News - April 21, 2023

			Update: AWS Move and Release 2 to 3 Transition
	As we get closer to the move to AWS and the phase out of Release 2, many users have questions and request updates to the process and plan. That information is now available in the Support Center. These articles are updated as new information is available and the process takes place. Each time these articles are modified, we will date them so you always know the latest information. As we progress through the transition process, we will also post updates with any new instructions and information. We will also soon be posting a Transition Checklist that will help you confirm you are ready for the transition. The most prominent recent change is the transition groups and the order of transition based on the use of InSight report design access. Read the details here...
			What Happened to Release 2's Reporting
	Many of you have asked what happened to the Release 2 reporting feature and why you no longer have access. Plain and simple, it crashed. That version of reporting was introduced in 2003 and worked so well for many, many years. Users loved it and so did we. But over the years, it aged. As server platforms changed, that reporting application could not. It was older technology and no longer supported by the vendor. We knew this was coming years ago. We researched possible replacements for several years until we made a decision. And in 2017 we launched InSight. Since the introduction of InSight, we still left access to the prior reporting so users could take their time and learn InSight while still having the convenience of the prior reporting feature. That is until it crashed two months ago. That reporting feature was on two different servers. Now it is only on one, but that one cannot handle the entire customer load. As a result, some sites no longer have access to the older reporting system. And there is always the possibility that last reporting server will crash. That reporting application will not run on newer platforms. It was great at the time, and now is about to retire. As sites move to AWS, the ability to access the old reporting system ends. It is very likely that access to the old reporting feature will end June 30, 2023, or soon after. We are analyzing this every week and making decisions accordingly. Thank you for your patience during this transition. We were hoping that reporting system would make it to the end when the move to AWS was complete. Well, it came close. And now we concentrate on InSight as the next generation reporting feature.
			Support Tickets are Much More Than Emails
	It is not uncommon to hear from a user that they don't recall their past support tickets or want to support to resend the outcome from a ticket submitted in the past. When you created your support center account, you gave yourself access to all that information automatically. Even though many users submit a support ticket via email, that submission gets recorded in the support center under your account. You can log in anytime to see the prior tickets and the latest replies on current tickets. Support tickets are not just emails. Submitting support tickets by email is just a tool to make the process convenient. You can easily submit support tickets through your support center account as well. In fact, if you needed to submit an emergency ticket, that must be done by logging into your account. And when you are not sure if a support ticket reply was received, just log in and check. Replies are sent via email back to you, but we all know at times emails can get deleted, go to the junk folder, or just plain never arrive. In those situations, your account history is still online in your account.
			InSight PDF Exports Too Small to Read? If Yes, Then Do This
	Some users have reported that some InSight reports are too small to read when exporting to PDF, and that may very well be true. The InSight reporting feature was added to Release 2 in in 2017 and was subsequently also added to Release 3. That means many of the first-built InSight reports are now going on six years old. In computer years, that can be old. Some of the reports may need an update or an overhaul. Some may just need to be tweaked. In either case, we want to know. Submitting a support ticket with the report name and details provides us the opportunity to fix the issue. But every report may not have a fix. Let's look at some of the possible outcomes. If the report can support a larger font or an enlarged report part that improves readability, we will definitely explore that solution. It is possible some reports have so many fields crammed into the available space, the only outcome is to remove fields from the report. When that happens, we will explore the best option available. It may also mean the report remains as is. If preferred, your Pro users can copy and edit the report so that it meets your needs differently than other users. In any case, reporting has always been a dynamic feature that experiences changes and additions on a constant basis letting it grow to meet the changing needs of users.
			What's Going on With Payment Gateway Disconnect?
	It is 9:35 AM on a Tuesday and you are about to submit a credit card payment using Release 3. Suddenly, you get an error. Yet, just two minutes ago a previous payment processed successfully. What the heck is going on? The issue is this: the underlying connection between XenDirect R3 and some payment gateways are disconnecting. It is intermittent and unpredictable. If you recall, about a month ago we employed an outside vendor to help us resolve the issue, and IT WORKED. They helped us identify the cause, and we fixed it. Well, at least for about two weeks. The issue has returned, and the cause is not the same. When it happens, the only immediate resolution is to restart the server. We are back to playing the role of Sherlock Holmes again. Each time the event occurs we gather information that will hopefully lead us to the cause. Along the way we have also improved the server restart process and can usually restart the server now in five minutes on average. That is much better than the 20-25 minutes just a month ago. Thank you for your patience while we dig into the problem. We dislike having to restart servers during working hours. But sometimes those few minutes of restart can result in someone's work load not getting behind.
			Training OnDemand is Coming to End and Moving to Support
	We are only a few short weeks away from the end of our self-study, online courses available through a LMS is coming to an end. On May 10, our access to the LMS online application will expire and users will no longer have access to those courses via that application. So why are we letting it expire and what are we doing as a result? The primary reason we are closing down the LMS is because of the cost. The vendor that provides that service increased our fees for using the LMS dramatically during COVID resulting in making use of that service impossible for us to cover costs. So what are we doing instead? We are moving all the online training that was in the LMS into the support center, and that has many benefits. First, other than the time to recreate the lessons, there is no additional cost for us to host the training inside the support center. Second, users do not have to register to take the lessons. They have access to them just by logging into their support center account. Third, we are breaking the lessons into smaller segments so users can more easily follow the lessons and concentrate on a very specific topic rather than take a longer, more generalized course. Last, but not least, it allows Xenegrade to easily add more lessons without having to build an entire course. All in all, the outcome is a win-win for you and us. We have already moved several of the courses over into the support center. We hope to be done entirely by the end of May with the existing courses. Then we can start to add the new courses we have identified. Learning never ends!
			2023 Holiday Office Closures
	Xenegrade will be closed on the following days during 2023 so that employees can observe the holiday with their families. Memorial Day May 29 - reopen May 30 Independence Day July 3-4 - reopen July 5 Labor Day Sep. 4 - reopen Sep. 5 Thanksgiving Nov. 23-24 - reopen Nov. 27 Christmas Dec. 25-26 - reopen Dec. 27 New Years Day Jan. 1 - reopen Jan. 2 If there is an emergency where accessing XenDirect is unavailable during a time when the office is closed, submit a support ticket via the support center using the predefined emergency process.
			HELPFUL REMINDERS
	News Email List: Join those who want to receive a notice whenever we post a news article. Be the first to know! You can subscribe here . Once you opt-in, you are on the news email list until you decide to opt-out. Status Website: If you have not seen or subscribed to the Service Status website , it is more important than ever to consider doing so. This website displays up-to-date server issues or scheduled maintenance that affect user access to XenDirect modules. One of the key features of the status site is your ability to subscribe to the automated email list. Every time an update is made to the status site, all subscribers will receive an automated email related to the status update. Application Updates: Don't forget to check the Updates section of the Support Center. Whenever updates are made to any XenDirect services, a post describing the change, addition, or fix is made. Release 3 deploys updates about every two weeks. Other services are about once per month or as needed.

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Rick Stern
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News - April 21, 2023

Rick Stern

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