Material Reversioning Behaviors (Versioning with Append)

The system behaves in the following manners when a material is reversioned:

Material Versioning Considerations

When a new version of a material is created, the following considerations apply:

  • When one version is inactivated, the other active version also becomes inactivated. Example: Both version 1.0 and version 2.0 would become inactive if one or the other is inactivated.
  • When a training purpose is associated with the previous material version, the training purpose IS included with users' new version of the training on their transcripts, and the training purpose is also attached to the new version of the training in the Course Catalog.

  • The pricing from the previous version is NOT automatically copied to the new version. Administrators must configure pricing for the new version in Course Catalog.
  • The acknowledgment from the previous version is not automatically copied to the new version. Administrators must configure acknowledgments for the new version via the Course Catalog.

  • The training equivalencies are NOT automatically copied to the new version. Administrators must configure training equivalencies for the new version in Course Catalog. Note: This behavior is different from Replace Versioning, where existing training equivalencies are automatically copied to the new version.
  • Any certifications or development plans that contain a previous version of the material are NOT impacted.
  • Any prerequisites, pre-work, or post work associated with the original material ARE automatically copied to the new version.
  • If a material is a prerequisite, pre-work, or post work for another LO, then the new version is automatically set as the prerequisite, pre-work, or post work for the LO.
  • If a material is included within the structure of a cohort, then the cohort structure is not impacted by the new version of the material. That is, the old version of the material remains associated with the cohort.
    • Approval Workflow
    • Badges
    • Competencies
    • Custom OU pricing
    • Enable Default Completion Message
    • Exclude from Recommendations
    • Is Mobile? checkbox
    • Points
    • Recommended courses
    • Recurrence
    • Signature Message
    • Skills
    • Thumbnail image
    • Training Units

RegNum Behavior

  • If the user has completed the previous version and the new version replaces the previous version, then the new version is added to the user's transcript and the RegNum is increased. The status of the new version is dependent on the LO settings in Course Catalog.
  • If the user has completed the previous version and the new version appends the previous version, then the new version is added to the user's transcript and the RegNum is 1.
  • If the user has registered for and not completed the previous version and the new version replaces the previous version, then the new version is added to the user's transcript and the RegNum is not changed. The status of the new version is Registered.
  • If the user has registered for and not completed the previous version and the new version appends the previous version, then the new version is added to the user's transcript and the RegNum is 1.

Reversioned Material within Curriculum

If a user is selected and they have the material in a curriculum on their transcript, then the user automatically receives the new version of the curriculum.

Important: To maintain compliance, administrators must have the permission for material versioning (either the replace permission or the version with append permission) AND the permission for curriculum versioning. If an administrator creates a new version of a child material or child online course but does NOT have permission to version curricula, the curriculum will not be updated and version updates cannot be maintained.

  • The effective date of the new curriculum version is set to the effective date of the new material version.
  • The comments for the new curriculum version are the same as the new material version.
  • The user's curriculum progress is maintained.
  • Important: Impacted curricula are only reversioned if the administrator has permission to manage curricula versions. Also, the new curriculum version is only assigned to users if the curriculum is within the constraints of the administrator's permission to manage curricula versions.

Validation Messages

A validation message appears during the Versioning with Append process if the Start Date and Effective Date of a versioned material are too close to each other.

Validation Message #1: Creation of Material when Effective Date and Start Date are within [H] hours (H value defined by a backend setting)

For most portals, the time difference between the Start Date and Effective Date which triggers validation messages is set to two hours, meaning that H hours = 2 hours. If an administrator versions a material and the Start Date and Effective Date are within two hours of one another, the following warning message will trigger:

“The Effective Date and Start Date are too close for the new version to process. By clicking Accept, you are acknowledging that the previous version will expire immediately."

If the administrator clicks Accept, the old version of the training is immediately deactivated.

Note: Select portals have been configured with an H value other than two, so these portals will trigger the above validation message when the value between the Start Date and Effective Date is at or below the H value defined by the portal's backend setting.

Expired Materials in Curriculum

Because two versions of a material may exist in a curriculum, one of the versions within the curriculum may expire, leaving only one active version.

If the administrator selected the Replace option when creating the new version, then the curriculum containing the material is reversioned. The curriculum only contains the new, active material. This is consistent with reversioning of curricula, tests, and online courses.

When a material or online course is versioned with Append logic, you have the option to choose the start date of the new version. Once the start date is reached, the old version expires and becomes inactive. Expired child training items are hidden by default. The expiration of the previous training version is captured on the Structure History page for curricula, which is accessible from the Course Console.

An option to expose and hide expired training in a curriculum is available on both the Training Details page and on the Curriculum Player page for the curriculum.

Material Approval Workflow

When a material is reversioned, the initial and completion approval settings are copied from the old version to the new version. If a user has received initial approval for the old version of the material, then approval is not required for the new version of the material. If the old version of the material requires completion approval, then the new version also requires completion approval.

Only standard approval workflows are copied from the old version to the new version. Custom approval workflows are not copied to the new version.

Material Pricing

When a new version of a material is created, the pricing from the previous version is not automatically copied to the new version. Administrators must configure pricing for the new version in Course Catalog.

When a material is reversioned and the material is not within a curriculum, the following pricing rules apply:

  • If the Replace option is selected for the new version, the user is not asked to pay for the new material version.
  • If the Append option is selected for the new version, the user is asked to pay for the new material version.

When a material is reversioned and the material is within a curriculum, the following pricing rules apply:

  • The Pay Upfront option is selected for the material - Payment is bypassed for the material and the curriculum.
  • The Pay Upfront option is not selected for the material - Payment is due for the new version of the material when the user activates the material within the curriculum.

Learning Assignments

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material is available to select when assigning users training via a learning assignment. Users who already have a previous version of the material on their transcript will only receive the new version of the material if the Assign New Occurrence option is selected for the learning assignment.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available to select when assigning training to users. Administrators can select both versions for the learning assignment, and both versions of the material can appear on the user's transcript at the same time. This is true until the previous version of the material expires. Users who already have the previous version of the material on their transcript will keep the previous version and will also receive the new version. If the learning assignment is set to process on a future date and one of the versions expires, then the learning assignment is processed, but the expired version is not assigned to users.

Course Catalog

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material is available when Course Catalog is searched and Current Version is selected from the Version filter. The replaced version is available if Course Catalog is searched and All Versions is selected from the Version filter.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available when Course Catalog is searched. This applies whether Current Version or All Versions is selected from the Version filter. This is true until the previous version of the material expires.

Assign Training

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material can be assigned to users from the LO Details page.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available to be assigned to users from the LO Details page. This is true until the previous version of the material expires.

Browse for Pricing

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material is available when browsing for training. When accessing the Learning Object (LO) Details page for the material, the LO Details page reflects the new version of the material.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available when browsing for training. This is true until the previous version of the material expires. When accessing the LO Details page for the material, the LO Details page reflects the selected version of the material.

Global Search

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material is available when searching via Global Search. When accessing the Learning Object (LO) Details page for the material, the LO Details page reflects the new version of the material.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available when searching via Global Search. This is true until the previous version of the material expires. When accessing the LO Details page for the material, the LO Details page reflects the selected version of the material.

Training Search Pop-ups

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material is available when searching for training via a Training Search pop-up.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available when searching for training via a Training Search pop-up. This is true until the previous version of the material expires.

Request Training

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material is available to be requested by users from the LO Details page.

  • If a user does not have any version of the material on their transcript, then the requested version is added to their transcript if the request is approved.
  • If a user has version 1 of the material on their transcript and they request version 2, then version 2 replaces version 1 on their transcript if the request is approved.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material are available to be requested by users from the LO Details page. This is true until the previous version of the material expires.

  • If a user requests a version of material that is not on their transcript, then the requested version is added to their transcript if the request is approved.
  • If a user has a version of a material on their transcript and they request another active version of the material, then both active versions appear on their transcript if the request is approved.

Transcript

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version replaces the previous version, then only the new version of the material can exist on a user's Transcript.

If the administrator has reversioned a material and the new version appends the previous version, then the previous version and the new version of the material can exist on a user's Transcript at the same time. Both materials can be launched and marked as complete. This is true until the previous version of the material expires.

Applicable Reversioning Statuses

During the material reversioning process, administrators can push the new material version to statuses which are equivalent to Not Started, Registered, and In Progress. The list of applicable statuses is as follows:

  • Not Started - Includes training in a Not Started status and the following statuses which are equivalent to Not Started:
    • Registered
    • Registered/Past Due
    • Registered/Not Available
    • Registered/Not Available/Past Due
    • Approved
    • Approved/Past Due
    • Pending Prerequisite
    • Pending Prerequisite/Past Due
  • In Progress - Includes training in an In Progress status and the following statuses which are equivalent to In Progress:
    • In Progress/Past Due
    • Pending Observer Completion
    • Pending Observer Completion/Past Due
    • Pending Completion Approval
    • Pending Completion Approval/Past Due
    • Pending Evaluation
    • Pending Evaluation/Past Due
    • Pending Acknowledgment
    • Pending Acknowledgement/Past Due
    • Pending Pre-work
    • Pending Pre-work/Past Due
    • Pending Post-work
    • Pending Post-work/Past Due
    • Pending Completion Signature
    • Pending Completion Signature/Past Due
  • Completed - Includes training in a Completed status and the following statuses which are equivalent to Completed:
    • Completed Equivalent
    • Exempt

    Reversioning Status Use Cases

    Use Case #1 - Approved Status

    Ryan is a Learning Administrator at Acme Corp. His organization uses an approval workflow which requires users to receive manager approval before training can be registered on their transcripts. When Ryan reversions the materials, he wants to make sure that all users in an Approved status will get the new material version without requiring manager approval again. With the enhanced reversioning statuses, he is able to accomplish this goal.

    Use Case #2 - Pending Prerequisite Status

    Multiple scenarios apply to training with a prerequisite:

    • Previously completed prerequisite:
      • Brigette is an LMS user who has just been assigned a new version of a material that has a prerequisite she already completed for the previous version of the material. In this case, she will not need to retake the prerequisite, and will automatically be able to launch the material.
    • Prerequisite NOT previously completed:
      • Julienne is an LMS user who has just been assigned a new version of a material that has a prerequisite she did not complete for the previous version. In this case, she will have to take the prerequisite and will not be able to launch the material before completing it.

    Use Case #3 - In Progress Statuses

    Multiple scenarios can apply to training in a status equivalent to In Progress. Two possible scenarios include:

    • Pending Evaluation:
      • Ryan is a learning administrator at Acme Corp. The material "IT Security" includes an evaluation which must be completed before the material can be marked complete on learners' transcripts. When Ryan reversions the material, he wants to make sure that all users with the material in a Pending Evaluation status will receive the new material version, and he wants to ensure that the evaluation will apply to the new version as well.
    • Pending Completion Signature:
      • Peter is the compliance manager at Acme Corp. When he sends a new version of the material called "Sanitization Guidelines" to the learning administrator, who will use it to replace the old version, he wants to make sure that users who have not signed off on the previous version will also get the new version of the material.