What's New for February '16

Safe Harbor Statement: Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other documents or public statements are not currently GENERALLY available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Cornerstone OnDemand applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available.

Select this link to download the complete release notes.

The following new features and enhancements are available for the February '16 release as of 05 February 2016:

Compensation Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
Compensation Plan - Retain Display Options Email Digest – Compensation Approval Email   With this enhancement, when a compensation manager configures the display and sort options within a compensation plan, the configured display options and sort orders are applied to all tabs as the compensation manager navigates between tabs within the compensation plan. This enables the compensation manager to navigate between tabs and view all data with the same display configuration without having to set the display configuration on each tab.
Compensation Approval Email Digest Compensation Approval Email Digest  

With this enhancement, a new email digest section is available for Compensation. This enhancement reduces the number of emails a user receives and lowers the chance that an email notification is missed.

  • Compensation Task Due: Task Approver - This dynamic section is intended to alert recipients that there is one or more new postings available in the recipient's Connect communities. This dynamic section can be configured to display the details of each new posting. If there has not been a new community posting that is available to the user since the last digest was delivered, then this section is not included in the email digest for the user.

Connect Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
Edit Community Membership Type Edit Community Membership Type   With this enhancement, the community membership setting can be edited to enable switching membership from Auto-enrollment to Invitation, or from Invitation to Auto-enrollment. Prior to this enhancement, community membership was designated as Auto-enrollment or Invitation during the create community process, and this setting could not be changed after community creation.
Embedded Images and Videos Embedded Images and Videos   With this enhancement, uploaded video files and images will be embedded in New Connect.
Remove Member or Self from Invitation Community Remove Member or Self from Invitation Community   With this enhancement, users have the option to unjoin a community that they joined via invitation, and community moderators can remove users from a community that the users joined via invitation. This allows users to remove themselves from communities of which they no longer wish to be a member and provides moderators with greater capabilities in removing users.
SSO Compatibility with Connect Emails SSO Compatibility with Connect Emails  

Email links in Connect-related emails will now link to postings for portals that use Single Sign On (SSO). When users click the link in the email, the user is taken directly to the linked posting.

This enhancement applies to all Connect emails and email digests.

Core Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
AJAX Control Toolkit Update     With this enhancement, the Cornerstone system is now referencing an upgraded version of the AJAX Control Toolkit. The Cornerstone system uses the AJAX Control Toolkit third-party library for some of its controls such as the Calendar control.
Customize Security on Snapshot Documents Customize Security on Snapshot Documents   With this enhancement, administrators can customize the security of each folder within Snapshot Documents. This enables administrators to determine for which users a folder is available on their Snapshot Documents page and which users have access to the folder for a specific set of users. With the ability to configure security for each folder individually, organizations can now utilize Snapshot Documents to securely store employee information including legal, job-related, and performance-related documents.
Data Load Wizard - User Load Support for Hierarchy Relationships Data Load Wizard – User Load Support for Hierarchy Relationships in the Same File   With this enhancement, the Data Load Wizard is updated to more seamlessly support loading users and their associated hierarchies (direct reports, approvers, etc.) within the same file. For example, administrators can now specify a manager for a new user even if the manager and the user are both being added to the system for the first time. This greatly reduces the work and rework needed to load a new user along with a new manager or direct report.
Display Inherited Permissions on Reports Display Inherited Permissions on Reports   As part of current functionality for security roles, any permission that is added to a child role is also inherited by the parent role. With this enhancement, an Inherited Permission column is added to the Security Role Report output. This column indicates whether or not a permission has been inherited from a child role. The column displays "Yes" if the permission has been inherited by the parent role from a child role, and "No" if the permission has not been inherited from a child role.
Ellucian Banner Position Integration   Yes An inbound data feed is now available to import data from Ellucian's Banner Position Description system into Cornerstone. The standard integration supports an inbound feed from Ellucian to Cornerstone, which contains the following Position OU data: Description, Responsibilities, Attributes (Education, Skills, Certifications, Exams).
Enhanced Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) Enhanced Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) Automatically enabled when web services are in use. In order to support creating organizational units (OUs) for multiple languages, the SetOUlocal parameters are now included within the Web Service Definition Language (WSDL).
Global Search Behavior - People Tab     With this enhancement, the People tab of the Global Search page no longer displays any users until at least one search criterion is defined.
Insights: Compliance Control Compliance Control (Previously Released, Available Now!)   Online Help for the Compliance Control Insight is now available. The Compliance Control dashboard helps organizations understand their risk for not meeting compliance requirements for training completion. The dashboard displays widgets that show the number of employees who are at risk for not completing training on time and which trainings are the most at risk (i.e., the trainings that are the most "at risk" courses by number of employees that are at risk for not completing them). The primary risk factors also display, as well as a breakdown of the top at-risk trainings by organizational unit.
Link - Data Load Wizard User Load Link - Data Load Wizard Platform User Load   With this enhancement, when both Link and Data Load Wizard (DLW) are in use, the DLW User Data Load and User Data Feed are updated to accept user information without a User ID. When user data is provided without a User ID, the DLW creates a new user record for the user, and the system automatically creates a User ID for the user.
Link - Use Recruiting and Effective Dating Together Link – Use Recruiting & Effective Dating Together   With this enhancement, both Recruiting and Effective Dating for Link can be used within the same portal.
New Local System ID Field New Local System ID Field   With this enhancement, a new Local System ID field is now available, which enables organizations to store the identifier that is generated by Cornerstone in the User ID field and store the ID from a local HR or Payroll system in the Local System ID field.
Organizational Unit (OU) Localization Organizational Unit (OU) Localization Existing clients must contact Cornerstone to enable. With this enhancement, administrators are now able to add localized translations for all standard and custom OUs within the portal. This enables organizations to maintain a single OU structure globally while ensuring that users always see the appropriate value based on their preferred language. As a result, organizations are able to more easily build, maintain, and support their organizational structure within the system.
Organizational Unit (OU) Preferences Optimization Organization Unit (OU) Preferences Optimization   This optimization improves the back-end performance for settings that can be configured by organizational unit (OU). Core Preference pages impacted by this update include Languages, Time Zone, Navigation Tabs and Links, Theme and Logo, and Welcome Pages, among others. These updates are entirely back-end and are not expected to impact the day-to-day experience. Although there are no visible changes to these areas, clients are encouraged to test during User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to validate that the experience remains the same. For example, navigate to Time Zones preferences, make a change and save it, then navigate back to ensure the change was properly changed.
Portuguese Language Pack Enhancements     With the February 2016 release, Cornerstone is revising the translations for the Portuguese (Brazil) language pack. Over 200 translation changes are made across the portal.
Real Time Data Warehouse Real Time Data Warehouse (RTDW)   The Real Time Data Warehouse (RTDW) is a new optimized data warehouse solution, which will replace the existing data warehouse solution currently used by the Cornerstone reporting tools. New hardware and software solutions have been utilized to build a new data warehouse solution. With this solution, Cornerstone will use synchronous replication to ensure that the RTDW is updated within minutes instead of once a day.
View OU and User Identifiers in Availability and Group Criteria     When creating or modifying Availability and Groups, users will now see IDs displayed beside the Organizational Units (OUs) and Users. This gives administrators the ability to easily distinguish between similarly named OUs and Users.
Web Services Optimization Web Services Optimization   In an effort to better secure and track Web Service access, Cornerstone is turning off Web Service access for only those clients who have never accessed SOAP APIs. This ensures that Cornerstone is able to more thoroughly track and enhance Web Services going forward. Once disabled, user accounts within the portal are not able to access SOAP APIs.

Learning Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
Added Custom Fields for Auditing for Outbound Data Feed Added Custom Fields for Auditing for Outbound Data Feed Yes With February 2016 release, various fields in the Course Catalog, Material Administration, Curriculum Administration, and Events and Sessions areas of the Learning module are now audited, and the audits are stored to Cornerstone's databases. This allows for stronger tracking and compliance over critical Learning fields.
Citrix GoToMeeting Attendee Limit Increase Citrix GoToMeeting Attendee Limit Increase   With this enhancement, organizations now have the ability to launch meetings via Citrix GoToMeeting with up to 100 attendees based on their current license limit. This enables organizations using Citrix GoToMeeting to have access to the full functionality of their applicable portal license. Organizations can control their maximum attendee limit via a new GoToMeeting Attendee Limit field on the Citrix Preferences page.
Data Load Wizard - Question and Transcript Load Field Changes Data Load Wizard Test Question Bank & Transcript Load Field Changes  

In the Question Bank Data Load, the Reference Number column is renamed to Question Reference Number. This applies when loading questions and question responses.

In the Transcript Data Load, the Learning Object/Reference Number ID column is renamed to Learning Object ID/Training Reference Number.
Edit Provider for Online Courses Edit Provider for Online Courses   With this enhancement, administrators can now edit the provider for an online course via the Course Catalog. Also, when creating a new publication via the Course Publisher, no default provider is set for a course. Administrators are required to set a provider for the online course upon creating the publication.
Enhanced GetDetails Web Service   Automatically enabled when specific web service is in use. If not already enabled, contact Cornerstone via a Global Customer Support case to enable this web service. With this enhancement, a PartName field is added to the GetDetails web service response for session learning objects (LOs). The PartName field is the title of the session part.
Learning Object Details Map View for ILT Preview Learning Object (LO) Details Map View for Instructor Led Training (ILT) Preview (Invite-Only) Preview Program - Invite Only With the new geolocation and postal code search features, learners can now easily find instructor-led training (ILT) sessions that are taking place near their own or a preferred location. This enhancement enables the process of finding sessions to be more intuitive and accessible.
Learning Object Details - Sessions Tab Learning Object Details – Sessions Tab   The Learning Object (LO) Details page for events is easier to navigate with a new “Sessions” tab that separates Session information from other details, ratings and reviews. This change is automatically applied to all new and existing sessions.
Lynda.com Content Integration   Yes An integration is now available for Lynda.com. With this enhancement, a scheduled, automated process automatically recognizes any newly created content within the organization's Lynda.com portal. The system then processes the new content and publishes the content within Cornerstone. Outbound SSO is applied to each Lynda.com online course to allow users to seamlessly launch online courses within the Cornerstone system.
Material Versioning Full Roll-out Material Versioning Full Roll-Out

Simplified Versioning is enabled by default.

If you are already using Versioning with Append, no action is needed to continue using.

To revert from Simplified Versioning to Versioning with Append, contact CSOD through a Global Customer Support case.

 To better support compliance needs and strengthen data integrity, versioning functionality for materials is fully required with the February ’16 Release. Depending on the need, organizations can choose to use either Simplified Versioning or Material Versioning with Append. Simplified Versioning is the default option.
Material - Add Subject Material Administration – Copy, Edit Subject & View History Details   With this enhancement, administrators can now add one or more subjects to a material when creating or editing the material via Material Administration. An Add Subject link is available on the General page. Administrators can add one or more subjects. Adding a subject to a material is optional.
Material - Copy Material Material Administration – Copy, Edit Subject & View History Details   With this enhancement, administrators can now copy material LOs from the Material Administration page. The Copy option is available in the Options column to administrators who have permission to manage materials. This option is available for all non-expired materials, including previous versions.
Material - View History Details Material Administration – Copy, Edit Subject & View History Details   With this enhancement, additional details are now captured in the Modification History section when creating or editing a material via Material Administration. This includes modifications to the material type, provider, and material source.
Material - View Users Material Administration – Copy, Edit Subject & View History Details   With this enhancement, administrators can now view all users who have any version of a material on their transcript from the Material Administration page. Administrators can also access the Transcript Details of an enrolled user's material.
Renamed Legacy Forms to Training Forms Renamed Legacy Forms to Training Forms   With this enhancement, the administration pages related to the training forms are renamed to more clearly indicate that they are specific to training forms. This includes page titles, field names and descriptions, email triggers, and permissions. This enhancement creates a consistent user experience for administrators when managing their new and existing training forms.
Roster - Add Users Permission Constraints Session Roster Constraints and Sign-In Sheet Enhancement   With this enhancement, Roster - Add Users permission can now be constrained by ILT Provider and User's ILT Provider. This constraint restricts the sessions to which an administrator or instructor is able to add users. For example, if an instructor is constrained to a particular provider, then the Add Users link is only available to the instructor on sessions that are associated with the constrained provider.
Self-Registration Fields Enhancements Self-Registration Fields Enhancements  

With this enhancement, the following improvements are made to the Order step when configuring self-registration pages:

  • Address and Prefix fields can now be included
  • Data entered into the new address fields automatically populates the user record
  • An option is added for custom fields to use the default and translated values
Session Roster - Display Additional Information Session Roster Constraints and Sign-In Sheet Enhancement   With this enhancement, the Session Roster is enhanced to display the event name at the top of the page and the session start and end date in the session details.
Session Roster - Sign-in Sheet Enhancements Session Roster Constraints and Sign-In Sheet Enhancement This functionality is only available to organizations that are using the expanded sign-in sheet. To enable the expanded sign-in sheet, which includes this enhanced functionality, contact Global Customer Support. With this enhancement, the printed sign-in sheet for a session is enhanced to display additional information and to display existing information more efficiently.
Session Start Date Email Trigger - Manager Name Session Roster Constraints and Sign-In Sheet Enhancement   With this enhancement, the Session Start Date email trigger is enhanced to support the RECIPIENT.MANAGER.FIRST.NAME and RECIPIENT.MANAGER.LAST.NAME tags. These tags enable administrators to include the name of the registered user's manager in the email.
Time-out for Online Courses Time-out for Online Courses   With this enhancement, if a user is completing an online course and their login session is about to expire, the user is now notified. The user is also given the option to continue their login session. If the user does not choose to continue the login session, then the system ends the user's session.

Mobile Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
Mobile Redesign Auto-Upgrade Mobile Redesign (New UX)   With the February '16 release, the mobile app is redesigned to provide users with a modern and vibrant interface. While there are no functionality or feature changes with this enhancement, the interface is designed to deliver a more consumerized experience to generate users.
Mobile - Retire Support for Android 4.3 and iOS 7.0 Mobile – Retire Support for Android 4.0 & iOS 7.0  

With the February '16 release, support for older Android and iOS operating systems will be retired. The following operating systems will be supported following the February '16 release:

  • Android – Only 4.4 and above will be supported
  • Apple (iOS) – Only 8.0 and above will be supported
Online Course External Links and Documents Mobile – Online Course External Links and Documents  

Android and iOS users are now able to access external links and documents from their online courses. When the link or document is closed, users are returned directly to the course without having to re-open the app.

In addition, an option is added to Course Catalog to enable the header in mobile enabled online courses to be hidden. This allows users to experience the course in full-screen view.

Performance Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
Goals Redesign Goals Redesign

Automatically enabled in Stage with UAT.

Contact Global Customer Support to enable in Production and Pilot.

Automatically upgraded across all environments with the April 2016 release.

With this enhancement, the Goals functionality is redesigned. The entire end user experience and pages are redesigned for a stronger and more seamless process.

  • Pages have been consolidated and pop-ups eliminated for a more efficient and effective goal creation, tracking, and management.
  • Alignment options are displayed to reduce confusion and increase transparency.
  • Tasks and Targets are created and grouped into a single section to more closely align with how they are created and tracked.
  • The My Goals page displays all goals that relate to you with dynamic filtering options to display Manager, Division, and Company goals on the same page.
Performance Reviews - Decline to Sign Performance Reviews - Decline to Sign   With this enhancement, organizations can now provide reviewers with the option to decline to add their signature to the Sign Off section of a performance review. This allows the reviewer to indicate that they do not agree with the outcome of the performance review. When a reviewer declines to sign off on a performance review, this is clearly reflected throughout the performance review and in the printable performance review.

Recruiting Features

Feature Name from Release Notes Feature Name from Release Summary By Request? Description
ADP Workforce Now Integration for Recruiting and Onboarding   Yes An integration is now available for ADP WorkForce Now (WFN). With this integration, when an external candidate is hired and their User Record is created in Cornerstone, their user information is sent to WFN. Within WFN, the HR Administrator or manager can update the user's profile with additional information and advance that user as an employee.
Global Recruiting Localization Recruiting Localization   For portals with multiple languages enabled, this enhancement enables a single job requisition to be created in multiple languages and allows administrators, hiring managers, recruiters, and applicants to view location-appropriate content in their preferred language. Prior to this enhancement, individual job requisitions had to be created for each language.
Pre-Screening: Pop-Up and Retire Videos in Questions Pre-screening Details At-a-Glance   With this enhancement, recruiters can quickly view an applicant's pre-screening questions, responses, and scores from a new pop-up that can be accessed from the Manage Applicants page. In addition, video files can no longer be uploaded when creating pre-screening questions.
Print Onboarding Forms to PDF Print Onboarding Forms to PDF   With this enhancement, clients can now render completed forms as a PDF so that the form can be printed or saved for future use outside the system. A Print to PDF option is added to the options drop-down in Universal Profile > Snapshot Documents. Prior to this enhancement, forms could only be printed using the print functionality on the browser.
Recruiting Usability Enhancements Recruiting Usability Enhancements   With this enhancement, usability improvements are made to the Applicant Tracking System (ATS).