October 2024 NewsPro

 

As we are quickly approaching the end of October, we’ve been working on a frightening number of new features for the FormsPro 2410.4 release coming next week! 😱 You might want to put on a Halloween costume 👻 and get a big pillowcase or candy bucket 🎃 ready as you read this because it’s going to be full of great features and information by the time you get to the end!

Besides Halloween and FormsPro releases, October is also known for other notable things:

• The Nobel Prizes are announced in October. We didn't win the Nobel Prize for 
  product newsletters - if there is one, maybe next year.
• The first iPhone was released on October 29, 2007. Anyone remember life pre-iPhone?? ☎️ 
• The first postage stamp was issued in Great Britain in October 1840. Anyone remember using stamps? 😜
• October is the month of National Breast Cancer Awareness. If you know any women, and we assume you do, encourage them to get a mammogram!! 💗
• “Oktoberfest” has become a generic name for beer festivals around the world, not just in Germany where the original event takes place. Prost!! 🍻

IN THIS ISSUE:

Feature Feature: What's Coming in FormsPro 2410.4

Chalkboard: News from OmniByte University

Infrequently Asked Questions: We answer before you ask!

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FEATURE FEATURE: WHAT'S COMING IN RELEASE 2410.4

Last month we highlighted some of the new features in 2410.4 and this edition spotlights the remaining features. Once the release is available, updated and new Knowledge Base articles will be available for these features, so be sure you check out the knowledge articles for details about each of these.

Here’s the complete list of features we’re working on, and where the feature lives:

ADMIN SITE

• Product Support and Consulting Logins
• Editable Labels for Data Set Fields
• View/Edit Submission Advanced Filters
• Section Preview
• Show Hidden Fields in Form and Section Previews
• Form Deployment Using SSO
• Encrypted Client Secrets
• Saved Map and Photo Metadata
• Submitted by and Submitted on in Data Maps

ADMIN SITE AND APP

• Segmented Button Input
• Toggle Input
• Date Span Input
• Lookup, Radio and Select Inputs in Calculations
• Hidden Calculation Label
• Cc Line in Additional Emails
• Restrict Date Picker

APP

• Registration Key Displays in the App

Product Support and Consulting Logins

We have added product support and consulting logins to the Add User and Edit User windows. Use this when OmniByte Support or Professional Services needs to log into your site to troubleshoot or perform upgrades. This provides you with control over when we are logging into your site and doesn’t affect your licensed user count.

Edited Labels for Data Set Fields

When a data set is used on a Select, Radio, Lookup, or Segmented Button input the label defaults to the data set field's label. You can now edit it so when a data set field is used in multiple fields the label can be unique each time.

View/Edit Submissions Advanced Filters

An Advanced Search option has been added to the View/Edit Submissions page so you can filter submission information further by submitter, originator, version and origination dates.

Show Hidden Fields in Form and Section Previews

A Show Hidden Fields toggle is available on the section preview and the form preview to display hidden fields when previewing a section or form.

Yes, we did say preview a section! The ability to use the ever-handy Preview in the section designer has been added as well.

Form Deployment Using SSO

Use SSO for easier logging in to different sites when deploying a form from one site to another.

Encrypted Client Secrets

To ensure security, the Client Secret field on the Single Sign-On Settings tab of the Security Settings page and Connection window is now encrypted and masked.

Saved Map and Photo Metadata

The GPS coordinates and date/time are saved separately from images when the Capture GPS on Photo and/or Capture Date/Time on Photo options are marked on the Images tab of the Edit Media window. This enables this information to be used on reports and accessed for data maps and form actions.

Submitted by and Submitted on in Data Maps

Form submissions capture the user who submitted the form and the date of the submission. This information is now available to include in a data map and use as needed.

Date Span Input

A Date Span field can now be added to a form so that you can calculate the number of days between two dates. 

Lookup, Radio and Select Inputs in Calculations

You can now build a calculation based off a number selected in a lookup, radio or selection list. When the new Enable for Calculated Fields checkbox is marked, these options are treated as numbers so they can be used in calculations.

Hidden Calculation Label

The Hide Calculation Label option has been added to the Edit Calculated Field window when a summary row exists in a dynamic table. This hides the word SUM or AVERAGE so that there’s more room for your data when it’s obvious to the app user what the resulting summary is.

Cc Line in Additional Emails

A Cc to line for optional email addresses has been added to each form's additional emails.

Restrict Date Picker

The ability to restrict the date range has been added to the Date input. The date picker toggles limit the range of dates to pick from.

Registration Key Displays in App

To assist when troubleshooting environments, you can now see the registration key in the app. (It's blocked out below for security.) 

Now is the time to make plans for updating to FormsPro 2410.4. We encourage everyone to update to the latest release, even if you’re unsure you’ll use the new features. We test compatibility one app release ahead or behind the Admin Site version and it’s important to be within those standards. If you want us to perform the update, please contact us at support@omnibyte.com and we will get it scheduled.

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CHALKBOARD: WHAT'S HAPPENING AT OMNIBYTE UNIVERSITY

We have 8 eLearning courses and lessons ready for you and your team! Contact Nickie Giffey at ngiffey@omnibyte.com to receive OmniByte University course information and get registered today. 

FormsPro 100 – Transitioning to FormsPro 

FormsPro 100A – Navigating in FormsPro 

FormsPro 101 – Setup and Configuration Essentials 

FormsPro 102 – Creating a Form (Lessons 1-12) 

Lesson 1 – Managing Folders 

Lesson 2 – Start an Advanced Form 

Lesson 3 – Choosing the Right Inputs 

Lesson 4 – Editing Inputs 

Lesson 5 – Adding Formatting Elements 

 

Coming Soon! 

Lessons 6 – Using Tables 

Lessons 7 – Adding Conditions 

Lessons 8 – Using Calculations 

Lessons 9 – Using Time Spans 

Lessons 10 – Assign Roles 

Lessons 11 – Emailing Options 

Lessons 12 – Publishing the Form 

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IAQs: WE ANSWER BEFORE YOU ASK! 

How can I optimize my technical deployment of FormsPro?  

If you are hosting your instance of FormsPro, you will either have the application deployed on Azure with an App Service or on-premises with IIS. Ensuring you have the right prerequisites is the first step. Optimizing IIS and your infrastructure is the next thing. This may take more than one pass to get the optimal deployment but leaving most of the defaults will get you 90% of the way.  

Best practices for IIS include security, performance, scalability, and monitoring. Some resources to get you started optimizing your own environment are below.  

Web Server (IIS) Overview | Microsoft Learn 

Application Pools <applicationPools> | Microsoft Learn 

Group Managed Service Accounts Overview | Microsoft Learn 

HTTP Logging <httpLogging> | Microsoft Learn 

Transport Layer Security (TLS) best practices with .NET Framework | Microsoft Learn 

 

If you have any questions about optimizing your environment, please reach out to support@omnibtye.com and we will be happy to help you.  

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That's a wrap for this month. Watch for the FormsPro 2410.4 release announcement coming to an inbox near you next week. 📣

 

Thanks for reading! 🎃

-Your OmniByte CX Team