Release Notes

4/24/24

✨Enhancements

• Improvements to Managing Administrative Users
  • When inviting new Admins into Via, you will now be required to provide First and Last Names, in addition to Email Address and User Role. This will not be required of current admins logging in again, only for NEWLY invited admins. 
  • Enhanced Admin Profile data fields now include additional options for titles such as Dr., Ms., etc., allowing for more customization before entering the first name.
• Additional data columns added across multiple views
  • We have continued adding separate data columns for "Program Country" and "Program City" in more locations for easier reporting, including: 
    • Two reports: Applications and General Forms 
    • Four dashboard views:  Traveler Forms, Form Content, Application Content and Traveler Applications 
  • New "Show Exact Dates" data column has been added to the Internal Terms and Authorized Terms dashboards.
  • A new "Home campus" data column has been added to the Via Travel Travelers view. 
  • A new Program Type Column and filter has been added to the Application Content dashboard.
• We’ve adjusted the column widths on three dashboards - Traveler, Traveler Applications, and Traveler Forms - to ensure you can see more of your data at once.  
• In the Authorized Program tab of Organization Settings, Admins can now format the text associated with Authorized Program Messaging, which appears to travelers when they start an application for an Authorized Program. 
• We made several general improvements for accessibility.

✅ Resolved

• Resolved issues when showing multiple withdrawal reasons in traveler mailer. 
• Resolved an issue that removed Forms that were added by automations when an Application deadline is changed to the past.

 

4/22/24

✅ Resolved

• Resolved issue that prevented Admin from uploading cover images to program brochures.

4/11/24

✨Enhancements

• Admins can now add tokens for Traveler, Application and Program data (such as first name or student ID) to the instructions for recommenders in ‘Recommendation’ question types, allowing the recommender to see that information in the email notification they receive. 
• Admins can now select programs in any state when using the Program Name filter. This includes programs in the draft state and programs that do not have Traveler applications started yet. This update has been added in the following locations:    
  • Three reports: Programs, Applications and Forms
  • Five dashboards: Forms, Form Completion, Form Content, Applications, and Application Content 
• We have continued adding separate columns for "Program Country" and "Program City" to more locations, this time to two more Standard Reports: Form Content by Application Template and Form content by Program Name and Term.
• We have continued reordering Preferred First Name and Preferred Last Name. These fields now appear at the beginning of the following locations: 
  • Six dashboards: Application Content, Traveler Forms, Traveler Applications, Travelers inside Via Travel, Form Content, Form Completion, and Event Participants
  • Two reports: Applications and General Forms 
• We have added an Internal/ Authorized Filter and column to our General Forms in the Reports Dashboard, so Admins can now filter and report by Program Origin in that view. 
• In both Applications and Forms Report dashboard views, we have added hyperlinks so Admins can quickly navigate to specific traveler, application, and program data.
  • Clicking on a traveler name or email address hyperlink redirects you to the Traveler’s Profile.
  • Clicking on an Application Template name or Form Template name hyperlink redirects you to the individual Travelers’ Application or Form Review Mode. 
  • Clicking on the Program Name hyperlink redirects you to the Program Brochure. 
• We made several general improvements for accessibility.
  
  

✅ Resolved

• Resolved issue that prevented Admins from updating app statuses on the ‘request to withdraw’ feature in Organization Settings. 
• Updated Message mailers to recognize pressing ‘Enter’ twice as a hard return between paragraphs. 
• Resolved issue that sent a “You’ve got forms” mailer for each general form added through an Application or Form-based Automation - now travelers should receive a single mailer for all forms added in a single Automation.
• Updated issue that redirected admins to a traveler profile that they had just accessed, when opening the Traveler Dashboard from the main navigation. Updated a similar issue that sent admins to a travel plan they had just accessed, when opening Via Travel from the main navigation.
  
  

4/4/2024

🆕 New

→ Batch add and batch remove Application and Form Tags is now here! 

• Admins can now add Application Tags in batch to Traveler applications on three related dashboards: Traveler Applications, Application Content and Form Completion. 
• You can also add Form Tags in batch to Traveler forms on two related dashboards: Traveler Forms and Form Content.
  
  Learn more about batch adding tags. Learn more about batch removing tags.

✨ Enhancements

• We have added a new Automation condition option, “Program”, which allows Admins to choose from a dropdown list of programs. (This is in addition to the condition of “Program Name”, where Admin can type their own text.)  Learn more about all Application-based triggers and conditions. Learn more about all Form-based triggers and conditions. 
• We have added separate columns for "Program Country" and "Program City" to two Standard Reports: Application Content by Application Template and Application Content by Program Name and Term. 
• Admins have let us know that Preferred First Name and Preferred Last Name are important fields for their workflow, so we have reordered these columns to appear at the beginning of one Standard report and added them to the beginning of several more:
  • Reordered these fields to appear as the first two columns in the Traveler Information Standard Report. 
  • Added these fields as the first two columns in the following Standard Reports: Application Alternates, Application Content by Application Template, Application Content by Program Name, Application Content by Program Term, and the Participation Report.

✅ Resolved

• Ensured that “Term Name” fields are now populating as expected when generating  Participation Reports from either the Applications or Reports dashboard. 
• Application Tags and Form Tags are now sorting as expected in the Application Content, Form Content, and Form Completion Dashboards as well as the Application Report and Form Report. 
• Ensured that the Program Type filter works as expected on dashboards. 
• Resolved an issue that caused a batch action on the Application, Form, and Traveler dashboards to remove previous column sorting.
• Ensured that edits to Application or Form Tags in ‘Review Mode’ are displaying as expected on the dashboards. 
• Resolved an issue that prevented Application Tag names from appearing correctly in the CSV  download from the Application Content dashboard. 
• Resolved an issue that blocked admins from continuing to the next page of data rows using the navigation arrows at the bottom of the Programs dashboard.
• Ensured that the 'Upcoming’ option for the Term Timing filter within the Programs dashboard is now filtering as expected in Chrome browsers.
  
  

3/29/2024

✅ Resolved

• Ensured that the chatbot on the updated Traveler, Application, and Traveler Forms dashboards did not block admins from using the pagination controls.

 

3/28/2024

🆕 New

→ Forms Automations

• You have loved being able to customize Application-based Automations - now introducing Form-based Automations! Here are some of the features now available in Via:
  • View and edit three existing form-related mailers: You’ve got forms, Form status change, and Form deadline reminder
  • See and select triggers & conditions for form-based mailers.
  • Select the action “Add Forms to travelers” as part of application-based and form-based automations.
  • Just like with application-based automations, you can now:
    • make form-based automations active or inactive.
    • edit the mailer subject and mailer content (including tokens).
    • set permissions on which user roles can view and edit automations.
  • Learn more about all our Automations and sign up for our Forms Automation Post-Launch Training webinar on April 3.

→ Dashboard Improvements  

• Three dashboards - Traveler, Application, and Traveler Forms - have gotten a makeover! With improvements in dashboard speeds, we've returned past application and form data to their rightful dashboards along with more real estate for data with narrower rows. Admins will also experience the ability to collapse the left filter menu, the option to show all/hide all columns, a static search bar, and updated functionality with Saved Filters (now called Saved Views) Learn more.

✨ Enhancements

• New condition options with Automations: Admins can now use program name and term name as Automation conditions. Learn more about Application-based triggers and conditions. Learn more about Form-based triggers and conditions.
• New filters in dashboards and reports:
  • Filter by Program Type on the Traveler Forms, Form Completion and Form Content dashboards as well as the General Forms Report and the Application Report 
  • Filter by Authorized/Internal programs on Form Completion and Form Content dashboards. 
• Admins can now click a URL link taking them directly to travelers' forms or applications when viewing Form Content and Application Content standard report downloads.  
• When creating an application automation with the trigger “Application status → Changes to → Deferred,” Admins will have the option to choose a mailer token that will provide the students' reason for deferring directly in a mailer they receive. 
• Admins can now delete events from the event details page 
• Admins now have an updated experience when canceling or deleting a term in Program settings
• When a student’s application status changes to withdraw or defer, the status update mailers sent to Admins now include the reason they selected directly in the mailer.

✅ Resolved

• Ensured that the Term Name field in reports always reflects the Term Name that appears on dashboards. 
• Resolved issue that sent Admins to the Message Center when toggling between upcoming and past programs in a Traveler Profile
• Updated link that sent admins to the traveler profile instead of the traveler form, when clicking the Call to Action "View Form" button in a Form Status Update mailer 
• Resolved issue with Payflow payment integrations that prevented some Travelers from submitting their applications, even after providing a required payment 
• Accidentally entering an extra space with a recommender's email had blocked some recommendation mailers from being sent, but this has been resolved.
• The Term Name filter on the Traveler & Visitor Program Brochure Dashboard now functions the same as the search bar. If you use the Filter to search for a past term, program brochures now appear as expected.

 

3/1/2024

✅ Resolved

• The reload issue on the following pages has been resolved:
  • Program Brochures
  • Traveler Views
  • Traveler Programs View

2/15/2024

🆕 New

→ New Standard Report Downloads Center & Export Process

• A new Download Center for all Standard Reports is now available! View all of your Standard Report exports in one location - and get notified by email when your reports are ready! Read more.

→ Download Applications & Forms to PDF

• Now from the Traveler’s Application or Form Review Mode, download individual application or form responses to PDF - including Traveler file uploads, like passport copies and transcripts, in a zip file.  Read more.

✨ Enhancements

→ On the Application Reports page, Admins can now add  “Gender” as a column to view or download in CSV reports. 

→ Previously Admins were required to add an application template when creating a suitcase, but for some, this made it difficult to market upcoming Authorized Terms. With our latest update, you can now create a suitcase without saving an application template and assign it to an Authorized Term.

✅ Resolved

• Resolved spacing inconsistencies between paragraphs in Automation Mailers, so Admins can use ‘hard returns’ (i.e. line spacing) as expected
• Application mailer reminders scheduled for more than 10 days before a deadline are now consistently being sent to Travelers 
• Updated travelers’ ‘Start Application' page to ensure that Authorized Program text appears as expected 
• Fixed an issue that allowed Travelers to save incomplete Applications and choose alternates prior to submitting
• Admins can once again scroll the Admin Review Panel without having to zoom out
• Removed Application and Form Tag formatting when exporting data to CSV for cleaner exports of your data
• Travelers who visit an Event page via the “share” link can now see hyperlinks and bullet points in Event descriptions as expected
• Accidentally entering a trailing space in required fields will not prevent Travelers from submitting Applications

---

1/29/2024

✅ Resolved

→ Titles for existing Events can now be edited with confidence.

---

1/22/2024

🆕 New

→ Two new features when transferring Applications to a new Program Term

• Transfer a Travelers' Forms (Including their responses): In order to improve Traveler experiences, Admins can now opt to transfer Forms with their responses when transferring Applications to a new term. 
• Change Application Statuses: In addition, Admins can now choose to set the application status of the destination application, reducing friction in app processing. 
• Check out this article on application transfer for more details on both new pieces of functionality.

→ Additional Automation Triggers & Conditions

• New triggers available on Automations:
  • Term Start Date is 1, 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days in the future or in the past
  • Term End Date is 1, 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days in the future or in the past
• New conditions now available on Automations:
  • Program Type is/is not one or more program type
  • Program Country is/is not one or more selected countries

Learn more about automation triggers and conditions.

→ Review, Rate, and Add Notes now included with Traveler Forms

• You have loved being able to review, rate, and add notes (with attachments) to applications - so we added it to forms. Centralize your documentation and improve cross-departmental collaboration when you track form-specific notes and rate the quality of your travelers forms!

→ Form History Log

• Now you can check the ‘whodunit’ record of what has happened with a Traveler’s form!  Just click your actions button when reviewing Traveler Forms and choose “View History Log.”

→ Personalized Organization Note added to Risk Alerts

• Organization notes will be displayed to Travelers when an alert is sent to them. Learn more about this feature here.

 

✨ Enhancements

→ New columns added to two Standard Reports: ‘Review Rating’, ‘Review Notes’, and ‘Application Tags’ or ‘Form Tags’ 

• Review rating, review notes and tags are now included in Application Content and Form Content Standard Reports.

→ New column added to four Standard Reports: ‘Term Name’

• Term Name is now included in four Standard Reports for better clarity: Application Alternates, Application Counting, Form Status and Participation Reports.

→ New column added to the Application Report dashboard: ‘Application Tags’ 

• You can now add the column ‘Application Tags’ and report on them from the Application Report Dashboard.

→ Remove an Application Template from a Program Term, as long as no Travelers have applied

• If no applications exist for a Program Term, you can now choose to remove and/or swap your Application Template.

→ Transfer ownership of saved filters when Admins are removed from their account

• If Anthony is removed from his Admin account and his data is transferred to Admin Angelina, she will then see Anthony’s saved filters as ‘My Filters’ and can delete/share them, etc.

→ Improved date formatting for standard reports

• Date formatting has been updated in standard reports to YYYY-MM-DD (or DD-MM-YYYY, if using Excel) which should make sorting and manipulating your data much easier.

→ Semi-colon support for custom field answers

• Travelers can now enter semi-colons into custom field responses - and you as an admin can more easily use them when filtering custom fields in your dashboards.

→ Enhanced password security

• To better protect account security, additional password requirements for non-SSO Admins and Travelers have been implemented, including entering your existing password to change it, as well as requiring uppercase letters and special characters.

✅ Resolved

→ Automations Builder Dashboard sorting now functions as expected for ‘Actions ‘and ‘Last Modified’ columns

→ Forms no longer duplicate when Travelers using Safari hit ‘Commit’ multiple times

→ Subject line formatting now appears correctly for Risk Alert Mailers

 

Dec 13, 2023 - Jan 18, 2024

Via Global

New

Automations are now LIVE

🚗 Automations are a simple way for Administrators to create If/Then logic in Via…and then sit back and let the robots do the repeatable processes without human intervention.This release empowers you to:

• • ✍️ Edit the content of our current Application mailers.
  • 🚫 Deactivate our default application mailers sent to travelers.
  • 💌 Create new Application mailers based on your needs that currently don’t exist in Via.
  • 🗺️ Create if/then logic by customizing triggers and conditions for your application mailers!

🧐 Triggers now available on Automations:

• • Application Status changes to [one or more application statuses]
  • Application is Started
  • Application Deadline is 1-30 days in the future

🧐 Conditions now available on Automations:

• • Application Status is [one or more application statuses]
  • Program Origin is Authorized and/or Internal

🧑🏻‍💻 Admins now have access to 4 standard reports:

• • Application Content by Application Template
  • Application Content by Program Name and Term
  • Form Content by Form Template
  • Form Content by Program Name and Term
    
    

🆔 The Student ID field has been added to the following locations in Via:

• • Standard Reports
  • Reports > Form Status Reports
  • Via Travel > Alerts > Specific alert
  • Via Travel > SafeCheck > Specific SafeCheck message
  • Via Travel > Details > Housing
  • Via Travel > Details > Transportation
  • Via Travel > Details > Activities
  • Events > Event Participants Dashboard
  • Application Content Dashboard
  • Form Completion Dashboard
  • Form Content Dashboard
    
    

⬅️ Admins now have a Go Back button on the program brochure for easy navigation back to the program dashboard.

👼🏽 Traveler Forms welcomes a new addition: A whodunnit of Traveler Forms is now available. Admins can now view a History Log of status changes on Forms.

Updated

☎️ On the admin Edit view of a program brochure, we changed the name of a section to be Program Contact & Administrators (instead of Program Contacts) to help clarify this section.

Reminders:

• Admin can add one Program Contact - this is the individual that receives all of the mailer notifications related to programs like application and form status changes and questions students as directly from the program brochure.
• Program Administrators are generally Occasional Users - occasional users are given access to a program and its applications by adding them as a Program Administrator to the program brochure. This user could also be the Program Contact and receive all of the email communications, but they do not have to be. Super Users, Power Users and Support Users do not necessarily need to be added as program administrators since their roles inherently give them access to programs and their applicants.

 

🌎 Previously, admins had to save a location to their program brochure before being able to select to display the location on a map. Now as soon as admins select a location, they can check the box to display the location on a map on the program brochure, if desired.

🚫 For required single choice questions with logic, a validation warning was appearing when a traveler first opens the form. For a more user-friendly experience, we removed that preemptive required warning in order to give travelers a chance to answer the question before showing a warning.

Resolved

🦅The faster content dashboards were not always reflecting the correct number of applicants at the top of the page. Now the number shows accurately. Thanks to Western Washington for their 🦅👀

🔑Support and Occasional Users temporarily did not have permissions to access the Action dropdown on traveler applications. This was resolved in less than 24 hours.

🌀 Traveler application and forms that had a single choice question with conditional logic needed an extra page refresh to show the answer to the conditional logic question. Now that answer shows immediately and no refresh is needed.

Via Travel

New

🚨 Risk Alerts for Via Travel are now LIVE

Admins with access to Via Travel can now access 24/7 real-time alerts. In emergency situations, quick access to local emergency services information is paramount. Via Alerts offers:

• Quick access to local emergency services
• Comprehensive list of on-site travelers
• Traveler safety check-ins
• Historic alert reporting

👀 Admins can take a peek at what Travelers will see when a Risk Alert is sent to them by toggling to the Traveler View from the Risk Alert.

Resolved

💪🏼 Via Travel Travelers were sometimes seeing an error when clicking to view their itinerary. Now all travelers can access their itinerary successfully.

 

Nov 3 - Dec 12, 2023

Via Global

In case you are so busy this semester that you don’t have time to read the color commentary on our new releases and updates, here’s a short summary for you to enjoy!

Now live:

• Admins can add tags to applications and forms
• Admins can customize conditions and triggers on Via automations and create their own new automations (Live for Beta testers - coming soon for all users)
• New standard reports workflow

And here are ‘the biggies’ that are coming very soon to soon-ish:

• Automations - admins can create their own custom notifications by setting a trigger and optional conditions and editing the email that Via sends (in app by end of 2023)
• New standard reports (in app by end of 2023)
  • Application content by program name and term
  • Application content by application template
  • Form content by program name and term
  • Form content by form template
• Alerts - Via Travel admins can view and send alerts to travelers (in app by end of 2023)
• Dashboards (Coming in late December/January) All admins will have access to a new application view (Application Dashboard 2.0) in Beta. You will still have access to the old views temporarily, but will be able to access enhanced features like:
  • Dragging/dropping columns to select your own viewing/reporting order
  • Pinning columns
  • New columns
    • Program Countries
    • Student ID (Profile)
    • First Name (Application)
    • Last Name (Application)
  • New advanced filtering capabilities for all of your data fields
  • Type to search column and filter selector
  • Autosizing of columns
  • Exports to CSV or Excel
  • Speed improvements and access to all past/current data
  • Improved viewing ratios to see more of your data

Other features already added in 2023:

• New traveler views on their profile - Via Global is now fully mobile-friendly and accessible

• Limit application feature

• Automations (for beta testers - to be released for all by December 31, 2023)

• Alerts (for VT beta testers - to be released for all VT users by December 31, 2023)

• Admins can embed a budget spreadsheet into program terms

• Admins can upload zip files to program brochures for travelers to download
• Admins can turn on StudentUniverse notifications for travelers
• Request to Withdraw customizable workflow
• Admin home screen
• Speedier reports and dashboards by removing past applications and forms from daily views (to report on historical data, click Reports in the main navigation)
• And hundreds of other tiny updates to make your user experience better :)

New

📢 Now in Via - a new sign in/sign up workflow to ensure all users are aware of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. All users will go through this new workflow upon first sign-in after this feature is live.

🔐 2 new permissions have been added so that admins can add tags, edit application/form notes and add admin-only attachments to traveler applications and forms,  without needing permission to save content on the application itself and/or to change the status of the application. The two separate permissions look like this:

🔋 Admins can now give permission to support and occasional users in the following categories in Organization:

• Edit Program Alternates
• Edit Tags & Term Names
• Edit Custom Fields

🏷 Application Tags have been added to the Form Completion dashboard. On Form Completion, admins can now see any application tags that have been added to the travelers’ applications. Admins can also filter by application tag. 

↕️ Admins can now re-order their multiple choice and dropdown menu options in application, form and recommendation builders! We know this will save you tons of time if you need to rearrange your answer selections!

🛂 Student ID field has also been added as an available column to the following dashboards:

• Application Content
• Form Completion
• Form Content
• Event Participants
• Via Travel Transportation Details
• Via Travel Housing Details
• Via Travel Excursion Details

🍽️ For more clarity for admins, we’ve added ‘Row Data Updating’ to data tables when the row is in the process of updating and Row Data Updated when the row is done updating. We hope this will help admins to clearly understand when the table is fully updated.

🎼 Audio (mp3) files can now be uploaded to Upload questions on applications and forms! So for those of you who want to hear from travelers (literally!), that is now possible :) 

Updated

🔤 We alphabetized withdrawal reasons in the request to withdraw workflows for a more tidy list for admins to use.

💨 We’ve made some additional technical adjustments to the content dashboards to improve their speed. We hope you notice the change!

#️⃣ Per partner feedback, we updated the sorting order on the Traveler Programs tab on traveler profiles. If a traveler has multiple applications, they now appear in an order more intuitive to your workflows.

📞When adding a message recipient to a traveler, if an admin selected a user, that user still appeared on the list as available to select. Now, once added as a message recipient that user is removed from the list of admins to add.

👧🏻 Also per partner feedback (we appreciate you all!), we have added profile first and last name columns to application and form reports.

🔒 Users without permission with withdraw applications were still able to withdraw them through our Approve and Withdraw workflow. Now, admins without permission to withdraw will no longer have permission to use that workflow.

🪟 Error messages when creating Events were not as clear as they could be! We re-worked them so that the messages that appear are more accurate and concise.

Resolved

🇬🇧United Kingdom was appearing as England/United Kingdom in some filters. That has been updated.

🧳Admin users that have filled out intake and program match as a Traveler were not seeing the ability to take the program match quiz again and were not able to sort by % match. Now, Travelers see both.

👩🏽‍💻Given admins have Public Custom Fields in their account, not all Travelers were seeing those custom fields in their profile. Now Travelers see those fields under My Profile > Additional Information.

🪡 Our crafty Travelers found a few loopholes (like editing deadlines on their own computers 😱) and were able to open applications after the deadline. We’ve blocked those entry points so our techy travelers can no longer game the system. Thanks to Nick at MSU for his high-tech troubleshooting!

👓 Some admins using the Safari browser were not seeing all applications and forms as expected. Now all applications and forms appear as expected when using Safari.

✍🏾 When admins with a recommendation question type that used a custom built recommendation form edited that recommendation question type’s instructions, the recommendation form was reverting back to the Default Recommendation form. Now when editing recommendation question types - only what’s edited changes.

🐰 When editing the text of multiple choice and/or dropdown questions, the cursor was doing a little hop, skip and a jump. Now the cursor behaves itself! Thanks to Uganda Partners for their eagle eyes!

🪐 Spacing between paragraphs on internal program brochures was no longer appearing as expected. Now the spacing is representative of what the admin created when edit their brochure. Thanks to UW Osh Kosh for their great detective work!

📬 Request to Withdraw mailers for authorized programs were not going to Default Message Recipients, as expected. Now they do!

🕵🏻‍♂️ All recommendation content was not always visible to admins. Now all content submitted on recommendations is visible to admins with permission. Thank you Western Washington for your amazing detective work 

✳️ Some special characters (think & * # $) were preventing students from submitting applications. Via now recognizes those special characters as legit. Thanks to TAMU for bringing this to our attention.

⛔️ Some users were seeing an error message when trying to view a plan by clicking the link in the mailer. That issue has been resolved. We appreciate you Western Washington for letting us know!

🐅 Some Travelers using Safari were finding that their intake and program selections were not saving as expected. Now they do! Thank you to Macalester for their close monitoring of the student experience!

🚫 Certain tabs on the program brochure were showing an error page for about an hour on Nov 10. Thank you to Michigan State for sharing this information with us - and a special shout out to our engineering team for resolving the issue so darn fast!

🛂 The passport/visa tab on the traveler’s view of their profile was hidden for a brief period. It is now back for all travelers. Thanks to the University of Central Missouri for their observation!

🏎 Authorized programs were not updating immediately in university accounts as expected. Now they update speedy quick!

↩️ When adding a new administrative user to an account, admins had to refresh the page for that newly added admin to appear in the list of admin users. Now, Via does the refresh for you - no need to refresh the page on your own. Thanks to Grand Valley State for the suggestion!

🎨 Border colors on application and form templates were not always sticking as expected. Now they do!

🔗 Hyperlinks in Event description were not appearing as clickable links to students. Now students can click away. Thanks Western Washington for pointing this out!

 

Date Sep 30 - Nov 2, 2023

Via Global

In case you are so busy this fall that you don’t have time to read the color commentary on our new releases and updates, here’s a short list of ‘the biggies’ we’ve added lately:

• Request to Withdraw customizable workflow

• Admin home screen

• Speedier reports and dashboards by removing past applications and forms from daily views (to report on historical data, click Reports in the main navigation)

And here are ‘the biggies’ that are coming very soon to soon-ish:

• Admins can add tags to applications and forms

• New features and updated UI for Admin Notes on Traveler Profile

• Admins can customize conditions and triggers on Via automations and create their own new automations

• Via Travel fully mobile-friendly and accessible traveler views

• Contract Management and Exchange Balance Tracking

• Course Approvals

Other features already added in 2023:

• New traveler views on their profile - Via Global is now fully mobile-friendly and accessible

• Limit application feature

• Automations (for beta testers - soon to be released for all)

• Alerts (for VT beta testers - soon to be released for all VT users)

• Admins can embed a budget spreadsheet into program terms

• Admins can upload zip files to program brochures for travelers to download

• Admins can turn on StudentUniverse notifications for travelers

• And hundreds of other tiny updates to make your user experience better :)

 

New

Request to Withdraw is a feature that provides more clarity to Travelers during the withdrawal process AND gives Admins control over when Travelers can withdraw themselves - and when they cannot! For example, if you feel like Travelers are not clear on the financial implications of withdrawing applications at a certain point in the enrollment process, this feature is definitely for you! Admins can click one button to turn the Request to Withdraw feature on, select the application statuses for which they want the Request to Withdraw workflow to appear - and - that’s it! Easy peasy! The Withdraw button disappears from Travelers with applications in the designated statuses and Travelers have the ability to send a Request to Withdraw notification instead. 💌

 

Updated

🧹 The Term Name filter has been updated for Travelers and Visitors. Now, Archived Term Names no longer appear. Nor do Term Names for programs with a start date in the past or canceled terms.

🕛 In our never-ending quest to reduce clicks, we have changed the default application deadline time to 11:59pm in suitcases. We all know most deadlines are one minute before the clock strikes 12 🎃👠- so why not pre-set that time for you?  Thanks to Brittany from UMass Boston for the idea!

💨 We’ve added a Clear All filter button on the Traveler and Visitor views of the program dashboard for efficiency.

🪟 If a program has no future terms, there is a new, clear message to students letting them know to reach out to program administrators. 

✈️ On the Visitor Program dashboard, clicking on a program tile will open that program in a new tab. We heard that this functionality made it easier for students and admins to easily compare programs so we added it back to Via in the new traveler/visitor views.

🪐 When adding spacing to sentences or paragraphs on the Builder, the instructions to travelers and admins did not always match the spacing shown on the applications and forms in the Builder. Now the paragraph spacing more closely aligns in all views.

🌳 Admins can now expand the content box when typing messages.

💶 CashNet changed their name to Transact - so we updated Via with their new branding. If you have an integration with CashNet you will now see their new name in Via!

Resolved

⏳ The Program Type filter on the admin view of the Program Dashboard was not filtering as expected if an admin selected more than one Program Type. Now the filter works as expected with one or more than one Type.

🦸🏽‍♀️ Aliases were not always saving as expected. Now all admins (with permission) can create and save aliases.

🔠 The search bar in the subject area filter on the traveler view of the program dashboard was case sensitive. We updated it so that any ol’ case will work!

📭 Acceptance mailers were showing exact program term dates, even if Show Exact Dates was turned off. Now if Show Exact Dates is turned off, Month/Year to Month/Year appears instead.

👩🏽‍⚖️ The sorting functionality on the new traveler and visitor views of programs was not working as expected. That has been resolved.

😅 In some cases, Admins were not able to edit and save instructions on a single choice question type in the Builder. Now all edits to those instructions should save as expected. 

❤️ The favorites filter in the new traveler program dashboard was not playing nicely with the other filters. Now they’re all getting along fine. 

♦️ Intermittently, program cards were appearing more than once on the traveler and visitor views of the program dashboard. Now each program gets equal billing - one card per program.

👨‍🍳 Term Name filter was not always filtering as expected in the Visitor Program Dashboard. Now the filter works predictably.

😵 Some Admin users when toggling to their Traveler view were seeing an error when completing Via’s Intake workflow. Now that error no longer appears.

⚫️The use of bullets was creating text to appear bunched up on program brochures. Our speedy engineers resolved this in under 24 hours. Thanks to MSU and UNL for letting us know!

 

Date Aug 21 - Sep 29, 2023

It was brought to our attention that some of you are so busy this fall that you don’t have time to read the color commentary on our new releases and updates,. Sooo.... for all you busy 🐝's out there, here’s a short list of ‘the biggies’ we’ve added lately:

• New traveler views on their profile - Via Global is now fully mobile-friendly and accessible

• Limit application feature

• Automations (for beta testers - soon to be released for all)

• Alerts (for VT beta testers - soon to be released for all VT users)

• Admins can embed a budget spreadsheet into program terms

• Admins can upload zip files to program brochures for travelers to download

• Admins can turn on StudentUniverse notifications for travelers

• And hundreds of other tiny updates to make your user experience better :)

Are here are ‘the biggies’ that are coming soon:

• Request to Withdraw customizable workflow

• Admin home screen

• Admins can add tags to applications and forms

• Speedier reports and dashboards (removing past +30 days) applications and forms from all 5 applications and form dashboards

• Admins can create automations to add forms to travelers using various application-based triggers and conditions

And, in case you have more time to read the deets:

Via Global

Coming Soon!

📊 Admins logging in to Via will soon see a Home Dashboard (screenshot below). The home page will show some key data and provide a landing page from which admins can choose their own adventure and decide what to do / where to go next!

Automations

(Beta testing is underway for this feature so it should be on its way to all users very soon!)

🏎 Have you ever wanted to edit the acceptance mailer that Via automatically sends out? Have you ever wished the Acceptance mailer could be sent when the application status changes to Approved and Accepted instead of just to Accepted? Have you ever wanted to turn off Application status update notifications for your Organization? Well…say hello to Via Automations! Soon Admins can customize all application mailers and take control of who gets what when. Welcome to the Mailer Driver’s seat! 

Request to Withdraw

Request to Withdraw is a feature that provides more clarity to Travelers during the withdrawal process AND gives Admins control over when Travelers can withdraw themselves - and when they cannot! For example, if you feel like Travelers are not clear on the financial implications of withdrawing applications at a certain point in the enrollment process, this feature is definitely for you! Admins can click one button to turn the Request to Withdraw feature on, select the application statuses for which they want the Request to Withdraw workflow to appear - and - that’s it! Easy peasy! The Withdraw button disappears from Travelers with applications in the designated statuses and Travelers have the ability to send a Request to Withdraw notification instead. 💌 Check out the sneak peek below:

 

New

Traveler views of their Traveler Profile got a facelift. All functionality is the same! We updated the ‘look’ of the Traveler’s Traveler Profile to meet WCAG Level AA accessibility standards. All Traveler views, are now represented with visual accuracy in the knowledge base articles devoted to the Traveler perspective. Feel free to use any of the Via articles, images or videos when sharing information with your students. Note these design changes do not impact the admin view of the traveler profile. Don’t be jealous 😏admin views will get their turn soon enough!

Updated

💌 Admin to admin communications have been disabled. In the event that you have an Admin that is also a traveler, please refrain from messaging that admin/traveler in the Via message center. We are working on some new awesome ways to ensure that admins can message other admins in Via - stay tuned for updates!

✍🏾 Our Same Day Sign Up page where admins can track attendance for events got a language update. Thanks to AJ at UMass for letting us know that students at the study abroad fair that had registered for the Event felt they didn’t need to mark their attendance at the Event - because the language on both pages was too similar. We’ve changed the wording so that students have a better experience.

Resolved

✏️ Admins were intermittently unable to delete a program term - even if no applications had been started for that term. Now admins can securely and confidently delete a program term that has no applications associated with it. Tip! If there are applications associated with a term you want to delete, you can delete the applications and then you will be free to delete the term. Keep in mind that deleting applications deletes all historic records of that application and cannot be undone.

👻 While we’re on the subject of deleting terms, in some cases when terms were deleted, their ghost term was still appearing on the internal terms dashboard. Now all term ghosts (aka deleted terms) have been exorcized from the term dashboard. Thanks to Macalester for pointing this out!

📫Not all default message recipients were receiving copies of the Have a Question notifications for authorized programs. Now, those mailers are being delivered as expected. For a deeper dive on who gets messages when, click here

📩 Speaking of authorized program messages, default message recipients had been receiving some email intended for providers - now those are only going to their intended recipients! 

🥴 Some travelers were able to submit applications without all required fields filled out. Now travelers must fill out all required fields before submitting.

🕚 In certain time zones (we see you Auckland!), dates were not respecting the account time zone on reports. Now the dates are reflected appropriately based on your time zone.

⛔️ Admins (with permission) were seeing a blip of a message on Program Settings indicating that they did not have permission to view the page. This did not impact functionality or usage of the page, but it didn’t make sense - so we removed that language from appearing.

🔠 Previously, some users experienced sign up issues when using a mixture of uppercase and lowercase on their account email address. Now any ol’ case will do.

📆📆 Admins using our duplicate Events feature were not able to edit the date of the Event to a date in the past. Now time travel is again possible and admins can edit event dates to the past for duplicated events (and can still add dates in the past for new events)

🧞‍♀️ Admins changing roles from Admin to Traveler found they got stuck in the traveler role for a little too long. Now admins can once again toggle back and forth to their heart’s content!

💧Drop-down multiple-choice question types in the Builder were not allowing admins to type in options as expected. This has been resolved. 

 

Via Travel

New

💃🏻 Now hear this! You know how when an admin associates a program term to a travel plan, all committed travelers automatically appear on the plan. Well, now (thanks AJ at UMass!), if a traveler’s application (added to a plan by association through a program term) status changes to Withdrawn or Deferred, that traveler is automatically removed from the plan!

 

Date July 12 - Aug 20, 2023

Coming soon to Via Global - Traveler view of Traveler Profile Design Updates

Traveler views of their Traveler Profile is getting a facelift. All functionality will be the same! We are updating the ‘look’ of their Traveler Profile to meet the highest accessibility standards. All Traveler views, once the updates are live, will be represented with visual accuracy in the knowledge base articles devoted to the Traveler perspective. Feel free to use any of the Via articles, images or videos when sharing information with your students. Note these design changes do not impact the admin view of the traveler profile.

 

Coming soon to Via Global - Automations

(Beta testing is underway for this feature so it should be on its way to all users very soon!)

🏎 Have you ever wanted to edit the acceptance mailer that Via automatically sends out? Have you ever wished the Acceptance mailer could be sent when the application status changes to Approved and Accepted instead of just to Accepted? Have you ever wanted to turn off Application status update notifications for your Organization? Well…say hello to Via Automations! Soon Admins can customize all application mailers and take control of who gets what when. Welcome to the Mailer Driver’s seat! 

Coming soon - Admin Home Screen

📊 Admins logging in to Via will soon see a Home Dashboard (screenshot below). The home page will show some key data and provide a landing page from which admins can choose their own adventure and decide what to do / where to go next!

 

Coming soon to Via Global - Request to Withdraw

Request to Withdraw is a feature that provides more clarity to Travelers during the withdrawal process AND gives Admins control over when Travelers can withdraw themselves - and when they cannot! For example, if you feel like Travelers are not clear on the financial implications of withdrawing applications at a certain point in the enrollment process, this feature is definitely for you! Admins can click one button to turn the Request to Withdraw feature on, select the application statuses for which they want the Request to Withdraw workflow to appear - and - that’s it! Easy peasy! The Withdraw button disappears from Travelers with applications in the designated statuses and Travelers have the ability to send a Request to Withdraw notification instead. 💌 Check out the sneak peek below:

Coming soon to Via Travel - Risk Alerts

(Beta testing is underway for this feature so it should be on its way to all users very soon!)

🚨 Admins with a Via Travel license will soon be able to see curated global intelligence that identifies risk, the location of the concern, and a user-friendly view of travelers potentially impacted by the danger. Further, with one click Admins can send the alert intelligence directly to impacted travelers and automatically request the travelers confirm their safety or request help. We’re excited about this new way to simplify your workday by bringing potential risk information directly to you, with the flexibility to filter and curate the alerts to meet your precise needs.

 

New (Now in Via Global)

🔤 Because we are always looking for ways to make your days more efficient and because spelling can be dificoult chalanging...hard 😰, this new feature was a no-brainer for us. Now you can use the vocabulary befitting international education gurus – without the stress. Now in app - Via + Grammarly = Perfect Spelling 💕. Thanks to Ksenija from UMass Boston for kick-starting the spell-check conversation in Via Sparks!

💰Via student data show that the #1 barrier to studying abroad is cost. As it is our mission to empower every student to engage in global opportunities, we are very excited to announce an opt-in partnership with StudentUniverse to provide students the opportunity to save money on travel expenses. Admins can opt to send travel discount notifications to travelers and travelers can opt-in or opt-out. Check out Organization Settings to learn more.

#️⃣ Have you ever wondered which programs have had the most popularity over time and which have had the least? Now on the internal program and authorized program dashboards, admins can see the total number of applications per program (since your account with Via began). Happy Counting! Credit goes to AJ from UMASS Amherst for this genius suggestion that created a big impact 🙌

Updated

🧐 In an effort to provide admins with more in-app assistance, we have added contextual information to all of the options in Organization Settings. This will provide more clarity to admins when turning those settings on/off.

🕛In our never-ending quest to reduce clicks, we have changed the default application deadline time to 11:59pm in program settings and in the batch add application pop-up from the Internal Terms view of the program dashboard. We all know most deadlines are one minute before the clock strikes 12 🎃👠- so why not pre-set that time for you?  Thanks to Brittany from UMass Boston for the idea!

📆 Admins previously were able to create an Event with an end date before the start date. We put the kabash on that! Now end dates must be after start dates.

💧⬇️ Admins adding a Term Name to a program term were seeing archived term names as options. Now archived Term Names no longer appear in the dropdown menu options. If you ever want to see an archived Term Name back on the list to select from, you can simply unarchive the Term Name in Organization Settings.

🚛 On the Application Content dashboard, our recommender’s names listed a semi-colon after the name. You know how fussy we are about details, so we removed that unnecessary bit of punctuation!

😅 When admins were creating and/or editing events, it wasn’t abundantly clear which fields were required to create / save an event. Now Via has validations that let admins know what fields are required.

📅 Speaking of Events, prior to this update, when an admin created an Event they were taken to the Event dashboard post-creation. Now, admins are taken to the Event page.

🍿 Via has pop-ups that slide on screen when an action is successful (green) and unsuccessful (red). Now those pop-ups also occur for Event creation.

🔙 We added a Back to Events link from the individual events page for easy navigation.

 

Resolved

📆 For an Event, given a Traveler ‘registered’ for an Event after they had been marked ‘Attended,’ Via had been reverting that Traveler back to a Not Attended status. Now, once a Traveler is marked Attended, they remain in that Attendance status.

🙈 Previously, Support Users with permission to View Traveler Applications could not access the Application Content view of the Application Dashboard. Now they have access to that useful view. Thanks to Martin at TAMU for his 🦅👀

🚫Admins were intermittently seeing an error when typing application deadline on the program settings page. That is now resolved. 

Via Travel

Updated

💁🏼‍♀️For easier reporting and sorting by last name, Via has added a separate First Name and Last Name column on the Via Travel Travelers dashboard. 

🗓 We changed the name of the column headers in the list of Travelers in Via Travel from Plan Start Date and Plan End Date to Location Start Date and Location End Date. The dates in the data table also show the location dates (vs plan dates). This will provide more clarity to Admins as to the exact dates and locations of Travelers. In the example below, the table now clearly shows both legs of Gustave Morot’s plan in Lebanon.

 

Date Jun 7 - Jul 11 , 2023

New to Via is the opportunity to test drive features before they’re live. Below are two features that are about to be released to Beta testers. To sign up to be a Beta tester, click here!

Coming soon to Via Travel - Risk Alerts

🚨 Admins with a Via Travel license will soon be able to see curated global intelligence that identifies risk, the location of the concern, and a user-friendly view of travelers potentially impacted by the danger. Further, with one click Admins can send the alert intelligence directly to impacted travelers and automatically request the travelers confirm their safety or request help. We’re excited about this new way to simplify your workday by bringing potential risk information directly to you, with the flexibility to filter and curate the alerts to meet your precise needs. Click here to sign up to be on the list to Beta test the new feature!

Coming soon to Via Global - Automations

🏎 Have you ever wanted to edit the acceptance mailer that Via automatically sends out? Have you ever wished the Acceptance mailer could be sent when the application status changes to Approved? Have you ever wanted to turn off Application status notifications for your Organization? Well…say hello to Via Automations! Soon Admins can customize all application mailers and take control of who gets what when. Welcome to the Mailer Driver’s seat! Click here to sign up to be on the list to Beta test Automations.

 

Via Global

New

Updated

📋 In order to ensure that Travelers see the forms they need to complete in the most productive order, we’ve ensured that the logic always puts the nearest due date at the top of the list. Once forms have been submitted, they move to the bottom of the list. And if forms have the same deadline and are in the same status, they are sorted alphabetically by name A-Z.

📇 Saved filter names were not appearing as expected when refreshing a dashboard page. The filters worked as expected but the name didn’t appear. The name has been added back so that it always appears for clarity.

🙅🏻‍♀️ Occasional users were able to edit program brochures without permission when accessed through a URL. Now they are prevented from editing, regardless of how they access the program.

 

Resolved

➕ When adding form templates to a program term (one at a time in program settings only), IF an admin selected a form template by checking the box next to it and subsequently changed their mind and de-selected said form, Via still added it to the term. As y’all know, admins can remove form templates at any time but to ‘undo’ this behavior, but that meant an extra click or two…and you know how we feel about extra clicks! Thanks to High Point University for sharing this edge case with us!

🤷🏽‍♂️ Saved filters were not working as expected on the application content and form content dashboards. Now they do! Thanks to Wells College for letting us know!

☑️ When de-selecting the Completed/Not Completed filter on the content dashboards, the filtered results did not change as expected. Now they do!

🛑 Support users without permission were seeing an Authorize button on programs. That is no longer occurring.

 

 

Date May 2 - Jun 6, 2023

Coming soon to Via Travel - Risk Alerts! Admins with a Via Travel license will soon be able to see curated global intelligence that identifies risk, the location of the concern, and a user-friendly view of travelers potentially impacted by the danger. Further, with one click Admins can send the alert intelligence directly to impacted travelers and automatically request the travelers confirm their safety or request help. We’re excited about this new way to simplify your workday by bringing potential risk information directly to you, with the flexibility to filter and curate the alerts to meet your precise needs. Click here to sign up to be on the list to Beta test the new feature!

 

Via Global

New

⌚️Admins can now update Traveler Application statuses from the Form Completion dashboard. For those Admins that use the Form Completion dashboard to assess whether Travelers have completed all requirements to move forward to their next stage, Admins can now conveniently change Application statuses one at a time or in batch without changing dashboards. Yay for saving time!

🔗 To make our new Limit Application feature even more user-friendly, we’ve added a hyperlink to the pop-up that travelers see when the limit is turned ‘on’ in their account and the traveler attempts to start a new application.  Now a new hyperlink takes the traveler directly to their message center to efficiently reach out to admins.

💕 For our beloved program providers, we’ve added a notice on your program brochures if you have not yet opted to make the program ‘authorizable.’ The goal of the notice is to provide clarity to program creators so they are armed with knowledge as to whether their program can be seen by their university partners.

🔖 We’ve added links to our Knowledge Base and to Via Sparks from the Settings Menu in the main navigation. No need to mess with bookmarks to easily navigate to Via’s handy community and resources!

Updated

📄 Previously, forms associated with an application in the withdrawn status did not show the form  status in the drop down menu in the admin review mode. Now the status shows in the drop down in addition to appearing on the form itself. It’s the little things…😉

🔘Previously, when an Admin clicked on an internal Program Brochure, the Edit Program button briefly said ‘Authorize’ upon loading. Now the button always says Edit Program!

♻️Let’s say an admin is in Application Review Mode and sends the Traveler a message from within the application itself. Now let’s say that same Admin wants to send that same Traveler another message from the same page. If you were that Admin, would you want to have to refresh the page first? We didn’t think so! Well, now you don’t have to! #savingclicks

📸 So…now let’s say a Traveler opens the photo uploader to add a nice selfie. But then they don’t like that selfie and click ‘cancel’ in order to pick a different photo. Sometimes the photo uploader was a little finicky and wouldn’t allow a second photo selection without a refresh. Now Travelers can change their mind mid-upload and Via will allow it.

⏲ Form deadlines were appearing as ‘overdue’ on the actual due date. Now overdue appears after the due date has passed.

 

Resolved

🚪 Withdrawn reasons were not always saving as expected. Now the reasons are saving regardless of who adds the reason and where in Via it’s added. Thank you UMass for your eagle 👀

✅ Single choice question types were not behaving as expected with the Question Completed filter on the content dashboards. If you haven’t used the Question Completed filter it’s super handy! And now if you want to know whether a traveler has completed the single choice question type by responding with either yes or no, the filter will provide accurate responses. Again thanks to UMass for their attention to detail!

⏳ Sometimes when transferring a traveler application from one program term to another, the former application deadline was displayed instead of the new deadline. Now, when transferring the application deadline displays accurately.

✏️ Admins capitalizing on our new budget feature (learn more about it here!) found that if they wanted to delete the budget embed link, Via wasn’t always allowing them to delete it. Now if an Admin changes their mind and no longer wants to include a link, it’s deletable.

📝 Speaking of deleting, admins/travelers that wanted to delete Emergency Contact phone, email and country were not always able to delete those fields (they could replace them, but not delete). Now, those fields are both editable AND deletable. 

💽 File type .xls was not able to be uploaded to a download question type on form templates. Now .xls is an acceptable format.

📫 Not all Message Recipients were receiving a copy of messages as expected. Now all admins that are Message Recipients get a copy of the message in their email inbox. Thanks to Fort Hays for letting us know!

 

Date April 4-May 2, 2023

Via Global

🪄 Now in Via! Admins have the ability to LIMIT traveler applications to one application per program timing. If turned on, Travelers will only be able to apply to one program within a time frame. (same time frame = overlapping program dates) And, yes, Admins will be able to override that feature and add applications to travelers as they wish! Friendly reminder to consider using our program alternates feature so that students can provide back-up options if their first choice doesn’t work out! Click here for more info on how to limit applications.

 

New

Budget Feature!

👩🏽‍💻The new feature enables admins to create and format a spreadsheet in a spreadsheet app and then embed a link into Via Program Brochures. When Admins edit the spreadsheet the budget spreadsheet in Via will update automatically! Click here for more info on getting an embed link from your spreadsheets.

🤐 Admins can now upload .zip files to program brochures to be downloaded by Travelers and Visitors.

 

Updated

💲 On our program brochures, we’ve updated the terminology ‘Scholarship or Financial Aid Opportunities’ to something that is a bit more generic to work for all. It now says ‘Program Cost Information.’ As always, if there is a section in our Program Brochure that you prefer not to use, simply don’t fill out that Information box and it will not appear on your program.

🔐 All intake fields on Traveler profile did not have a lock icon to indicate that Administrators cannot edit these fields. Now they all have the lock symbol for greater clarity.

🛂 The Passport number field incorrectly showed a lock icon instead of an eye icon when the number is visible. Ah, those obfuscated fields now behave as expected. Have we mentioned we’re nuts about details? 

🔙 Once an application was Transferred, an admin could no longer select Withdrawn or Deferred as an Application Status. Now they can! Thx AJ from UMass for her 🦅👀

🛵#scootscoot! On the Traveler view of the Program Preferences tab in their profile, we moved the Edit Intake button a bit so that it didn’t encroach on the Intake header. 

✅ When changing your Password in My Account, no validation message appeared if your password didn’t meet our criteria. Now a message appears letting you know!

🗑 Downloading files using our file upload and file download question types was changing the name of the file to alphabet soup! Now, whatever name the file had upon upload, Via keeps that same name upon download! 🌟 Thanks to Auckland for their feedback! 

📆 We added the Event date to the body of Event invitation emails for clarity for Travelers.

🙈 When Admins submitted applications as Travelers they were not appearing on the Traveler dashboard. Now they do! Note, those applications always appeared on the Application dashboard - and still do.

💪🏼 On Program Match, Travelers were not required to select both a preferred departure date and a preferred return date. Now Via prompts them to add both.

🍃 When batch updating the state of applications, forms or recommendations on the Form Builder, Via required a refresh to show the updated state. Now, no refresh required.

#️⃣ When adding credits to Program Terms, Via used to allow a maximum number that was smaller than the minimum. Now, the minimum number of credits must be smaller than the maximum. 

⚠️ When adding a Multiple Choice question type on the builder, Via was not displaying a warning when an Admin neglected to add a (required) Label on the question. Now we show you what’s missing for greater clarity.

🖇 Admins could add multiple attachments to student messages from any dashboard, but not from the Traveler Messages tab. Not wanting the Messages Tab to feel left out, we fixed that right quick! #weseeyoutab

Resolved

😵‍💫 Some Travelers were able to submit applications without completing required fields. There’s a very long story why this was intermittently occurring. Suffice it to say that now all Travelers must complete all required fields prior to submitting applications and forms.

💰 As an admin, if I add a cost range of 0$ to $500, the program brochure will display $0 - $500 as the minimum and maximum cost on the program brochure. Previously, it displayed as $0 only.

In addition, now admins can add nothing for the minimum range and only the maximum will appear. So if I add a cost range of ‘blank’ to $500, the program brochure will display $500.

🙅🏻‍♂️ Some users were briefly blocked from using the Sign Up button. This was resolved in under 2 hours.

🍞 Our toaster success message when updating authorized program message language was gettin’ a little trigger happy and appearing too many times! We’ve calmed her down so she only appears once, as expected.

💬 Our Chat icon in the bottom right corner was takin’ up a little too much space and blocking admins from being able to click View/Edit on some Traveler Forms. We moved the icon so that doesn’t occur. USG - we 🙏🏽 you for noticing and sharing!

🐇 The Add Panel on Forms got a little hoppy, skippy and jumpy on s when adding new questions or fields! That jumpiness no longer occurs.

⚪️Admins testing the waters on a multiple choice question in Preview & State on the Form Builder noticed their screen went white upon clicking one of the Traveler’s options. That no longer occurs. Thanks to UMass Lowell for this discovery!

📝 Admins creating a Note on the Traveler Profile had to refresh the page for the Note to appear. Well that wasn’t intuitive enough, was it? Now, no refresh is needed. 💃🏻UNH and UMass - you rock for sharing this with our support team!

🙈 On Firefox, opting to ‘hide’ date of birth on a Traveler profile, did not obfuscate the DOB. Now, it does

🛗 Admins quick on the trigger could create many duplicate Form templates (and sometimes an error) by clicking duplicate or delete on the Form Builder many times in a row (hello elevator button syndrome!). Now, admins can no longer clickity clack multiple times in a row to duplicate or delete. 

🔂 When transferring an application from one program term to another, sometimes the term names did not appear correctly in the dropdown menus. Now they do. Thanks to UT Chattanooga for letting us know!

🤨 Application and Form dashboard data tables were not always accurately displaying the correct Application status. Now they do! Thanks to MSU, TAMU, UChicago, UMass, CSBSJU, Troy and others for providing us with the workflows that help us squash this elusive issue!

 

Via Travel

 

Updated

✍🏾 Some Travelers on Via Travel plans were not able to click the Edit Plan button once their plan was created. Now they can!

Resolved

⬜️ SafeCheck instructions were not appearing in Org Settings until the Admin refreshed the page. Now all changes occur as expected after Saving.

👯‍♂️ When uploading a CSV of Travelers to a Via Travel Plan, adding a Traveler more than once to the same Plan sometimes resulted in creating duplicative itinerary details for that travel. Duplicates no more! Thanks Concordia Nebraska for alerting us to your double trouble.

 

Feb 13, 2023- Apr 4, 2023

Via Global

Coming Soon!

Via is adding a new budget feature to provide greater clarity on budget breakdowns for Travelers and Visitors. We expect this feature to be launched this month. The new feature enables admins to create and format their program cost sheets in a spreadsheet app and then embed a link into Via Program Brochures. When Admins edit the spreadsheet the budget spreadsheet in Via will update automatically!

Updated

• 🚪 Clicking ‘Close’ after successfully submitting a Form now takes the traveler back to the My Program page to select a new Form and continue with their tasks to complete. 
• 👯‍♀️ File Uploads required a double click to add an upload, which was one click too many in our opinion. So it now only requires one click! 
• ♊️ The Preferred Program filter on the Traveler Dashboard was appearing as 'Program Program' - so we updated it to Preferred Program. Thanks to Auckland for their eagle eyes!
• 💨 Adding an extra space in form instructions needed a little extra jiggering. Now a space is a space is a space - no extra jiggering required.
• 📝 We updated the language on our Deferred/Withdrawn success messages for travelers to ensure they know what needs to happen in the event that they want to re-open their application. Small and simple update, but details matter to us! Our hope is that this reduces questions to Admins - saving you time!
• ❎ On our Send Message pop up, clicking ‘Close’ closed the pop up, but clicking the ‘X’ did not. Now both close the pop up, as expected. 
• 🧾 Payment status dropdowns were being a bit shy and elusive, sometimes requiring a refresh of the web page to appear. Now they shine bright all the time!
• 🗂 The browser tab name on the Builder was appearing as Form Dashboard. For clarity, we updated it to Form Builder.
• ❌ When downloading a .csv report that contained withdrawn or deferred reasons, sometimes those reasons appeared with brackets. Now the brackets no longer appear on the report.
• 🉐 When downloading a .csv report that contained recommendation information, a string of 'techy' info displayed. Now the recommender’s email address, date and a link to their submission appears.
• 🪵 From visitor program brochures, users were being routed to a Sign In page. Now they are routed to a Sign In/Sign Up page so that users without a login can create one.
• 🔠 When adding applications and transferring applications, program names now appear in alphabetical order and program terms appear in chronological order.
• 🔐 Support Users with permission to Add General Forms to travelers were not able to add those forms from the Administrative Review panel. Now they can.
• 🔄 Archived Applications, General Forms or Recommendations can now be updated to Published or Unpublished States. 
• 🔙 Admins can now transfer applications to programs with dates in the past. Thanks to University of Nebraska at Omaha for the feedback!
• ⌛️ Some forms for organizations in the pacific time zone were appearing with an incorrect deadline - now all form deadlines appear to students as expected, regardless of time zone.
• 📆 Term Names were not always appearing along with program date ranges as expected. Now when an Admin adds an application to a traveler, transfers an application from one program term to another, adds general forms to travelers or associates a program term with a plan, term names appear with program dates to help orient admins to the term they’re selecting.
• ☯️  When a Traveler re-visited their program alternates page, their previously selected alternates were not displaying as expected. Now they do!
• 👠👠 If an Admin clicks from Applications > Drafts on the Form Builder page, clicking ‘Go Back’ now takes the Admin back to the Applications > Drafts. Previously, ‘Go Back’ always took the Admin back to Forms > Published, requiring 2 clicks to get back to Applications > Drafts. That is 2 clicks more than you need in your day!
• 👩🏼‍🎨 We updated the formatting of the placeholder text on all questions and fields in the form builder to match the formatting on the rest of the form builder.
• 📜 On the form builder, when adding a multiple choice question type, we added a scroll bar in case an admin needs to add more than 10 options!
• 🙈 The name of Programs designated as ‘Private’ was still appearing in filters on the Traveler and Visitor dashboards. The program could not be accessed, but the name did appear. Now the name no longer appears for further, well, privacy.
• 🔢 Minimum and Maximum cost fields on program brochures will now only allow numbers (vs other characters)
• 🎁 Adding long text to the instructions on a Single Choice question type was not wrapping as expected. Now it wraps!
• 😵 When recommenders uploaded recommendation files with long names, the name of the file overlapped a bit. We tweaked it a bit so long names wrap and are more readable.
• ⌚️ Some app deadline reminder emails were not showing the deadline date and time in the proper format. Now the date, time and time zone appear as expected.
• 👏 For Yes/No questions on forms, in some cases Travelers were able to select an answer not designated as required by the Admin. Now, Travelers can only select a designated answer. Admins, however, can select any response on behalf of the Traveler.
• 📅 In some cases, selecting to NOT Show Exact Dates for program terms was not functioning as expected and some exact dates were appearing. That no longer occurs.
• 👩🏽‍🏫 Admins were not able to upload other Admins to a Travel Plan. Now Admins can upload any user role to a Plan.

Resolved

• 📬 Some students were able to submit applications and forms without selecting a response on required Single Choice questions. Now they cannot submit without selecting an answer. Shout Out to University of Houston for bringing this to our attention!
• 📬 Some students were able to submit applications and forms without uploading a document to a required Upload question. That no longer occurs.  Thanks TAMU for letting us know!
• ‼️ Some Travelers had duplicative forms appearing on their programs - now they see the expected number of forms. Thanks MSU and CUNE for notifying us.
• 📑 Travelers in a form-triggering status (Committed, Nominated, Approved, Conditionally Approved) were not receiving forms added to an internal term or a suitcase, if an Admin added a form AFTER the Traveler’s status had been changed. Now all Travelers with an application in a form-triggering status now see the correct forms, regardless of when they are added to the program term by an Admin.
• 🙃 Form completion dashboard was not always showing the updated internal term name. Now it does!
• ⏰ Some Travelers with application statuses in deferred, withdrawn, transferred were still receiving form deadline reminders. Now Travelers with applications with those statuses no longer receive form deadline reminders for those programs. Thanks to Troy for pointing this out!
• 💰 Clients with integrated CashNet question types were not always seeing the updated payment status as expected. Now they do!
• 🪜Travelers were not all updating to On-site, Pre-departure or Alumni tracking steps if the program dates were changed. Now Via checks program dates once nightly and updates tracking steps, if needed, based on a program date change. (NOTE: tracking steps based on application status changes are still updated immediately) Thanks to CSBSJU and Keene State for their attention to detail!
• ➡️ Application statuses were not always updating across all dashboards - now they do. Shout out to CSBSJU and University of New Hampshire for letting us know!
• 📬 In some cases, our automated You’ve Got Forms notification was sending to students for program terms with no forms. Now no forms = no notification.
• 🧳 Some forms were showing up for students in the Applying tracking step for authorized programs when the associated Suitcase was updated. Now students only receive forms in either a form-triggering status or when admins manually add forms to the students. Thanks to MSU for their eagle eyes.
• 🕛 Recommendation submission dates were not always appearing in a timely manner in the content dashboards. Now the submission dates appear when expected. 
• 👯 When creating Events, if Admins were quick on the trigger and clicked to Create an Event multiple times, Via would create multiple Events. We’ve put blockers in place so that Admins can no longer create double Events unintentionally.
• 📝 Previously, Admins had to add a note and term tags in Program Settings separate from any other term info. Otherwise, only the note and/or the term tags would save. Now, the note and term tags will save along with any other term info added - without needing to save separately. 
• 📩 Adding new forms to suitcases triggered the You’ve Got Forms email for applications in the Submitted status. Those emails are no longer triggered until the applicant receives forms. Thanks to St. Catherine’s for sharing this!

Via Travel

Resolved

• ✈️ Travelers committed to a program prior to associating the program with a travel plan were not always appearing on the plan. Now any Traveler with an application in a committed status will always appear on an associated travel plan.
• 🚀 Travel Plans were not loading as quickly as expected on the Plans dashboard. Admins should now see much faster load times.

 

Special Edition Release notes Feb 13, 2023 

Forms Updates since Forms Release on 2/6/23

Kindly note that all of the items below were resolved within 24-30 hours of being reported thanks to our dedicated product and engineering teams: 

📂 The Form Content and Application Content dashboards were showing View on File with a hyperlink to the specific General Form or Application, regardless of whether that particular upload question had a file attached or not. Now View on File only appears if the Traveler has uploaded a file to save Admins ‘a trip’ if there is not a file to download.

🎁 Application status names like Conditionally Approved were wrapping and we thought it could look better! So we unwrapped those long statuses to look a ‘lil nicer.

🌱 When an Admin in Application Review mode wanted to change the Application status, the drop down menu was too short for our liking, so we gave it a little elbow room to create a better experience for Admins.

🔙 The ‘Back’ button on the Admin review mode of an Application or General Form took the Admin back to My Programs instead of the Program-specific page on the Traveler profile. Now ‘Back’ goes back to the Program-specific page the Admin was on immediately prior to clicking into the Application or General Form review page.

🔙 The ‘Back’ button on the Traveler view of an Application or General Form took the Traveler back to My Programs instead of the Program-specific page on the Traveler profile. Now ‘Back’ goes back to the Program-specific page the Traveler was on immediately prior to clicking into the Application or General Form.

👩🏽‍💻On the Application dashboard, recently Transferred Traveler Applications were not appearing on the Application dashboard as expected. Now they do! 

💻 Newly created (since forms release) Applications and General Forms for authorized programs were not all appearing on dashboards as expected. Now they do!

🧳 Forms removed from a suitcase were not being removed from the Traveler’s list of forms as expected. For example, Admin adds Passport Form to the Spring 2023 Suitcase. Sally Sue commits to a Spring 2023 provider program (with that suitcase associated) and gets the Passport Form. Then the Admin removes the Passport Form from the Spring 2023 suitcase. The Passport Form is now also removed from Sally Sue’s profile, as expected. 

🗃 Traveler Forms were reverting back to the Not Started status when an Admin updated Form deadlines in Program Settings or updated Application statuses. Inconvenient, we know! Our engineers resolved this issue in record time so that the Traveler General Forms no longer revert to Not Started. In addition, our team ensured that all Traveler General Forms that had been erroneously reverted went back to their pre-release status of Started, Submitted or Accepted.

🕛 Form deadlines were not always sending the Form Deadline reminders consistently. Now they send as expected.

📝 Some synced fields on Traveler Profile were reluctant to move along onto Traveler Applications and General Forms, now all synced fields with data in them ‘come along for the ride’ from Traveler Program when a Traveler opens an Application or General Form. 

☝🏽 Some alternate rankings selected after release were starting with the number 0 instead of the number 1. Now all alternates start with 1.

💪🏼 General Forms were not always triggering as expected when application statuses changed to Approved, Conditionally Approved, Nominated or Committed. Now they do!

👵🏼Travelers and Recommenders using old (pre-release) Application and Recommendation links were not submitting as expected. The old links are now a thing of the past and all of those routes have been updated to take Travelers and Recommenders to our beautiful new pages and submit as expected.

🦊 Recommendations were not appearing as expected on Firefox. Now they do!

🏁 Users were not able to login on Firefox or Safari consistently. Now they can!

—-------------------------

Other non-forms related updates

Via Global

Updated

➡️ The program brochure Apply button on the Visitor view of the program brochure was not redirecting Travelers as efficiently as possible. Now when a Traveler is looking at the Visitor view of a program and clicks Apply, Via takes the user to the Sign In workflow and then directly to the logged in view of that specific program. 

✈️ Program Brochure dropdown options were not appearing as expected on mobile phones in all browsers. Now they do! 📣Thanks Murray State for the head’s up!

Resolved

💕 Traveler Info fields are not always saving as expected. This was resolved within 24 hours.  📣Thanks to TAMU for pointing this out.

🌎 There were some reports of some programs not authorizing as expected. This has been resolved. 📣Thanks to Stevens Institute of Technology and Saint Vincent for letting us know

👍 When updating the Branding page in Organization Settings, Admins selection for allowing Sign Up in their Via account was being turned off. Now Admin choice prevails!

 

Via Travel

Updated

📸Some photos on Via Travel Plans (and Via Global Programs) were not desirable. We changed the logic of our integration to produce more desirable results. 

Resolved

📆Some Travel Plans were able to be created without a Location Start Date, causing an error when trying to access them. This has been resolved. Thanks to TAMU for their ‘see something, say something’ vibes!

Oct 18 - Nov 8, 2022

Via Global

New

• Intake and Program Match are now live!
• This new, fully accessible and mobile responsive update is in Via and ready for you and your travelers to enjoy. The change is cosmetic and will not require any updating by admins. 

Updated

🌎 When an admin opts to NOT show a designated location on a program brochure, we turned off the option to add a map to the brochure. No location = No map!

📱We fixed a tiny typo on the SafeCheck tab in Settings - cellphone is now cell phone 

Resolved

👯In our new program brochures, some of the bullet and numbering functions were not ‘honoring’ spacing as expected. Now the spacing in the program modify page matches the program preview and traveler views. 📣 to MSU for their eagle eyes!

🍿The pop up confirmation after authorizing/unauthorizing a provider program was a little topsy turvy. Now the correct message displays depending on the action taken. 📣 to University of North Dakota for their attention to this detail!

➕ Traveler profiles were not expanding as expected when clicking the + on the Traveler Info tab. Now the + works as expected.

🙃 Withdrawing applications in batch from the Application Dashboard was not working as expected for approximately 24 hours - it’s now back to its original fabulous functionality! 📣 to Augustana, UMass and TAMU for notifying us!

🗺 Google maps was sending us some wonky location names - which we were in turn displaying on program brochures (I see you 4485 Labruge, Portugal!). If you experienced this, go to the Edit view of the impacted program brochure and remove that location and re-add it. If the program has more than one impacted location, you only need to update one location and they will all update.  📣 Thanks to TAMU for pointing this out!

⏰ Withdrawn and Deferred times were all showing 12:00am on application and form dashboards. We’ve temporarily disabled the time while we research this further! 📣 Thanks to UMass for bringing this to our attention!

🎟 Visitor program brochures were not redirecting to the program brochure after login through SSO. Now Travelers go from the Visitor view directly to the Traveler view of a program brochure after logging in through SSO. 📣 Thanks to PBA for calling this out!

COMING SOON:

Custom Fields are getting an upgrade! This update will be in Via by the end of November.

Click here for more details on the upcoming Custom Fields.

• Custom fields can be made Public or Private
  • Public Custom Fields are visible to Travelers on their profile. Admins and Travelers can edit Public Custom Field content.
  • Private Custom Fields are NOT visible to Travelers on their profile. Only Admins can edit Custom Field content.
• Admins can now ‘archive’ Custom Fields instead of deleting them
  • • This gives admins greater control over Custom Fields. Now, when an Admin archives a Custom Field, any student data in that field will be hidden. And when an Admin unarchives a Custom Field, those data will reappear (along with the field)
• Use Case: Admin adds Allergies as a Custom Field and makes it Public. Travelers and Admins see the Allergies field on the traveler profile. Traveler types in ‘Dairy’ and saves. Admin and Traveler see ‘Dairy’ in the Allergies Custom Field. Admin archives Allergies. Neither Admin nor Traveler see the Allergies Custom Field on the traveler profile. Admin unarchives Allergies. Admin and Traveler once again see Allergies in all Traveler Profiles and Dairy in the specific Traveler Profile in the example.
• With the new forms release, Admins will be able to ADD Public Custom Fields to Forms - yahoo!

Forms and Applications Update

• Folks have been asking for details on the upcoming forms release. (Here’s a link with a video sneak peek!) And…for  those of you who learn by reading bullets and tables, here’s a table with the 411 on most of the new features you can expect with the new forms release, including what is not changing to help you prepare with confidence. Webinars with show and tell coming soon!

 

NEW	OLD
Builder button in main navigation to access all Form templates	Application template and Form template options in main navigation
To create a new form, Admins click Create New and then choose a form type	To create a new form, Admins click Application Templates + Create Template OR Form Templates + Create Template
Form types = Application, General Form, Recommendation	Form types = Application and Form
Admins can add questions to forms	Admins can add questions to forms
To add a question type to a Form, Admins click the Question icon on a panel on the left side of the screen	To add a question type to a form, Admins click +Add Question and then click one of the question types
To add Traveler Info fields, Admins click Traveler Info on a left-side panel and then check the boxes of the desired fields	To add Traveler Info fields, Admins click + Add or Remove Traveler Info Content and then check the boxes of the desired fields
To remove Traveler Info fields, Admins click on the desired Traveler Info field on screen and click the trash can in the Edit panel on the left. When deleting, admins are required to type DELETE to confirm.	To remove Traveler Info fields, Admins click + Add or Remove Traveler Info Content and then UNcheck the desired fields to remove
Admins do not see a warning when opening a published form	Admins see a warning when opening a published form
Admins see a warning when deleting content from a form, explaining the impact of deleting	Admins do not see a warning when deleting content from a form
Admins can add (public) Custom Fields to a form	Admins cannot add Custom Fields to a form
Admins can Preview a form	Admins can Preview a form
To Preview, Admins click Preview & State at the top of the screen	To Preview, Admins click Preview at the top or bottom of the template
Admins can add Short Answer questions - with character limit	Admins can add Short Answer questions - cannot add character limit
Admins can add Long Answer questions - with character limit	Admins can add Long Answer questions - cannot add character limit
Admins can add Date Picker question	Admins cannot add Date Picker question
Admins can add Rating question	Admins cannot add Rating question
Admins can add Fee question with a Call to Action button	Admins can add Fee question with a hyperlink
Admins can add integrated Fee questions: TouchNet, CashNet, CashNet with Code, PayFlow, FlyWire (coming soon!)	Admins can add integrated Fee questions: TouchNet, CashNet, CashNet with Code, PayFlow
Admins can add Dropdown question	Admins can add Dropdown question
Admins can add Multiple Choice question	Admins can add Multiple Choice question
Admins can make any question Required	Admins can make any question Required
Admins can add a Header	Admins can add a Section
Admins can as many paragraphs of text as desired	Admins can add instructions at the top of a form
Admins use drag and drop to move questions, fields, header and paragraphs	Admins click arrows to move questions and fields
Via has an 'i' to indicate file types available for upload	No indication of file types available for upload
Admin can duplicate form	Admin can duplicate form
Admin duplicates form by clicking three dots to the right of the desired form to duplicate	Admin checks a box next to the desired form to duplicate so that the duplicate action appears, and then admin clicks Duplicate
Admins can delete a draft of a form	Admins can delete a draft of a form
Admins delete a draft of a form by clicking three dots to the right of the form and selecting Delete	Admins delete a draft of a form by checking the box next to the form name so that the delete action appears, and then admin clicks Delete
Admin must double confirm when Deleting a form	Admin must double confirm when deleting a form
When showing all forms, Via shows Form Name, Date Form Created, Form Creator, Form State (Draft, Unpublished, Published, Archived)	When showing all templates, Via shows Form Name, Date Form Created, Form Creator, Form State (Draft, Unpublished, Published, Archived)
Admins can make a Recommendation Form	Admins cannot make a Recommendation Form
Admins can insert Recommendation Form into any application or general form	Admins cannot insert a Recommendation Form into another application or general form
Admin can opt to use the via default recommendation where recommenders can type a reply and/or upload a document	Admin can only use the via default recommendation where recommenders can type a reply and/or upload a document
Form saves when admin saves each question or field and/or adds a new question or field	Admin must click Save to save any updates to a form
Clicking Next goes to Preview & State page	No Next button
Admins cannot publish more than one form with the same name	Admins cannot publish more than one form with the same name
Applications appear when travelers click Apply	Applications appear when travelers click Apply
Forms appear to Travelers based on Application status (committed, nominated, approved, conditionally approved)	Forms appear to Travelers based on Application status (committed, nominated, approved, conditionally approved)
Forms appear to Travelers if admin adds a Form to Travelers on Traveler Profile, Application Dashboard and/or Form Completion Dashboard	Forms appear to Travelers if admin adds a Form to Travelers on Traveler Profile, Application Dashboard and/or Form Completion Dashboard
Admins can add applications and forms to program settings - one at a time and in batch	Admins can add applications and forms to program settings - one at a time and in batch
Admins can add applications and forms to suitcases	Admins can add applications and forms to suitcases
Admins can add forms to travelers	Admins can add forms to travelers
All applications already added to programs and all forms already added to programs WILL NOT CHANGE	n/a
All traveler data on applications and forms WILL NOT CHANGE	n/a
Admins have Review panel on applications	Admins do not have Review panel on applications
Admins can add Reviewer notes	Admins cannot add Reviewer notes
Admins can upload documents to the Review panel	Admins cannot upload documents to a Review panel
Admins can add a Ranking to applications in the Review panel	Admins cannot add a Ranking to applications
Admins can transfer an application from one program term to another	Admins can transfer an application from one program term to another
Admins transfer an application from within a panel on the right side of the application	Admins transfer an application by clicking Transfer at the bottom of an application
Admins can choose from Traveler alternates when transferring or select any available program	Admins can choose from Traveler alternates when transferring or select any available program
Admins can show questions to certain travelers based on their reply to a question (i.e., Are you a Via University student? If Traveler replies 'no' then show them 'What is your current University?')	Admins do not have conditional logic on application or form questions
Synced fields are locked and read only on applications and forms	Synced fields are locked and read only on applications and forms
Synced fields have a little sync icon	Synced fields do not have a special icon
Admins can view Recommendations	Admins can view Recommendations
Travelers cannot view Recommendations	Travelers cannot view Recommendations
Admins can view activity log of application and status changes - when and by whom	Admins cannot see activity log of application or form status changes
Admins can delete traveler applications and form/s	Admins cannot delete traveler applications or forms
Admins can start an application on behalf of Travelers	Admins cannot start an application on behalf of Travelers

October 17, 2022

SPECIAL EDITION!

Intake and Program Match are now live!

This new, fully accessible and mobile responsive update is in Via and ready for you and your travelers to enjoy. The change is cosmetic and will not require any updating by admins. 

If you want a sneak peek and you're an admin, you can either change to your traveler view and then, logged in as a traveler on the profile page, click the  Program Preferences tab and click Edit Preferences or Edit Intake. (For instructions on how to change roles from admin to traveler click here)

OR...we've provided a walk-through of each new intake and program match screen in the articles below:

Check out the new traveler intake here.

Check out the new program match here.

 

PS. If you have created content for your travelers using steps or screenshots re: intake or match, you might want to update that content so that it matches the current views. Feel free to grab screenshots from the articles ^^ to use in your own communications, if that's helpful!

Sept 14 - Sept 29, 2022

Via Global

UPDATED INTAKE AND PROGRAM MATCH COMING SOON

EXPECTED IN VIA BY END OF OCTOBER 2022

Our intake and match experience is currently in the salon (a.k.a. our testing environment) and almost ready for its close up. This new, fully accessible and mobile responsive update will be in product by the end of October for you and your travelers to enjoy. The change is cosmetic (hence the salon metaphor 💇🏽‍♀️) and will not require any updating by admins. If you want a sneak peek of what’s to come, click the links below.

Check out the upcoming traveler intake here.

Check out the upcoming program match here.

 

Forms and Applications:

We have been hard at work building and testing for our new forms release! While we don’t have an exact launch date yet, we are inching closer and closer. We are excited to share our new forms, applications and recommendations as soon as we believe that the release will provide the least disruption to our users.

• NOTE: Applications and Forms will be released without a beta version. This release will include detailed information revealed in the knowledge base as well as a pre-release special edition webinar prior to the new features going live. 
• Some highlights of the release will include: 
• Additional question types like date picker and rating question types
• Ability to add internal notes, attach documents, and rate applications
• Ability to intuitively move questions and sections on applications and forms
• Ability for admins to delete traveler applications and forms
• Ability for admins to see an activity log of when application statuses were changed, to what status they were changed and by whom
• Recommendation form creation including all available question types so admins can customize recommendations
• Conditional logic on certain question types so admins can direct users to only answer questions applicable to them
• More to be revealed soon!

 

New

The following subject areas below have been added to Via. 📣to San Francisco State and Murray State for the requests!

• Business Information Systems
• Business Decision Sciences
• Critical Social Thought
• Race and Resistance Studies
• World Development Studies
• University Studies
• Design

 

Updated

📅In our quest for consistency, we updated the passport expiration date picker to match the rest of Via. 

Resolved

👯Some of you noticed some double trouble in recent weeks with students having a duplicative application on their profiles. Our amazing product & engineering team tracked this down to an issue with only the Safari browser and resolved the issue the day they found the root cause. Thanks to those that submitted the issue to us in the support desk!

🙏🏽There was sometimes a delay when inviting admin users into Via. That lag time no longer occurs. Thanks to MSU for their eagle eyes!

 

Aug 2, 2022 - Sep 13, 2022

Via Global

NEW PROGRAM BROCHURES ARE HERE!!!

So now what do you do…?

Option 1: Absolutely nothing ☕️

Sit back, chillax and enjoy the compliments about your previously created program brochures that have a whole new look and feel - without you changing a darn thing!

 

Option 2: Take a peek! 👀

We understand if you’re curious, we would be too! If you want to check out the stylin’ new pages, go to your program dash and click on a program!

 

Option 3:  Zhuzh* it up 👩🏼‍🎨 (aka play around with editing sections if you want to take advantage of the new tricked out tabs and sections!

*to make (something) more lively, interesting, and stylish (we’re feeling great today - so what better time to learn a brand new word!)

 

Students will love the even more intuitive, user-friendly views. And everyone will love that the traveler and visitor views of program brochures are now fully accessible and mobile friendly. The team put their heart and soul into ensuring that #everystudent has access to peruse the program that is best for them. All traveler and visitor views of program brochures will immediately have the new look (see screenshot).

________________

Applications and Forms Note:

As previously mentioned in our email sent on 8/31/22 , Applications and Forms will not be released until after fall application ‘season’. As we’ve mentioned, we are excited to share our new forms, applications and recommendations with you as soon as we believe that the release will be 100% smooth sailing. We will keep you posted as we get closer to the release date. 

Some NEW highlights of the release will include: (for other features previously highlighted scroll down to check out past release notes)

• • Admins can create an application on behalf of a traveler
  • Travelers have a brand new alternates pages
  • Travelers can save their application or form without exiting the application or form
  • Admins can add a partial payment to a payment question type and see the student’s remaining balance
  • Drag and drop questions and sections
  • Builder section that houses all form types - applications, general forms, recommendations

Updated & Resolved in Via Global

👩🏽‍⚖️ You’re out of order! Program locations that is! Sometimes the primary program was not appearing ‘first’ in the list of program locations on program brochures. Now all is back in order.

 

&  Using an ampersand in an event name was lookin’ a little wonky. So the team cleaned it up so it appears as expected. 📣to TAMU for noticing this detail.

 

💶The Euro symbol was not always displaying as expected on program brochures - now it does. 🙏🏽to Auckland for letting us know!

 

🧭Google maps was confusing Israel (IL) with Illinois (IL) on traveler and visitor view of program brochures. Now Israel is all squared away on the maps.

 

🌏 Program brochures with a country - but no city - did not have a good look at the top of the program brochure - now that looks much better

June 23, 2022 - August 1, 2022

Via Global

We have been hard at work building and testing for our new forms release! While we don’t have an exact launch date yet, we are inching closer and closer. We are excited to share our new forms, applications and recommendations as soon as we believe that the release will be 100% smooth sailing.

COMING SOON - *UPDATED FEATURES IN THIS LIST SINCE LAST RELEASE NOTES

• New Applications and Forms release coming this summer! Be on the lookout for updates in release notes and webinars.
• NOTE: Applications and Forms will be released without a beta version. This release will include detailed information revealed in the knowledge base as well as a pre-release special edition webinar prior to the new features going live. 
• Some highlights of the release will include: 
• Additional question types like date picker and rating question types
• Ability to add internal notes, attach documents, and rate applications
• Ability to intuitively move questions and sections on applications and forms
• Ability for admins to delete traveler applications and forms
• Ability for admins to see an activity log of when application statuses were changed, to what status they were changed and by whom
• Recommendation form creation including all available question types so admins can customize recommendations
• Conditional logic on certain question types so admins can direct users to only answer questions applicable to them
• More to be revealed soon!

 

Resolved

📞 Under certain circumstances, a program brochure was allowed to save without a program contact. Now all program brochures require a contact in order to save.

🔐 It used to ‘look like’ an administrative user without permission to Create Events, ‘could’ create events. They couldn’t. But it looked like they could. So we removed the Create Events button from users without that permission.

💴 Some programs were not displaying Cost Information as expected - now they do! 📣 Thanks for noticing the deets, Michigan State!

 

Via Travel

Resolved

📆Some Via Travelers did not have itinerary details displaying as expected. Now they do. 📣 Shout out to TAMU for their eagle eyes.

 

May 18, 2022 - June 22, 2022

Via Global

COMING SOON - *UPDATED FEATURES IN THIS LIST SINCE LAST RELEASE NOTES

PRIVATE PROGRAMS

Exciting new feature coming your way! Admins will soon be able to make programs private! What we’ve heard from you is that you’d like to privatize the faculty proposal process, certain programs meant for specific students, etc. So…it’s coming your way very soon!

• Admins will have the ability to:
• Make program private
• Share a URL to the private program

FORMS & APPLICATIONS

• New Applications and Forms release coming this summer! Be on the lookout for updates in release notes and webinars. 
• NOTE: Applications and Forms will be released without a beta version. This release will include detailed information revealed in the knowledge base as well as a pre-release special edition webinar prior to the new features going live. 
• Some highlights of the release will include: 
• Additional question types like date picker and rating question types
• Ability to privatize questions making them visible to admins only (great feature to use for adding notes/review information to applications!)
• Ability to intuitively move questions and sections on applications and forms
• Ability for admins to delete traveler applications and forms
• Ability for admins to see an activity log of when application statuses were changed, to what status they were changed and by whom
• Recommendation form creation including all available question types so admins can customize recommendations
• Conditional logic on certain question types so admins can direct users to only answer questions applicable to them
• More to be revealed soon!

 

Updated

🔍We updated the copy size on the password reset screen so it’s easier on the eyes.

🔠We ensured that all email addresses are lower case when inviting users to events - to ensure timely and speedy delivery of invites.

✏️Clear filters on the Application and Form Content Dashboards was not clearing out the Question Completed filter. Now it does. (PS - this filter is AWESOME. If you haven’t tried it, we highly recommend it - particularly if you want to find out if recommendations have arrived :) )

🗓 We added a new validation to confirm that admins are inviting only valid email addresses to events.

🕵🏻‍♀️ We changed the copy on the authorized program suitcase confirmation screen from “Would you like to allow travelers to apply to program alternates?” to “Would you like to allow travelers to select program alternates?” 📣to TAMU for their eagle eyes on this one!

👀 Recommendation content was not appearing on application and form content dashboards as fast as we expect - now it does!

😵 We heard that the pop-up directing users to Explore Programs or Register Travel was causing confusion for users. We've temporarily removed that option while undergoing research and construction to ensure it's user friendly.

Resolved

✅All first-time users were not being directed to intake and program match as expected. Now all travelers are directed to the desired workflow (given intake and match are turned on in your account). 📣Thanks TAMU for pointing this out to us!

👍 The subject areas filter on the authorized terms view of the program dashboard was not functioning as expected. Now it does! 📣Shout out to Kean for noticing!

💪🏼 Bold formatting was not always displaying as expected on program brochures - now it does! 📣to NW Missouri for their eagle eyes!

⬇️ When duplicating program brochures, documents attached to the brochure for students and visitors to download, did not function as expected. Now when duplicating, all uploaded documents are also duplicated, downloadable and can be deleted.

Via Travel

Resolved

🔠 The SafeCheck message dashboard was not sorting as expected when clicking on one of the fields in the header. Now it does. 📣 Gratitude to Southwestern for their eagle eyes!

📫 When sending SafeCheck messages as SMS AND Email - Via was not always showing that email was sent in the SafeCheck dashboard. Now it appears as expected.

 

Apr 19 - May 17, 2022

Please join us at NAFSA at Via Lab (Booth 2205)! Schedule a time to connect here.

Via Global

COMING SOON (*UPDATED FEATURE IN THIS LIST SINCE LAST RELEASE NOTES)

• New Applications and Forms release coming this summer! Be on the lookout for updates in release notes and webinars and at the Via Lab at NAFSA. 
• NOTE: Applications and Forms will be released without a beta version. This release will include detailed information revealed in the knowledge base as well as a pre-release special edition webinar prior to the new features going live. 
• Some highlights of the release will include: 
  • Additional question types like date picker and rating question types
  • Ability to privatize questions making them visible to admins only (great feature to use for adding notes/review information to applications!)
  • Ability to intuitively move questions and sections on applications and forms
  • Ability for admins to delete traveler applications and forms
  • Ability for admins to see an activity log of when application statuses were changed, to what status they were changed and by whom
  • *Recommendation form creation including all available question types so admins can customize recommendations

• • More to be revealed soon!

Updated

🧳 We changed the word ‘Edit Suitcase’ to ‘Save’ in the Edit Suitcase pop up for consistency. We like our details! 📣 Thanks to Southwestern for the reminder that simplicity and consistency are appreciated in Via!

🩹 We ripped off the band-aid on our legacy program brochure editor. Now the shiny, new program brochure editor is the only (and best!) way to go for easy, intuitive program brochure creation and editing.

☺️ We added some additional error messaging when uploading documents to an application or form to provide greater clarity. Now, you might see a message indicating that the file being updated is corrupted, too large or an incompatible file type. Clear is kind - yay for kindness!

🔢 For clarity, when sending a SafeCheck enrollment request, we updated the pop-up confirmation screen to not include already enrolled travelers in the ‘count’ on screen. So if an admin selects 15 travelers to whom to send a SafeCheck enrollment request, and 2 of those travelers have already enrolled their SafeCheck phone number, the pop-up confirmation window will indicate that admin is sending the request to 13 travelers. NOTE: Requests were only being sent to the unenrolled travelers, now the number reflects what was already taking place!

📄 Given an admin is adding forms to a Suitcase, once a form has been ‘added,’ that form will no longer appear as a selectable option in the drop down menu. 📣 Shout out to UChicago for this improvement idea!

 

Resolved

📄 Sometimes when adding a Form to a traveler within the Traveler’s Profile, admins saw an error. That has been resolved.

🗓🗓 It was noted that when inviting a traveler to an event and using a capital letter, the traveler was listed twice on the event roster. No more double trouble event invitees!

📄📄 Speaking of double trouble, for some admins, changing an application status in rapid succession created duplicative forms. That no longer occurs.

🌇 For programs created using our legacy program builder, sometimes the program photo would revert to the default airplane wing photo. Now all photos save as expected. And stay that way!

🔠 In some cases, saved filters with more than one selection in more than one filter were not filtering as expected. That is now resolved.

📊 The program type filter on the Internal Terms view on the Program Dashboard was not always filtering as expected. Now it does!

✅ On the App and Form Content Dashboards, the Question Completed filter was not always showing Recommendation questions accurately when filtering for Completed or Not Completed. Now it does - and this is a SUPER handy filter! Want to see which applications have a recommendation response? Go to one of the content dashboards, choose the desired template, select the recommendation question from that template and select Completed. This will show you all traveler applications for which the recommendation has been submitted by the recommender!

✍🏾 Speaking of recommendations, they were not always appearing as expected on the App and Form Content Dashboards - now they do!

Via Travel

New

💌 Admins can now send a SafeCheck enrollment notification from Via Travel! To learn more about this new feature check out this knowledge base article! 📣 Shout out to UMass for their feedback that led to this new feature!

March 23-Apr 18

Via Global

COMING SOON!

• New Applications and Forms release coming this summer! Be on the lookout for updates in release notes, webinars and Ask Me Anything. 
• NOTE: Applications and Forms will be released without a beta version. This release will include detailed information revealed in the knowledge base as well as a pre-release special edition webinar prior to the new features going live. 
• Some highlights of the release will include: 
  • Additional question types like date picker and rating question types
  • Ability to privatize questions making them visible to admins only (great feature to use for adding notes/review information to applications!)
  • Ability to intuitively move questions and sections on applications and forms
  • Ability for admins to delete traveler applications and forms
  • Ability for admins to see an activity log of when application statuses were changed, to what status they were changed and by whom
  • More to be revealed soon!

New

🤸🏽‍♀️Admins can DELETE travelers. Mic drop. Review this knowledge base article for more info:

How do I delete a Traveler from my account?

🚪New User Sign In/Sign Up Workflow is now live! Review these knowledge base articles for more info:

How do I create a new account in Via?

How do I sign in to my account?

How do I re-set my password?

How do I toggle my Sign Up link to 'off' in my account Organization Settings?

 

🪟Admins have Traveler access by selecting Change Role from the drop down menu accessed by clicking the photo/silhouette in the upper right corner of your screen. Review this knowledge base article for more info:

How do I toggle between administrator and traveler roles?

 

Updated

⭐️Legacy app dashboard has been removed. For tips and tricks on using dashboards, join us for our Training 101! Register here.

✏️Program Introduction and Program description columns have been removed from all Program Dashboards to improve Dashboard load times. Admins that want to export a CSV that includes Program Intro and Program Description can head to Reports to export those data.

🔢Dashboard sorting got some love and attention this week. All dashboards should now sort as expected by clicking the column name in the column header.

💌 There is now a maximum character limit (6000 characters) on messages sent from Via to ensure safe and speedy delivery of messages to your travelers.

⛷ Once a batch action has been completed on any dashboard, Via will clear out the selected items to pave the way for a new selection and a new batch action.

⭐️On the Form Content dashboard, we updated ‘Program Term Name’ to be just ‘Term Name’ to ensure consistency across all dashboards. It’s the little things, am I right?

Resolved

🔍 Program Name Is/Is Not and Term Name Is/Is Not filters were not always working as expected. These filters are now resolved on all dashboards.

👍 Our new sign in pages did not care for capitalization. Now Via is copacetic with upper and lower case email logins.

✅ Sometimes after completing a batch action on the Form Content view of the Form Dashboard, the chosen Form template was no longer selected. Now the Form template selected remains selected after the batch action is completed.

📄The Country of Citizenship field was not consistently saving as expected for 2 days this month. That is now corrected and saving as expected.

🔢If a multi-choice question type contained commas in the answer selections, sometimes the traveler answers did not appear as expected on applications and forms. This is now resolved.

😵Our pop up success message went missing for a moment when admins with data integrations did a Manual Data Request. It’s back :) 

📊The Form Dashboard was not always showing the yellow visual indicator that the data table was updating. The yellow indicators are now consistently appearing while data updates.

🎶Term Tags 1 and 2 were not always working in harmony on the content dashboards. Now they are perfectly in ‘concert’ with one another.

💰Sometimes the payment status, when changed to Partially Paid would revert back to its previous status. Now it saves as Partially Paid when selected.

👌Newly added forms to travelers and/or program settings were not appearing as expected on the Form Completion report in Reports>Forms. That has been resolved and the form tally is now tabulating as expected.

 

Via Travel

Updated

💻When inviting travelers to a Travel Plan, the previous invite did not always clear. Now each time an Admin invites travelers to a plan, they will see a fresh, new ‘invite’ pop up.

🗓 When clicking to View Itinerary from the Travel Plan Who’s Going Roster View, the link took the Admin to their Traveler view of their Group Plan Search page. Now View Itinerary correctly routes the admin to the traveler’s itinerary.

Resolved

🔢 Sort by Last Name on the Via Travel detail dashboards was not sorting as expected. Now it does!

 

Feb 26-March 22, 2022

COMING SOON!

The Via team has been hard at work to create a new Sign In/Sign Up workflow. The new Sign In/Sign Up process creates more clarity for users when creating a new account, using University Single Sign On portals and signing in through a standard sign in page.

New features will include:

• All users are Travelers. Those users invited with Administrative permissions are now both Travelers and Administrators. This means that Administrators can toggle between their 2 user roles. 
• Administrators (when logged in to their Traveler view) can now Join and be added to Group Travel Plans
• Administrators (when logged in to their Traveler view) can now create their own Solo Travel Plan
• Super Users that want to add Administrative access to any Travelers can Invite that user as an Administrator in the Settings/Users tab
• Given a user is a Traveler and is given Administrative Access, they will receive a notification in their email
• Given a user receives a notification email from Via with a Call to Action button, Via will take the user directly to the appropriate page in Via. For example, if an Administrator receives a message from a Traveler and clicks the CTA from their email, Via will take them directly to that Traveler’s messages tab. If a student clicks a CTA to Commit to an Application, Via will take them directly to their Profile/Applications tab.
• Administrators cannot change the status of their own Applications
• As part of the Create Account workflow, users will be able to ‘Switch Organizations’ if they’ve selected an incorrect Organization to which to Sign up.
• Fully WCAG compliant Sign In/Sign Up/Reset Password screens

Via Global

New

💻 Program Name filter got an upgrade on the Traveler Applications and Traveler Forms dashboards. Now Admins can select either Is or Is Not when filtering by Program Name. As an example, an Admin can filter for all program names that are not ‘Semester in Salamanca’

➗ Via now separates Active Traveler Forms from Inactive Travelers Forms on the Traveler Profile Forms tab. Inactive Forms are defined as Forms associated with an Application in Deferred, Withdrawn or Not Accepted statuses. If applicable, Travelers and Admins will now see a ‘View Closed Forms’ to access those ‘inactive’ forms.

Updated

🔒 For synced accounts, traveler first and last name in the traveler view of their account are now gray for consistency.

🔢 On the Application Dashboard, we add some language to clarify the number of filtered applications. Now the Traveler Applications view of the Application Dashboard indicates # Applications by # Travelers. As an example, your dashboard might say 654 Applications by 600 Travelers. The number of applications and travelers differs if travelers have started more than one application. 

🔢 Speaking of ^...the number in the action validation pop up now also accurately reflects the correct number. 

🔢 And, finally, more on the numbers - when sending a message from the Application and Form dashboards, the pop up to confirm the action now accurately reflects the number of ‘people’ that will receive the message.

📅 Event invites now show detailed information as to whether a user was invited successfully, previously invited or was not invited due to an invalid email address.

📅 When Uploading Attendees to an event, Via now shows detailed information as to whether a user was marked attended successfully or not due to an invalid email address.

💌 In some cases, messages shown under the envelope in the main navigation bar blocked some action buttons - now those action buttons are no longer hidden.

👍 We found some Traveler aliases in on-screen validation pop-ups that needed updating…those are now reflecting the alias as expected.

Program Providers now have an updated Access Denied message when admins without permission try to access their Organization Settings and Program Alternates tabs.

Resolved

💻 In rare occurrences, traveler responses to certain multiple choice questions were not appearing on submitted applications. That is now resolved.

🔍 Program Name and Term Name filters were not working properly - including previously Saved Filters utilizing those fields. Both filters are now working as expected on all dashboards.

🎤 Program Brochure Introduction and Description now hold formatting as expected. Yay - for bold content on program brochures!

🔤 Sorting on some of the dashboards was not consistently working. All columns now sort as expected.

🔗 View on Form links and Form Template name links were sometimes going to the incorrect Traveler Form given an Admin sorted by certain columns on the Form Dashboard. Links now re-direct to the correct Traveler as expected. 

📅 Passport expiration date was not always sorting as expected on all dashboards. That is now resolved.

📄 When adding Form Templates to a term, given an admin clicked to add the form, then clicked to remove it, then re-added it, in some cases those Form templates were added to program settings twice. Now regardless of how many times an admin clicks to add/remove/etc, a unique Form Template will only appear once on Program Settings.

Via Travel

New

🚦SafeCheck message responses from Travelers are now color coded to assist admins in responding to the most urgent messages. If a traveler responds No - the response is red, Yes is Green and No Reply is Yellow in the SafeCheck Dashboard.

Updated

👀 For clarity, we added a page loading message in the Traveler view of Group Plans and updated the language when Travelers have no upcoming, on-site or past plans.

 

Feb 8-Feb 26, 2022

Via Global

Coming Soon!

New Sign In/Sign Up pages - including more intuitive password reset workflow and….drum roll please…the ability for users to be BOTH an Admin and a Traveler! 

Time to rip off another 🩹 - we will be sunsetting the Legacy Application dashboard on March 31, 2022. 

 

New

⬆️Admins can now elect to turn off the ability for users to Sign Up for a Traveler account. This setting can be updated in Settings>Organization. When turning off Sign Up, there will still be a Sign In link for both SSO and Non-SSO travelers.

Now there’s a fancy new page letting admin users know if they don’t have access to a particular page.

💌You’ve got mail! Now that admins can REinvite previously UNinvited administrators, there’s a new mailer letting the re-invited administrator know that their account has been RE-set up! (Say that 10 x fast!)

💻A new column and filter have been added to the Authorized Terms views on the Program Dashboard and the Unauthorized Programs view. Now, the Provider’s Term Name appears to help you with filtering, sorting and selecting provider terms. This makes adding and authorizing programs and assigning suitcases clearer for admins at the home campus. If you're not seeing Term Names from Providers, feel free to reach out to them to add them!

💻With the addition of Provider Term Name as a column and filter ^, we edited the internal term name column and filter to be Suitcase/Term Name on both the Authorized Terms view and the Authorized programs view - again, for further clarity and transparency.

📄Given no form deadline is added to a form template, ‘Please inquire’ no longer appears. We heard from clients that Please inquire ‘inspired’ more emails and questions from students that were not needed! Thank you for the advice from the field!

 

Updated

🥸Traveler alias was updated on the Event Invite modal and confirmation pop up. It’s the little things that excite us…

👀We spotted a custom alias in a success notification that needed updating - so we did what needed to be done and updated it!

👍Speaking of notifications, we updated our event invites to show you a success message if a student was successfully invited to an event. And an unsuccessful message if an invite was not sent to the student.

🔐Given an admin has permission to Remove Group Itinerary Details or Edit Plan Status & Registration Status, Via will auto-select ‘Edit Travel Plan’ as a permission - well, because it just makes sense! 

❌When transferring an application from one program term to another, Via will not allow an admin to transfer an application to a program term IF that traveler already has an application started for that term. There was an exception that was discovered in which, given a traveler had a program alternate selected, Via would allow an admin to select that program alternate EVEN IF the student had another application started for that program term. That is no longer allowed.

 

Fixed

💌 There was a short window when batch messages did not send from Via - that is now resolved.

🗓Event reminders weren’t sending consistently - now they are.

📩For a brief period, recommendation emails were not all sending as expected - now they are.

📅Speaking of dates, we’ve updated the sorting on the ALL dates in Via on the Traveler, Application, Program, Form and Events Dashboards - all views. Dates now sort as expected given an Admin sorts a data table by date. Examples of dates now sorting as expected are Last Sign In, Date of Birth, Application Submitted On, etc.

📑📑In certain workflows, it was possible for admins to change application status multiple times in a row, creating duplicate forms for travelers. Now that is no longer possible so travelers should no longer have duplicative forms for the same program and term.

📅Deferred On date was not always appearing in the Application Dashboard for deferred travelers - now it is

🛒🐴In some cases our Form and Application Content Views were putting the proverbial cart before the horse and attempting to load data in the wrong order. This led to a stand by error for some users. That is now resolved.

📧In rare cases, when an admin was the first to send a message to a particular traveler using the traveler profile message tab, they were receiving an error message. This is now resolved.

☎️Emergency Contact fields were not always appearing on application and forms in a ‘logical’ manner. That is now resolved.

 

Jan 22, 2022 - Feb 8, 2022

Via Global

New

✏️ We’ve added a new workflow when removing administrative access. Now, when removing admin access, you have the ability to ‘transfer’ admin data to another admin. Let’s say Susie, Jane and Tom are admins. Susie wants to remove Jane. When Susie removes Jane, she can choose to transfer Jane’s data to either herself or Tom. ‘Data’ refers to programs to which Jane was assigned as Program Contact or Program Administrator.

⏰ Efficiency Points! Now Admins can batch send messages and update statuses from the App and Form Content Dashboards!

🏎 With a nod toward keeping admins in the driver’s seat, we’ve added the ability for admins to turn OFF the ability for Travelers to defer. Check out Organization Settings to see your new power!

📄 We've added Form Status as a column and filter on the Form Content dashboard.

Updated

🚫 Admins can now delete a section on an application or form template as long as there are no questions within that section.

❌ Admins can no longer remove themselves from being an administrative user in Settings > Users

📧 Admins with permission can RE-invite previously removed Admins!

⛔️ We tweaked Admin User permissions and now Admins without permission to Invite new administrators can no longer RE-invite administrators.

✍🏾 Minor copy edits for consistency and clarity in Via Travel and Traveler Intake

🔢 Admins in Settings/Users tab can now see the number of administrators available on their current Via TRM license.

🗓 Now, when duplicating an event, the new event will have the same date and time as the source event.

💌  Roles & Permissions in Settings are the latest to get an Accessibility upgrade and UI refresh

⛵️ We care about all the ‘lil details - that’s why we updated the toggle on Notifications to be more smooth sailing.

🔍 In the new program brochure editor, when adding Program Contacts and Program Administrators, there is a search functionality to make looking up admins that much easier

 

Fixed

⏰ Term timing filter was not displaying results as expected - now it does.

📅  Event date and time were not always saving as expected - now they are.

✍🏾 Creating new program brochures was sometimes causing an error if saved prior to adding a program contact. That is now resolved.

👶🏼 Batch editing was getting a little fussy if Admins did multiple batch actions in a row with the same selected set of Applications, Travelers, etc. We’ve soothed that colicky stand by erro/baby and now she’s sleeping like…well…a baby!

😵 Up was down and down was up on some of the arrow icons in Settings. Now all are moving in the right direction.

👩🏽‍💻 Typo discovered by some eagle-eyed test students at Fort Hays State. Now Drag and Drop instructions in the Program Match are copacetic. Thanks guys!

💻 Some navigation sub-menus were not accessible as expected using Safari…now they are.

📅  Event reminders were not always sending as expected. Now travelers always receive Event Reminders 1 day prior to the Event.

 

Via Travel

New

🚦Roles & Permissions have been added for Via Travel. Admins can now add/remove permissions for the following:

• View Travel Plans & Details
• Create/Edit Travel Plan & Itinerary
• Remove Group Itinerary Details
• Edit Plan Status & Registration Status
• View Students & SafeCheck

Fixed

📆Some itinerary details were showing invalid date - that is now resolved.

 

Jan 5, 2022 - Jan 21, 2022

Via Global

New

📚THE NEW KNOWLEDGE BASE IS HERE! (Yes we are all caps excited about it!). Now you can access the KB here: https://help.viatrm.com/ OR from the cute little pink help icon in the bottom right corner of your screen when logged into Via.

👍👎🏼 Is not, Is too! Is NOT! IS TOO! Have you ever wanted to filter Term Name by ‘Is Not Fall 2022’ or filter Home Campus by Is Not UMass Amherst? Well…you get no argument from us on that idea. Now you can - on the Traveler, Form AND Application Dashboards.

🌅Program brochure edit page has been updated for accessibility, consistency and increased ease of use. Access this new functionality from either the legacy edit program brochure page or by clicking ‘Use the new editor’ when you create a new program brochure.

🔤 On the new program brochure edit page, when adding administrators to a program, the list of administrators is now alphabetical.

🔍Admins can now search for admins in their account 

📊Admins can now download a CSV of all active administrators

 

Updated

💌 Notification and Users in Settings are the latest to get an Accessibility upgrade and UI refresh

📋Program amenities (What’s included) on a program brochure are now opt IN vs opt OUT. When administrators create NEW program brochures all amenities will NOT appear on the program brochure unless added to the brochure. All programs created previously are unaffected by this change.

🤟🏽We love details - and languages - so we’ve changed the language on the program brochure edit page to indicate that a program is ‘a language’ immersion program’ vs ‘an immersion program’ for clarity when creating a brochure.

 

Fixed

🐞Sometimes the Form Content view was producing an error. That has been resolved.

🔛Custom alias toggle in the Branding tab in Settings was not behaving correctly - now it does.

 

Via Travel

New

🖍 We’ve added the ability for clients with Via Travel only accounts to create and edit Custom Fields

 

Dec 20, 2021-Jan 4, 2022

IT’S ALMOST HERE!!

Program brochure edit page has been updated for accessibility, consistency and increased ease of use. It will be coming your way very, very, very soon! 

To get you ready, we will be holding a preview training session for program brochure edit/create pages on Monday January 10, 2022 at 3pm eastern. Click here to register to attend! Hope to see you there!

Via Global

Updated

🎨Hellllloooooo gorgeous! Check out our new color picker in Organization Settings! Now you can change your brand colors with style and panache!

📸Did someone say options?? Now when adding your organization logo or your own photo, you’ve got an awesome image picker/zoomer/rotator/cropper tool (those are technical terms) 

🤷🏻‍♀️Speaking of options, now if travelers change their mind about program alternates they can update, delete or decide to choose no alternates at all. 

📋For freemium accounts that missed having Term Names, we’ve got your back! Term Names have been (re)added back to your accounts so that filtering and sorting is easy for you too!

🏷 Tag, you’re it! Tags are the latest tab in Settings to get an accessibility overhaul.

🩹 Time to rip off the band-aid, folks! The fab Form Dashboard (NEW! Beta) is now ready for prime time and called Form Dashboard.

📇Check the updated design on adding program admins/contacts to your programs in Program Settings - she’s lookin’ real purty.

#️⃣ Head’s up - program names are now limited to 60 characters to make it easier on the eyes for travelers and visitors.

👍👎🏼 Is not, Is too! Is NOT! IS TOO! Have you ever wanted to filter Term Name by ‘Is Not Fall 2022’ or filter Home Campus by Is Not UMass Amherst? Well…you get no argument from us on that idea. Now you can.

Fixed

📅 Sometimes exact dates were appearing on program tiles on the Visitor Program Dashboard - even if Show Exact Dates was not selected in Program Settings. Now exact dates are hidden as expected if Show Exact Dates is not selected. Every. Darn. Time.

Nov 23-Dec 20, 2021

UPCOMING!

Program brochure create/edit page is currently being updated for accessibility, consistency and increased ease of use.  Stay tuned for the big reveal!  We will be holding a separate training webinar for program brochure edit/create pages so be on the lookout for that training opportunity!

Via Global

New

• Think batch adding forms to travelers from the Application Dashboard is easy? We’ve upped our game and added that same batch functionality to the Form Completion view of the Form Dashboard! 
• Speaking of batch action, now admins can opt to send an Event Invite from the Application Dashboard! For example, if admins choose to create a Pre-departure event and want to ensure all applications get an invite, from the Application Dashboard, filter to your list of desired travelers, select all or one or more by checking the checkbox, select Actions and choose Event Invite. It’s that easy!

Updated

• Some browser tab names have been changed to improve accessibility.
• Travelers with Committed applications automatically move to the Alumni tracking step when their program ends. Previously travelers were moving to the alumni tracking step early in the day on the day their program ended - now they move at 11:59pm on the day their program ends.
• Unauthorized programs no longer appear as an option when admins transfer applications from one program term to another.
• As part of our effort to ensure accessibility, you will notice pages in Via getting a facelift. This sprint cycle Organization and Branding tabs have both gotten that treatment in our most recent development cycle.
• When adding/removing administrative users from your Via TRM account, the confirmation messages weren’t 100% clear so we cleaned that up!
• Once a recommendation has been cancelled, the resend recommendation link has been disabled for clarity
• Given an admin adds form/s to one or more travelers in the Application Dashboard and/or Form Completion view of the Form Dashboard, IF that traveler already has the form you are adding for the same program and term, Via will not add a duplicate form to the traveler/s, nor will those travelers receive a You’ve Got Forms mailer.
• In Traveler Program Match, most, if not all, travelers were not selecting more than one preferred ‘program range.’ So we removed the option to add more than one, instead giving them the option to add a longer range, if desired. 
• Preferred Traveler Name now appears in the Traveler Header in both the admin and traveler views as well as in all traveler notifications, as long as the traveler has added a preferred first name in Traveler Info.
• If an account uses program alternates, the option for travelers to ‘opt out’ of providing alternates has moved to the ‘top’ of their alternate list for better visibility and an improved user experience.
• Admins can now click on the Traveler Profile name and/or email from the Form Dashboard - Form Completion and Form Content views. These hyperlinks will take the admin directly to that Traveler’s profile.
• ‘Application Template’ - listed under Applications in the main navigation dashboard made a little move to the top of the drop down menu - to be consistent with the Forms drop down menu.
• We updated a few program aliases on the traveler view of the application eligibility modal, the application transfer page and the admin view of the program transfer page. If you’ve updated to change program to programme or program to opportunity (or whatever you wish!) that word will now appear in the update pages listed above.
• If Display Exact dates is NOT selected in program settings, the traveler will no longer see exact dates in their Form tab header for that particular program term.
• And admin WITHOUT permission to edit traveler applications will no longer be able to change the payment status and/or send a recommendation on behalf of the traveler (given those question types have been added to the application template. The same is now true for traveler forms as well.
• Given an admin has permission to view Traveler Forms but NOT Form Templates, they will see the Forms dropdown in the main navigation menu with only permission to select Traveler Forms.
• On the flip side, given an admin DOES have permission to edit traveler applications or forms, they will see a Save & Exit button on the traveler application or form.
• The field named ‘Sex’ has been updated to ‘Sex Assigned at Birth’ in all dashboard and reporting tables.

Fixed

• The application dashboard statuses were not always accurately reflecting the most up-to-date application status. Now all statuses should display as expected on the dashboard when admins update the application status. Note that updating rows will display in yellow on the dashboard until the data has been updated.
• Housing information updated in the last 2 weeks was displaying as initial caps on the program brochure traveler, admin and visitor views - that’s been fixed!
• Sort by Form Template name now sorts as expected when clicked in the Traveler Forms dashboard
• Sort by Full Name on Traveler, Application and Form Dashboards now sorts by Last Name.
• In some instances, Via was temporarily displaying our default program photo instead of the admin selected photo. That’s now resolved.
• If a traveler repeated their program match and had previously selected that they have not traveled outside of their home country, on any subsequent visit to their program match, Via was asking the traveler to provider a location even though they had indicated they hadn’t left their home country. This has now been resolved.
• Defer & Withdraw permissions have been updated to work as separate permissions for admin. So if an admin has permission to withdraw a traveler application they will see that option in the traveler application tab. Same goes for the permission to defer a traveler application.

Via Travel

Updated

• SafeCheck standard messages have been updated so that in every case, the answer ‘No’ indicates that the traveler needs assistance.
• We updated the language on the Itinerary page to indicate when no itinerary items have been created.

Nov 6 - Nov 22 , 2021

UPCOMING!

Program brochure create/edit page is currently being updated for accessibility, consistency and increased ease of use.  Stay tuned for the big reveal!  Please join us for our next Ask Me Anything where we’ll reveal some tips and tricks for creating and editing your program brochures.

Via Global

Updated

• Added clarity to screens when a user does not have permission to view a page, directing the user to contact the account Super User/s.
• As part of our effort to ensure accessibility, you will notice pages in Via getting a facelift. Term Names and Custom Fields have both gotten that treatment in our most recent development cycle.
• Profile first and last name have been added (back) to the application, form and traveler dashboards. 

Fixed

• Some program terms were unable to be cancelled - that’s been resolved.
• Payment statuses of Not Paid were not appearing in the form and application content dashboards, now they are.
• Sort by dates on the application and form dashboards were not respecting the year, now dates on dashboards sort as expected chronologically when sorted by the admin user.
• Program brochure photos were taking longer than expected to save - this has been resolved. Be on the lookout for even more program brochure edit changes coming soon!
• Term Names on the form dashboards now show only home campus internal term names - for both internal and provider programs
• Some multiple choice questions were making an ‘extra’ selection for the traveler, now the traveler is in full command of which selections to make

October 22 - Nov 5, 2021

Via Global

New

• If you sync data from your campus student information system, READ THIS!!! Admins can now click ‘Manual Sync’ to request a data ‘refresh’ for an individual traveler in your account.

Updated

• 📣Good news! We’ve combined the First and Last Name columns on the Traveler, Application and Form Dashboards so you can now search by first + last name when using the search bar!
• ⚡️Speaking of the search bar, we’ve also made a few adjustments to it so that typing in your search criteria works more seamlessly.
• ❓ Ask a Question on our traveler mobile view of program brochures got a ‘lil update so that it’s more accessible and easier for travelers to reach out to program contacts 
• On the Traveler Dashboard, we now show the Sign Up date as a default column with the default sort order showing the most recent Traveler Sign Up at the top of the list. This will help you stay on top of new travelers creating accounts in your Via TRM Account.
• We’ve renamed some tabs in your Settings for clarity. Now the ‘Organization’ tab is where you’ll edit your organization information such as time zone, organization description and whether to turn on/off Traveler Intake and Program Match. Whereas in the (newly named) Branding tab, you will find your organization logo, custom colors and custom aliases. (Spoiler Alert: More organization tab updates coming your way soon!)
• We’ve added back the ability for admins to ‘Clear Filters’ on the application and form content dashboards. Hooray for one click!
• We’ve updated the word ‘program’ in many locations on the Visitor Program Dashboard to reflect an organization program alias. So if you’ve opted to spell Program as ‘Programme’ - that will now be reflected on the Visitor Program Dashboard.

Fixed

• Sorting date of birth, last sign in and sign up dates now works better...plain and simple.

Via Travel

Updated

• Previously when adding new travelers to a Via Travel Plan, in the Who’s Going section, admins had to ‘refresh’ the page to see their newly added travelers. Now, Via automatically refreshes the page for you!
• Transportation, Housing and Activities filters got a UI update on our Details Dashboards - Have you checked them out yet? They can provide you with so. many. details. about your travelers’ whereabouts!
• We’re obsessed with consistency so we’re making the rounds adding a ‘+’ to all CTA’s in Via where an admin is adding something - like adding a traveler to a plan or adding a detail to a plan. It’s the little things…
• The travel status filter will now always display Going and Not Going as filterable options on the Transportation, Housing and Activities dashboards.

Fixed

• For some administrators with Via Travel, viewing traveler itineraries was producing an error - that’s now resolved.

October 7 - 21, 2021

Via Global

New

• 📣2 new dashboards are live and we are jazzed about them - now there’s a whole new way to pull reports for application and form content 😉
• within the beta application dashboard…
• meet the Application Content tab, which allows admins to view all application content, yes, you read that correctly, all application content in any traveler info field or custom question on an application - click here to learn more!
• within the beta form dashboard…
• meet the Form Content tab, which allows admins to view all form content in any traveler info field or custom question on a form - click here to learn more!

Updated

• We have updated our program brochure call out to be mobile-friendly for travelers, admins, and visitors 

Fixed

• Within the decision release timeline field in program settings, admins were getting an error when clicking CLOSE - now they’re not

Via Travel

New

• 4 new dashboards are live!!! 📣
  • Transportation detail dashboard - click here to learn more
  • Housing detail dashboard - click here to learn more
  • Activity detail dashboard - click here to learn more
• 3 brand new detail dashboards that provide admins with a more comprehensive view into transportation, housing & activity details:
• A new traveler dashboard is live and has replaced its legacy counterpart - click here to learn more

Updated

• Previously, the plan dashboard’s default state had filters automatically selected when an admin navigated to it - now, when an admin navigates there, the dashboard will reflect the dashboard’s previous state, as in, if the admin had applied filters and chose not to clear them prior to navigating away, when they return to it, the dashboard will reflect the previously selected filters

Fixed

• When an admin applied filters on the Via Travel traveler dashboard, the map wasn’t updating accordingly - now it is
• In several locations, we noticed some mentions of the ‘program’ and ‘programs’ custom aliases weren’t updating accordingly - now they are 

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September 23 - October 6, 2021

Via Global

New

• New workflow alert! Admins can now unassign suitcases from authorized terms that do not have any applications or forms associated with them - unsure how to do it? Click here and scroll to the Authorized Terms heading to learn more!
• We’ve added a Row last updated column in all Via Global dashboards to inform admins when dashboard data has last been updated

Updated

• When a new client account is created, in the authorized programs tab in settings, we’ve  updated the default copy for the instructions before application is started field for greater clarity - here’s what you need to know:
  • You are about to start a home campus application for an authorized external program. In addition to completing the application you've just started, you also need to fulfill the application requirements found at the program provider's website. By confirming here, you are starting a home campus application to be completed by your home campus' deadline. (Note: This deadline may differ from the provider deadline).
  • Confirm below to start your application.
• because this field is editable by admins, we chose not to universally update the copy in all client accounts as you may have previously customized the copy! 
• if you’d like to use the new language, feel free to copy/paste it:
• We added our new time picker in all locations in Via Global
• Previously, 2 events could not have the same name - now they can

Fixed

• The following functions in Via Global were not displaying any information when an admin attempted to edit them:
  • adding an application template
  • adding tags
  • adding form templates
  • adding program administrators & contact
  • adding traveler info fields
• in program settings:
• in application & form templates:
• When an admin attempted to save term dates in program settings, a standby error was appearing - now, it isn’t

Via Travel

Updated

• We added our new time picker in all locations in Via Travel

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September 9 - 22, 2021

Via Global

New

• New sorting option added on the traveler program dashboard: % match! Thanks for the suggestion Kean :)

Updated

• Auto-save on draft, published & unpublished application and form templates has been holistically removed! If an admin makes a change to a template, then attempts to exit the template, Via will display a warning message asking if you’d like to keep or discard changes made
• 
• We moved the save button in the TRAVELER INFO tab in traveler profile for accessibility and better user experience
• We added a loading message when an admin navigates to any Via Global dashboard
• We have updated the look & feel of both the event registration and same day sign up pages as well as made them mobile-responsive 
• We updated all anticipated graduation year fields to ±20 years from the current year

Fixed

• Several items in Via, upon updating them, weren’t appearing immediately in the respective dashboard, now they are - here’s what was fixed:
• Application & form templates assigned to internal terms in the program dashboard
• Unauthorized programs in the program dashboard
• Previously, if program was authorized by checking the box on the unauthorized tab in the program dashboard, Via would automatically check the box of another unauthorized program - now it won’t
• On an individual event brochure, admins were getting an error when clicking to add a checkmark next to an attendee - now they aren’t
• In the MY PROGRAMS tab in traveler profile, program brochure photos weren’t being displayed - now they are
• Program notes were not displaying as expected on the program dashboard - now they are
• The anticipated graduation year field dropdown in the TRAVELER INFO tab in traveler profile had no options to select - now, the user can select ±20 years from the current year
• In some instances, admins were getting a standby error when attempting to edit an application template - now they aren’t

Via Travel

New

• Brand new formatting options are now available for batch messaging!
• 2 new dashboards are live !!! 📣both dashboards have replaced their legacy counterpart
• Plan dashboard - click here to learn more
• SafeCheck dashboard - click here to learn more

Updated

• We added a loading message when an admin navigates to any Via Travel dashboard

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August 26 - September 8, 2021

Via Global

New

• 3 new dashboards are live!!! 📣
  • the legacy event dashboard will be available through September 30, 2021 and will be removed from view the following day
• Beta event dashboard (available with its legacy counterpart!)
• Beta visitor dashboard (available as a brand new view!) Meet the visitor dashboard which allows anyone, those with or without a Via Global account to view an organization’s program portfolio! Click here to learn more
• New traveler program dashboard! This new dashboard replaced the legacy version and includes a ton of improvements, one of which includes sorting order options for travelers, thanks for the suggestion WIU & UChicago!!! Click here to learn more! 

Updated

• The authorized program term workflow has gotten an upgrade for increased clarity, here’s what we did:
  • Admins can now create a suitcase, or the combination of a term name, an application template, application deadline date & time, form template group(s), form deadline date(s), and program alternate
  • Once a suitcase is created, admins can navigate directly to the authorized term tab in the program dashboard to assign the suitcase to desired authorized terms
  • Admins can now assign a suitcase to the desired authorized program term(s)
• In the authorized programs tab in settings
• In the authorized terms tab in the program dashboard
• We’ve updated the name of a traveler info field from Sex to Sex Assigned at Birth
• The new traveler info field, Gender Identity, is now available as a column to view on the beta traveler dashboard, beta application dashboard, and the beta form dashboard
• In connection with the new functionality of turning on/off certain notifications, we’ve added new copy at the bottom of certain emails that indicates the ability to turn that notification on or off

Fixed

• When an admin posted a note, the text would clear out of the open fields but the note would not display within the tab - now it does
• When an admin assigned a suitcase to an authorized term, the term name did not immediately appear in the table - now it does
• When a traveler committed their application, the screen displayed had a custom alias that wasn’t updating accordingly - now it is
• Several items in Via, upon updating them, weren’t appearing immediately in the respective dashboard, now they are - here’s what was fixed:
• Suitcases assigned to authorized terms in the program dashboard
• Suitcase deadlines in the program dashboard
• Authorized programs in the program dashboard
• Application status changes in the beta application dashboard
• Form status changes in the beta form dashboard

Via Travel

New

• The new traveler info field, Gender Identity, is now available as a column to view on both the Via Travel traveler dashboard as well as in the Who’s Going list of a particular plan

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August 19 - 25, 2021

Via Global

New

• As the Via team has added more mailers over time, I can imagine some of you thinking, “gosh I wish I could turn that notification off!” Well today is the day to customize which notifications you receive and which you don’t by turning them on or off in the notifications tab in settings! And we didn’t stop at giving admins the ability to turn notifications on or off, travelers now have it too 😊 - click here to learn more!

Fixed

• The passport expiration date field on applications & forms was only allowing the user to choose a date up until 2021 - now, the date picker dates back 20 years and forward 20 years
• Both the date of birth and passport expiration date fields weren’t displaying dates correctly on submitted applications - now they are
• If instructions were added to a custom dropdown question on an application or form template, admins couldn’t see them in the preview of the template and travelers couldn’t see them on their applications or forms, admins could only see the instructions in the edit view of the template - now admins can see instructions in the template preview and travelers can see them on their applications and forms

Via Travel

New

• Not only have we built the ability to turn on or off Via Global notifications, we also included Via Travel notifications in the mix if your organization has access to Via Travel!
• NEW MAILER! If a solo plan is reinstated, both travelers and admins will be notified! Click here to see the mailer copy

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July 29 - August 18, 2021

Via Global

New

• NEW MAILER! Travelers who were invited to or registered for an event are notified 1 day before the event’s start date! Click here to see the mailer copy
• NEW TRAVELER INFO FIELD! Introducing Gender Identity to all! This new field can be found under the Personal Information heading in the TRAVELER INFO tab in traveler profile, the following options are available:
• Agender
• Androgyne
• Demigender
• Genderqueer or gender fluid
• Man
• Questioning or unsure
• Trans man
• Trans woman
• Woman
• Additional gender category/identity: please specify _______________________
• Prefer not to disclose
• We’ve added traveler photos on the new beta traveler dashboard, so you can see who’s who!

Updated

• We’ve updated our date pickers all throughout Via Global to allow the user to select the desired month and desired year in their own respective dropdown menus for a better user experience
• As an occasional user, I can only view applications and forms to programs of which I am assigned as a program contact and/or program administrator - example given a traveler has applied to a program to which I'm assigned and another I’m not, I will see both applications in the traveler’s profile, however, I will see an access denied message if I click on the application or form to the program to which I am not assigned

Fixed

• In the traveler intake experience, travelers couldn’t click “Teaching English” as a preferred program type - now they can
• Date picker filters on the program dashboard were only going up to year 2021 - now they go ± 20 years
• Previously, the term name filter on the program dashboard was filtering for inexact matches - now, the logic has been updated to filter for exact matches - example, if an admin has 2 different term names with the word “spring” within, Spring & Spring 2023, if an admin filters for “Spring,” only the terms that have “Spring” as a term name will appear
• On the beta application dashboard, if an admin attempted to defer or withdraw an application and selected the reason “other,” after they typed the reason, they weren’t able to click Update to successfully change the application’s status with the custom reason - now they are
• Admins were observing when they attempted to transfer a traveler’s application the programs dropdown was taking a while to load and while it was loading they were seeing “No options” - now, the load time has been reduced and they now see “Loading programs” while they wait
• On some applications and forms, blank synced fields were preventing travelers from submitting their application or form - now blank synced fields do not prevent application or form submission 
• In some cases, required fields weren’t appearing as required on applications and forms - now they are

Via Travel

New

• NEW MAILER! When a traveler edits their itinerary in a group plan, the admin will be notified! Click here to see the mailer copy

Updated

• Formerly plan notes were visible on the traveler view of editing a solo plan - now they’re only visible to admins, as desired
• We’ve updated our date pickers all throughout Via Travel to allow the user to select the desired month and desired year in their own respective dropdown menus for a better user experience
• We’ve updated the logic when an admin attempts to associate a program with a group plan to include all published programs with at least one term

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July 15 - 28, 2021

Via Global

New

• 2 new dashboards are live!!! 📣
  • the legacy traveler dashboard will be available through August 20, 2021 and will be removed from view the following day
• Beta traveler dashboard (available with its legacy counterpart!)
• Beta form dashboard (available as a brand new view!)
• New Admin Only section (that is not visible to travelers or admins without adequate permission) added to internal program settings that allows admins to:
• write program-related notes
• upload program-related files (brand new feature!)
• On the program dashboard, two new columns were added to both the internal tab and internal terms tab:
• Program contact email
• Program administrator emails 

Updated

• Several updates were made in regards to notes that can be added to a traveler’s profile
  • updated the button from Send to Save for accuracy
  • added the admin’s photo next to any note they create
• within the NOTES tab in traveler profiles, you’ll notice that we
• in roles & permissions tab in settings, we added the permission of view/create notes for power, support, and occasional users; if a user role does not have the permission to view/create notes, they will not see the NOTES tab in any traveler profiles
• We’ve add form name in the form status change notification mailers that are sent to both admins and travelers for clarity

Fixed

• In several tabs in settings, we noticed some mentions of the ‘traveler’ and ‘travelers’ custom aliases weren’t updating accordingly - now they are 

Via Travel

Fixed

• When an admin attempted to add dates to a plan, the data picker was not visible for them to select from - now it is

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July 3 - 14, 2021

Via Global

New

• NEW BATCH ACTION! Admins have long awaited the day when they could batch add forms to multiple traveler profiles at one time… today is that day (thanks for the original ask, CSBSJU!) Here’s the 411:
• this batch action is available on the beta application dashboard
• when an admin wants to add a form in batch, they simply select the desired applications on the beta application dashboard, choose the form template, and add away
• the form will be added to the FORMS tab in traveler profile and associated with the same program & term that the application is

This means that admins can add forms regardless of application status!!!!!!! Yes, you heard that correctly - if your dream is to add a form to a traveler’s profile that has an incomplete application, don’t let us stop you, fulfill that dream 🌟💫

Updated

• We’ve updated the way we display synced phone numbers - we are now displaying exactly what is being sent
• If a traveler lands on www.via-trm.com and attempts to create an account, we now require them to select an organization name before allowing them to do so

Via Travel

Updated

• We’ve updated the copy & look/feel of all Via Travel mailers

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June 18 - July 2, 2021

Via Global

New

📣Have you taken a peek at the new authorized program terms? Click here to access a short training video on this amazing new functionality! 

• We added Is blank at the top of the Term Name filter dropdown on the program dashboard so that it’s easy to see which terms have been named and which haven’t!
• We added SSO/Non-SSO column to the new beta application dashboard that indicates whether a traveler has logged in through SSO or not!
• NEW MAILERS!
• When a form status has been changed, both the traveler and the admin will get notifications! Click here to see the traveler mailer copy & click here to see the admin mailer copy
• NEW TRAVELER INFO FIELD! Introducing Advisor to all! This new field can be found under the Academic Information heading in the TRAVELER INFO tab in traveler profile and really packs a punch 💥
• it can be added to new application and form templates for travelers to fill out on applications and forms
• if added to application and form templates, admins will be able to visualize that data on our new dashboards, as well as search, sort, filter, create & share custom filters for, and generate Advisor data on custom CSV reports for applications and forms

Updated

• On the new beta program dashboard, the Term Name filter got an upgrade - now in the dropdown, you can see which term names are ‘active’ and which are ‘archived’ under their respective heading
• We’ve been pretty busy in settings, within the traveler intake & program matching experiences, and the sign in/sign up pages:
• making everything ARIA compliant which helps to make Via more accessible to those with disabilities
• updating the look & feel
• As a result of the authorized program terms release, all term names, regardless if they are for internal or authorized program terms, are now created in settings within the Term Name tab!
• We updated the copy on the permission denied screen for transparency
• Within the batch message modal, we updated the add hyperlink button for more clarity
• Within your browser, as an admin or a traveler, we’ve updated the tab name to accurately reflect where you are in app!

Fixed

• The permission denied message was popping up at times when it shouldn’t while heading to several Via Global locations - now it isn’t
• Dates selected in filters on the new dashboards were still displaying dates upon clearing - now, when filters are cleared, the dates are as well
• Admins were getting an error when clicking Revoke Admin in the Users tab in settings - now they aren’t
• In some instances when an admin duplicated a program, selected program and housing types were being duplicated - now, when a program is duplicated, program and housing types are not
• Some fields on CSV reports were not appearing capitalized even though they were capitalized on applications or forms - now they appear on the report exactly as they appear in the application or form
• In certain instances, subject areas were unable to be removed from a program brochure - now they are
• Custom colors on visitor program brochures were defaulting to incorrect colors - now they aren’t
• If a traveler’s application was transferred to a program & term with a decision release timeline, after the decision release timeline had passed, they weren’t seeing their transferred application as transferred - now they are 
• Some clients were seeing an error when attempting to assign custom terms to authorized program terms - now they aren’t
• When an admin clicked to view an unauthorized program brochure, they were seeing an error in some instances - now they’re not

Via Travel

New

• NEW MAILER! When an admin changes the plan status of a solo plan, the traveler will be notified! Click here to see the mailer copy

Updated

• We renamed the plan notes field in group plans to “Plan Notes (Admin Only)” for added clarity & transparency
• We’ve refreshed the copy of all Via Travel mailers

Fixed

• Travelers were getting an error after joining a group plan and heading to the Who’s Going list - now they’re not
• SafeCheck phone numbers were not showing up as expected on the traveler dashboard or on the Who’s Going list of a specific plan - now they are

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June 3 - 17, 2021

Via Global

New

🤸🤸🤸 Authorized program terms are live!!! This long-awaited and hotly-requested functionality allows admins to associate the following with specific authorized program terms:

• term names
• application templates
• application deadline dates & times
• form templates
• form deadline dates
• program alternates

Via Travel

New

• We’ve added some new types for solo & group plans 🛫... here’s the 411:
  • Orientation
  • Field trip
  • Research
• New activity type!
• New plan types!

---

May 20 - June 2, 2021

Via Global

New

📣Have you seen the new beta program dashboard that we launched on May 21st?! It gives you a more comprehensive view into program data along with the ability to search, sort, add/remove columns, filter, create custom filters, share custom filters with your team & seamlessly export custom reports...

• Good news → none of your data has been removed or deleted, everything you had access to on the legacy program dashboard is available within the beta program dashboard and so much more
• The best news → admins can now add terms, applications & forms to internal programs in batch!
• Bad news → there's no bad news!

Both the beta & legacy program dashboards will be available together for 30 days, through June 21, 2021. On June 22, 2021 the legacy program dashboard will be sunsetted and removed from your view - click here to learn more about what's available in this dashboard! 

Fixed

• In certain instances, form deadline reminders associated with applications that had been Transferred were going out to travelers - now they’re not 
• Previously, the process of updating application status from the application dashboard was either slow or not working, so we upgraded the performance to ensure that all application statuses can successfully be updated 
• For some travelers who had synced data from their student information system, their email address was appearing instead of their name - now their name is front & center as expected! 
• Admins were previously unable to duplicate program brochures - now they can
• In program settings, the add form template search bar wasn’t working as expected - now it is
• Travelers who have access to Via Travel and Via Global were seeing the new sign up/in workflow going from Traveler Intake or Program Match to their profile - now they’re not!
• On some applications & forms, synced fields were appearing as editable if the field was blank - now, regardless if the synced field is blank, it will appear as gray & non-editable

---

May 6 - 19, 2021

Via Global

New

• NEW MAILERS! 
• When a recommendation has been submitted successfully by the recommender, the traveler will be notified! Click here to see the mailer copy
• When an admin adds a new form to a traveler’s profile OR when a traveler receives pre-departure forms after being committed, nominated, conditionally approved, or approved, Via will notify them that they have forms & urge them to head to their profile to fill them out! Click here to see the mailer copy

Updated

• In certain locations, admin & traveler photos had broken images if they had not uploaded a photo of themselves, so, we updated all locations in Via Global to display the standard avatar photo if a photo hasn’t been uploaded to an account
• Multiple items in Via Global were alphabetized:
• Form templates in program settings
• Subject areas on program brochures
• Instructional languages on program brochures
• Settings got a design tune up!
• If a traveler has a question while looking at a program brochure, they can click the Have a question? link in the floating footer to do so!
• If a user looking at a program brochure wants to share a program brochure via email, Twitter or Facebook, the URL link is now hyperlinked

Fixed

• Via Global-only travelers were previously seeing the new sign up/sign in workflow (this workflow is only relevant for travelers that have access to Via Global and Via Travel) upon sign up and/or sign in - now they don’t
• In the transfer process, admins were able to click SUBMIT on an application more than once which created multiple transferred apps for the same program & term - now the SUBMIT button is deactivated after one click
• When transferring an app, if an admin changed their mind and wanted to click the CANCEL button to go back to the app, cancel didn't always work as expected - now it does
• Previously on the application dashboard, admins were able to batch update application status without choosing an application status - now they must choose an application status before being able to successfully update applications
• On the traveler dashboard, the message recipient filter wasn’t working as expected: if an admin was selected, the list returned included travelers who did not have that particular admin as a message recipient or the returned list didn’t include all travelers who did have that admin as a message recipient - now if an admin filters for a specific message recipient on the traveler dashboard, all correctly associated travelers will be returned
• If a traveler does not go through the program matching experience, no percentages will appear on their view of the program dashboard

Via Travel

New

• We’ve added the following TRAVELER INFO fields to both the Via Travel traveler dashboard as well as on the Who’s Going table:
• Student ID
• Preferred First Name
• Traveler Type
• Date of Birth
• Emergency Contact 1 Name
• Emergency Contact 1 Relationship 
• Emergency Contact 1 Phone
• Emergency Contact 1 Email
• Emergency Contact 1 Address
• Emergency Contact 2 Name
• Emergency Contact 2 Relationship
• Emergency Contact 2 Phone
• Emergency Contact 2 Email
• Emergency Contact 2 Address
• Country of Citizenship 
• Passport Number
• Passport Issuer
• Passport Status
• Place of Birth

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April 22 - May 5, 2021

Via Global

New

• Big things happening for applications💥… say hello to Via Global’s 3 new application statuses
• Nominated
• Conditionally Approved
• Approved
• Here’s the 411 on these new statuses… they:
• all release pre-departure forms 😱– this means that, if an admin changes an application’s status to any of the 3 new statuses, the traveler will be given access to their pre-departure forms in the FORMS tab in their traveler profile
• all are associated with the Applying tracking step - this means that, if an admin changes an application’s status to any of the 3 new statuses, that traveler will be associated with the Applying tracking step 
• do not allow travelers to commit, so, if you’d like travelers to continue on in the tracking step journey of Pre-Departure, On-Site, and Alumni the application status must be changed from any of the 3 statuses to Committed 
• all respect decision release timeline functionality & are considered ‘protected statuses’ (aka travelers won’t be notified if an admin changes their application status to any of the 3 statuses if decision release timeline is in the future!)

Updated

• Number of weeks in program settings now autocalculates to the tenth decimal (example: 13 days = 1.9 weeks) and has now become read only so that the correct calculation of time can be done by Via 😊

Fixed

• We fixed an issue that was rounding down the number of weeks in program settings, example: 13 days was calculated as 1 week - now, number of weeks factors in the number of days into the auto-calculation
• Archived admins were receiving mailers from Via - now they’re not
• In certain instances, admins were unable to update form status successfully - now they can

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April 8 - 21, 2021

Via Global

New

• New subject area 📖Let’s give a warm welcome to Integrative Studies available to add as a subject area on any internal program brochure! 

Updated

• On the event attendee screen within an event brochure, we’ve added an error message if the admin attempts to upload without first adding a file to upload

Fixed

• It was brought to our attention that certain occasional users could see all travelers - we tweaked the logic and restored it to match our expectation: occasional users can only see travelers who have favorited and/or applied to programs for which they are assigned as a program administrator or contact
• Occasional users were getting a server error attempting to view a traveler’s profile, now they aren’t
• We updated the event attendee report to display all data in the correct column & row
• The passport status filter on the traveler dashboard wasn’t working as expected, now it is

Via Travel

Fixed

• Downloading the batch invite template on a travel plan wasn’t downloading anything,  now it does
• Uploading a CSV of travelers wasn’t successfully updating the who’s going roster, now, when a CSV of travelers is uploaded, all travelers are added

---

March 25 - April 7, 2021

Via Global

New

• Introducing the brand new sign up/sign in workflow for travelers that have access to Via Global and Via Travel… when new travelers sign up and/or sign in they’ll see 2 choices to lead them where they want to go 🗺
• if they want to Explore Programs they’ll head to their view of the program dashboard
• if they want to Register Travel they’ll head to Via Travel
• if they no longer wish to see the welcome screen, they can remove it permanently from their view!
• 
• Did you ever think about being able to turn off Traveler Intake or Program Match? Well folks, today is your chance to do just that! Now available in the ACCOUNT SETTINGS tab in settings (which is also brand new!), you have the option to Show Intake to Travelers and Show Program Match to Travelers - who doesn’t love choices?
• Have you noticed the new traveler & program types?! If so, you’re a 🌟- here are the new types & where you can find them 🔎
  • Exciting additions 📌
• Program type

• Scholarship

• Fellowship  
• Locations 📍
• Travelers can... choose their desired program type(s) during Program Match, filter for program type on their view of the program dashboard and see their preference(s) in their traveler profile
• Admins can… see preference(s) in their traveler profile, add program types on internal program brochures, and filter for program type on the traveler, program, application & reports dashboards
• Traveler type 
• Exciting additions 📌

• Faculty

• Staff

• Guest 

• Locations 📍
• Travelers can... choose their traveler type during Traveler Intake, see their choice in their traveler profile and fill out that question on an application or form (if the field was added to the template of course!)
• Admins can… see traveler type in their traveler profile, add that field to application & form templates, and can filter for traveler type on the traveler, application & reports dashboards
• The CashNet question type got some lovin’ 💘 new payment status options, the admin ability to update payment status, and payment status activity log have been added for this question type (this requires a custom payment integration between your institution’s CashNet payment system & Via Global - interested in learning more? Send us an email at info@via-trm.com to get the particulars!)

Updated

• The screen travelers see when they create an account or go back to edit the answers they inputted during Traveler Intake has gotten a UI update & new copy - here’s what travelers see now:
• Congrats! Your journey has begun! New experiences await. New people are ready to greet you. New learning is about to become part of you. We’re here to help every step of the way. Let’s go!
• Our team has made some message recipient logic updates to pave the way for batch functionality, here’s what you can expect from message recipients now:
• if an admin sends a single or batch message, they are added as a message recipient to the traveler/s
• if an admin is archived, they are removed from being a message recipient meaning they are no longer visible as such in the traveler profile and they no longer receive emails
• if a message recipient is removed from the message recipient list in traveler profile, they no longer receive emails
• if a traveler has 0 message recipients and they send a message from their traveler profile, all default message recipients will receive an email and will be added as message recipients
• if a traveler asks a question on a program, the program contact will be added as a message recipient
• We keep truckin’ 🚚along with updating our mailers, in this set of release notes, application & form deadline reminder mailers were updated!
• The app transfer process as it relates to recommendations got a tune up - for a transfer between terms that utilize the same application template, the following upgrades were made: 
• if a recommendation was submitted prior to the transfer, the recommendation will be moved to the new application and will be marked as transferred on the original application
• if a recommendation was not submitted prior to the transfer, when the recommender submits their recommendation, it will be associated with the new application
• Any traveler attempting to submit an application or form that has any one of our payment questions (fee, CashNet, TouchNet) in the following statuses, Not Paid, Partially Paid, Partially Refunded, Pending, and Other will be blocked from submission 

Fixed

• We discovered that the new traveler account confirmation mailer was not being sent to travelers if their home campus had Single Sign On (SSO) for sign up, now they are
• Filtering of payment question types on application dashboard was not displaying the correct applications so we fixed it

Via Travel

New

• 2 new status fields are available now! Here’s the breakdown of what they are & mean 🔎
  • Registered - all new group & solo plans are created in this status by default
• Plan Status 📌

• Pending Approval - visual indication manually set by an admin that a plan is awaiting approval

• Approved - visual indication manually set by an admin that a plan has been approved

• Not Approved - visual indication manually set by an admin that a plan was not approved

• Registration Status 📌
• Open - travelers can sign up for the group plan; admins & group leaders can add travelers to the group plan → travelers are considered “going”
• Closed - travelers cannot sign up for the group plan; admins can still add travelers → travelers are still considered “going”
• Complete - travelers cannot sign up for the group plan; admins can still add travelers → travelers are considered “going”
• Cancelled - travelers cannot sign up for the group plan; admins can still add travelers → travelers are considered “not going”

---

March 13 - March 24, 2021

Via Global

New

• Two weeks ago, we added new payment status options for the fee question type on application and form templates - this week, we’ve added those new status options for the TouchNet question type which will now allow admins to update payment status themselves rather than relying on the actual transaction; in addition to the new statuses, we’ve also built a payment status activity log to give even more transparency and clarity to travelers and admins 
• [insert photo]
• (this question type requires a custom payment integration between your institution’s TouchNet payment system & Via Global - interested in learning more? Send us an email at info@via-trm.com get the particulars!)

Updated

• All emails coming from Via will now be sent from messages@via-trm.com - we recommend reaching out to your IT team to whitelist this address to ensure all emails are successfully delivered!
• The saga continues with us updating our mailers - here’s what we recently updated:
  • When an admin invites a traveler to create an account, the traveler is notified of the invitation 
  • When a traveler creates their own account, the traveler and the default message recipient(s) receive confirmation of the account creation; if there are no default message recipients, the super user(s) will be notified
  • When an admin invites another admin to create an account, the invited admin is notified of the invitation
  • When a traveler or admin clicks Forgot Password? they receive a notification to change their password
  • When a traveler or admin send a recommendation request to someone, the recommender is notified of the recommendation request
  • When a traveler or admin cancel a recommendation, the recommender is notified of the cancelled request
  • When a traveler or admin resend a recommendation request to a recommender who has not submitted their recommendation, the recommender is notified that the recommendation is due soon and urges them to complete it
  • When an admin invites a traveler to an event, the traveler is notified of the invitation
  • When a traveler registers themself for the event, they receive confirmation of their registration
  • When a traveler signs themself in using same day sign up or an admin uploads a CSV of event attendees, the traveler(s) receive a confirmation of their attendance
  • When an admin cancels an event, all travelers who registered or were invited are notified
• New account mailers - anytime a new account has been created, this includes:
• Recommendation mailers - anytime a recommendation is sent, this includes:
• Event mailers - all mailers related to events which include:
• We re-worked some things within the MESSAGES tab in traveler profile:
• We updated message threads to mirror the iMessage format: if you are an admin and you send a message to a traveler, your message will appear blue, whereas if the traveler or another admin sends a message, their message will appear gray to you for an all-around better reading experience
• We did a thorough sweep to ensure that all our fonts, font sizes, and font colors were consistent with our design system
• We updated our preview & download icons to match color & style in the MESSAGES tab in traveler profile, as well as on application and forms
• We’ve updated our batch message screen to remove all content sent in a previous message, in other words, you’ll have a clean slate every time you go to send a new batch message from either dashboard!
• In the past, travelers would receive form deadline reminders for Not Started and Started forms even if their previously Committed application had been Deferred or Withdrawn - now, if a previously Committed application is Deferred or Withdrawn, travelers will no longer receive form deadline reminders for their Not Started and Started forms
• Previously, a program term would not be available for travelers to select as an alternate unless the term had a future application deadline (along with an application template) - we’ve updated the logic to be as follows: if a program term has an application template attached, regardless if it has a future deadline or not, it can be viable program alternate

Fixed

• Exact dates were appearing in application status change notifications to travelers despite Show Exact Dates being turned off in program settings - now, if Show Exact Dates is turned off, all mailers will display dates in the following format: month, year - month, year
• In some cases, travelers were getting an error when attempting to submit their application that had a deadline of that day - now, regardless of when the application’s deadline is, the traveler is able to successfully submit it!
• Previously, travelers were unable to download a file from an upload question unless their application status was Incomplete - now, travelers can download files regardless of their application’s status
• If an admin attempted to change authorization status of an internal program, the status would not be updated unless the program brochure had all required content filled out - now, regardless if the program brochure has all required content fill out, admins with permission can turn authorization status off or on 
• When a traveler attempted to select alternates on their application, the term dropdown menus weren’t 100% visible due to the floating footer - now, the dropdowns and footer are adequately spaced apart for full visibility :) 

Via Travel

Updates

• We’ve made some cosmetic updates to the look & feel of Via Travel

---

February 25 - March 12, 2021

Via Global

New

• Let’s have a show of hands for all those who’ve wanted to be able to preview an image file that’s been uploaded to an application or form rather than immediately download it… 🙌 Today is the day! Both admins and travelers now have the ability to preview an image file (PDF, png, jpeg) that’s been uploaded to an application or form using the upload question type 🤸(see example form from an admin’s perspective below)
• 💰NEW PAYMENT STATUSES! We’ve added a number (😂) of payment status options for the fee question type on application & form templates; now, admins can select from a wider range of options on applications & forms for increased clarity & better tracking:
• Paid
• Not Paid
• Paid - Admin Override
• Partially Paid
• Refunded
• Partially Refunded
• Waived
• Pending
• Other
• 📧NEW MAILER! When a traveler gets accepted to an authorized program, they will get a special acceptance email from Via detailing their next steps so that expectations are clear & urging them to commit (mailer copy differs from the acceptance email travelers receive for an internal program)
• Brand new formatting options are now available for batch messaging on the traveler & application dashboards! Take a look…
• 
• 📬We’ve enlisted the help of a new email delivery platform to the cloud-based platform, SendGrid. SendGrid has sent more than 1 trillion emails, works with more than 45,000 paying customers to help ease the pains of sending high-volume emails, and has pioneered email infrastructure to be the most reliable, trusted choice when it comes to email expertise. What does that mean for you? More reliability & speed for ALL emails coming from Via!  

Updated

• With the change in email delivery platform to SendGrid, we are incrementally updating all of our mailers! Here’s what we’ve updated thus far:
  • When a traveler sends a message from the MESSAGES tab in their traveler profile, the message recipient(s) will be notified; if the traveler has no message recipient(s) assigned to them, the default message recipient(s) will be notified - unsure about what a message recipient is compared to a default message recipient? Click this link, we’re here to help 😎
  • When an admin sends a message from the MESSAGES tab of that specific traveler’s profile, the traveler is notified; in addition, any message recipient(s) associated with that traveler will also be notified
  • When an admin sends a batch message to one or more travelers from the traveler or application dashboard, all travelers are notified; in addition, any message recipient(s) associated with those travelers will also be notified
  • The traveler gets an email confirming they started an application to an authorized program
  • The program contact (of the provider) will be notified that a traveler has started an application; if the program has no program contact, provider’s default message recipient(s) will be notified; if there is no default message recipient, super user(s) will be notified (no contact information is displayed unless the provider has paid for Via Leads) 
  • The default message recipient(s) (of the home campus) will be notified that the traveler has started an application; if there is no default message recipient, super user(s) will be notified
  • The traveler gets an email notification anytime an admin changes the status of their application to anything but Accepted (email notifications may be withheld if a decision release timeline has been put in place - click here to learn more about this topic)
  • The traveler gets an email notification anytime an admin changes the status of their application to Accepted (email notifications may be withheld if a decision release timeline has been put in place - click here to learn more about this topic)
  • The program contact from the provider and the default message recipient(s) (or super user(s)) from the home campus get an email notification anytime a traveler changes the status of their application
  • The program contact will be notified that the traveler has started an application; if the program has no program contact, default message recipient(s) will be notified; if there is no default message recipient, super user(s) will be notified 
  • The traveler gets an email notification anytime an admin changes the status of their application to anything but Accepted (email notifications may be withheld if a decision release timeline has been put in place - click here to learn more about this topic)
  • The traveler gets an email notification anytime an admin changes the status of their application to Accepted (email notifications may be withheld if a decision release timeline has been put in place - click here to learn more about this topic)
  • The program contact and the default message recipient(s) get an email notification anytime a traveler changes the status of their application
• Ask a question mailers - anytime a traveler clicks Have a question? on a program brochure, the program contact will be notified; if the program is authorized, the default message recipient(s) will also be notified - not sure what a default message recipient is? Click here to learn more!
• Request to apply mailers - anytime a traveler clicks REQUEST TO APPLY on a program brochure with no future terms available, the program contact will be notified; if the program is authorized, the default message recipient(s) will also be notified
• Message mailers - anytime a traveler or admin sends a message in Via, this includes:
• Authorized program application mailers - anytime a traveler starts an application to an authorized program or anytime the status of the application changes, the following occurs:
• Internal program application mailers - anytime a traveler starts an application to an internal program or anytime the status of the application changes
• We’ve updated the copy in the mailer sent to a traveler immediately after they’ve started an application to an authorized program, so we updated the copy visible in the AUTHORIZED PROGRAMS tab in settings!
• Batch messaging on the traveler & application dashboards got a visual makeover  
• We’ve made some tweaks to decision release timeline logic to accommodate all possible scenarios that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic - click here to learn more about this sophisticated & intricate functionality with possible real-life scenarios!
• We updated applications, forms & traveler profile to display full country names rather than two-letter country codes for a better reading experience
• If an admin user role does not have the ability to view certain locations in Via Global based on their permissions, they’ll now see “Your role has not been granted permission to view this part of the site. Roles & Permissions are changed at the discretion of the account Super User(s). For more information, reach out to the following: <<super user>>.”
• Previously, if an admin sent a specific traveler a message in the MESSAGES tab in traveler profile, they received a copy of the message in their email inbox; we heard this was somewhat redundant, so we turned that mailer off! 
• We’ve updated our permissions to include default behavior - let’s break it down:

• Application Template Settings & Form Template Settings

• If the user role is given the permission to Create/Duplicate, the View permission is automatically checked off it wasn’t already
• If the user role is given the permission to Edit/Delete Draft, the View permission is automatically checked off it wasn’t already
• If the user role is given the permission to Edit Published/Unpublished, the View permission is automatically checked off it wasn’t already
• If the user role is given the permission to Publish, the View permission is automatically checked off it wasn’t already
• If the user role is given the permission to Archive/Unpublish, the following permissions are automatically checked off if they weren’t already: View, Edit Published/Unpublished, Edit/Delete Draft
• If the View permission is taken away from a user role, all other permissions are taken away as well

• Organization Settings

• If the power user role is given the permission to Edit Organization, the View Organization permission is automatically checked off it wasn’t already
• If the View Organization is taken away from power users, the Edit Organization permission is taken away as well 

Fixed

• In the process of making cosmetic updates to our program brochures, we noticed the Have a question? button was removed from the traveler view of authorized programs - don’t worry, we added it back
• Currency symbols weren’t visible on the Programs tab in the new reports dashboard - now they are
• If an admin attempted to update custom fields within a traveler’s profile, no SAVE button would appear - now it does
• Previously, every time an admin sent a message to a traveler from the MESSAGES tab in their traveler profile, the admin’s name would be displayed in the message recipient list for each time they sent that traveler a message, meaning their name would appear multiple times - now, if an admin sends a traveler a message in their traveler profile, they’re added as a message recipient once and only once, regardless of however many messages they send them!
• Travelers were seeing an error when they attempted to view the screen to select alternates on their application - now they don’t
• A program location error was displaying to admins attempting to publish a program even after they had entered a location - we got that error in line so no errors would appear again
• On an application or form template, if an admin added a fee question but did not provide a payment URL, the traveler would still see & be able to click on the Make your payment online link, which resulted in them getting an error - now, if an admin doesn’t provide a payment URL in the template, Via will not display Make your payment online link on the traveler’s application or form
• As an admin or traveler, if I clicked the calendar in the Date of Birth field while the date was obfuscated, the whole calendar appeared obfuscated - now, anytime a traveler or admin goes to edit date of birth, the calendar & the date itself will be visible! In addition, anytime date of birth is updated, Via will default to it being obfuscated 
• On the program dashboard specifically in the Unauthorized view, if an admin attempted to filter for the program type Faculty/Teacher Leader Travel, no programs would appear despite there being programs of that type; in addition, Virtual was missing all together from the list - we’re happy to say that Virtual has been added & Faculty/Teacher Leader Travel is functioning properly
• We heard some admins were having trouble downloading reports from the new reports dashboard - so we made some adjustments, good as new
• Certain admin user roles weren’t able to see tabs they should based on their permissions - here’s what we fixed:
• If a user role had the permission to Invite Admin Users, the USERS tab wasn’t visible, now it is
• If a user role didn’t have the permission to View Organization, Settings wasn’t visible for them to update their personal account settings - now it is
• Admin user roles without the permission to View Organization were seeing an error when attempting to view the SAFECHECK tab in Settings - now they’re not
• If a power user had the permission to assign permissions for other roles, they were also able to edit permissions for their role, power users - power users with this permission should only be able to edit permissions for support and occasional users, so we fixed it to do so 
• If an admin user wasn’t given the permission to change other admin user roles, it still looked as though they could click the radio button of a role to select for another admin - now, if they don’t have that permission, we added a 🚫symbol and no longer allow for the radio buttons to be clicked
• In the Terms & Cost section on some authorized programs, the home campus & authorized program deadlines were flip flopped - so we unflipped them
• Not all form deadline reminders or application status change notifications for authorized programs were going out as expected - now they are
• In some cases, answers provided for a single choice question on an application or form were reverting back to the default state; we identified the disconnect and patched things up - now, when an answer is chosen, it remains
• After a traveler clicked REQUEST TO APPLY on a program brochure, the success message was appearing twice - now it’s not
• In certain instances, application status changes were appearing until the user refreshed the page, here’s what we fixed:
• After an admin changed application status on the application dashboard, the status was not automatically updating to display the new status until they refreshed the page - now, the status change immediately appears without the need to refresh
• Travelers weren’t seeing application status changes for certain statuses until they refreshed the page - now, the status change immediately appears without the need to refresh
• When an admin attempted to transfer an application, the term dropdown menu wasn’t 100% visible due to the floating footer - now, the dropdown and footer are adequately spaced apart for full visibility :) 

Via Travel

New

• Two weeks ago, we released functionality to batch email travelers on the Via Travel Traveler Dashboard as well as on the Who’s Going list of a particular plan - this week, we’ve added the ability to also send SafeCheck content as an email! 
• 
• Custom filters can be saved & shared with others in the office in the following locations:
• Who’s Going list of a particular plan
• SafeCheck Dashboard
• Traveler Dashboard
• Plans Dashboard
• Admins can view, search for, sort, filter, and export SafeCheck status & associated phone numbers on both theVia Travel traveler dashboard and now the Who’s Going list of a particular plan!
• NEW MAILER! When an admin cancels a group plan, all travelers and group leaders will get an email from Via informing them of the cancellation 

Fixed

• Previously, if an admin who did not have a first or last name attempted to edit a group plan itinerary, an error would appear - now it doesn’t
• The Leave Group Plan button wasn’t allowing travelers to be able to leave a group plan - now it is 
• In some instances, if an admin sent a SafeCheck message & email, the SafeCheck dashboard was not displaying Yes in the Email Requested column - now it is

---

February 12 - 24, 2021

Happy National Study Abroad Day from the Via TRM team ✈

Via Global

New

• 📣NEW DASHBOARD ALERT! Meet the Reports Dashboard - a place for comprehensive views into traveler, program, application, and form data along with the ability to search, sort, filter & seamlessly export data from Via. Interested in creating efficiencies in your day to day operations? This dashboard is for you - learn more and get started here
• 

Updated

• If a program brochure did not have any cost information, the Term Information table was not in alignment - now it is
• Previously, if an admin added more than 2 lines of text in the Cost Information field in programs, the whole table would enlarge when the user hovered over it - now, hovering over it will enlarge only that field, not the whole table, and allow the user to scroll up & down for easy viewing

• If an admin was viewing an application and attempting to change the status,Transferred was listed as an option; however, applications can only be transferred through the dedicated transfer process, so, we removed it from the status dropdown list on the application

• Our permissions went through a full audit, here’s what we updated:

• Application Template Settings

• If the user role does not have the View permission 
• The Application Templates button in the Applications dropdown will not be visible
• If the user role only has the View permission 
• They will see Applications in their main navigation menu & Application Templates in the dropdown
• They can view any application template in PREVIEW mode
• If they click EXIT PREVIEW, they will return to the Application Template Dashboard
• If the user role has the Inactivate permission
• Archive will appear in the footer of any template that the admin is able to edit (example - if power users can edit published application templates and can inactivate them, Archive will be visible on all Published and Unpublished application templates) 
• If the user role has the Edit Published permission
• The admin will be able to view, edit, save & preview application templates in either the Published or Unpublished states

• Form Template Settings

• If the user role does not have the View permission 
• Forms in the main navigation will not be visible
• If the user role has the View permission
• They will see Forms in their main navigation menu & Form Templates in the dropdown
• They can view any form template in PREVIEW mode
• If they click EXIT PREVIEW, they will return to the Form Template Dashboard
• If the user role has the Inactivate permission
• Archive will appear in the footer of any template that the admin is able to edit (example - if support users can edit draft form templates and can inactivate them, Archive will be visible on all Draft form templates) 
• If the user role has the Edit Published permission
• The admin will be able to view, edit, save & preview application templates in either the Published or Unpublished states
• Previously, if an admin was viewing an authorized program with no future terms, they’d see a link to edit terms; because home campuses cannot edit authorized programs, we removed the link where appropriate

Fixed

• In some instances, travelers who had already submitted their application could still see & click the SUBMIT button; we all know that travelers can’t do anything once they submit their application, so we fixed the issue - now, the SUBMIT button is only visible before the traveler submits their application
• If an admin was looking for programs to authorize on the Program Dashboard, neither the search bar nor the filters would work - now they do

Via Travel

New

• NEW FEATURE ALERT! Batch emailing travelers is now available on the Via Travel Traveler Dashboard as well as on the Who’s Going list of a particular plan! All batch emails sent by an admin will appear in the MESSAGES tab of the Traveler Profile to ensure that Via stays the one source of truth 👏 

---

January 28 - February 11, 2021

Via Global

New

• NEW PARTNER ALERT! For all institutions who use TouchNet as their payment system, Via is now a TouchNet Ready Partner and has added a TouchNet question type to application and form templates; if your institution is interested in a custom TouchNet payment integration, please email info@via-trm.com
• NEW MAILERS! 
• When a traveler starts an application to an internal program, they will get an email from Via urging them to continue their journey & view their application
• When a traveler creates an account, Via will send them a warm welcome urging them to complete their profile, explore programs & chat with advisors
• When a traveler creates a Via account, the default message recipient(s) will be notified (if there are no default message recipients, super users will be notified) - perfect for an even warmer welcome from your office 🌞

Updated

• The legacy feature Travel Plans has been sunsetted and will be removed from your main navigation menu; if you are interested in a robust travel tracking software, head here to learn more about Via Travel
• In our Select Organization dropdown on via-trm.com, we’ve removed the [subdomain] from the organization name for a cleaner view
• The mailer sent to travelers after they’ve registered their attendance at an event was routing them to sign up rather than to sign in - the route has been updated
• If a non-synced traveler manually inputs data into their traveler profile or onto their application (in these statuses: Incomplete, Submitted, Conditionally Accepted, In Review, Waitlisted) or form (in any status), then subsequently syncs, if the fields are blank in their student information system, Via will replace the data inputted by the traveler with blanks [this can occur if a Client opts to sync their student information system after they’ve launched their Via TRM account, or, if a traveler does not create their account through Single Sign On and thus is not synced]
• If an admin opts to remove all What’s Included items from a program brochure, the What’s Included section heading will no longer be visible because, we just think that makes more sense :)
• We’ve added your institution’s organization description to the bottom of your program brochures - now, travelers, visitors and admins can see your information more easily! (watch the video to take a look) [not sure where to find your organization’s description? click here to find your way!] 
• We’ve also spruced up several elements on program brochures... here’s the 411:
  • We’ve added the organization’s name, program contact’s name, title & photo for more clarity
  • The ‘ask a question’ workflow for travelers got a makeover - we updated the copy to say “Have a question?” and updated the look & feel of the pop up they see after clicking “Have a question?”
  • 
  • Travelers see: “Currently there are no terms available for this programme. Let us know if you're interested in applying to a future term. Request More Info“
  • Visitors see: “Currently there are no terms available for this program.”
  • Admins see: “Currently there are no terms available for this programme. Add Terms in Programme Settings”
• On the floating sidebar:
• Text boxes & dropdown menu boxes were different sizes - not anymore ;) 
• The Terms & Cost section look and copy were updated for programs with no future terms - here’s what is now visible:
• All fonts, font sizes, colors & spacing in between and within fields were updated for consistency

Fixed

• Our team continues the search to locate all custom alias stragglers… on the fixed list this week: the Unauthorized screen on the program dashboard, several traveler dashboard filters, the withdraw & defer applications screen as well as the application dashboard where custom reasons are associated with a deferred or withdrawn application
• “Request to apply” mailers were not being sent to program contacts, they were only being sent to one of default message recipient - now they’re sent to both the program contact and the default message recipient(s) so that everyone is in the know
• Admin users without adequate permissions were able to edit application and form templates due to the auto-save functionality - now, those users will only be able to view the templates through the template PREVIEW
• Visitor links were directing users to sign in rather than to the program brochure itself - we redirected traffic so that visitor URLs display the program brochure; traffic patterns restored.
• Previously if an admin attempted to delete content in certain fields to make them blank, the content wouldn’t get deleted - here are the fields we fixed to accommodate blanks if desired:
  • Program intro
  • Program description
• Custom fields
• Internal programs:
• In some cases, housing information on program brochures was displayed multiple times - now housing information appears only once as expected
• Paragraph returns added in program brochure information fields were not being displayed to admins, travelers or visitors - now they are… paragraph return to your heart's content
• Our engineering team did some regular maintenance ensuring that blank synced fields do not prevent travelers from submitting applications or forms - good news: nothing needed to be fixed as everything is working as expected :) 
• Previously, support and occasional users who did not have permission to view organization information were not able to access their personal account information - now they are
• Last week, admins couldn’t successfully add content to the program description field on program brochures - now they can
• Travelers were previously unable to submit forms - we removed the roadblock and are happy to announce that form submission has re-commenced!

Via Travel

New

• NEW WORKFLOW ALERT! SafeCheck Enrollment has been added for travelers to officially enroll in SafeCheck, the free health, safety, emergency-response, and wellness communication check-in service available while they travel <<insert video>>
• SafeCheck Enrollment in detail:
• Travelers can see the SAFECHECK tab of Via Travel where they can enroll a valid travel cell phone or mobile number; if the inputted phone number is invalid, Via will prompt them to add a new one [travelers can opt out at any time]
• 
• After successful enrollment, travelers can edit and reverify their SafeCheck phone number at any time
• Admins can view, search for, sort, filter, and export SafeCheck status & associated phone number on the Via Travel traveler dashboard
• Admins cannot, however, enroll travelers in SafeCheck on their behalf
• A SafeCheck Phone Number field has been added to the Contact Information section on TRAVELER INFO tab of traveler profile, visible to both admins & travelers (but not editable by either within the traveler profile) 
• 
• Previously, the number inputted into the On-Site Cell/Mobile Phone Number field was used for SafeCheck; now, if the On-Site Cell/Mobile Phone Number field is filled out prior to the traveler enrolling in SafeCheck, Via will display that number to the traveler to either verify it as their SafeCheck Phone Number or add a new number to enroll

---

January 14 - 27, 2021

Via Global

New

• Two weeks ago, we added a term name filter to the program dashboard for admins & travelers - this week we added a term name filter to the application dashboard… nice :)

Updated

• After receiving lots of feedback from both admins and travelers in regards to Level of Support, we have decided to remove it from Via. We are going to further research the practicality of the data point and a more user friendly approach to this question. What this means is that Level of Support won’t be visible on program brochures, travelers can’t indicate their preference in regards to support, and level of support information cannot be filtered for on either the admin or traveler side. What this doesn’t mean is that this question, or another variation, won’t be considered for the future.
• All three term name filter dropdown lists were consolidated to accommodate different capitalizations of the same term, example: if you have two different term names for fall in these formats Fall 2021 and FALL 2021 it will only appear once in the dropdown list; if you have another term name in this format Fall2021 that would appear separately because of the difference in spacing
• As an admin looking at a traveler’s profile, we noticed that if the traveler hadn’t updated a photo of themselves, the Via TRM logo was appearing, so we updated it to display our new avatar instead!
• Our program brochures have gotten a nice makeover, here’s what we updated:
• Instruction information and field answers used to be bold, now they’re not
• The font in both the Eligibility Requirements or the Scholarship and Financial Aid Opportunities sections didn’t match the rest of the brochure, now it does
• Checkboxes weren’t aligned, now they are
• We moved all information content to display to the right of its respective field name
• 2 What’s Included items were out of alignment, now they’re not

Fixed

• Performance in app was slow last week resulting in server errors being displayed in various locations, we tuned up performance & fixed all server errors - here’s what we fixed:
  • Programs & terms filter group 
  • Authorized program provider filter
  • Traveler type filter
  • Residency status filter
  • Financial aid filter
  • Home campus filter
  • Year in school filter
  • Major - primary filter
  • Major - secondary filter
  • Minor - primary filter
  • Minor - secondary filter
  • Minor - third filter
  • GPA - major filter
  • GPA - cumulative filter
  • Anticipated grad year filter
  • Hours earned filter
  • Honors status filter
• Admin invitation workflow
• On the application dashboard
• Any traveler who was unable to view program brochures
• Any admin who was unable to view provider program brochures to authorize (fixed within 4 hours - go team go!)
• In some cases, when an admin attempted to transfer an application, the screen did not automatically refresh and application duplicates were created; now, when an admin transfers an application, the screen automatically refreshes and one application is created anew, phew!
• We noticed & fixed a couple of things for travelers who are “non-degree seeking”:
• Admins previously couldn’t filter for them on the application dashboard - now they can
• Travelers, or admins on their behalf, couldn’t identify themselves as “non-degree seeking” on an application or form - now they can
• The Housing filter on both the traveler & admin views of the program dashboard had “Not Sure” listed as an option in the dropdown - “Not Sure” is not an option, so we’ve removed it from the filter dropdown list 
• Previously, admins who had the permission to view traveler applications but did not have the permission to view application templates didn’t have access to the application dashboard - now they do
• Some travelers were unable to pay their fees through Cashnet so we fixed the issue… the cash flow has been restored
• Several filters were not working as expected on both the traveler & application dashboards:
  • Preferred Program Date filter - Via was only displaying travelers that chose the exact date range selected, now, travelers with preferred program dates anywhere within the date range selected will be displayed
  • Passport Status filter - Via was not displaying all travelers with a passport status of “Not Provided” - now it does
  • Honors Status filter - if an admin filtered for travelers who did not provide their honors status, Via was not displaying them - now it is, the gang’s all there
  • Receives Financial Aid filter - if an admin selected “yes” “no” and “not provided” the expected number of travelers was not displayed - now it is
  • Traveler Type filter - admins did not have the ability to filter for “High school/Secondary” or “Post Graduate” travelers - now they do
  • Receives Financial Aid filter - admins did not have the ability to filter for “Not Provided” - now they do
  • Traveler Type - we fixed some typos so that the list on the application dashboard is consistent with all other locations in Via
• On the traveler dashboard
• On the application dashboard
• Previously, if a traveler opted to not provide their passport status during the traveler intake experience, Via was displaying a default answer of “Unknown” - we removed the default answer and will now display blank if the question goes unanswered

• Date of Birth was not displaying correctly on applications and forms - we fixed how the data is stored as well as how users can choose a date: a date picker… good as new :) 

---

December 17 - January 13, 2021

Via Global

New

• Who’s been waiting for the day when more than one form template could be added at a time in program settings? (🙋) As of today, the ability to add more than one form template in program settings is official... add to your heart’s content :) [screenshot] 
• Remember our term name field in program settings? (see below September 24 – October 8 and November 6 - 18, 2020 release notes) Now admins and travelers have the ability to filter by term name in the program dashboard - hooray for filters! [screenshot]

Updated

• A LOT of work was done to update subject areas for both admins and travelers, here’s what we did:
• Updated all lists to be the same in all the following locations: traveler view of program matching experience, the admin & traveler views of the program dashboard, the admin view of the traveler dashboard, and the admin view of program brochure edit screen
• Alphabetized subject areas in all locations
• All “, General” and “, Other” subject areas were mapped to their identical counterpart for consolidation & organization - example: “Chemistry, General” and “Chemistry, Other” were mapped to “Chemistry” :)
• We’ve reordered the filters on both the admin and traveler views of the program dashboard to ensure more logical filtering
• If a traveler is in the process of editing the traveler application when the deadline passes, and then they attempt to submit it, a message will now appear to them indicating that the application is closed for submission and displaying the date, time, and timezone of the deadline
• We did an internal audit & removed all “i” icons that were not in use… is winter cleaning a thing, right?? 
• We noticed differences in spacing in both the Scholarship or Financial Aid Opportunities and Eligibility Requirements sections between the program brochure view and the edit view - now, the edit & non-edit view spacing match perfectly!
• The traveler information field Gender was renamed to Sex as the options refer to biological sex 
• Previously, when a recommender opened the form to submit their recommendation, their cursor would land at the bottom of the page (not very intuitive, Via!) - now, they’ll land on the first field to fill out: full name
• Looking at the traveler view of program dashboard, we tweaked some things on the program tiles:
• There was a dangling semicolon after the last location listed, now there’s not
• If there was more than one future date available, the program tile view was displaying terms as the start month/year of the first future term and the end month/year of the last future term; this format did not make term information clear to students, so we changed it: now, the tile view will display all future terms separately
• The visitor view of authorized program brochures was displaying the home campus’ deadline as the provider’s deadline - to clear things up, we removed the authorized program deadline entirely from the visitor view
• We discovered two issues with zip code fields in the TRAVELER INFO tab traveler profile:
• A dangling hyphen was appearing after all zip codes, now it isn’t 
• If the zip code field was synced and the institution was sending more than 5 numbers separated by a hyphen, Via omitted the hyphen - now, whatever is sent to us will be displayed, hyphen or not!

Fixed

• Our team spotted a typo in one of the answers in a traveler intake question - we took care of it.
• The search is still on to locate all custom alias stragglers… last week’s offender: the Zero Matches screen on the program dashboard - good as new!
• The issue of duplicate traveler forms in traveler profile has been put to bed - forms won’t be duplicating from here on out.
• We noticed that admins couldn’t filter for travelers who were “non-degree seeking” or “not sure” if they received financial aid on the traveler dashboard - now they can. 
• On the note of financial aid, if travelers filled out that question during traveler intake, their answer was not saving - we fixed the problem, now, the answer they give is the answer saved & displayed in traveler profile. 
• Previously, if a traveler opted to not answer certain traveler intake & program matching questions, Via was displaying default answers in generated reports; we’ve removed all default answers for more accurate data tracking & transparency - here are the questions that were fixed:
• Traveled outside home country
• Traveler type
• Receives financial aid
• Participation certainty
• GPA major
• GPA cumulative
• Hours earned
• When attempting to update custom fields, admins were seeing a standby error & data not saving, now they’re not.
• Two filters on the traveler dashboard were not functioning as expected:
• Sign up date range - Via was filtering between the two dates rather than including the two dates with the time in between, now, the filter is 100% inclusive!
• Passport number - Via was combining all those that provided a passport number with those who did not provide one; now, the groups are separated accordingly.
• On the edit view of application & form templates, uploaded documents and associated instructions were hidden whereas in the preview view, they were not; we discovered a display issue and resolved it - now, all uploaded documents & instructions are visible on all views of the template
• Both the Defer and Withdraw buttons on the application quick view in traveler profile were broken for admins & travelers but have since been restored to accommodate all desired deferrals and withdrawals! 

---

December 3 - 16, 2020

Via Global

New

• NEW VIEW ALERT! Raise your hand if you’ve ever wished that you could declutter your view & hide past terms in program settings (we’re raising ours 🙋) Your wish is our command! Now, when admins head to program settings, they’ll notice that past terms are hidden by default, and, if desired, they can simply click + SHOW PAST TERMS to do exactly that: show past terms.

Updated

• Spacing of questions and instructions in the edit view of application and form template questions was inconsistent compared to both the PREVIEW of the template and traveler applications & forms; now, spacing looks the same in all views.
• Previously, if an admin added an option to a dropdown question on an application or form template and clicked elsewhere on the template, the option would be saved - now, only if the admin clicks ‘enter’ or ‘return’ after adding an option will it be saved. 
• We updated the text in the introduction field on application & form template to be placeholder text rather than plain text so you no longer have to remove it before adding content in that field!
• If your organization does not have Authorization of Third-Party Programs turned on in settings (here’s an article how to turn it on & off), we have cleaned up the admin view of program dashboard: we’ve removed view options of Internal & Authorized, Unauthorized, and Authorized Only and will only display two view options of All Programs and Drafts Only.

Fixed 

• It was brought to our attention that form status couldn’t be updated to Accepted now it can! 
• Our team continues the search for custom alias stragglers to make sure if you set an alias in account settings, it’s consistent throughout your system Here’s where we fixed them:
• On program brochures 
• In program settings
• On application & form templates
• The screen that admins see prior to editing a publishing application or form template the screen prior to editing a published application or form template
• Within the AUTHORIZED PROGRAMS tab in settings 
• On the eligibility screen travelers see prior to starting an application
• In traveler intake
• In traveler profile, specifically the TRAVELER INFO and EVENTS tabs
• If an admin went to invite a single traveler from the traveler dashboard, they wouldn’t be able to see the email they were typing due to an issue with font color blending in - the color has been fixed & no longer blends in.
• Previously, cost information on program brochures was mistakenly being rounded to the nearest ten; now, whatever the admin adds to program settings will display on the brochure, no rounding to see here folks.  
• In some instances, travelers were able to see programs in the Draft, Unpublished, and Archived states; we couldn’t let that one slide so we restored their view to what’s expected: they now can only see Published brochures.
• The time of an event on the actual event brochure was previously different from the time on the event quick view in the EVENTS tab in traveler profile; don’t worry, it’s been fixed.

• Via was preventing the country of citizenship field to be blank on traveler applications so we fixed the issue; now, if you leave the field blank, we won’t stop you!

• Checkboxes on the application template & form template dashboards weren’t able to be checked off to take batch action; we made some changes - check away my friends...
• Some screws were loose when admins attempted to defer or withdraw a traveler’s application directly from the APPLICATIONS tab in traveler profile - we tightened some things and fined tuned others, so that nothing can stop admins (with adequate permissions) now!
• In some cases, traveler application and form deadlines weren’t always appearing where they should - long story short we cleaned things up so that deadlines display everywhere necessary.
• Two deadline types were off by one day - here’s what we fixed:
• Traveler form deadlines were displaying for the day before the actual deadline
• Traveler application deadlines for authorized programs were displaying for the day after the actual deadline
• We realized that our event registration mailer wasn’t showing the right timezone for an event - we’re happy to announce that timezone is no longer an issue here.

---

November 19 - December 2, 2020

Via Global

New

• NEW INFORMATION VISIBLE! Knowledge is power, which is why we’ve surfaced some new information:
  • The admin that created the template
  • The date & time the template was created
  • The date & time the template was last updated
  • The template’s status
• In traveler profile, if an admin adds a new form in the FORMS tab, the traveler & admin will see “Form Deadline: Please Inquire” and the date & time that the form was added.
• On both the application template and form template dashboards, admins will now see on the template quickview:
• On all authorized program brochures, admins, travelers & visitors will now see both the home campus’ and the provider’s application deadlines in the Terms & Cost section; if the provider does not provide a deadline, “Please Inquire” will be visible.
• We’ve added a new avatar photo if an admin or traveler has not uploaded a photo of themselves!

Updated

• Previously, when an admin clicked to edit an application or form template, the VIEW ARCHIVE button would occasionally appear, now it doesn’t. 
• Events got a revamp just in time for the new year, here’s what we updated:
• In traveler profile, events were previously grouped by Onsite/Future and Past - now they’re grouped by Upcoming, Past, and Cancelled.
• Also in traveler profile, the event quick view wasn’t clear & didn’t match the rest of the tabs - for consistency’s sake, we updated the layout, look & feel.
• If an event brochure name is very long, we’ve removed the up/down drag bar from displaying - now, we display the full name, no scrolling needed.
• In the past, default message recipient(s) would only receive mailers and notifications if no program contact was added to a program - aka they were on back up duty. Now, even if a program contact is chosen, default message recipients will receive all communications that a program contact normally would! 

Fixed 

• On application and form templates, if an admin added a dropdown question several things would occur:
• If the dropdown question was the last question for travelers to fill out, travelers would not be able to see all answers in the dropdown list, now they can
• If more than one option was added to the dropdown question, spacing of each option would be off - we’ve fixed the spacing so that all options are correctly aligned
• We added a box around each option field to clearly identify each one and its respective ‘X’ button
• In some instances, both the internal program contact and internal program administrator filters on the application dashboard would display “No Options” even if program contacts and/or program administrators had been chosen  - now, all program contacts and administrators are visible and accessible to filter on.
• In some Client accounts, upon saving an application template, the sections would rearrange out of order, now they remain in the intended order.
• We encountered some issues on program brochures, here’s what got fixed:
• On some programs, the APPLY NOW button was visible even if there were no future terms available on the brochure; now, if there are no future terms, REQUEST TO APPLY will be visible everywhere on the program brochure.
• On the visitor view of some programs, APPLICATION CLOSED was visible even if the term was still open; now APPLICATION CLOSED is displayed only when the term is actually closed
• The quick view of traveler forms in the FORMS tab in traveler profile was displaying the incorrect deadline, now the correct one is visible everywhere.
• In certain instances, travelers were able to start and/or submit applications after the application deadline had passed due to an issue with time zones - this was not the intended behavior so we made some changes; order has been restored.
• We located some places (namely on the application dashboard and in traveler profile) where our custom aliases weren’t updating and fixed them - they’re good as new.
• In some instances, VIEW EXTERNAL APPLICATION was visible even if the provider did not add an external application URL to the program brochure or when the program was internal - now, travelers will only see VIEW EXTERNAL APPLICATION on authorized programs where the provider has added an external application URL

Via Travel

New

• We’ve added a new column on both the plan & traveler dashboards in Via Travel: Continents! On the plans dashboard, Continents column will be visible by default; on the traveler dashboard, Continents column will be available to show if desired!

Updated

• We added a clearer message if there are no results to display when an admin looks at any Via Travel dashboard (Travelers, Plans, SafeCheck)… now they’ll see “No records found”

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November 6 - 18, 2020

HAPPY IE WEEK!

Via Global

New

• Remember our new term name field in program settings? (see September 24 – October 8, 2020 release notes) Now travelers will see the name when they go to select a term to apply to!
• NEW FIELD ALERT! On-Site Cell/Mobile Phone Number has been added to traveler profile as well as on application & form templates for all your risk management needs! For our Clients who are using Via Travel, this is the number that the new SafeCheck feature will use to send an SMS!

Updated

• We added a friendlier message if a traveler, looking at their FORMS tab in traveler profile, has not yet committed to a program and term… now they’ll see, “Lucky you! You currently have no forms to fill out.” 
• If no documents are uploaded to a program brochure, the Downloadable Documents section is now hidden from the brochure!
• Traveler intake First Name and Last Name field names were not aligned - alignment has been restored.  
• The instructions and default copy in authorized program settings fields were outdated & reflective of the old process so we tidied everything up - they’re good as new!
• Previously, travelers were unable to edit their travel history information that they added during the traveler intake experience; we heard that was somewhat limiting (and we agreed!) so we rerouted the EDIT PREFERENCES button to go back to the beginning of traveler intake experience rather than program matching experience - thanks for the heads up, Marisa!

Fixed

• We found a typo on the form where recommenders submit their recommendation and another two in settings, so we corrected them all.
• In some cases, travelers were able to submit applications without answering the required phone number question - now travelers are successfully blocked from submitting unless they type the 411...eh hem, their phone number. 
• Authorized programs had several screws loose... here’s what we fixed:
• Some unauthorized programs were not visible for admins to authorize, so we fixed those.
• In some instances, travelers were seeing a standby error when they tried to start an application to an authorized program - that is no longer occurring
• If a provider marked a program as authorizable in program settings, their choice would, in some instances, not stick and revert back to the program not being authorizable; authorizable programs should actually be authorizable, which they are now!
• If a provider added an external application URL in program settings, their choice would save but disappear from view; now the URL will always be displayed.
• Non-published authorized programs (in draft, unpublished & archived states) were previously visible for admins to authorize, now they’re not.
• Authorized programs without future terms weren’t visible to admins or travelers; now, an authorized program is visible regardless if the program has a future term or not.
• We noticed our Program and Programs custom aliases weren’t updating for some question in the program matching experience, so we cleaned those up… problem solved.
• Long event names were overflowing off the brochure so we rerouted the text to wrap around!
• Multi select filters on the application dash were causing standby errors to appear if an admin clicked the ‘X’ button from a previously applied filter - multi select filters are working perfectly now. 

Via Travel

New

• NEW FEATURE ALERT! SafeCheck, Via Travel’s SMS text & geolocation functionality went live… watch the video to see it in action: <<insert video>>
• SafeCheck in detail:
  • Safety
  • Are you safe and well? Please confirm. If you need help, select ‘no’ and someone will contact you as soon as possible.
  • Did you arrive safely and check into your housing?
  • Did you arrive safely at your program site?
  • We haven’t heard from you yet! Are you safe and well?
  • Urgent
  • We’ve identified an urgent situation that may impact your travel. Are you safe and well?
  • We’ve identified an urgent situation that may impact your travel. Did you receive the full update in your email?
  • Wellness
  • This is a support & wellness check. Do you need assistance from our team this week?
  • This is a support & wellness check. Would you like someone from our team to reach out to you this week about your program?
  • This is a support & wellness check. Would you like someone from our team to reach out to you this week about your travel plans?
  • Update
  • Important changes were made to your group itinerary. Do you have any questions about these changes?
  • Important changes were made to your group travel plan. Do you have any questions about these changes?
  • Feedback
  • We’d like your feedback! Has our team met your expectations for support for your program?
  • We’d like your feedback! Has our team met your expectations for support for your travel plans?
  • We’d like your feedback! Would you recommend this program to your friends?
  • We’d like your feedback! Would you recommend this travel experience to your friends?
• Admins can send a SafeCheck message with the option to include LocationCheck (geolocation) from two different views: the Who’s Going view within a specific plan as well as on the Via Travel traveler dashboard 
• Once travelers receive the SMS text, they can click the link to check in, provide more information, and add their exact location before sending their reply 
• Admins can view, search for, sort, filter, and export all SafeCheck messages in the SafeCheck dashboard
• Admins can also view a specific SafeCheck message’s detail page for more specific information including traveler responses, geolocation on a map, and the option to resend the SafeCheck message.
• When sending a SafeCheck message, admins can choose from a variety of questions in the following groups (see below for all questions): 

Updated

• We’ve updated all icons in Via Travel to cleaner & fresher ones
• Our add/edit plan view and our add/edit detail views have had a thorough cleaning: some items were rearranged, renamed, deleted, added for an all in all better experience :) 
• Group Leader functionality got a super boost of permissions, here’s what they can and cannot do:
• Can edit a group plan, but cannot create one
• Can view traveler itineraries, but cannot edit them
• Can add and edit group itineraries
• Can invite travelers to a group plan
• Can export travelers
• Cannot see or edit group plans of which they are not a group leader
• Cannot see the Via Travel traveler or plan dashboard of all travelers and plans
• Cannot link a program to a group plan
• Cannot assign or remove a group leader to/from a group plan
• “Sorry, no matching records found” was appearing when an admin was waiting for any dashboard to load; because that wasn’t indicative of what was actually happening, we changed the copy to “Loading….” 

Fixed

• Admins were getting an error going from the application dashboard to Via Travel, now they’re not. 
• A traveler who committed to their program after the program was associated with a group plan wasn’t showing up in the admin or traveler view of the the plan, and now they are.
• In some instances, location wasn’t saving even if the traveler included it with their SafeCheck check-in, now it is. Appl