Release 27.07.2016

Release Timing

This release will commence on 26th of July 2016 from 9pm (AEST). You may experience downtime for up to 5 hours. Whilst this downtime is minimal, we recommend that wherever possible, any large or critical system tasks be completed before close of business on the day of a deployment or commenced the day after. If you have any further queries, please contact your Support Team on 1800 642 638.

Summary

If you’re short for time, here’s a brief summary of what you need to know about this release. The following pages give you further details of each item, and more.

Overall Navigation

 Your organisation can switch to a new collapsible left-hand menu instead of the horizontal menu at the top, however the horizontal menu will remain by default.

Browsing Content

 Want to open a report quickly? Double-click it.

 Report categories/sub-categories are now folders on the left of the browse page. Select the relevant folder to limit the contents displayed to those in that folder.

Report Building Workflow

 The workflow is no longer Data, Filters, Formatting; it’s now Data, Charts, Output.

 Data screen layout is new and intuitive – access more with less clicks.

 See your report results as you add fields, and edit filters and formatting from the same screen.

 You can now add more than one chart to a report, and use the auto-chart type based on your chosen fields.

 Arrange your charts and finalise formatting on the output screen.

Other Important Changes

 Set broadcast end dates, personal broadcasts, tasks and access your activity stream, among other enhancements.

About this Analytics Upgrade

Acendre’s Talent Management Analytics engine has received a major upgrade to its user interface and capabilities to make the report design process more intuitive, smoother, and with more options for analysing your people data. The restyled user interface provides new, intuitive navigation options that make better use of screen space. Browsing reports is easier with more filtering options, and users can now drag and drop reports, dashboards and storyboards between subfolders. Users with the suitable permissions can now edit folder and sub-folder settings from the browse screen as well. Building reports is an enhanced experience; see your report results as soon as you add new fields. Advanced filtering and data formatting have been simplified, require less clicks and are all done from the same screen rather than having to jump back and forth between steps. Graphing capabilities are significantly enhanced with auto-chart functionality and the ability to create multiple charts per report, with new chart types and recommendations based on the data chosen. Conditional formatting used in tables can now be applied to the same data in associated charts, and an updated colour palette means colours will be retained when exported to Excel. Users can access recent reports and dashboards from their activity stream, and collaborate with others via comments and sharing functionality.

Benefits:

 Multiple filter options to find the content you are after

 Drag and drop reports, dashboards and storyboards between subfolders

 Drag and drop data to see instant report results

 Faster report construction from the same screen

 Faster data insight from enhanced graphs, charts and maps

 Auto-chart, recommended chart types and additional chart options

 More insights per report with multiple charts

 More layout options for report and chart output

 Improved usability and user experience

 Set tasks and smart tasks for yourself and others

 Share, comment on and discuss reports with others

Overall Navigation

Organisations can choose between three navigation options.

Option 1 – Horizontal Menu (default)

By default, Analytics will retain the horizontal menu used previously for continuity.

Option 2 – Left Hand Menu with Create Button

Menu options expand and collapse from a new and intuitive left hand side navigation, with the create option even more accessible with a separate yellow button on the right.

Option 3 – Left Hand Menu Only

As per Option 2 (above), but with Create included in the menu rather than as a separate button.

Speak to your Client Success Manager if you would like to use one of the new left hand navigation options. The choice of navigation is set for all users at an organisational level. Menu options will continue to reflect each user’s (or their user group’s) access permissions.

Browse Navigation

Key changes to the restyled browse screen include:

 All filter options on the left hand side, including folders and subfolders

 Sort, reset, information and action options at the top

 Thumbnail and list layout of content in the body of the screen

 Opening content via double-clicking the item

 Access all actions for selected content via right-click or the action menu icon

 Move content between subfolders via drag and drop

 For those with the appropriate permissions, edit folder and subfolder names and access permissions

Report Builder Workflow

Creating a new report

The New Report screen appears in the foreground when you click Create then Report.

 Ad-hoc reporting needs to be turned on if you do not want to automatically save your report.

 Select Advanced to search for your custom data source and view. Click the name of the view you would like to build your report (or master query) upon to commence the report builder workflow.

Data

This significant redesign gives a report preview as it is built, as well as access to what were separate filter and formatting options from the one screen.

 Fields are still found on the left hand side. Drag the desired field to the report preview area, column or row section to build your report.

 The report will refresh as you add data or make other changes. To turn this off for any reason, turn off the Auto Refresh option.

 Sections and Filters are now added in the middle column. To edit any filter settings, click Advanced Settings. This replaces what was the second part of the workflow.

 For advanced users, options like drill settings and sub-queries are also found on the left hand side (see below graphic for details).

 To access field-specific settings, such as aggregation, sorting, format, advanced functions or other field settings, hover over and select the drop down button against that field.

 Any formatting, filtering and similar screens will appear in the foreground but do not require saving. Make your selections or changes and close the foreground window to apply to your report via the small ‘x’.

Charts

The new charts step adds multiple new features while retaining previous functionality.

 The new Auto Chart feature means you can use the best chart type for the data you’ve selected. As you add more fields, your recommended chart type might change.

 Additional functions are now available – Average, Trend, Forecast and Accumulation (availability dependent on the data chosen). Experiment with these as you build your chart.

 Chart formatting options, as per previous versions, are available via icons at the top.

 You can also create more than one chart per report. Click the + in the bottom right corner to add another visualisation.

Output

Previously ‘Formatting’, this screen incorporates all of that functionality plus the ability to arrange charts on the canvas so you can find the optimal design for your report.

 If you created charts for your report, select them via the left hand chart icon and drag them onto the canvas. Resize and arrange as required.

 You can now show or hide the table behind the chart from this screen as well.

 Filters can be displayed above the report or embedded in the left hand menu.

Broadcasts

Broadcast Summaries

You can now access a summary for each broadcast from the broadcast icon (shown above right) for each report. Select the broadcast name and you’ll see a range of details, including how many recipients, how often it runs, when it is scheduled to run next, and how many times it has been sent in the last 90 days.

Limit Schedule Period

Broadcasts can now have an end date applied to them, rather than having to be manually turned off or removed once they are no longer required. This can be accessed by selecting Advanced Settings under Frequency. To limit the schedule period, toggle the Limit Schedule Period button on and enter the From and To dates.

Personal Broadcasts

Personal broadcasts are a new type of broadcast sent just to you. Setting these up as Personal Broadcasts allows you to access them directly from the Browse menu (under the Personal Broadcasts link). Other delivery settings mimic the standard broadcast settings. You’ll find the Personal Broadcasts option under Create New when selecting the broadcast icon on a report.

Other Important Changes

Updated Colours

The Analytics colour palette has been updated so that colours hold when a report is exported to Microsoft Excel. This means that any reports with cells or text with conditional formatting will now appear with the same colours when exported in a spreadsheet format. The updated palette means that some report and chart formats may change with the upgrade. If so, simply edit your report and pick the relevant colours again.

Editing Active Reports

If you edit an active report, the report will remain active while you edit a draft version. This allows you to view and revert back to the active version should you wish to undo your changes, as well as proceed and replace the active version or save as a new report once you have finished editing. In addition to the Save option, you will see Save As, Undo Changes or Delete Version in the Report options.

Long Running Reports

If you are loading a long running report, perhaps because it will return a significant number of results or has complex calculations to perform, you will see a prompt giving you options for what you would like to do. You can:

 wait

 receive the report by email once it is complete

 add the report to your Timeline

 cancel running the report.

Activity Stream/Timeline

The activity stream gives you access to any content you’ve recently accessed or worked on, as well as additional tools to interact with your report and with other users. When viewing a report, click on the chat bubbles icon on the right hand side to access the activity stream.

From here you can:

 comment on the report

 add a task relating to the report (tasks outlined below)

 view and filter your timeline

 view details of the report

 view and interact with other users.

Tasks

Tasks are a new feature that allow users to manage or assign Analytics-based tasks to themselves or others. This might be in the context of updating a setting in a report or other content, or alerting someone to an action that needs to take place elsewhere and then marked off as complete in Analytics.

You can create a task:

 via the activity stream on a report you are viewing

 via a Smart Task when certain report result criteria are met

 via your user profile

When setting a task, you can determine:

 the type of task – to do, new content request e.g. report, delete content, new user or data quality issue

 the assignee to complete the task (must be an Analytics user)

 the importance (low, medium or high)

 a due date

You can also make a target private (not accessible by other users) under Advanced Settings. To access your assigned smart tasks, go to your user name in the horizontal or left hand menu (depending on your organisation’s menu settings) and click on Tasks.

Smart Tasks

Users can be assigned a task, via broadcast, when report results match alert delivery rules. Smart Tasks have a similar setup to Broadcasts but with some additional fields, including:

 any other subscribers so they are alerted and can track the task as well (they must also be Analytics users).

You’ll need to set the conditions where a task is created and assigned, by clicking on Add Alert Delivery Rules in the task setup screen. Click Add Field, then the argument (Equal to, Greater than etc) and the value(s), much like setting filters on a report. Add additional report fields where necessary and organise with And/Or arguments as required. Other delivery settings mimic the standard broadcast settings. To set up a smart task, go the Broadcast icon against the relevant report.

Your Profile

Need to view your activity timeline or access your tasks? Go to your profile by clicking on your user name in the top or left hand menu (depending on your organisation’s menu settings).

From there you can:

 view, search and filter your timeline

 view, filter and create tasks

 access draft content and personal broadcasts.