Material Append Versioning Workflow Enhancement (Early Adopter)

Prior to this enhancement, the previous version of a material was deactivated before the new version was created. This caused some issues, potentially leaving gaps or inconsistencies.

With this enhancement, the previous version of the material is deactivated only when the creation of the new version is successful. The inactivation of the previous version depends on the start date of the latest version, ensuring smooth transitions.

It aims to ensure that the new version of the material is correctly distributed and immediately replaces the inactivated previous version within all affected curricula. It improves how we track back where the previous version was deployed and in which curricula the new version needs to be added as a replacement for the previous deactivated version.

Use Case - Create a Version When Two Approved Versions Exist

Before

  • A Material with two versions, V1 and V2, exists.
  • Open the Material Administration page.
  • Locate the material version you want to deactivate, in this case, V1.
  • Click Create Version. The Material Version dialog box appears.
  • In the Material Version dialog box, select V1 to deactivate.
  • Click submit. V1 is deactivated immediately, and you are redirected to the Material Administration page.
  • On the Material Administration page, locate V2.
  • Click Create Version again. This action initiates the creation of the new version (V3). If you cancel the creation of V3 at any point, V1 will remain inactive as it was already deactivated.

​

After

  • A Material with two versions, V1 and V2, exists.
  • Open the Material Administration page.
  • Locate the material version you want to deactivate, in this case, V1.
  • Click Create Version. The Material Version dialog box appears.
  • In the Material Version dialog box, select V1 to deactivate.
  • Click submit. The system continues with the creation of the new version workflow. You are not redirected to the Material Administration page.
  • V1 remains active during the creation process of V3.
  • Complete the steps to create V3 as needed.
  • Once V3 is successfully created, V1 will be deactivated automatically. If you cancel the creation of V3 at any point, V1 will remain active.

There is no workflow change in version creation in the case of Materials with only one approved version.

Note: Setting a start date on the latest version allows deactivating the previous version without creating a new one.

The enhanced Material Append Versioning Workflow requires activation via Feature Activation Preferences. To do this, go to ADMIN > TOOLS > LEARNING > LEARNING PREFERENCES > FEATURE ACTIVATION PREFERENCES. In the Activate Material Append Versioning Workflow Enhancement section, click ACTIVATE.

How Does this Enhancement Benefit My Organization?

Better and more solid append versioning workflow that respects the business rules, avoiding accidental deactivation without creating a new version.

Considerations

  • The purpose of this Early Adopter is to allow clients to test and adopt. This will be auto-enabled in the November 2024 release.​
  • This feature is not available for clients who do not use appended versioning.

Implementation

This functionality is available for all organizations using the Learning module.

This functionality is controlled by a feature activation setting, which is disabled by default. It can be self-activated via Feature Activation Preferences.

Permissions

The following existing permissions apply to this functionality:

PERMISSION NAME PERMISSION DESCRIPTION CATEGORY
Materials Management Grants ability to view the Material Administration page and create, edit, and copy materials. Once created, these "materials" can be managed like other learning objects via the course catalog. This permission can be constrained by OU, User's OU, and Provider. The constraints on this permission determine which materials the administrator is able to view, edit, copy, and create. This is an administrator permission. Learning - Administration
Material Version with Append - Manage

Grants ability to create versions of a material. This permission works in conjunction with the Materials Management permission. This permission can be constrained by OU, User's OU, and Users.

This permission only applies to organizations that are using Versioning with Append for materials.

 Learning - Administration