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ACEware Systems Newsletter
Information to Run Your Program
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ACEware Cloud Environment | |
The first hard-hat tour of the ACEware Cloud Environment closed the 2022 Virtual Users’ Conference. A lesson learned from that session is that I need to clearly define what the ACEware Cloud Environment is! It's not an optional module to add to your existing software package; it will be a NEW standalone product. So, let me back up and explain!
The goal of the ACEware Cloud Environment project is to build all Student Manager and ACEweb functionality in a cloud computing platform.
What IS cloud computing? It is simply computing services (your servers, storage, software--like SM and ACEweb--delivered over the internet, or “the cloud”) allowing you to connect to the ACEware Cloud with your PC or MAC web browser, tablet, or smartphone. You do not have to use remote desktop to access the software; you simply need internet accessibility to log in and get business done.
Will all current Student Manager and ACEweb functionality be available with the first release of the ACEware Cloud Environment? No way! Student Manager and ACEweb have nearly 35 years of development included, so we must build out strategically. You can migrate to this new product when the features you need are available. While we are developing the Cloud version, we will continue to support, maintain, and develop Student Manager and ACEweb!
The functionality goals for the ACEware Cloud Environment 1.0 are:
- User Creation by Staff or Student(s)
- Social Media Sign On (Facebook/Google)
- Roles and Permissions for User Profiles
- Building Courses - Staff
- Register/Pay for Courses – Staff/Students
- Registration Cancellation - Staff/Students
- Staff Course Cancellation
- Communication around Accounts (Password Reset, Account Welcome)
- Communication around Course/ Registration (Confirmation Emails, Registration Cancellation, Course Reminders and Follow ups)
- Basic Reporting Functionality (for example: Rosters, Attendee List, Receipts, Transcripts)
Once this important foundation is built and released, we will continue to build enhanced functionality (like waitlisting, course transfers, additional payment types, or alternate course displays) and new features (import tools, CRM, Instructor Access, and Suggestive Selling Capabilities)
Below are some of the Q and As from the initial tour:
- Server Requirements? N/A. All upgrades and maintenance will be done by ACEware on AWS servers.
- Does this mean backups will be automatic? Yes! Automated backups will backup your database. Backups occur during a daily scheduled time (late at night) and ACEware manages this for you.
- Will there be a migration path from Student Manager/ACEweb to the Cloud? Yes. ACEware will have data migration tools for you.
- Will Student Manager/ACEweb continue to be supported? Absolutely! We will support, maintain, develop, and improve the “Classic” ACEware products! There are no plans for an end of life. The ACEware Cloud Environment will be an alternative product to migrate to when you feel it has the features you require for your program.
I hope this helps clarify the new ACEware Cloud Environment project. We will keep you up to date with breaking information and will schedule another hard hat tour in late summer.
Contributed by Sharon Brookshire
P.S. Do remember- If your IT insists that the software (Student Manager and ACEweb) be off campus servers - we have options! We can host it for you on AWS! Contact me if you want to discuss this hosted option!
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We had a great time with continuing education professionals from universities, community colleges, community education programs, technical schools, career centers, and workforce development programs! It appears that Whova as the event platform proved to be a valuable networking tool.
There were 47 unique community discussion boards open and 688 messages sent between attendees. We may not have been able to mingle in the meeting rooms or break areas but there was lots of chatter going on!
The Top Three Sessions attended were:
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What's New in Student Manager and ACEweb (Note: ACEweb .070 will release in early July. Join our July New Features webinar to catch up on all the new goodies available to you! Spoiler alert: Student Self Cancel option, more functions in Staff Web Access, Refund to Proxy Escrow, Quick Report features, and... come to the webinar to find out!)
- Did You Know ACEweb Can Do THIS?
- Reporting Revealed Trilogy
If you were not able to attend last week but would like to purchase a ticket to view the recordings on demand, let Susan know and she will help you get access. Those who were in attendance, the recordings are now available in Whova. Whova will remain accessible for three months. Keep the conversation going through the summer!
Contributed by Sharon Brookshire
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Gmail and Possible Issues | |
On May 30th, Google turned off its, "Less Secure Apps." This caused an issue with emailing out of Student Manager/ACEweb. It turns out, there is a relatively simple fix: You must create an application password in Google.
To do this, you just need to follow the steps here. Then, get everyone else out of Student Manager and put the password in Tools -> Database Admin -> Email Settings instead of whatever password you use to log into Gmail. That's it! ACEweb will automatically pull this new password. Gmail will bypass 2-factor authentication, and Student Manager and ACEweb are even deemed more secure (even though its still just a password for the account).
Sorry for the late notice, but I just figured this out yesterday and we've been getting this fix to the people we know have had issues. As always, your technician is there to help.
Contributed by Matthew Olson
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Tech Tip of the Month: Email Faculty Contract as PDF | |
One of the reports someone asked for at conference was the ability to email a Faculty Contract as a PDF. Both the CEO of ACEware and a technician loved the idea and said they would put it on the wish list. I'm here to say that this has been in the system for years!
Under Reports -> Faculty -> Contract Agreements, you just need to checkmark Email Separately. Pick a query and a report and that is what is generated for every single instructor meeting the query's criteria. The report will show first, but then it'll start into the email process where you can edit the subject, give additional documents to send, and edit the body of the email. When you're finished, it sends only the contract for the instructor (assuming their record has an email address).
Bonus tip: Quick Reports on the course record also has this ability, but only for the instructors in that course.
So, no need to generate those PDFs one at a time and then use your email client to send them. Student Manager does it all for you!
Contributed by Matthew Olson
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Report of the Month: Adding an Exportable Field | |
OK, you've got a favorite go-to report that’s perfect, BUT now you, your boss, or your colleague wants to have it exported to Excel. Fine, we can do that, BUT one of the fields on the report is Total Due per Course and on the report you used GTCODUE(cocrse) to display the total. So, the challenge is, how do you add data you’ve used functions to display on a report into the report cursor (which is what you have available to use for Exporting)??
Well, you can add/insert most ANY result from a function into the report cursor using a JUSTDOIT!
In this case, let’s say your favorite report is in CEU Reporting. Well that report area does NOT have a native cursor field of COURSE TOTAL DUE. (NOTE: There are several report areas that do give you, “Totaled,” Course Due and Course Paid fields: eg: Income and Enrollment Summary and Course Income Summary.)
What do you do? Well, as Bo would say, “JUSTDOIT."
You can use the JUSTDOIT function to add a value from a function directly into the exportable cursor fields. In this example, the exact JUSTDOIT would be:
JUSTDOIT(“Select *, gtcobal(cocrse) as DUE from (Cursor5) into Cursor (Cursor5)”)
The first image below shows the report cursor BEFORE adding the JDI. NOTE: there is nothing at the end of the cursor (after the column Culbll4). The second image shows the cursor after running the JDI. NOTE: You CAN add multiple functions using a JDI, too. For example, if you wanted separate exportable fields for DUE, PAID and BAL, you could extend the JDI like so:
JUSTDOIT("Select *,gtcodue(cocrse) as due, gtcopaid(cocrse) as paid, gtcobal(cocrse) as bal from (cursor5) into cursor (cursor5)")
The final image shows the results of that.
So, if your favorite report is now supposed to be exported, but is loaded with functions, you can have your function and export it too! If you need any help, please reach out to your technician.
Happy reporting!
Contributed by Chuck Havlicek
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To your continued success,
- Chuck, Sharon, Cheryl, Jason, Joe, Lindsey, Matthew, Stein, and Susan
ACEware Systems
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