organization.
A Couple Extra Notes…
If you utilize our FDA Validation Workbook, please note that the workbook and other FDA materials will be available 30 days after each new, major release.
Don’t forget to activate the new Qualtrax look and feel! Activating the updated Navigation Wrapper, as well as the changes outlined in these Release Notes, requires turning on the feature from Administration > System Settings > Web Settings tab. Simply check the box “Activate New Qualtrax Look and Feel!” to opt-in to the new experience.
This feature set is currently controlled by a toggle switch to give administrators the ability to manage when the updated user interface is applied. Time is running out, however! This option will be removed in a future release and the new features will be applied to all hosted accounts. Don’t worry, we’ll let you know before that happens.
Before you flip the switch, make sure there are no users logged into your Qualtrax system. The change can cause navigational issues for users with active sessions and we don’t want anyone to get stuck in The Matrix (they’d just have to refresh their session to correct the issue).
That’s it from the team here at Qualtrax! Until next time, keep it compliant!
Please note that there may be some third-party hardware/software updates required to fully support your Qualtrax system. Click here to learn more.
