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Main Help centre Development

Development 2024

December 2024 

Website, app:
  • Improve handling of custom inline frames.
  • Update for recent iPhone versions.
  • Improve the random passphrases, which should now sound like pronounceable parts of a sentence.

Welcome pages:
  • Simplify layout with 2 buttons instead of 4.
  • The "Mobile app" button will automatically link to either the Android app or the iPhone app based on the device of the visitor.
  • The "Website access" button will open the sign in form with links at the top and bottom to create a new account.
  • It is possible to remove the name of the hospital and trust from the welcome page text when the cover picture already shows the name.
  • Add new abbreviations.

Sync folder:
  • Optimise the instant search function.
  • Improve the function reassigning existing keywords and crosslinks to new documents.

Documentation:
  • Update Semantic search on how to optimise your content for this function, and how it is indexed.

Under the hood:
  • Update the web application firewall rules.
  • Enhance the scripts updating Sync folder listings.
  • Improve search handling when the search server is offline (during upgrades, reboots),
  • Update base libraries to latest versions.

November 2024 

App:
  • Update for recent iOS versions.

Visual editor:
  • Added new subpage button colours that can be selected by pressing multiple times on a button next to the page title field.
  • It is now easier to embed an inline frame to any remote service at the bottom of a page. Please contact support if you need this enabled.
  • Add new abbreviations for automatic recognition.
  • Updated Additional Terms of Service.
  • Added calendars from Office365.
  • Update app to improve the embedding of remote calendars.
  • Blur maintainer name and email in Privacy mode.

Documentation:

Under the hood:
  • Improve email notifications when the recipient name has international characters.
  • Upgraded password hashing to a more secure algorithm, and allowing for passphrases longer than 72 characters.

October 2024 

New password/passphrase rules:
  • The password requirements were updated to match the latest recommendations from NCSC and NIST.
  • New passwords can now have any characters including spaces and international characters.
  • New passwords do not require character classes like uppercase, digit, punctuation.
  • New passwords must be 14 characters or longer, for example 3 random words.
  • New passwords cannot contain parts of the email address of the user (before the "@" symbol).
  • Automatically generated passwords now consist of 3 to 5 random words as recommended.
  • The password change and recovery forms will now indicate if the password is acceptable before the form is submitted.
  • Old passwords continue to be accepted.

Visual editor:
  • When a "draft" page is marked as "reviewed", it will both set the review date, and remove the "draft" status.
  • Added a new button colour "NHS Blue" with white text.
  • A new function was added, allowing to list the content of a XLSX spreadsheet as an instantly filterable list/table.
  • It is now possible to re-attach crosslinks to files that have been replaced. On the "Orphan entries" list, a new dropdown appears at the bottom with the options to delete the selected crosslinks, or to reattach them to recently added or replaced documents.
  • Improvements to the nightly export and indexing functions.
  • It is now easier to edit abbreviations and speak styles.
  • The search results will now be limited to the 10 closest documents.

Autologin function:
  • It is now possible to define multiple IP address ranges per toolbox (access same toolbox from different locations).
  • It is now possible to define multiple toolboxes per IP address range (access different toolboxes from the same location).

Administration:
  • Users requesting access to a restricted toolbox will now see a list of email links to recently active administrators, and can contact them directly if they are tired of waiting.

Under the hood:
  • Improve the remote synchronisation and backup functions.
  • Update the web application firewall rules.
  • Newly created toolboxes: improve the template selection, fix bug with the indexing, search, and export functions.
  • Improve the functions parsing email addresses from notification configurations.
  • Improvements to the email notification messages. The confirmation codes for password recovery and email change will now appear in the message subject, and will be invalidated if mistyped 3 times.

September 2024 

  • Improvement to the user interface for setting expiry dates of documents.
  • Links with Outlook "safelinks" redirection should now be rewritten directly to the target URLs.
  • Improvement to the "Dev UI" form.

Administration:
  • The "New comment" notification will now be sent to the "Contact email" address rather than the "Sync folder email notification address" as different people or teams may manage the different areas.
  • Added job role "MT05".
  • Fixed a bug with the monthly visitors in the analytics charts.
  • Work is under way to enable automatic expiry of accounts after inactivity.

Under the hood:
  • Improvement to the Password recovery function for repeated requests for a confirmation code.
  • Added a function to reinitialise multiple unused accounts, and notify the staff.
  • Updates to the firewall.

August 2024 

Website:
  • Welcome page: after clicking the "Sign in" button, the login form will now smoothly scroll up instead of appearing to jump instantly.

Visual editor:
  • Attachments with the extensions DOC(X) and PPT(X) will now be shown with an orange background and a dashed border. Above the edit form, a reminder will appear to upload PDF files unless users need to edit them.

Semantic search:
  • Search history ratings and feedback can now be added/edited/corrected for older queries.
  • Search history entries are now deleted without reloading the full page.
  • Improvements to the Development user interface, fix ratings/feedback for multi-LLM queries.
  • Added comic response styles (Shakespearean, Cockney, Pirate, Klingon...).

Documentation:

Administration:
  • User management form: fix an error message when account permissions are changed immediately after they were added.
  • Fixed "List orphan pages" function could list pages that were not orphan but contained a specific text.

Under the hood:
  • New user emails will now be stored with the part before the "@" case-sensitive, as it was first submitted.
  • Temporary user access that was never used and is expiring, will now be removed without email notification.
  • Improvements to the functions sending email notifications.
  • An upgrade to the database server by our hosting provider required a major rewrite of multiple toolbox queries. This should be mostly completed, but if you notice a  blank page or section of a page, please do notify us ASAP.
  • Update the back-end software frameworks.

July 2024 

Visual editor:
  • A new checkbox at the bottom of the edit form allows to mark a page as "Draft" which will cause the page text to be only visible to editors and administrators. Readers, and app users, will see a message "This is a draft page. Only editors can view it. Please check back later." 
    • For readers, a draft page, and its attached files, may still be discoverable in a search, but the page text will not be visible.
    • To locate all draft pages, in the search form type "isdraft".
    • In addition to the page text, the documents tables, and the contacts directory are also hidden for draft pages.

Semantic search:
  • Implemented a function to show results rated 5 stars from all toolboxes in one page.
  • Clicking on search suggestions will redo the same query but with the current document base. Holding down the Ctrl key while clicking, or and clicking with the middle button (mouse wheel), will now reload the previous response from the search history.

Document tables module:
  • Optimised workflow for monthly notifications.
  • Hide listings for draft pages.

Posters, reports:
  • Fixed the number of administrators for a toolbox could be wrong.
  • In toolboxes with externally imported large contact directories, the posters now correctly show the numbers of categories and contact entries.

Sync folder:
  • Work is under way to detect very similar but not identical files that are currently not flagged as duplicates.

Administration:
  • We noticed some email links in your pages have been updated to change the text of the link to a new address without changing the address itself from the [chain-link] icon. We are in the process of reviewing all pages to fix these email links.
  • A new field "Notify email" was added to the Admin panel/Contact form page. It will receive email notifications:
    • For sync folder changes (daily, when there are added/removed/renamed documents, and monthly CSV export).
    • For feedback posted by users on the website or in the app with links to the pages with pending comments.
  • Added new job roles FY3, CT4, MT01-MT04.

Documentation:

Under the hood:
  • Upgraded database server.
  • Improvement to the function generating certificates.
  • Fix a bug when an animated GIF image is uploaded as cover picture for a toolbox.
  • Update firewall rules.
  • Improvements to the notification message format, and the function that sends a new random password to users.
  • Update the backend software frameworks.

June 2024 

Website:
  • Updated Welcome page / login form. It is now possible to include a custom message on this form per toolbox/trust - please contact us to set this up for you.
  • The Wrench icon is now visible to all visitors. Unregistered users will see links to the help centre, the FAQ page, and the support email address.

Contacts module:
  • Empty categories will now be visible to editors in the listings.
  • Empty categories will now be visible to editors in the listings, highlighted, with a "delete" link in addition to "rename" and "add document".
  • After creating a new category, a link to upload new files to it will appear in the edit category page.
  • Added a new field to configure a custom email address for the Sync folder notifications, in the administration contacts form.
  • We are working on a function to automate the detection of next review/expiry dates of newly added documents.

Administration:
  • Redesigned 2-factor authentication functions to be more scalable. The 2FA secret token is now stored encrypted in the database.
  • Standard notification emails now include a footer paragraph on how to contact us to unsubscribe or delete the recipient's account.
  • In the administration contacts form, added a new field to configure a custom email address for the Sync folder notifications.

  • Simplified default search form.
  • Disclaimer updated and moved to a collapsible section.
  • Added search suggestions: up to 3 random questions that have previously been rated 5 stars will appear on the top of the search form, allowing for easy access. Previous answers are not reused, the search is re-queried with the latest document set.

Documentation:

Under the hood:
  • Improved function for automated granting of read access to Multiple domains.
  • Updated web application firewall rules.

April - May 2024 

Website, app:
  • Enabled a new format for embedded video URLs from Vimeo.
  • Added narrow whitespace margins to the mobile layout.
  • Added improvements for keyboard-only navigation.
  • It is now possible to include sections of one toolbox into another one.
  • Add RSS feeds for recently modified pages (times and URLs only, no content or contributors).
  • The Wrench icon will now be visible to unregistered or autologin users, and will open a menu with links to sign in or sign up.

Visual editor:
  • It is now possible to insert Font Awesome icons with a special markup.
  • The form will now try and keep the user session connected, even if they edit for a long time. Previously users could be disconnected if they edited for more than 24 minutes.
  • Improved daily reporting/review backend functions.
  • Prototyped synchronisation from OneDrive shared folders.
  • Improvement to the daily notifications for files renamed or moved to a different folder.
  • When date-tagging a document, network errors are handled more gracefully, showing a message to the user to try again.

Contacts directory:
  • Very long entry modifications are now shortened for Recent changes pages.

Autologin function:
  • Added a simpler way to define access permissions from one or more IP address ranges to one or more toolboxes.
  • Added an API for backend scripts to retrieve temporary authologin tokens, with a test toolbox domain.
  • Added sample backend scripts in several programming languages.
  • Improvement to the analytics for autologin users.

Guidelines (file tables):
  • Added a recommendation to upload a file in PDF format unless readers need to edit the file.

Full text search: The search results page was refactored to show:
  • Top hits: semantic search suggestions (links only).
  • Toolbox pages from the current toolbox, if any, with their parent pages.
  • Sync folder documents, if any.
  • Results from other toolboxes where the user has access, in a collapsed section.

  • Simplifying the user interface: 
    • Removed Search and Delete buttons; search by pressing Enter, the search box is cleared when the results arrive, and most browsers have a [x] button to clear the box.
    • The advanced user interface can now be reached with a new link "Dev UI".
  • While waiting for the results, a spinning circle is shown in place of the looking glass icon, and the names of the toolbox files appear while they are being scanned.
  • Moved the processing to a faster server.
  • Optimised indexing of new files and newly modified pages which is now almost in real time and not only the next day. (Recently detached files will be unlisted the next morning.)
  • The search history (questions and answers) can be reviewed by editors and administrators from a link "Review history".
  • History entries can be now deleted.
  • Users can now rate the answers (1-5 stars) and add feedback, which will then be visible in the search history.
  • A new button at the bottom of the results allows to expand the last search to other documents that may have been incorrectly deemed less relevant by the search algorithm.

Administration:
  • New nhs.wales email addresses can now be autoapproved in addition to nhs.scot and nhs.net.
  • Refactor functions for adding new users.
  • Privacy mode: add some of the new admin interface elements.
  • When reviewing recent comments, the first comment will be highlighted.
  • Email notifications now include a note to contact the support team to disable these notifications.
  • Fix bug with homepage QR codes for new toolboxes without any attached files.
  • Autologin users with IP-address only permissions will now appear in the Analytics.
  • Pages opened by autologin users will now be included in the monthly statistics totals, and will increment the numbers in the Page analytics table.

Documentation:

Under the hood:
  • Update of the firewall rules.
  • Improvements of accessibility and keyboard navigation for visually impaired users.
  • Update the backend software frameworks.

February - March 2024 

Website, app:
  • Improvements to styles, spacing with filterable lists and tables, with search boxes (rounded corners).
  • The homepage cover photo may now be scaled down to fit the visitor's screen size and orientation, so that the top level page buttons are visible.

Editing:
  • Improvement to the subpage ordering function, added a button to cancel the changes without saving them.
  • Added an additional pattern to embed videos from Vimeo.
  • New upload extension for pictures in AVIF format.

Sync folder module:
  • The sync date action, when there are no pending files to date-tag, will now show links to return to the list, to orphan and to recent files.
  • We are prototyping a semantic search function with LLM summarisation, in order to improve the user experience. Administrators and editors can access it from a link near the top of the Administration panel.
  • Please review the Help centre page Semantic search on how to use the tool and how to improve your content for it.

Administration:
  • A new control with annotations was added in the Administration panel, making it easier and clearer to change the domain status between normal, restricted, or planned. This affects how access is granted, automatically, or manually, to new accounts, see our FAQ page for details. 
  • You can now define access validity dates for user accounts -- the last day when the access is active. In the Manage users page, you can set the validity dates either when creating an account, or you can check existing accounts and under the table, select the validity in a date field .The validity appears in the listings next to the user role in green colour. A user who have their access revoked will receive a notification with instructions on how to request reactivation if needed. Administrators will receive a notification with the list of accounts that were recently revoked.
  • There is a new link on the Manage users page where you can download a CSV spreadsheet file with all user accounts, their names, emails, roles, and other informations, including validity dates.
  • A new function lists all users who signed into the app or website in the last 13 months. Access it from a link near the top of the "Manage users" page. This list includes users who previously accessed your toolbox but no longer have access it (either left or removed).
  • Improvements to the Summary report PDF export function. Posters and QR codes will now have more relevant filenames when you export them to  PDF.

Documentation:

Under the hood:
  • Update base frameworks and libraries to latest versions.
  • Update firewall rules.
  • Improvement to the Autologin error reporting notifications.
  • Improvements to the email notifications function which should work faster and use less resources.
  • Fix bug with Excellence report forms in the new toolbox templates.
  • The "Page not found" page (a visitor following a deep link to a deleted page) will now include a search field and the toolbox page tree.

December 2023 - January 2024 

Website, app:
  • Improvements to the instant filtering functions.
  • Improvements to colours, text styles, table styles.
  • Streamlining of the user page feedback form (on the website).
  • New function for a filterable list of all files attached to all pages, accessible to readers. Let us know if we can install this in your toolbox.
  • On email confirmation pages, added a screenshot reminding users to check in their junk folders.

Guidelines (Document tables) module:
  • The module is now enabled on most pages for all hospitals, after a trial run in 3 hospitals. Previously it was available in one page, and needed to be manually enabled on other pages, now it is available in most pages. The links "Add document" and "Add or edit categories" near the bottom right of a page are only visible to users with edit access, and only on the website.
  • For editors, the listings now display the number of times a file has been downloaded. Note that:
    • On the app, once a file has been downloaded, the user can open it multiple times without incrementing these numbers. 
    • A file updated with the same filename will continue its numbers from where they were before; a file replaced with a different filename will have separate numbers.
  • A large listing with all tables from all pages can be opened from the Administration panel, with the heading "Document tables". For editors, these tables also list the number of views per document.

Sync folder module:
  • The CSV spreadsheet export (manually downloaded or automatically emailed to your team) now includes columns with the number of times every document has been downloaded in the last month, and totals (since May 2023 when this information  became available). Like for the Guidelines module above:
    • On the app, once a file has been downloaded, the user can open it multiple times without incrementing these numbers. 
    • A file updated with the same filename in the same (sub)folder will continue its numbers from where they were before; a file replaced with a different filename and/or in a different folder will increment separate numbers.
    • A real file and all its crosslinked entries to the same file increment the same numbers.
    • Separate duplicate files, even if identical, each increments its own numbers.
    • Files that have been replaced or deleted will not be listed with their numbers, but we have these in case your team needs them.

Administration:
  • In the Admin panel, the "Manage users" card now has an additional link to the older table listing, for administrators who prefer that one (not recommended for hospitals with large numbers of user accounts where the old format is slower in the browser).
  • Fix a bug where a pending notification could be sent without users waiting for approval.

Under the hood:
  • Update base frameworks and libraries to latest versions.
  • Improvements to the security/firewall settings and review process.

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If you have any questions, please contact us at support [snail] dr-toolbox [period] com.