15th of September 2024 – Ans

This article contains this release's feature updates, user interface changes and bug fixes.

Release date	Environment
30th of August	Stage (stage.ans.app)
15th of September	Production (ans.app) Education (edu.ans.app)

Important changes

Renamed 'items' to 'limit' in the API

To improve clarity, the 'items' query parameter has already been renamed to 'limit' to better align with its intended function. The 'items' parameter will remain functional until January 5th, 2025. We strongly encourage API users to update their code to use the new 'limit' parameter before this date to ensure a smooth transition.

Additionally, we've removed the previous restriction that only allowed values of 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100. Now, any value between 1 and 100 can be specified.

The overview of all important changes can be found here.

Changes to the platform

Marks can now be automatically synced with your Learning Management System (LMS)

Sync marks with LMS toggle_Story #57270.png

We have added a new ‘Sync marks with LMS’ toggle in the results overview for LTI-integrated assignments. When turned on, marks automatically sync with the LMS whenever they are calculated or updated. This saves time and keeps marks up to date. The toggle can be switched on or off as needed. This update replaces the old ‘Send marks to LMS’ button, making it more convenient to use marks in the LMS.

Grading scheme errors are now shown in a tooltip when hovering over the status chip

Grading scheme errors chip_Story #56967.png

It is now possible to see specific grading errors for each question by hovering over the status chip. This update adds a tooltip that displays detailed errors for individual questions, providing clear instructions on what needs correction, making it easier to resolve issues directly from the interface.

View the assignment attachments during reviewing

View the assignment attachments during reviewing.png

During review, you can now view the assignment attachments just as the students saw them during the digital test, allowing you to review their work from the same perspective.

Improved account status indicators

Account status indicators_Story #57605.png We have added new visual indicators to make account statuses clearer and the interface easier to use:

Blocked account (formerly inactive): The option to deactivate an account is now called 'Block Account.' When an account is blocked, the user can no longer log in, and clear visual cues will show that the account is blocked.
Invited: Users who are invited now display a label with the invitation date, visible through a tooltip. This label disappears once the user starts using their account.
Alumni: Alumni students now have a dedicated chip, making their status easy to identify.

These indicators are visible in overviews for employees, students, question bank contributors, course members, and class members, as well as on user profiles.

Update permissions for account creations

As previously announced, only administrators can now create and manage accounts. Staff and department administrators will still be able to view students within their specific courses, but they will no longer be able to create or edit accounts. This change is designed to give administrators better control over account management.

Simplified user access for department administrators and staff

Department administrators and staff will now only have visibility of students they are permitted to interact with. Staff will no longer have access to the employee overview, as they are not permitted to interact with other employees. This update ensures that the information displayed aligns with each user's role and permissions, minimising confusion.

Removed bulk actions for removing, activating, and deactivating accounts

The bulk actions for removing accounts and changing their status to active or inactive from the employee and student overviews have been removed. These dangerous actions can now only be performed on an individual user's overview page, ensuring safer and more precise account management.

Other bulk actions, such as marking students as alumni and merging accounts, have been moved to the newly redesigned table actions. The search bar and buttons have also been updated to the latest design.

Additionally, the actions previously labeled as "Activate/Inactivate account" have been renamed to "Block/Unblock account" to more accurately reflect their function.

Removed "Too Many Wrong Attempts" option for Two Factor Authentication

The option to reset the "Too many wrong attempts" setting from the user settings page has been removed due to its redundancy and lack of clarity. Disabling two-factor authentication (TFA) is sufficient for users to regain access and set it up again. Additionally, the description for disabling TFA has been updated to clearly indicate that it can be used when users are locked out due to too many incorrect attempts.

Added inline editing of extra time in student overview

You can now change a student’s right to extra time directly inline from the student overview. This update makes it quicker and easier to adjust extra time on a per-student basis.

This new functionality replaces the previous option to edit extra time for multiple students simultaneously. Moving forward, changes to extra time will need to be made individually from each student’s overview.

Removed the option to revoke pending invitations

The option to revoke invitations has been removed to prevent any confusion that could occur from revoked invitations becoming non-functional.

Improved the way users are added to a course or question bank

The menu to select a role when adding users to a course or question bank has been replaced with a split button. This makes it easier to directly assign a specific role, reducing the chance of mistakes and ensuring roles are correctly assigned.

Simplified the way of linking a specific Canon Exam case in written assignments

Canon Exam case dialog_Story #54487.png

With the new search bar, finding a specific Canon Exam case in your written assignments is now much easier when using the Canon integration (V2). Exam cases are now organised alphabetically, allowing for quick and efficient location and linking of the correct case, even in lengthy lists. This enhancement streamlines the workflow for linking assignments to Canon Exam cases.

Removed the option to create a course or link a class to a course from the class page

The option to create a new course or link a class to a course directly from the class page has been removed. From now on, classes will need to be directly added within the course itself. This change simplifies the interface and makes the process more straightforward.

Added inline editing of 'Right to extra time' and 'Right to skip questions' in the course learner overview

Extra time + Skip inline editing_Story #58153.gif

The ability to change a student’s right to extra time and skip questions can now be done directly within the course learner overview. This update makes it quicker and easier to adjust extra time on a per-student basis. This new functionality replaces the previous option to edit extra time for multiple students simultaneously. Moving forward, changes to extra time and skip questions will need to be made individually from the learners overview.

Removed option to send invitations from course and class overviews

To simplify the interface and improve clarity in account management, the option to send invitations to members directly from the course or class overviews has been removed. Going forward, administrators should send invitations from the user settings page.

Easier way to change user roles in the course staff overview

Staff role inline editing_Story #58156.gif

You can now easily change a user's role directly from the course staff overview, replacing the old bulk edit option with a more straightforward method.

Additionally, a new role filter makes it easier to find staff members based on their role, making it easier to locate users with a specific role.

Simplified the course students overview

The option to remove learners is now in the table actions menu, updated for a more simplified interface. The search bar and buttons have also been refreshed. A student’s class now appears as a chip next to their name, consolidating information by removing the separate columns for classes and groups.

Groups now display their last updated timestamp

Groups overview last updated stamp_Story #56914.png

You can now easily see when groups were last updated. A 'Last updated' timestamp appears on the left side of the groups overview, and a new column in the groups overview shows the most recent changes, making it easy to sort and find updated groups.

Group profile last updated stamp_Story #56914.png

With this change, we also updated the interface to use our redesigned buttons, search, and table toolbar.

Improved the class import

The class import now prevents accidental creation or overwriting of student data. Students can only be added if they already exist in the school. To ensure the import only creates classes with existing students, the options to send invitations and overwrite data have been removed.

Additionally, the logs have been enhanced to make it easier to identify missing students during the import.

Removed the Single Sign-On (SSO) setting "Don't activate employee accounts at creation"

The option to keep new employee accounts inactive upon creation has been removed. Now, all new accounts will be active immediately upon creation. For schools that want to prevent unapproved SSO accounts, the “Prevent SSO from creating accounts” option is still available. This change simplifies the account activation process, ensuring new employees have immediate access while still allowing control over account creation when necessary.

Improved accessibility in Help Center

To enhance accessibility and comply with WCAG guidelines, all hyperlinks in our Help Center are now underlined. This change makes it easier to identify and interact with links.

Open beta changes

Review approvals are now automatically marked as outdated after changes to the total points of a result

Review approvals .png

With the 'Reviews' feature, adjusting the total points of a result will now automatically mark any existing review approval as outdated. This means that these outdated reviews will no longer appear in the list, and the log will reflect that they have been marked as such. This change specifically impacts approvals within Ans and does not extend to approvals from the Proctor Exam integration.

Deprecation of the "Grading events" feature

As announced previously, the beta feature "Grading events" has been removed as the grading events are already logged in the result log.

API changes

Updated our API rate limit policy for schools

We have updated our API rate limit policy for schools. Previously, the limit could be bypassed by using different IP addresses. Now, the limit applies to the entire school, regardless of the number of devices or IP addresses in use.

This means that if multiple devices at your school are making a high volume of API requests, they will share a single overall limit. If the combined requests exceed this limit, further requests will be restricted, even if an individual device hasn't reached its own limit.

Please ensure your school’s API usage stays within the limits set in your school plan.

Bug fixes

Fixed an issue with grading scheme status chip for the question type 'Open question with final answer'
Previously, when creating an 'Open question with a final answer,' the grading status chip incorrectly indicated that a grading scheme had been added, even if it hadn't. Now, the status chip accurately reflects whether a grading scheme is present.
Updated the Safe Exam Browser download link to the latest Windows version
The download link for the Safe Exam Browser on Windows has been updated to the latest version 3.7.1, ensuring that students can easily download the most up-to-date version.
Fixed an issue where the total results counter would decrease after reviewing a question
Previously, when applying the “Ungraded questions” filter, the total results counter would decrease as each question was reviewed (e.g., from 24 to 23). Now, the counter consistently reflects the total number of results.
Renamed 'Participants' to 'Results' under the 'Marks' section within assignment insights
Previously, in the 'Marks' section of the assignment insights, the mouseover label displaying submitted results was titled 'Participants', which did not accurately describe the data. To prevent confusion, this label has been renamed to 'Results'.
Removed the redundant mark calculation option in the publication settings
Previously, the option to publish a mark was still visible in the publication settings even when the mark calculation was set to “None” and no marks existed. This option has now been removed.
Fixed an issue where student information would not remain fixed when scrolling through the exercises overview
Previously, when scrolling horizontally in the exercises tab at the results overview, the name (and student number) would also scroll. Now, the name (and student number) will remain on the scroll when scrolling through the exercises overview.
Fixed an issue where enrolment verification led to a "page not found" error
Previously, trying to validate enrolments caused a ‘Page does not exist’ error. Now, you will validate each enrolment one by one. After you’ve gone through all of them, you’ll be redirected back to the enrolments page.
Fixed an issue where non-breaking space characters were not correctly parsed in translations
Previously, some translations in languages other than Dutch and English displayed incorrectly parsed space characters. This issue has now been resolved, and the characters are displayed correctly.
Fixed an issue where gaps in fill-in questions were incorrectly placed on a new line
Previously, when gaps were wrapped in a paragraph tag in HTML format, the gap fields would always appear on a new line within fill-in questions. This behaviour has now been fixed, ensuring that gaps remain in line as intended when wrapped in paragraph tags.
Fixed an issue where instructors were emailed about results from unassigned groups
Previously, instructors received emails about new results from groups they weren't assigned to. Now, they are only notified about results they can review.
Fixed an issue where the typing area of the search bar did not extend to fill the entire input field
Previously, the initial size of the search bar was clickable, even though the bar visually expanded when focused. Now, the clickable area of the search bar matches its visual size.

Version	Date	Information
v1.0	30-08-2024	Initial version