Release Notes for Community Engagement

Mobile Communications App 5.6.23 release

Release 5.6.23 available 2 Feb 2023

The release 5.6.23 includes bug fixes and minor enhancements

iOS:

• We've tested the performance of MCA apps on iOS 16 to be successful.
• Bug fixes and minor enhancements.

Android:

• We've tested the performance of MCA apps on Android 13 to be successful.
• We've revised our support to Android versions 9 and above only.
• Bug fixes and minor enhancements.

Community Engagement 10.41

Release 10.41 available on 25th and 30th Jan 2023.

Feature enhancements

Email open rates

• We'll show email open rate analytics to users.

Push notifications

• We’ve improved the delivery speed for automated messages.

Resolved issues

Reminder messages

• We’ve added a tooltip to guide users to add the time into the text field for reminder messages.

WCM posts

• We fixed an anomaly that caused images posted from BBComms to WCM to resize.
• We fixed a bug that didn't show the images posted from BBComms to WCM Announcements.

Security

• We've made some security improvements.

Import manager

• We’ve made improvements to the import manager to increase reliability.

Mobile Communications App 5.6.22 release

Release 5.6.22 available 12 Dec 2022

The release 5.6.22 includes an updated feature and bug fixes.

Updated feature

• Users can attach images or files to their messages.

Bug fixes

• We’ve improved MCA compatibility with the iOS 16 and Android 13 updates.
• Minor enhancements

Blackboard Reach 1.13 Release

Release 1.13 available 7 Dec 2022

This release has an updated feature.

Updated feature

• Users can attach images or files to their messages.

Community Engagement 10.40

Release 10.40 available 29 Nov and 6 Dec 2022    

The 10.40 release includes bug fixes and backend changes.

Resolved issues

• Messages
  • We've fixed an issue where users couldn't play audio attachments of draft messages in the saved messages folder.
  • We've fixed an alert message text with the HTML code in the 'generate passwords' setting.
     
• Reports
  • We fixed the loading issue with the teacher messaging report.
     
• Social media
  • We've fixed an issue in the feeds to stop showing deleted tweets.

Backend changes

• We've removed the PEM file expiry verification for clients who've migrated to the token-based authentication.
• We'll show the modified time in the tables in Reach.
• We're introducing the activity stream feature. Toggle the button to show your activity stream on the app home screen. Turn this setting off to show the menu icons alternatively.
• We've streamlined to email the tipline summaries to clients at 9 PM EST.
• We've renamed the Fastlane tab to Certificates.
• We're introducing a feature that allows school districts to set a branding color for the district app.

Community Engagement 10.39

Release 10.39 available 31 Oct and 3 Nov 2022    

The 10.39 release includes updated features and resolved issues.

Updated features

• Email communications for account set up

  • Admins can configure to send a welcome email to users after account creation with a link to secure their account with a password.
  • Admins can also schedule automated messages to beckon users who've never logged into their account.

• Custom automated messages

  • In custom automated messages, we'll show the option to 'deliver to parents of students' also available to select in the recipient list when users have selected 'Student ID' only.

Resolved Issues

We have resolved the following issues in this release:

• Messages

  • We've fixed an error that showed the HTML tags in the code instead of the confirmation notification that appears to users after they verify their email address to receive alerts from a school.
  • Users saw an empty warning header after uploading an unsupported file using the File option in Groups module. We've fixed this issue to show appropriate alerts when users upload unsupported file formats.

• Social media

  • We've fixed an issue where duplicate Instagram posts showed in the News/Activity stream.

Mobile Communications App 5.6.21 Release

Release 5.6.21 available 25 Oct 2022

In order to receive this and future updates, please make sure to complete this mandatory, one-time setup to simplify your Android and iOS app deployments.

The release 5.6.21 includes enhancements to the user experience. We’ve also addressed issues specific to a few accounts in this release.

Enhancements

• We've improved the aesthetics of the user interface to apply the branding color on more components of the app. Your users will see your brand color in the top story, the header, and pagination, and other interactive elements on the UI reflecting your brand identity.
• Your district app users (including parents and students) will see your activity stream and frequently used app icons on the app home screen. To show the app icons only on the home screen instead, please reach out to support to make this change for you. 
• We’ve added the bottom bar navigation that house options to navigate to the home, tipline, notifications, settings, and all apps.

Fixes

• We’ve addressed issues specific to a few selected accounts only.
   

Community Engagement 10.38

Continuous delivery 10.38 | Release to production on 26th and 29th Sep 2022

The 10.38 release includes updated features and a couple of resolved issues

Updated features

• Select all languages
  
  Translate your messages to all the languages using the new 'select all' button under Languages. You can also manually select or unselect one or more languages, preview a copy of the translated message by clicking on any language before you send the message. 

Resolved issues

• Messages

  • We have added two new languages to the list of languages available for translation - Pashto and Kinyarwanda.
  • The staff started seeing an unintended 'space' with their password if the admin had customized the password reset email using certain formatting, ultimately not gaining access to their accounts. We identified some alignment issues also in the content format on that email. We've fixed these problems. 

• Other fixes

  • The import logs showed false errors after completion. We fixed this issue so executing the parents' import is successful without any such errors.
  • We've fixed a minor issue with the import manager.

Community Engagement 10.37

Continuous delivery 10.37 | Release to production on 25 Jul 2022 and 1 Aug 2022

Here's what the 10.37 release includes:

• New feature
• Updated features
• Bug fixes

New feature

Custom automated messages

• We're introducing custom automated messages in Mass Notifications. Schedule messages with personalised content and communicate regular updates to students and parents just as you send lunch balance or attendance communications. Read more on custom automated messages.

Updated features

Push notification support

• We’ve created a more reliable mechanism to deliver push notifications on Apple and Android devices. 

Social media

• We're now allowing users to add their YouTube channels using Username or Channel ID to stream YouTube feeds in MCA.

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following bugs and issues in this release:

Messages

• We fixed an issue where the URLs in SMS were modified when they were delivered. We edited the code so URLs included in SMS would remain intact upon delivery.
• We included Reach to the list of Advanced option settings in Messages. We identified this and removed Reach from the Advanced option settings in Messages.
• URLs added to the website alerts were unresponsive when visitors clicked them on the website. We've fixed this issue so these URLs are accessible.
• The phone number of whoever submitted a tip to the school admins via SMS and calls were included in the tip report email when their identity should have been anonymous. We've fixed this issue by removing the phone number in the report to maintain anonymity.
• We fixed an issue where the organization names with an ampersand or apostrophe showed as code before saving.
• We fixed an issue with the character count being inaccurate when copying email content to SMS.
• We fixed an issue where users couldn't add content to App Resources.
• When users edit a saved message with an audio attachment, we'd show a prompt to replace the audio attachment or continue with it.

Accounts

• We fixed an issue where apostrophes in account names showed up as code.

Reports

• We fixed a broken image in the charts in the Message utilization report.
   

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Community Engagement 10.36

Continuous delivery 10.36 | Release to production 17 and 19 May, 2022
Enhancements to user experience, bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.36 release includes:

• Enhancements to user experience
• Bug fixes

Enhancements to user experience

• Enhanced the reliability of our data imports for faster and more stable importing. 

Bug fixes

• Resolved an issue impacting our automatic translations on the COPE interface. 

• Resolved an issue in messaging many recipients using the Advanced Search feature. 

• Resolved an issue that caused the Settings Report to fail when generating the report.

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Community Engagement 10.35

Continuous Delivery 10.35 | Release to Production 6 Apr, 2022
Enhancements to user experience, bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.35 release includes:

• Enhancements to user experience
• Bug fixes

Enhancements to user experience

We have enhanced our Twitter integration to reliably show events and news from Twitter for all accounts.

Bug fixes

Various security improvements

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.6.19 Release

Continuous Delivery 5.6.19 | Release to Production Mar, 2022

Here's what the Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.6.19 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes:

• We've added an alert message for users when they link icons to insecure URLs.

Mobile Communications App 5.6.20 Release

Continuous Delivery 5.6.20 | Release to Production Mar, 2022

Here's what the Blackboard Mobile Communications App 5.6.20 release includes:

• Updated features
• Bug fixes

Updated features

Instagram Feed:

Users can now sync their Instagram account under social media to see Instagram feeds in their activity streams, news, etc.

Twitter API:

Users can sync their Twitter account under social media to see Twitter feeds in their activity streams, news, etc.

Bug fixes

• We fixed an alignment issue in the news stream design.
• We fixed an error that showed the HTML code under news.
• We fixed a crash issue for news on iOS devices.
• We've added an alert message for users when they link icons to insecure URLs.
• We've fixed an issue where images did not show in the custom icon "for your name."

Community Engagement 10.34

Continuous Delivery 10.34 | Release to Production 1 Mar, 2022
Enhancements to user experience, bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.34 release includes:

• Enhancements to user experience
• Bug fixes

Enhancements to user experience

PowerTrack enterprise API integration with Twitter 

• This integration improves the reliability, stability, and performance of Twitter functions. Users can show Tweets in activity streams or news for a great experience.
• You can post collages of up to four images to your Twitter account using the C.O.P.E messaging interface.

Bug fixes

Message management

• We fixed an issue where the "Choose file" button was missing when users created a group from a file.

Social media

• We fixed the red refresh error in social media when users linked a Twitter account.
• Fixed an Instagram integration issue specific to a particular user.

Technical Requirements

Here are the BBComms End User Technical Requirements. The Blackboard Privacy Policy updated to reflect the Blackboard brand.

Refresh your cache

It's always a good practice to clear your browser cache on a regular basis. Refresh your Cache shows you how to clear your cache in any browser.

Resources and materials

As always, you can find resources and materials related to this release as well as to the many features and functions on the Blackboard Help website. Core Resource & Help Topics, Communication App, and Training — we’ve got the information you need to succeed with your BBComms.

Mobile Communications App 5.6.19 Release

Continuous Delivery 5.6.19 | Release to Production Jan, 2022

Here's what the Blackboard Mobile Communications App 5.6.19 release includes:

• New feature
• Updated features
• Bug fix
• Maintenance update

New feature

Launch OTP

Users can authenticate with the user name, email address, or phone number linked to their account.

Updated features

We've implemented a safeguard to hide navigation to any HTTP:// web pages without the SSL security certificate. We only show navigation icons that link to HTTPS:// web pages.

Bug fixes

• We fixed a design break on the superintendent biography page.
• We fixed a UI error in the permissions popup of the BB District app School Finder.
• In IOS 15, the headers and settings in the BB District app showed in black instead of blue. We've fixed this issue.
• We have fixed the push notification crash issue in the Android 12 version update.We've fixed the issue with the images not showing from the Blackboard website feed on the mobile app.

Maintenance update

Android 12:

We've upgraded the Android platform support for the advantage of new APIs and capabilities in Android 12.

iOS 15:

We've integrated the iOS 15 SDK and the apps are built on Xcode 13 for a great user experience.
 

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.6.18 Release

Continuous Delivery 5.6.18 | Release to Production Jan, 2022

Here's what the Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.6.18 release includes:

• Maintenance updates

Maintenance updates

Android 12:

We've upgraded Android platform support for the advantage of new APIs and capabilities in Android 12.

iOS 15:

We've integrated with the iOS 15 SDK and apps are built on Xcode 13 for a great user experience.
 

Community Engagement 10.33

Continuous Delivery 10.33 | Release to Production 20 Jan, 2022
Bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.33 release includes:

• Enhancements to user experience
• Bug fixes
• Backend changes

Enhancements to user experience

Instagram feeds integration

Users can link their Instagram account to show Instagram feeds under activity streams, news, etc. This does not include the capability to send and receive Instagram messages.

Fastlane integration

The branded app users can use the Fastlane integration in BBComms and upload their iOS or Android config data to the AWS secret manager to simplify AppStore or PlayStore validation.

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release:

• Improvised and enhanced security:
  • We fixed cross-site scripting on the HTML by removing all unused files.
  • We handled the hardcoded password and moved the related python files to the database.
  • We removed the value attribute in the password field on the reported HTML form.
• Social media
  • We fixed the red refresh error issue in social media when a user adds a Twitter handle.
• Improved account search.
  • We added the bio-information of users in response to the account search API. Users can view the bio-details of the staff.

Backend/DB level changes

• Expansion chevrons not working on the WCM site.
• Disabled default access to the parentlink API documentation endpoint.
• Fixed the database lock issue.
• Created new API for refresh cached API Keys(secret manager keys).

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.6.17 Release

Continuous Delivery 5.6.17 | Release to Production 30 Nov, 2021

Here's what the Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.6.17 release includes:

• Bug fix
• Updated feature

Bug fix

We fixed an issue where users were unable to sign in to the app using their credentials. This issue is fixed and users can seamlessly sign in to the app.

Updated feature

We have enhanced the app to support the latest Android OS version.

End of release notes

Mobile Communications App 5.6.18 Release

Continuous Delivery 5.6.18 | Release to Production 30 Nov, 2021

Here's what the Blackboard Mobile Communications App 5.6.18 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Updated feature

Bug fixes

• There was a problem with the sponsor images being different on different devices. The sponsor images are now same for an ad on all devices.
• Fixed an issue where ‘The School Café URL’ and the 'Go Fan- Event Tickets’ icons did not show up on the menu or didn’t work. These links now appear and load fine.
• Fixed an issue where the top story gallery images did not load. The images on top story gallery now load fine.
• Fixed an issue in loading and showing YouTube news.
• Fixed an issue where the screen reader failed to read the icon names of various features in the School District menu.
• Fixed an issue where the BB district app either started to hang or crash repeatedly when users tried to sign in using Facebook through the Student Info settings. Users can now sign in using Facebook without any issues.
• Fixed an issue where the BB district app either started to hang or crash repeatedly when users tried to sign in using third-party account through the Student Info settings. Users can now sign in using third-party account without any issues.

Updated features

• Android 12 users can add an event to their device from the MCA Calendar using “Add to device calendar” button on the event details screen. 
• Android 12 users can view the Superintendent information from the superintendent bio. 

End of release notes

Blackboard Reach 1.10 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.10 | Release to Production 12 Oct, 2021
Enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.10 release includes:

• Enhanced user experience.

Enhancements

Authentication using passcode

We have added the passive translation feature so users can view the messages in their preferred language. 

Backend/DB level changes

None

Technical requirements

Refresh your cache

It's always a good practice to clear your browser cache on a regular basis. Refresh your Cache shows you how to clear your cache in any browser.

Resources and materials

Community Engagement 10.32

Continuous Delivery 10.32 | Release to Production 12 Oct, 2021
Bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.32 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. 

• Enhanced the reliability of messages

  • Japanese custom messages generated an error in preview. We fixed the issue. 

  • Fixed an issue by adding a validation on the screen when choosing a class/group if no recipients found.

• Improved the reliability of social media

  • Fixed the issue where social media page threw a red refresh error.

• Improved Account Management

  • Adding accounts using a .txt file via the 'Upload Account' tab caused the Org ID and listed it as an e-mail address. We fixed this issue. Now it prompts an exception when users upload unrecognised formats

• Infrastructure changes.

  • None.

• Backend/DB level changes

  • Fixed an issue where the contact details of the staff failed to show up during a search.

  • Resolved the ngentables issue when the database settings table becomes unavailable.

  • Fixed the cleanUpTempAccounts script to clean up all the child organization accounts

Technical Requirements

Here are the BBComms End User Technical Requirements. The Blackboard Privacy Policy updated to reflect the Blackboard brand.

Refresh your cache

It's always a good practice to clear your browser cache on a regular basis. Refresh your Cache shows you how to clear your cache in any browser.

Community Engagement 10.31

Continuous Delivery 10.31 | Release to Production 9 Sep, 2021
Bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.31 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. 

• Enhanced the reliability of messages

  • Users with 300 SMS+ package can create text messages from the library with 280 characters.

• Improved the reliability of social media

  • Users can view a video's thumbnails under the activity stream on the mobile app.

  • Fixed an issue where social media posts appeared in English and Spanish. Now users will see the content in the language as on BBComms.

  • Users can add any page from their account without limitations to view the Facebook pages. Earlier, users could view only 25 pages from their account even with more than 25 pages on the BBComms app.

• Improved Reports

  • Fixed an issue where the message tracking progress graph failed to load.

• Backend/DB level changes.

  • Changed the uWsgi.ini configuration file.

• Infrastructure changes.

  • None.

• Train the Trainer

Refresh your cache

It's always a good practice to clear your browser cache on a regular basis. Refresh your Cache shows you how to clear your cache in any browser.

Blackboard Reach 1.9 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.9 | Release to Production 9 Sep, 2021
Enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.9 release includes:

• Enhancements

Enhancements

Authentication using passcode

We have implemented the authentication using password feature in this release.

• The SIS integration uses the user's verifiable information.
• Institutions need not supply credentials to users.
• Users can authenticate using their email or phone linked to their account.
• Users need not create and remember passcodes nor reset them.

Refresh your cache

It's always a good practice to clear your browser cache on a regular basis. Refresh your Cache shows you how to clear your cache in any browser.

Blackboard Reach 1.8 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.8 | Release to Production 5 Aug, 2021
Bug fixes, enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.8 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

• UI/UX enhancement
  • Fixed an issue where the batch indicator disappears when user navigates to a channel. Also, the app didn't determine if the user read a message in the channel. Now, the batch indicator is set to disappear only when a user reads the messages in a channel.
  • Users can perform a member search using the first and last name from any direct message.
  • Show error messages in appropriate places.
  • Changes to user names will synchronise on Reach when users edit them in BBComms.
  • Users can delete their primary email ID from the profile page.
  • The profile picture will remain when users select cancel.
     
• Admin tooling
  • Fixed an issue where the admin could read the user's message and the unread message count.
     
• Translation
  • When an admin selects translation, it should translate to the user's preferred language.
     
• Backend/DB level changes
  • Analysis and integration on Google analytics report.
  • Implement authentication in District API.
  • Need to standardise logging levels.
  • SQS trigger event for Email digest get users lambda performance tuning.

Community Engagement 10.30

Continuous Delivery 10.30 | Release to Production 5 Aug, 2021
Bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.30 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. 

• Enhanced the reliability of COPE.

  • A warning will appear for phone content that exceeds 3 minutes when using text to speech. Currently, when recording a message  an alert to save the audio appears if it exceeds 180 seconds.
  • Fixed an issue where automated messages played the footer content.
  • Users can create a query group using one specific field under the school.

• Improved reliability of Facebook.

  • Feeds to update all posts to Facebook including album or pictures in same posts.

• Improved imports

  • Fixed an issue where the client could not create a schedule for demographics imports. Included the 12 am schedule time which was not handled in our application.

• Backend/DB level changes.

  • Parameterisation of API call to fetch WCM client entry point URL that Reach uses.
  • Imports failing for multiple clients on LDAP.
  • SQL injection on inbox API endpoint.

• Infrastructure changes.

  • None.

• Train the Trainer

Blackboard Reach 1.7 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.7 | Release to Production 15 Jun, 2021
Bug fixes, enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.7 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Enhanced user experience. We have addressed the below based on recommendations after the UX audit:

  • We have modified the content in the dialog box that appears when sending a message in a channel.

  • We will display days on the message timeline.

  • The settings page will show the status after enable or disable of a school.

  • We will show the "Enter link" text box in the editor.

  • We have fixed the color of the hyperlink.

  • We will show the school name on banner based on the many schools navigated by the user.

  • We have modified how the school bar appears in landscape view of the mobile app.

  • We have enhanced the user experience of the editor by giving it a maximum height of 40% of the screen height. This experience is consistent across the tablet and mobile apps.

• Improved email digest

  • Users can select the jump icon in the daily digest email to navigate to a message in the channel or direct message.

• Improved admin search

  • Fixed the issue of an error message shown when impersonating the new classes. Now you can search for a message in new classes.

• Backend or database related changes

  • None.

Community Engagement 10.29

Continuous Delivery 10.29 | Release to Production 7 Jun, 2021
Bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.29 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. 

• Enhanced the reliability of account management.

  • Fixed an issue in the functionality where usernames with spaces couldn't login.

• Improvements to library and translation.

  • Fixed an issue where a user couldn't delete a library message because of a large audio file. This issue was specific to a customer in the 06-1 cluster.

  • Appropriate and supported naming conventions for users creating a Vietnamese group.

  • Resolved the date merge tag format in Spanish language. Appropriate date format displayed in messages for Spanish language using merge tag.

• Enhanced the reliability of the mobile app.

  • Fixed an issue where the user couldn't send an audio message using the HQ admin app.

• Backend/DB level changes.

  • Separation of prod and non-prod credentials BBComms - Control #14.
  • Fetch API credentials every time from Secret Manager instead of importing it as a constant.
  • Errors while stopping 'uwsgi' caused the new code to prevent loading.

• Infrastructure changes.

  • None.

• Train the Trainer.

  • BBComms 10.29, Reach 1.7, and Uhura 2.39.

Blackboard Reach 1.6 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.6 | Release to Production 24 May, 2021
Bug fixes, enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.6 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Enhanced user experience

  • Animated the west bar when expanding or collapsing the side navigation.

  • Modified the collapse side menu button, dropdown button, and avatar images on the profile page.

  • Provided additional padding beneath the page navigation under chart archive screen.

  • Rearranged the icon and grid alignment in the reporting page.

  • Modified the header, side panel, channel highlight, and bottom padding in the Channels column.

  • Modified the timestamp colours, content padding, hover effect for icons in Channels & Direct messages.

  • Modified the timestamp divider behaviour and the colours present as part of the reading pane.

  • Removed the double scroll & Extra space present on the chart archive screen.

• Improved operability

  • We will display the relationship under a group even when the relevant user (parent or student) is not a part of that group.

  • Fixed an issue where the chat window did not automatically scroll to the recent message. We will show the recently sent new message on the chat window.

  • Batch indicator counts will update when a new message gets posted in channel and direct messages.

• Enhanced email digest

  • Users can navigate to a specific message on the channel or a direct message by clicking the jump icon in the daily digest mail.

  • The user names are shown on the channel and direct message preview as part of the daily digest mail.

  • Tooltips available for all hyperlinks.
     

Community Engagement 10.28

Continuous Delivery 10.28 | Release to Production 19 May, 2021
Bug fixes.

Here's what the 10.28 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Improvements to COPE

  • Fixed an issue where quotes and apostrophes show as a code in SMS, Twitter, and Facebook messages. Quotes and apostrophes will show as they are in messages across all modalities.

• Enhanced the reliability of lockout mechanism

  • Improvised the account lockout mechanism for concurrent failed login attempts.

  • Trying to login with an invalid username or password will result in account lock out after five unsuccessful attempts. The user won't be able to access their account for fifteen minutes.

  • Fixed the issue where review my messages showed the email content instead of the SMS.

• Improvements to reporting

  • Contact report will have an appropriate category displayed as a part of the report.

  • The message utilization report will show appropriate categories on the chart.

• Enhanced the reliability of the mobile app

  • Fixed an issue where the iOS mobile app crashed for some districts. The issue was due to the change in the video URL field format when passing the upgraded API.

Blackboard Reach 1.5 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.5 | Release to Production 27 April, 2021
Bug fixes, enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.5 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Enhanced user experience
  • Loading overlay properly addressed by covering complete page when the page loads.
  • Width of buttons, padding between date range fields, and findings related to mobile and tablet view addressed.
  • Empty state messages are displayed in the direct message modal and a chat with no activity.
  • When users view a quoted direct message in its original thread, the background will be highlighted in light pink.
• Improved search results
  • Fixed an issue where read messages appeared as unread in impersonating view.
• Improved operability
  • Fixed an issue where live messages weren't populated during a chat.
  • HTML formatting is retained in the message when users reply.
  • Fixed an issue where teachers were able to see students from different classes.
  • Fixed an issue where the student relationship isn't getting shown when the student was added to a group.
  • Fixed an issue where classes duplicated for parent associated more than one student of the same class.
  • Fixed an issue so that the appropriate parents and students results are returned when a teacher searches from the direct message search box.
• Improved reporting and reliability
  • Classes related to the school will be auto-populated in usage reports when the school is enabled in Reach.
  • Number of users accessing via mobile app is included in usage reports.
  • Time now displays correctly in search results in Messages.
  • User reports are automatically populated and generate reports on time based on real-time data.
• Improved settings
  • Fixed an issue where empty channel names (No Name) displayed under settings.
  • Fixed an issue with the Staff ID getting changed when the login ID was changed.
  • Updated the default browser validation to custom validation if Sign in is selected without entering the login ID and password.
• Improved profile page
  • Users are alerted to unsaved changes in the profile page.
  • Adding an email ID will have proper validation and action buttons enabled appropriately.
  • Name of field values changes to suit the user profiles.
  • Fixed an issue where the Delete action was disabled when users want to delete email IDs.
• Enhanced email digest
  • Users will be sent to the district Google Play store or Apple App store link when they click the icon present in the email digest.
  • Users are shown "pending confirmation" and "resend confirmation" links when they opt-in with an ID for email digest.

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production April 2021
Bb Comms, bug fixes

This release includes minor enhancements and bug fixes for Blackboard Mobile Communications app:

Version BCHQ_5.6.11 / PA_5.6.12

The following issues have been resolved in the Blackboard Mobile Communication app:

• Fixed an issue with the broken link for Privacy Policy.
• 3rd party security assessment revealed risks associated with MCA.

Community Engagement 10.27

Continuous Delivery 10.27 | Release to Production 20 April, 2021
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.27 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Improved YouTube feeds reliability
  • Received additional API quota for YouTube Feeds.
  • Events and Videos posted to YouTube, linked to school accounts now get posted in the Mass Communications app.
• Enhanced the reliability of Merge accounts
  • Fixed an issue where SMS and Twitter character limit were impacted if accounts are merged.
• Improved reporting
  • Users can now send messages from reporting section without problems.
• Improved security
  • Enabled SSL in MYSQL Database.
  • Fixed an issue so only members of the respective group can view group details.
  • Added input validation to attachment URL and thumbnail URL.
• Enhanced reliability of Facebook
  • Users can now add the pages, post an event in Facebook, and use the related functionality for communicating important events using Facebook.

Community Engagement 10.26

Continuous Delivery 10.26 | Release to Production 22 March, 2021
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.26 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Enhanced the reliability of Data Imports & Account Management
  • Two separate accounts will be created if the Role ID is different for the same user during import.
  • Fixed an issue where searching by exact name returns irrelevant results.
  • Improved user experience accessing the UI by defaulting to a school when another school is deleted from a merged account.
• Improved security
  • Resolved XSS issue related to content in Public URL.
• Improved reporting
  • Users can now download message utilization report without error even if the report has a large volume of data.
  • Fixed an issue where special characters didn't displayed properly in tip line reports.
• Enhanced reliability of translation
  • Resolved an issue where a few support languages weren't working.
• Improved configuration management
  • Fixed an issue where the web version of the mobile app wasn't working and showing an error.

Blackboard Reach 1.4 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.4 | Release to Production 11 March, 2021
New features, bug fixes

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.4 release includes:

New feature

• Email Digest
  • In this release, we've enabled email digest for all users. Users can add email ID in their profile page, opt-in, and eventually subscribe for Reach daily digests. This will improve awareness of available and missed messages from channel and direct messages delivered via email.

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Enhanced user experience
  • Fixed issues with modal pixel, DM screen, and search input.
  • Removed chat icon from the parent screen for better user experience. 
• Improved search results
  • Now when users select the Clear All button under the search it will clear all the filters and provide the proper experience.

Blackboard Reach 1.3 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.3 | Release to Production 20 February, 2021
New features, bug fixes

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.3 release includes:

New feature

• Profile page
  • We've enabled a profile page for all users where they can view their personal contact information like login ID, staff ID, first name, last name, etc. 
  • Users can add or delete a profile picture
  • Users can change the preferred language 
  • Users can add or delete an email ID for digest purposes.

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Message reliability
  • Parents and students can reply to a message or send direct messages from the received chat from a channel.
  • Parents can search and select the teachers connected to them from Direct Messages.
• Accessibility
  • Users can navigate from Reach to the app using Universal Navigation.
  • Fixed an issue so now users an login via a Chrome browser and the channel populates respectively.
  • Helper message appears as a banner on the login screen if the school isn't available in the application.
• Reports
  • Fixed an issue where the date range was accepting the future date.
  • The platform access count properly updates, based on user login, under reports.
  • The count of members in each channel is consistent across the application.
• UI and UX improvements
  • Channel and Direct Message sections don't have a minimum height. Both sections are scrollable.
  • Column headers are aligned properly to fit the mobile screen.
  • Text editor is more responsive.
  • School order sorted appropriately.
• Settings
  • Proper channels are selected or deselected based on the appropriate action.

Community Engagement 10.25

Continuous Delivery 10.25 | Release to Production 11 February, 2021
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.25 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Enhanced the reliability of Push notifications
  • Disabled push notifications for clients with expired push certificates programmatically. Once the certificate becomes valid the client will automatically receive push notifications.
• Improved Security
  • Restricted the sensitive information disclosure to inappropriate users
  • Implements permission-level check for reported APIs that resolve the broken authorization.
  • Resolved cross-site scripting issue for error message
• Improved messaging capability
  • Fixed an issue where user defined message wasn't sent if no carbon-copy (CC) address has been set. 
  • Fixed an issue where user couldn't cancel a scheduled message. Cancel button will be disabled when the Email and Phone call scheduled time is left with 5 minutes.
• Improved configuration in mobile app
  • Synchronization of time between the activity streams and calendar, with respect to events, are handled properly. 
• Improved account management
  • Fixed an issue where the user couldn't access the group and couldn't communicate or create a message.
  • Merged accounts of different schools can access Smore.

Blackboard Reach 1.2 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.2 | Release to Production 19 January, 2021
New features, bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.2 release includes:

• Blackboard Reach student access
• Posting message reliability
  • Fixed an issue where Reach Notification is displayed in BbComms under Library and Saved user. 
  • Messages read count is updated properly after it's read.
• Reports
  • Appropriate messages and text displays when a search result has no value.
• Mobile app configuration
  • Clicking on the received push notification now navigates to the Reach home screen appropriately.
  • New layout appears for the push notification.

Community Engagement 10.24

Continuous Delivery 10.24 | Release to Production 12 and 19 January, 2021
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.24 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Enhanced the lockout mechanism on login to make user login more secure.
• Attendance and Library balance reports are now available in message tracking Utilization.
• Merging more than two accounts will no longer affect the default sending organization.

Community Engagement 10.23.1

Continuous Delivery 10.23.1 | Release to Production starting 6 January 2021
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.23. release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Improved Performance of integration with Blackboard Reach application 
• Enhanced the reliability of the message tracking report and provided on screen user assistance in regards to the status of the report 
• Improved the reliability of SSO login by identifying the issue that caused SAML login failure for users intermittently 

Blackboard Reach 1.1 Release

Continuous Delivery 1.1 | Release to Production 30 November, 2020
Bug fixes

Here's what the Blackboard Reach 1.1 release includes:

• Posting message reliability
  • Fixed an issue related to posting messages via Google Chrome on Mac, where sometimes the message would disappear. We enhanced message posting reliability.
  • Performance of posting message in a large member group is improved. 
• Message notification
  • Resolved an issue where the message count badge was reporting incorrect numbers. Now users can see appropriate unread count under channels and direct messages as part of the notification.
• Loading district
  • School districts are updated and mapped based on Virtual hostname that lists the domains to populate in Reach. Updates will occur nightly.
• Reports
  • Improved the on-screen feedback when no results are found when searching the Chat Archive.
  • After enabling a school, that school can now be found on the school settings page without requiring a page reload.
  • Fixed an issue related to removing inputs from date field affects the reporting interface.
• UI and UX improvements
  • Appropriate exception handled in Message Failed, Member Search, and District Settings.
  • Mobile responsive UI improved by instantiating horizontal scroll bar for long text that eases user experience.
  • Improved interface on Header display, Universal Navigation display, and landscape view scrolling in mobile browser.
  • Improved interface on adjusting the layout of the keyboard that occupied larger space of a screen earlier.
  • Fixed an issue related to session management.
  • Rich text editor is now responsive and interactive.
• Mobile app configuration
  • Now the user can enjoy seamless auto login access to Reach after successful login to Mobile Communications App.
• Performance and reliability
  • Fixed an issue related to loading of channels under settings. Now the user can get the channel details without delay for large-member groups.

Community Engagement 10.23

Continuous Delivery 10.23 | Release to Production starting 30 November, 2020
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.23 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

COPE

• Fixed an issue with the COPE interface where the messages with multiple delivery methods locking up up the TinyMCE editor. Now the interface will be quick & responsive where users can craft messages for multiple communication channels via COPE. 

Accounts and configuration management

• Fixed an issue where merging more than 2 accounts will not affect the Default sending organization. Now users have the option to select or modify the default sending organization from their account section when their account is merged with more than 2 accounts.
• Fixed an issue with creating groups. Now users can create a group using the query, the parameter value under the field remains consistent.
• Fixed an issue related to flagging accessibility errors in Tip Line. 
• Fixed an issue related to attendance history where terms attendance details weren't available for few students.
• Fixed an issue where Automated daily attendance email was only pulling student first names even though the [STUDENT_NAME] merge tag was being used. 
• Users can add, remove, or modify the delivery methods from the library messages.
• Users have a more responsive and stable RSS widget and can read the complete message by accessing the Read More link.

SMORE

• Fixed an issue with Smore merged account. Now merged account can enjoy a faster and more responsive Smore interface and able to send or publish newsletter using Smore integrated with BBComms.

Reports

• Resolved an issue related to read refresh error when teacher try to view or access students and parents accounts via reports.
• Fixed an issue related to bad data that prevented users to access the scheduled reports. User can access the scheduled reports.
• Users now receive email on-time based on the respective scheduled reports.
• Users can get accurate school report on users without ay discrepancy.

Automated messages

• Fixed an issue related to Unknown data sources such as .auto appear in auto-messages. Now unknown data sources are eliminated from the system.

Social media

• Users can post the survey on Facebook successfully

Mass notifications

• To enhance product security, the carbon copy setting in Mass Notifications has been updated. The following message types will no longer be available for this feature:  Attendance Messages, Cafeteria Messages, Library Messages, and Password Messages. Access to carbon copy is only available for administrators.

Community Engagement 10.22

Continuous Delivery 10.22 | Release to Production 19-22 October 2020
Bug fixes

Here's what the 10.22 release includes:

• Bug fixes

Bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Mobile Communications App:
  • Fixed an issue where some Mobile Communications App users encountered on the home screen

Community Engagement 10.21

Continuous Delivery 10.21 | Release to Production 5 and 8 October 2020
Improvements, bug fixes

Here's what the 10.21 release includes:

• Enhancements
• Bug fixes

Enhancements and bug fixes

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Messaging improvements:
  • Fixed an issue that prevented email address with a space character at the end from unsubscribing to emails
  • Fixed an issue that prevented delivery options set at the District level from being applied to schools
  • Fixed an issue that caused attachments sent by teachers to not appear in the Notifications sections of the Mobile Communications App
  • Improved merge tagging
  • Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent tags from pulling in appropriate information
  • Updating the title of an automated message now updates the title of the message on the message importing screen
  • Fixed an issue preventing recipients with an apostrophe in their name from being selected
  • Automated messages now save when an audio option isn't selected
  • Fixed an issue preventing the character count in Automated Messages from updating
  • Fixed an issue preventing custom automated messages from being deleted
  • Staff accounts that are cc'd on Attendance messages now receive those messages
  • Fixed an issue causing certain translated languages to disappear after translation
  • Editing a saved message in Copy From now copies the entire message, including images
  • Fixed an issue that sometimes caused messages to be sent to students instead of parents
• Mapping improvement:
  • Improved results while searching for recipients in mapping
• General improvements:
  • Fixed an issue causing the Tips and Tricks Twitter feed to appear empty
  • Play audio button is no longer unresponsive in the Custom Automated Messages screen
  • Improved email validation throughout the product to prevent unsupported characters from being uploaded
  • Default caller ID is no longer overwritten when saving changes to the org page
  • Fixed an issue impacting the removal of multiple email addresses at once
  • Fixed an issue that caused an unexpected error when viewing account information
  • Improved the RSS widget to ensure widgets are tied to the appropriate school
  • Fixed an issue that caused newly created Smore newsletters to not load after creations
  • Improved delete logic to ensure data sources can't be deleted if being used by an import
• Reporting improvements:
  • Delivery reports no longer contain CSS code
  • Fixed an issue that caused an error when trying to edit information for a user from the bad phone/email report
  • Improved results to include more data when exporting data from the contacts tab
  • Fixed an issue that prevented edits to scheduled reports
  • Scheduled contact reports now return the right date and time
  • Emailed message tracking report now contains over 2,000 records
• Accessibility improvements:
  • Improved the Tip Line widget to ensure a 100% accessibility score when embedded into WCM
• Regulatory Compliance:
  • Updated wording when texting HELP to our shortcodes 60680, 54968 or 39025 to meet regulatory compliance. It now reads: Blackboard SMS messages. Msg&data rates may apply. Reply STOP to cancel. More Info: 800-829-8107

Community Engagement 10.18

Continuous Delivery 10.18 | Release to Production 21 and 28 July, 2020
New features, bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.18 release includes:

• New features
• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

New features

• In this release, we have added detailed delivery information for social media post in UI. Users can now able to see a detailed delivery status report in "Details" tab under message tracking for social media post. This enhancement will provide users precise information on delivery status when posted to multiple social media accounts

Bug fixes and enhancements

We have resolved the following issues in this release. We’ve listed the issues as they were originally entered and, in the order, that they were reported.

• Fixed an issue in the COPE interface where the messages with multiple delivery methods locked up up the TinyMCE editor. 
• Fixed an issue related to flagging accessibility errors in Tip Line. 
• Fixed an issue related to attendance history where terms attendance details weren't available for few students.
• Fixed an issue where Automated daily attendance email is only pulling student first names even though the [STUDENT_NAME] merge tag is being used. 

Community Engagement 10.17

Continuous Delivery 10.17 | Release to Production 16 and 23 June, 2020
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.17 release includes:

• New features
• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

New features

• Smore Newsletter Integration update: Principals now have access to send Smore newsletters. If you'd like to toggle permissions for your entire district or for any of the roles: District Administrators, Data Admins, Superintendents, School Administrators, or Principals, please create a support ticket.

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Twitter improvement: Animated GIF images posted to Twitter from BbComms now post as animated GIFs instead of static images.
• Security improvement: Hardened API security access controls.

Community Engagement 10.16

Continuous Delivery 10.16 | Release to Production 12 and 19 May, 2020
Bug fixes, minor enhancements

Here's what the 10.16 release includes:

• Bug fixes
• Minor enhancements

Bug fixes and enhancements

• Improved reliability and performance of Twitter post and feed in BBComms.
• The character limit is extended to 5000 characters when translating a message into a foreign language.

Community Engagement 10.14

Continuous Delivery 10.14 | Release to Production 10 and 17 March, 2020
Bug fixes

Bug fixes

• Fixed issues with Facebook integrations related to messaging in Mass Notifications, Facebook feeds updating in the Mobile Communications App, adding new Facebook pages, and viewing Facebook in social media.

  You'll need to verify your social media feeds are mapped properly. If your feeds aren't mapped, you may continue to see inconsistent feed updates.

• Fixed an issue where some section imports couldn't support long teacher IDs.
• Fixed an issue with data imports run in test mode no longer create extraneous IDs in the database.
• Implemented various security updates to ensure the safety of your system and data.
• Fixed an issue where users can add integrate Twitter pages in social media and post a message to the associated page via Bb Comms

Community Engagement 10.13

Continuous Delivery 10.13 | Release to Production 21 and 28 May, 2019
Minor enhancements, Bug fixes

Minor enhancements

• Adjusted configuration to prevent timeouts during imports.
• General security enhancements

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue with a user was unable to add or remove resources in the mobile app.

Community Engagement 10.11

Continuous Delivery 10.11 | Release to Production 12 and 19 March, 2019
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Open Market API update

In this release the Deact report API now points to the Open Markets new API.

Bing Translater API update

The LanguageTools-parlant now supports Microsoft Cognitive Services API.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where reply-to-emails were being removed for some user accounts.
• Fixed an issues where lengthy tips didn’t submit when using the widget. There is now a new character limit of 10,000.
• Fixed an issue where Email Tip Line notifications were sometimes not sent.
• Fixed an issue with inconsistent import results on the same data and same day.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes caused an error when trying to add Facebook feed to Social Media.

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.5.0

Continuous Delivery 5.5.0 | Release to Production 18 February 2019
Bb Comms, New features, Updated features, Bug fixes

New or updated for iOS

• Added the ability to mark all unread notification messages as read.
• Added support for iPhone X.
• iOS 10 is the minimum version.
• Added 167x167 icons for iPad Pro support.

Bug fixes for iOS

We resolved the following issues in the 5.5.0 release:

• Navigation bar became unreadable when sending an email.
• Top Stories header wasn't translating to other languages.
• Facebook and Google text overlapping.
• UI enhancements to the Students account profile when logged in via Facebook.
• Logos appearing stretched on splash screens.
• Image attachments weren't displaying with the message body.

New or updated for Android

• Added the ability to mark all unread notification messages as read.
• Implemented a new GPS utility to assist with locating Tip line, Bus routes, and School finder.
• Migrated GCM to most recent version of FCM to continue to support push notifications.

Bug fixes for Android

We resolved the following issues in the 5.5.0 release:

• Feed entries inserted around daylight savings would crash the app.
• Google sign-in wasn't working
• Opening the Tip line caused the app to crash.
• Text in Top Stories was cut off at the bottom on small screen resolutions.
• Images in Top Stories weren't displaying correctly.
• Google API caused the app to occasionally error.
• Images weren't opening on the activity screen.
• Logos appearing stretched on splash screens.

Community Engagement 10.10

Continuous Delivery 10.10 | Release to Production January and February, 2019
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Import threshold monitoring

In this release we added threshold monitoring to client imports that will trigger a notification to be sent to the "Import monitoring email" if an import has more than x% of bad records.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue with being unable to access error details in Automated messages.
• Fixed an issues where the recipient search for 'All' generates an error if any group name contains Unicode characters.
• Fixed an issue where API/docs page isn't rendering due to error.
• Fixed an issue where the Overdue Count is displayed as a dollar amount.
• Fixed an issue with surveys where a multiple choice response of '*' causes an error in the report.

Community Engagement 10.9

Continuous Delivery 10.9 | Release to Production December, 2018 and January, 2019
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Import threshold monitoring

In this release we added threshold monitoring to client imports. Now, if 10% or more of your records are ignored because they are bad, a notification is sent to the Import Monitoring Email you set in Organization Config for individual institutions.

If an email isn’t set at the school level, it rolls up to the value at the district.

From Settings select Organization Config. Select the name of the organization you want to update. Provide the Import Monitoring Email address and select Save.

Community Engagement 10.8

Continuous Delivery 10.8 | Release to Production 13 & 27 November, 2018
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Data import monitoring

We improved processing when importing data. Now imports don’t fail when processing a bad record and individual records that failed to process are captured properly.

Geo Mapping

Made improvements to the user interface to more easily distinguish Institutions (schools) and the pin dropped when searching for an address when selecting recipients from a map when crafting a message using COPE.

Bug fixes and improvements

• Fixed an issue when Emergency SMS was enabled, the character count wasn't updated
• Fixed an issue where double quote was not being escaped properly for import, causing import to fail for good records
• Fixed an issue where user received a permissions error when re-authenticating Facebook

Community Engagement 10.7

Continuous Delivery 10.7 | Release to Production October, 2018
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Data import monitoring

• Added a new “Import monitoring email” field that supports tracking of data import failures with email. If an import fails, an alert is sent to this email address.

Twitter character count

• Updated the Twitter max character count from 140 to 280 characters

Client & Known Issues / Maintenance

• Fixed an issue where importing from a file with IDs would timeout
• Fixed an issue where parents were receiving attendance calls referencing incorrect schools
• Fixed an issue where WebloginIDs were changing due to a loginID conflict
• Fixed an issue where Smore login page shows when trying to create a new newsletter in Safari
• Fixed an issue where message categories containing Unicode characters causes red bar on message screen
• Fixed an issue where demographic imports were causing errors and account cross-linking when users were imported manually

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App 5.5

Continuous Delivery 5.5 | Release to Production 31 July 2018
Bb Comms, New features, Updated features

We are excited to announce the release of a new version (5.5) of our Blackboard Communications HQ app.

Now available to teachers! 

Districts with our Blackboard Teacher Communications product can now offer a mobile version of our SEND MESSAGE interface to their teachers.

• User Management for Teachers
  • Teacher selected individuals will now be populated in the recipient’s section for email, phone and SMS
  • Teacher ability to edit the list of recipients that I have previously selected
  • Added search functionality for Teachers to search through recipients
  • Added a visual indication of the “who” teachers are sending the message to (groups, students, parents, classes)
  • Added a visual indicator to indicate which role type a Teacher is sending a message to
  • Added the ability for teachers to select groups/individuals           
• Composing Messages for Teachers
  • Added subject and body of my email communication 
  • Ability to attach photos to my email communications
  • Ability to record audio messages
  • Added text-to-speech
  • Added the ability to save a copy of a message on the HQ app to the miscellaneous folder for future use
  • Recipients added to a message are now saved along with the draft of message
• Message Editing for Teachers
  • Ability to be able to delete text to speech recordings
  • Ability to listen to the text to speech message
  • Ability to edit Delivery Address
• Message Sending for Teachers
  • Ability to Send to the users selected when pressing the send button
  • Ability to send Text Message communications
  • Added the ability to configure the send time of a message        
• App Options/Configuration for Teachers
  • Added the ability to configure the language of message notifications to the users preferred language
  • Updated app to make sure that the delivery methods set per school are respected on the App, so teachers can only send approved messaging types
• App UI improvements
  • General UI improvements to the app 

Bug fixes

• Improved search functionality in Recipients 
• Fixed an issue where the app would sometimes crash when selecting and deselecting recipients
• Fixed an issue where sent messages not saved in Saved messages when sent on Android device
• Fixed an issue where Groups for Teacher Send should display organization name for teachers that tie to multiple organizations
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Recipients’ section search, under Classes, the ‘All Classes’ sub-heading is not displaying the total number of classes
• Fixed an issue where Class selections become hidden when submenu is accessed and back is tapped

Community Engagement 10.6

Continuous Delivery 10.6 | Release to Production 26-31 July 2018
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• Resolved an issue where passwords were not generating for accounts without email addresses
• Resolved an issue where RSS feeds were not updating for some sites
• Resolved an issue where grades were not appearing in the Mobile Communications App
• Updated Facebook APIs to support Facebooks app submission
• Resolved an issue where data file transfers were not working for some clients
• Resolved an issue where files with more than 10,000 recipients would get errors
• Resolved an issue where multiple accounts with shared Gmail accounts would no longer allow you to select which account to sign in with
• Resolved an issue where Twitter was unable to be added to feeds

Community Engagement 10.5

Continuous Delivery 10.5 | Release to Production 11 July 2018
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Smore integration

Introducing the Smore newsletter integration within Bb Comms COPE messaging interface. Blackboard Admins now have the ability to leverage Smore email templates to create newsletters to email internal and external stakeholders.

Security

Security improvements identified from security audit.

GeoMapping

COPE message publishers can now adjust their messaging radius when selecting recipients from a map. By entering a value in the radius box users can now specify exact measurements to send communications to targeted individuals/groups.

Client & Known Issues / Maintenance

• Fixed an issue where some Twitter accounts were unable to be added to a school on the Settings page.
• Fixed an issue where some clients were unable to access their meta data page for single sign-in authentication .
• Fixed an issue where some messages batches were delayed in becoming active messages.
• Fixed an issue where some teachers utilizing the Blackboard Teacher Communications tool were unable to view their classes.
• Fixed an issue where some client's grades were not appearing for parents.
• Fixed an issue where data parse styles were sometimes unable to save changes.

Mass Notifications

Continuous Delivery Uhura 2.35 | Release to Production 17-24 May 2018
Mass Notifications, Updated features

• Added system logic to validate errors for missing "TO" fields in messages
• Updated Opt-out confirmation wording to remove end user confusion
• Fixed a problem where email deliveries were failing if the email address contained Unicode characters
• Fixed an issue where the system was performing excessive retries on unknown SMS statuses
• Implemented system logic to utilize SMS long codes when end-user service providers are unable to receive SMS short codes

Community Engagement 10.4.2

Continuous Delivery 10.4.2 | Release to Production 22 May, 2018
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

 An upgrade to Blackboard's data import process and tools. The goal of this development work is three fold: 

1. To improve the stability and efficiency of data imports into the Blackboard system
2. To provide additional flexibility for importing data 
3. To speed up the overall data implementation process 

While most of the work completed in this release is "behind the scenes" there were a few updates that may or may not be noticeable by your organization. A quick summary of those updates are as follows: 

• Renamed the "System Messages" subtab to "Automated Messages"
• Re-designed the page layout of the new Automated Messages page. 
• Created the ability to setup Auto Imports that setup and run immediately based on a received file. 
• Removed SIF as an import method 
• Removed the name "ParentLink" from the interface. Replaced it with "Blackboard"

Notable Bug Fixes included in this 10.4.2 release

• Fixed an issue where 6 days attendance threshold messages were not delivering successfully. 
• Fixed an issue where the CLASSES tab was not loading for parents and students successfully 
• Fixed an issue where student accounts where not merging correctly 
• Fixed an issue where Lunch Balances messages were not delivering successfully if balance was below a negative number
• Fixed a broken link on the home screen that took you to Bb Comms Webinar trainings
• Fixed an issue where library book photos were not displaying correctly on district apps
• Fixed an issue where a large import of new accounts was presenting a memory error 
• Fixed an issue where manually deleting an account gave the user an error 
• Fixed an issue where Time Zones were getting mixed up on the Automated Messages page 
• Fixed an issue where system permissions were not allowing school admins to add Custom Message Content. 

The roll out of this release is scheduled to occur on May 22nd. Not all systems will be updated at once as we methodically rollout these changes. 

Community Engagement 10.3.1

Continuous Delivery 10.3.1 | Release to Production 27 April, 2018
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

Updates to back-end system security to protect against vulnerabilities.

Community Engagement 10.3.0

Continuous Delivery 10.3.0 | Release to Production 15 December 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• All Products
  • Added the ability to export more than 20k rows at a time for Blackboard reports
  • Added ability to trigger messages for late/missing files and small/missing automated messages
  • Removed the ability for users to change the role type of another user when that role was originally created by an import
  • Added Student ID as an available merge tag when creating messages
  • Removed the ability to add, edit, or remove imported Terms from the web interface
  • Removed confusing interface language about Connect 5 email and SMS deliveries
• Mobile Communications App (MCA)
  • Improved performance to App Building tools
  • Fixed issue with Push Notifications including an image
• Teacher Communications
  • Added icons to teacher saved messages that show which are system, admin created or user created
    • System Created – Can't be edited, copied, or deleted
    • Admin Created – Can be copied only
    • User Created – Can be edited, copied, and deleted
  • Removed the carbon copy (CC) option for teachers, still available for admins
  • Updated URL's for help options seen by teachers
  • Improved performance to the Teacher Messages report
• Blackboard Mass Notifications
  • Added Alt-text requirement for all inserted images when creating messages
  • Added the ability to see schools inside a boundary when selecting recipients from a map
  • Fixed an issue where organizations weren't sorted alphabetically in the advanced group creation
  • Added the ability for school administrator accounts to send On Screen Alerts directly from the messaging (COPE) interface
  • Added back student specific merge tags when the Send to parents of students option is selected
  • Fixed issue where SMS blocked addresses in a Personal File Cabinet were not displaying correctly
  • Made user improvements to the Schedule Report tool
  • Improved performance when needing to export a large Contact report
  • Improved performance to the system Auto Search tool

Mass Notifications

Continuous Delivery Uhura 2.3.4 | Release to Production 17-20 October 2017
Mass Notifications, New features, Updated features

• Added an administrator page that outlines methods for improving email delivery rates. To learn more, see Improve Email Delivery.
  • Directions for setting up a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record
  • Directions for setting up DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), encrypted signature
  • Directions for setting up Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC), destination email server policy
• Fixed an issue where bad phone extensions were not being attempted
• Fixed an issue where incomplete caller ID numbers were violating Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations
• Made performance improvements to Text-to-Speech engine
• Improved final phone status accuracy of exportable Comma-Separated Values (CSV) reports
• Fixed a problem with email deliveries to Microsoft^® Outlook
• General performance improvements to email deliveries

Scheduled reports

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 18-22 September 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

The Scheduled Reports feature has been redesigned to be separated from the scheduled tasks, and moved from the Settings menu to the Reports menu.

Watch a video about the Scheduled Reports page

• From the Blackboard Communications HQ interface menu, select Reports.
• Select Schedule Reports from the System area.
• Select the specific School to narrow the list of report schedules available.
• From the Scheduled Reports, you can select any of the following options:
  • Name: Select the report name to update the name or the email address of who receives the report.
  • Delete: Select the reports to remove and then select Delete to delete the report schedule.

Mass Notifications

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 18-22 September 2017
Mass Notifications, Updated features

• Emergency and Outreach opt-outs from SMS/text messages now appear differently on the Do Not Contact report.
• The ability for recipients to reply to custom messages has been removed.
• Fixed an issue where disabling automated notifications also disabled demographic imports.
• Fixed an issue where custom system attendance messages would not allow attendance excuses.
• Fixed an issue where Vietnamese text message content for daily attendance was appearing in English.

Social Media Manager

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 18-22 September 2017
Social Media Manager, Updated features

• Replies to Twitter posts from Social Media Manager don't count toward the character limit.
• Fixed an issue where the Post Analytics report would not display.

Teacher Communications

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 18-22 September 2017
Teacher Communications, Updated features

• Added new field of information to the teacher messages. Messages include the Regarding Student and From Teacher to all text messages.
• The SMS/Text messages for the Teacher Communications feature are limited to 120 characters.

September 1, 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 1 September 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• All Products
  • Added the ability to see cafeteria balance, library information, bus routes, and custom uploaded data on the Student Account page.
  • Administrators can now use Google to login to the Blackboard Communications HQ web interface.
• Teacher Communications
  • Added training video to the Teacher Communication Send Interface.
• Blackboard Mass Notifications
  • Now, you can setup and use several custom caller IDs for phone messages, and several reply-to-email addresses and sender names for email messages. When your district or school wants certain message replies to be sent to a specific group of staff members, you can setup and use the response phone numbers or email addresses.
  • Fixed an issue where abbreviations played differently on test call than on the live call.
• Blackboard Communications App Release
  • Added a new SMS (text message) number for emergency messages so users don't opt-out of emergencies when they opt-out of an informational call.

August 8, 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 8 August 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• All Products
  • Added the ability for all accounts to use SAML to login. Previously, teacher accounts were not supported but they are now.
  • Staff can now login to their account on the web interface using their Google account.
  • The Reports page has been redesigned.
  • Login report is now in the Accounts section.
  • Auto-complete recipient selection on the Send Message interface will have images or initials displayed next to accounts.
• Teacher Communications
  • The Send Message page and the Teacher Messaging report have been updated in this release.
  • The Send Message page has been redesigned for easier use. You can send messages to any of your students, the entire class, all your classes, or just to parents.
  • The Teacher Messaging report displays how many teacher messages each student receives, the number of parents contacted, and which delivery method was used.
  • With the Teacher Communications program, administrator have a new ability to hide student contact information from teachers.
• Blackboard Mass Notifications
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes the wrong status would show in the Message Tracking report.
• Blackboard Communications App Release
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes push notifications would not be delivered.

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production June 2017
Bb Comms, New features Updated features

This release includes new enhancements for Blackboard Mobile Communications app:

• Notifications Redesign
• Added the ability to upload custom student data for those with the integrated mobile app.
• Added support for SAML login.
• Added support for Learn More and Signup Now for Peachjar Fliers.

The following issues have been resolved in the Blackboard Mobile Communication app:

• Fixed an issue where PDF files did not display on some Android devices.
• Fixed an issue where audio continued playing after moving to another screen.
• Fixed an issue where when a user selected a MailTo link, it would not work on Android devices in app browsers.
• Fixed an issue where the Activity Stream would display HTML code instead of RSS posts.

Mass Notifications, April 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 28 April 2017
Mass Notifications, New features

• Added the ability to record messages using the microphone on your computer.

Mobile Communications App, April 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 7 April 2017
MCA, New features

• Added the ability to show/hide different student information from the app.

March 10, 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 10 March 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• All Products
  • For districts that import user information, you now have the option to update the user login names and passwords through the import. This setting is available in the Authentication page.
• Mobile Communications App
  • Fixed an issue where deleted Peachjar fliers still appeared in the Blackboard Mobile Communications App.

Blackboard Communications HQ Mobile App

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 24 February 2017
Bb Comms, New features

• Added the ability to edit Saved Messages.
• The app now matches the Blackboard Communications HQ web interface and not longer includes expire times for messages.
• Added SAML support (Security Assertion Markup Language) to the app.
• Several features that have been available to Apple devices are now also available to Android devices. These features include:
  • Ability to send On-Screen Alerts to Web Community Manager websites.
  • Improvements to message details.
  • Confirmation of app messages to be set to public when recipients have been chosen.
  • Icon for the app has been updated to standard Blackboard Mass Communications icon.

Mass Notifications

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 24 February 2017
Mass Notifications, Updated features

• Added the ability to upload a list of opt-out phone numbers, SMS/text numbers, and email addresses for the Do Not Contact list. These numbers and addresses aren't sent in any messages.
• Added the ability for administrators to create custom merge tags for messages. Using an uploaded file you can create a voice recorded message with your own merge tags. When you are creating the message in the Send Message interface, you will be able to import a comma delimited file with your information.

February 10, 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 10 February 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• All Products
  • The Advanced Options feature in the Send Message interface no longer includes the Use all supported automatic translations option.
  • The name and logo of the district/school has been removed from the homepage. The name has been added to the top navigation bar.
  • To improve the performance of the System Statistics report, the Delivered and Attempted fields have been removed. The Messages field lists all the messages sent by the system.
• Blackboard Mass Notifications
  • Added the ability to create a voice recorded message with merge tags. The merge tags will help you to send personalized messages with only one recording.
  • Added the ability to listen to audio via a scheduled or exported Excused Absences report. The report will now include a link to the parent's recorded message (internet access is required).
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes phone numbers and email addresses were not flagged as bad data when they should have been.

January 27, 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 27 January 2017
Bb Comms, Mass Notifications, MCA, New features, Social Media Manager, Teacher Comms, Updated features

• All Products
  • Fixed an issue where late file triggers were not working.
• Blackboard Mass Notifications
  • An unknown status for a message will now appear as Unknown instead of Not Attempted.
• Blackboard Mobile Communications App
  • Fixed an issue where adding Nutrislice domains on the Data Configuration page did not work.
  • Fixed an issue where bus routes would sometimes sort out of order.

January 13, 2017

Continuous Delivery | Release to Production 13 January 2017
Updated features

• All Products
  • Added the ability to schedule messages to be sent multiple times.
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes the Headlines and Announcements in Web Community Manager would appear when they should not be there.
• Blackboard Mass Notifications
  • Fixed an issue where on the Message Tracking and Details feature a deactivated text number was appearing as Not attempted. Now it will be listed as SMS number deactivated.