introduction welcome to the release notes for version 1 9 of servicely this update brings a host of enhancements and new features designed to improve user experience, streamline process, and continuous service improvements across the platform we've focused on refining the ui/ux, expanding configuration options, and increasing the efficiency of existing functionalities additionally, we've addressed feedback from our user community to make practical adjustments that align with modern design philosophies and platform advancements as always, we thank our customers for their invaluable feedback and hope you find these updates beneficial for your organisation to extend their use of the servicely platform who should read this this page is primarily intended for system administrators and platform owners who are responsible for managing and overseeing the servicely platform we strongly encourage individuals in these roles to carefully review these release notes to understand the latest updates, enhancements, and fixes that have been applied to the platform gaining an understanding of these changes will enable you to work with other stakeholders to determine what new functionality and enhancements you would like to test and deploy on your instance release highlights major feature enhancements user interface improvement we are pleased to announce the completion of the first iteration of the new user interface (ui) improvement which is focused on improved user experience and general look and feel this first iteration marks the beginning of a series of enhancements, with further enhancements planned in future releases key highlights of the ui redesign core platform improvements removal of older technologies in the backend ensure we are able to remain modern architecture and delivery ongoing innovation and improvement improved user experience updates have been made to improve user experience and responsiveness across the platform these improvements extend to various ui elements, making them more intuitive and accessible configurability options administrators now have increased flexibility to theme the environment according to their preferences, enhancing the overall user experience, while providing a more structured way to manage themes and various ui elements modern technologies the adoption of newer frameworks lay the foundation for us to accelerate the development of new features and enhancements, and remain a modern platform visual changes users will notice changes in the visual aspects such as menus, fonts, and colours additionally, there have been substantial updates to the presentation and functionality of buttons on lists feature retention it is important to note that all existing features from the previous ui iteration have been retained, ensuring a seamless transition for users we are committed to continuous improvement and eagerly await your feedback on the new design this will guide our ongoing efforts to refine and enhance the servicely platform knowledge hub improvements the recent ui improvements of the knowledge hub has been guided by user feedback to better align with their expectations and usage patterns the updates aim to enhance navigation and scalability while introducing a more intuitive user interface (ui) this is is the first iteration of what will be ongoing improvements to the knowledge hub key features and improvements improved classification based filtering focus on classifications to address scalability for large knowledge bases, the redesign shifts the focus to classifications this adjustment aligns with how users traditionally utilise classifications, rather than creating multiple knowledge bases for similar purposes support for multiple knowledge bases will remain with classification support per knowledge base improved ui navigation classifications are now prominently positioned on the left side of the ui, making them more accessible and easier to navigate ui and layout enhancements dedicated page for knowledge display the redesigned knowledge centre now opens in a new full page rather than a popup, optimising the use of screen space and improving content visibility scalable design this new layout is designed to scale effectively with an increasing amount of content, ensuring a smooth user experience even as the system grows advanced content editor enhanced content management the introduction of a new content editor significantly enhances the ability to add and format text, incorporate links, and attach non image files user friendly interface the editor is designed with usability in mind, simplifying the process of content creation and modification within the knowledge centre visual comparisons and demonstrations before and after ui comparisons to illustrate the improvements, visual comparisons of the previous and current versions of the knowledge centre will be provided editor showcase demonstrations of the new editor’s capabilities and how non image attachments are managed and displayed will highlight the practical benefits of the redesign approval functionality enhancements enhanced email notifications for approvals we've made significant improvements to our email notifications within approval workflows based on user feedback customisable email content you can now modify the subject and body of the email directly within the approval activity of a workflow this simplifies configuration by allowing a single email notification to be versatile across different activities for detailed instructions, visit our documentation page improved user experience in email approvals emails now feature actionable buttons, making it easier to approve or reject directly from the email interface these buttons are designed to accurately process approvals and rejections, improving the efficiency of decision making additional details are available on our feature page direct comments entry comments made in approval or rejection emails will automatically be recorded in the parent record, enhancing traceability and communication permanent delegation feature permanent delegation users can now assign a permanent delegate without specifying start and end dates, addressing a frequent user request approval override role the new approval override role enables designated users to approve or reject on behalf of others for all approvals system wide this role is particularly useful for administrators and facilitates a smoother approval process without the need for custom scripting enhanced approval visibility workflow action journaling the workflow\ action journal table property has been introduced to better track and display approval actions and comments directly within the parent record by default, this information is logged in the workjournal of work related tables, providing context alongside other field changes for more information on these enhancements and to view examples of the new functionality in action, please refer to the detailed documentation we encourage users to review and activate these new features to optimise their approval processes introduction of kanban board functionality we are pleased to announce the introduction of kanban board functionality in our latest software release this enhancement is a direct response to the feedback received from our customers over the past year the kanban board is designed to improve record management across various applications, providing a flexible and efficient way to visualise work processes features and configuration platform wide availability the kanban board feature is available at the platform level, ensuring it can be utilised in both custom and out of the box applications it integrates seamlessly with any table, enhancing its versatility setup and data source selection a kanban board is initiated by creating a kanban board record users must select a data source, which configures the fields, swim lanes, and queries used by the board use case flexibility although primarily designed for work tables, the functionality is adaptable to various fields and tables it is optimised for managing open records to maintain scalability however, users can also include closed records by integrating queries such as closed at after yesterday(), which filters the records closed within the last day visualisation and interactivity customisation and filtering the board allows for status changes and the application of filters to manage the visibility of tasks effectively users can save filter configurations for future use, enhancing the user experience and productivity record interaction clicking on a card within the kanban board opens the record directly from the view, facilitating easy access to detailed information examples below are screenshots and examples of a custom project setup to illustrate the use of the kanban board, focusing on project tasks from a specific project this will include demonstrations of status adjustments and filtering mechanisms local user multi factor authentication (mfa) to enhance security for users depending primarily on local servicely authentication, we have introduced multi factor authentication (mfa) capabilities for these accounts this update targets users such as administrators with direct servicely logins and limited users leveraging break glass accounts it does not affect users authenticated through ldap or sso providers overview of functionality enabling mfa upon enabling mfa for local users, it applies to all local accounts this setting does not impact users authenticated via ldap or any sso provider device pairing after mfa activation, the initial login attempt prompts users to pair their account with a device, completing the two factor authentication setup supported authenticators the system is compatible with most major authenticator apps that support qr code scanning, including google authenticator, microsoft authenticator, and authy administrative controls device management administrators have the capability to unlink a device from a user's account if mfa remains enabled, the user will be prompted to pair a new device upon their next login for additional information and detailed setup instructions, please refer to the servicely documentation at servicely mfa setup guide large language model integration (increased ai capabilities) as part of this release, we have introduced a structured api and model to perform simple single shot classification/prompting using state of the art large language models (llms) this integration enables users to leverage the capabilities of llms to enhance their itsm applications key use cases the following are some of the key use cases for this integration zero knowledge classification llms can provide classification without requiring data and examples, leveraging their understanding of the base training data summarisation llms can summarise large blocks of text or structured data, providing concise summaries of interactions, requests, or knowledge articles prioritisation/sentiment analysis llms can understand urgency or sentiment in correspondence, enabling more effective prioritisation and sentiment analysis knowledge generation llms can generate knowledge articles based on information provided in problem records supported providers this release currently supports openai and anthropic as llm providers, with plans to introduce more providers in the future important note please note that this feature requires users to provide their own token and is not enabled by default this is to accommodate organisations with internal policies regarding ai functionality configuration and administration to utilise this feature, users will need to set up a prompt choose a model complete configuration (as detailed in the ai prompt single shot llm classification/prompting guide) full dynamic intellisense for server script code editors in the latest software release, we have integrated intellisense into our server script code editors this enhancement aims to provide a quicker and more accessible reference tool directly within the platform the introduction of intellisense is designed to facilitate the use of out of the box libraries fields on a table additional elements as identified by user needs key features quick reference enables immediate access to library functions and table fields without needing to navigate away from the editor enhanced productivity streamlines coding processes by reducing the need for external documentation known limitations this is the first iteration of intellisense in our platform users may encounter notifications stating that an item is "not defined" or "not in the list " we acknowledge these issues and are actively working to enhance the accuracy and breadth of intellisense in future updates impersonation capabilities overview in response to significant feedback from system administrators, we have implemented a new feature that allows administrators to impersonate users within the platform this functionality is designed to enable administrators to experience the platform exactly as the user they are impersonating would how it works to activate impersonation, an administrator must navigate to the top right corner of the platform interface and select the "impersonate" option upon selection, administrators can choose the user whose identity they wish to assume this feature is particularly useful for testing user specific functionalities and assists in troubleshooting configuration issues more effectively audit compliance it is crucial to ensure transparency and accountability when using the impersonation feature therefore, any actions performed under impersonation are meticulously audited audit records distinctly mark activities carried out during impersonation, making it clear when an action was performed by an administrator impersonating another user parsing structured pdf documents in servicely overview servicely has long supported the generation of pdf documents via template reports the latest release enhances this functionality by introducing the capability to parse pdf documents from attachments requirements for parsing structured pdfs the parsing functionality is designed for structured pdfs, which include predefined labels and corresponding answers limitations it is important to note that not all pdfs are suitable for parsing due to variations in document structure parsing process data extraction parsing involves extracting data from a pdf document populating records the extracted data is then used to populate a target record within servicely additional utility email attachments the parsing feature also extends to pdf documents received as email attachments, broadening the scope of document handling support for external systems this functionality is particularly beneficial for organisations working with external vendors or systems that produce necessary documentation but lack modern integration capabilities table aggregation api as we enhance our platform's functionality, it has become apparent that an increasing number of administrators are leveraging the table api to aggregate records while this method is feasible, it lacks optimal efficiency to address these efficiency concerns, we are excited to introduce the new aggregation api this api is designed to streamline operations such as count, min, max, sum, and average calculations benefits of the aggregation api performance improvement optimises data processing speeds by handling complex aggregations at the data layer enhanced functionality supports a broader range of aggregation functions, improving the scope of data analysis directly via api suggested usage we strongly recommend transitioning to the aggregation api for tasks previously performed using the table api this is particularly relevant for template reports data analysis tasks any feature requiring aggregation of record data for more detailed information and implementation guidelines, please refer to the aggregation api documentation system inbound actions enhanced email interaction to enhance customer experience through email interactions, we have implemented a new feature that allows the creation of more defined action buttons within emails this innovation provides a significant improvement over the traditional mailto links by introducing a system of unique ids for each button pressed here are the key aspects of this feature action buttons these buttons, when pressed, generate an email response to the system containing a unique id unique id mechanism unlike previous methods that relied on interpreting specific words in email replies (such as "approve" or "reject"), this feature uses unique ids to precisely identify the action and its associated record versatility initially introduced for approvals, this functionality is versatile and can be adapted for various purposes that require a user to press a button to complete an action documentation detailed usage examples, particularly for inbound approval processing, are provided in the documentation for version 1 9 0, under the section "inbound approval processing emails and approval email look and feel " this development aims to streamline interactions and enhance the reliability of processing user responses via email upgrade considerations we aim to minimise the need for manual changes after upgrading however, there are some important considerations to keep in mind when completing this upgrade the items listed below are applicable for this release new content field for knowledge as part of the upgrade, we have introduced a new renderer for the the content field for knowledge this should take effect automatically menu items icons in our latest ui refresh, we've updated the range of icons available while all out of the box menu items have been automatically updated to include these new icons, some menu items may require you to manually update these to update these icons, simply right click on the menu item, select 'edit menu entry,' and then modify the icon field as needed this process ensures that all menu applications reflect the new visual enhancements portal styling and re design in this upgrade, we've implemented numerous ui improvements based on customer feedback and latest design trends these changes not only enhance the overall look and feel but also simplify the theming process for your environments, extending beyond just the menu and homepage as part of this transition, we advise existing customers to remove most of the custom css previously added to their portal style records however, any custom styles applied specifically to fields or ui events should be retained generally, the only css classes that most customers will need to maintain in their portal styles are outlined below to manage styles more efficiently, the background or hero image on your homepage can now be set directly in the portal definition record this is done by linking to a resource record, as per the fields defined below within this tab, you will find an expanded set of fields, including options to set three colors for menus instead of the usual two below, we have included a quick reference guide that outlines our standard portal styling practices for new customers this guide aligns with the terminology used in the fields on this tab and record you'll notice additional configuration options, such as altering the colours of table column headers and text highlights please be aware that while there are other colour fields available in this tab that we don't initially configure for customers, you are encouraged to explore these options however, we currently recommend sticking primarily to the configurations listed below what logo do you wish to use in the top right of your instance? what do you want the base menu background colour to be? what did you want the menu section background colour to be? what did you want the menu subsection background colour to be? what did you want the menu text colour to be? what did you want the top bar text colour to be? what did you want the top bar background colour to be? what did you want the primary colour to be? what did you want the primary "bright" colour to be? what did you want the "secondary" colour to be? what colour would you like the introductory text colour to be (note that this is handled via the css styles described earlier with the portal search welcome, portal search welcome question, suggested searches label classes) inbound approval processing emails and approval email look and feel as part of the upgrade, we have introduced a new default email notification for approvals, which remains inactive by default this feature leverages our new inbound action capabilities and approval templating feature but does not include specific styling you can locate this notification in your outbound notification table under the name “workflow task generic approval request created (example) ” the template and html are designed to be basic, but it includes references to the context script, which generates a notification with actionable buttons and links to the workflow activity we highlight this here to suggest that using system inbound actions in conjunction with approval templates represents our recommended approach for managing email approvals moving forward for more details on this specific approval setup, please visit improved email functionality if you're interested in understanding more about system inbound actions, we encourage you to read system inbound actions session timeouts and session handling in our continuous effort to ensure the security of your environments, we have implemented additional properties and revised the default settings related to session timeouts it's important to note that in your existing implementation, these settings may have already been configured nevertheless, a new application property, named system http session timeout, is now available (and can be created if it does not already exist) this property sets the session timeout period, which for new customers defaults to 20 minutes, though you have the flexibility to modify this duration as needed beyond this specific property update, we have made several improvements to how user sessions are managed, aligning session handling with modern security best practices knowledge centre redesign in the recent redesign of the knowledge centre, we have shifted away from positioning knowledge bases prominently for the end user this change is based on feedback and observed usage patterns, which indicated that users find a classification based approach more effective for locating knowledge articles consequently, we recommend that customers reassess their classification structures to ensure they accurately reflect the content of the articles for a detailed overview of these changes and guidance on how to update your classification hierarchy to better suit user navigation preferences, please visit knowledge hub improvements the essential takeaway is that you may need to revise your classification hierarchy to better match how your users search for and access information this adjustment will help ensure that your system aligns more effectively with user navigation habits enhancements portal inclusion of an order field to portal definitions, enabling more precise rule application when multiple portal definitions are valid for a user ui/ux introduction of a new loading indicator that aligns with industry design trends email (outbound) enhanced functionality for scripted email notifications, allowing the inclusion of additional context information not found in the record can now be incorporated into the generated notification localisation added a localised message record for the “search for anything” prompt in the homepage's primary search bar localisation capability to localise menu items in the top left search bar, including “search to filter” (navigation search placeholder name) and “no matches found” (common list no matches found) localisation introduced the ability to localise announcements knowledge updated the knowledge article editor to allow direct attachment uploads and expanded the default size of the wysiwyg/rtf field reporting removed the default grouping option in reports, ensuring no automatic grouping by table class unless explicitly selected platform introduced a new “money” field type for handling currency values, planning to phase out the use of decimal fields with accounting renderers catalog enhanced the user interface to prompt users to fill in mandatory fields for catalog items, rather than making them search for what’s missing ui/ux buttons are now fixed to the footer across various sections, eliminating the need to scroll down to access them portal updated the portal definition table to include fields for logos and hero images, recommending these fields as the primary method for future updates portal colours can now be adjusted directly through colour fields instead of css, though some css configuration is still possible interaction included an attachments field by default in the interaction process platform improved support on the platform for webp file types integrations implemented the ability to configure url allowed paths for inbound tokens to restrict their use to specific controllers, such as /controller/controllername integrations outbound tokens can now be linked to a url for informational purposes platform enhanced record display to consistently show the display value across all records, extending a feature previously limited to work hierarchy records ui/ux updated the placement and design of home and portal icons in the top page header for improved logic and accessibility ui/ux users who have not set a personal homepage will no longer see an additional icon in the top bar platform ability to add icons/styles to individual choice values you can see choices | available values for more information and refer below platform introduced named styles to minimise direct updates to portal styles these styles can now be referenced in ui events, field properties, and available values reporting to enhance performance and prevent unnecessary reloads, reports will no longer update dynamically during editing instead, a preview button has been added to view changes on demand platform added a checkout workflow button that appears directly when viewing a workflow that has not yet been checked out reporting chart axes will now default to using field labels instead of field names platform enhanced flexibility in reference fields allows for displaying different fields during searches for example, in a requestor field, you might display a person's name, title, and email address, but only search by name or email ui/ux updated the platform's icon library, enhancing the selection with a greater number and variety of icons, while ensuring a more consistent appearance multi tenancy enhanced performance in realm separated environments through increased caching multi tenancy expanded filtering options within the realm hierarchy, allowing for roles or specialised conditions on realm records platform added the capability to change browser tab titles through the application property instance override instance title prefix platform implemented several minor enhancements throughout the platform to improve performance platform numerous upgrades to various platform libraries, enhancing overall functionality fixes reporting/portal the refresh period dropdown for dashboard reports and portal components is now fully visible when editing platform introduced a new application property, datetime year start, allowing date pickers to access dates before 1950 (default is 1950) ui/ux added a scroller to the configuration menu in the top right corner to accommodate users with lower screen resolutions platform improved the efficiency of generic reference field types in the background platform made minor corrections to role descriptions, including the knowledge manager role ui/ux enhanced the sizing of journal fields to better accommodate large content volumes multi tenancy adjusted subtask record tenancy settings to apply earlier in the script execution process platform restricted users with an ldap server or authentication provider linked to their records from logging in directly with system credentials platform designated certain roles as reserved and non removable system templates enhanced the template creation process to be more responsive; field types and values now load immediately upon selection platform marked specific usernames and ids as reserved and non removable multi tenancy ensured realm separation settings are correctly propagated throughout table hierarchies ui/ux standardised the appearance of popups and toasts to better align with the platform’s design philosophy ui/ux modified the behaviour of right clicking a list item to prevent accumulative selection email (inbound) expanded use cases within the email processing engine to more accurately extract reply bodies from emails scim improved the debugging of custom attributes in the scim integration platform addressed issues causing list loading failures when security settings restrict field visibility in child tables platform changed how data records are imported from change sets to prevent unintended defaulting of unset values platform changed how multiple sessions work for users implemented stricter rules regarding the termination of user sessions localisation/ui/ux when a field is used for localisation, the label is more consistently in the format of localised \<field name>, rather than display \<field name> such as, the localised name of a report, dashboard, etc platform addressed occasional session losses that should not occur platform corrected the “force check in” button in workflows to select the appropriate user platform resolved issues where nan (not a number) appears in accounting fields unexpectedly when the value is zero sofi modified the sofi knowledge classifier for change and problem to populate the work journal instead of the client journal portal corrected the separation of approval records in the out of box portal component to prevent merging within one border platform removed certain loading timeouts that hindered platform loading for users with slower connections platform enhanced the operation and efficiency of multi field indexes within the database platform ensure accurate capture of audit records for all fields/values in table definitions platform ensure that when an attachment field has been made read only through a permission you are still able to save the record, regardless of access to that specific field (such as if it is set from a script, default value or another user who previously added an attachment) platform implemented immediate browser refresh when a user’s roles change, eliminating the need for a new session to reflect updates platform removed deprecated platform code to reduce loading times platform implemented security fixes and miscellaneous updates following regular penetration tests and adherence to modern security standards