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Via TRM Knowledge Base

General

Release Notes

Release Notes

Release notes are summaries of the new features, enhancements, and resolutions introduced in each update of Via TRM. We ensure that these notes are published no later than 24 hours after a release, providing you with timely information

12/02/2024

📣 Coming Soon

Enhanced Report Beta Dashboards
- New Beta Reports: Will include not only the same great functionalities as you see in the new Beta Dashboards, but also - field grouping, pivot tables, and customizable charting for advanced data visualization.
Plan Forms on Travel Plans
- Exciting updates are coming soon to Via Travel! The new Plan Form Builder will allow admins to create customizable Plan Form templates and apply them to group and solo plans, with enhanced dashboards for managing forms, tracking status, and batch actions. Plus, improved traveler and admin views for easier form management!

✨Enhancements

Subject Area Editing Improvements
- We've made an update based on partner feedback to improve the way Subject Areas are added and modified on Program Brochures.

✅ Resolved

Resolved issue where recommenders were able to submit recommendations without required fields entered.

11/20/2024

📣 Coming Soon

Enhanced Report Beta Dashboards
- New Beta Reports: Will include not only the same great functionalities as you see in the new Beta Dashboards, but also - field grouping, pivot tables, and customizable charting for advanced data visualization.
Plan Forms on Travel Plans
- Exciting updates are coming soon to Via Travel! The new Plan Form Builder will allow admins to create customizable Plan Form templates and apply them to group and solo plans, with new dashboards for managing forms, tracking status, and batch actions. Plus, improved traveler and admin views for easier form management!

🆕 New

Home Insights Dashboard
- We're excited to announce the launch of the Home Insights Dashboard, a powerful new feature designed to provide centralized, actionable insights directly from your homepage. This dashboard empowers administrators to efficiently track traveler journeys, monitor application and form completion, and assess program performance, making decision-making faster and more effective.
Traveler Activity Dashboard
- We're thrilled to introduce the new Traveler Activity Dashboard, designed to provide deeper insights into traveler engagement with program brochures. This powerful tool gives you visibility into how travelers interact with your programs, helping you better understand their interests and actions.
Batch Action: Manual Data Sync
- The new Manual Data Sync batch action is available for admins with permission to add/edit traveler applications, statuses, or forms. This new feature allows you to manually update traveler information from their profile to applications and forms directly from the Application and Form Dashboards - regardless of status.
  - Available On:
    - Application Dashboard (beta)
    - Application Content Dashboard (beta)
    - Form Dashboard (beta)
    - Form Content Dashboard (beta)

✨Enhancements

Beta Dashboard Enhancements:
- Updated batch selections to now unselect selections once a batch action has been performed.
- Application and Forms Dashboards now contain your Custom Fields for selection.
- Hyperlinked 'Preferred Name' fields: Now link directly to Traveler Profiles for easy access.
- Improved filter/column menu: Increased size for better visibility and easier navigation.
- Updated filter/column menu active state: Enhanced visibility of the active state for easier menu closure.
- Form Completion Dashboard update: Form names now wrap for better readability and quicker form status scanning.
Performance enhancements: Improved speed for the Exchange Balance Tracking feature.
Optimized sign-in flow: Streamlined access for administrators and travelers using multiple Via products.
Improved miscellaneous error handling.

✅ Resolved

Fixed issue with favorited programs: Programs now correctly redirect to their respective program brochures when travelers have more than 1 program favorited.
Improved internal file preview and download feature: Users can now preview and download supported file types (e.g., PDF, PNG, JPEG, etc.) from the Internal Documents section of program brochures.
Resolved issue where two or more automations containing identical triggers, identical conditions, and identical actions led to duplicate forms being added to travelers.

10/30/2024

📣 Coming Soon

Enhanced Dashboards are Rolling Out!

New Beta Reports: coming soon you will not only have access to the same great functionalities as you see in the new Beta Dashboards, but also - field grouping, pivot tables, and customizable charting for advanced data visualization.

Home Insights Dashboard:

Soon, your existing Home Dashboard will be replaced with a new Home Insights Dashboard, designed to elevate data-driven decision-making in Via Global. This new view offers a comprehensive overview of essential metrics, such as:
- Traveler tracking
- Incomplete Forms for Upcoming Terms
- Incomplete Applications with Upcoming Deadlines
- Trending Favorited Programs
- Participation Barriers
- And more!

Traveler Activity Dashboard:

Soon, you'll be able to access valuable insights into traveler engagement with program brochures through a new "Traveler Activity" dashboard. This view will allow you to track when travelers favorite programs, request information, ask questions, or start applications - giving you a clearer picture of their interests and actions.

With these upcoming reporting capabilities and streamlined insights, you’ll be able to stay informed and responsive, empowering quicker, more effective decisions!

🆕 New

We've added a new "Plan Created By" column to the Beta Plans Dashboard, making it easy to identify who created each Travel Plan.

✨Enhancements

New Beta Dashboard Improvements:
- Increased default sizes and updated Term Timing columns on Beta Program Dashboards.
- Updated Batch Application Status Updates from Beta Form Completion Dashboard.
- Updated Edit Filters and Edit Columns slide-out to increase visibility.
- Updated CSV exports of Application Content Beta views to include email addresses.
Program brochure dashboards now display “Learn More” instead of “Apply Now,” based on partner feedback from Via Sparks, encouraging travelers to explore programs without hesitation.
Removal of the "Embed" feature in batch and automated messaging due to external content-sharing restrictions.
Batch and individual PDF downloads now include conditionally rendered questions.
Redirected traveler event sign-up links to the main login screen to avoid non-SSO sign-ups.
Various accessibility and loading speed enhancements.

✅ Resolved

Program Brochure Term Information now displays exact dates only when “Show Exact Dates” is selected.
Fixed an automation condition issue where “Term Tags” incorrectly triggered actions despite excluding tags.
Resolved an issue with adding new term information on existing Program Dashboards.
Alert mailers now include only filtered selections, improving targeted communication.
Improved functionality for group leaders when viewing or adding itineraries.
Updated Event Participation views to show travelers without Via accounts.
Resolved duplicate mailer issues for some administrators.

9/25/2024

📣 Coming Soon

Additional Enhanced Dashboards are Rolling Out!
- Coming Soon: Additional dashboards for Programs, and Reports! Added functionality in Reports to include field grouping, pivot tables, and custom chart functionality.

🆕 New

Via Travel, Travelers, Events, Applications, and. Forms Dashboards (Beta)
- We're excited to announce the release of new dashboards for Via Travel, Travelers, Events, Applications, and Forms packed with powerful features for you to preview and test. Learn more about these enhancements.
Custom Sections on Internal and Authorized Program Brochures
- Based on your feedback, we’ve added the ability to customize program brochures by adding your own sections. Whether you're providing internal details about authorized programs or sharing custom information, such as accessibility options for travelers on internal programs, you can now batch add or edit these sections directly from the Internal Program and Authorized Program Dashboards.

Minor (Age Group) Indicator for Minor Travelers
- Admins have expressed the importance of easily identifying travelers under 18 for effective advising and management. In response, we've added a new column to both the Traveler and Application dashboards that classifies travelers as Adult (18+), Minor (under 18), or Not Specified (when the date of birth is not provided). This indicator also appears in the Traveler profile and the Traveler Insights panel. Additionally, Admins can now enable or disable email notifications that alert them when a traveler who is identified as a minor submits an application.

Academic Information Embedded Spreadsheet Functionality
- Admins can now embed spreadsheets under the ‘Academics’ tab on Program Brochures to display approved courses for specific programs. This enhancement allows you to seamlessly showcase approved course lists directly within brochures, providing students with a clear and accessible view of available courses, while also enabling easy, bulk updates as needed.

Exchange Balance Tracking
- We continue to make updates to Via Global to ensure permissions and functionality work seamlessly for Admins across all Via products. Our latest update is a new submenu under Programs called “Exchange Balances,” where Admins can associate a program in Via Global to an exchange balance contract housed in Via Contracts.

✨Enhancements

Ability to Uncancel Terms
- Admins with the appropriate permissions can now restore a previously canceled term.
Ability to Unarchive Programs
- Giving you more flexibility, we’ve unlocked the ability to unarchive programs once they’ve been archived.
Improved Privacy in Via Travel Plans
- Via Travel Plans no longer display traveler email addresses to other travelers if the traveler has not provided a first or last name.
Shortened File Names for Batch PDF Downloads
- File names on batch downloads of Applications and Forms as PDFs have been shortened to improve compatibility with Windows operating systems, making it easier to export and extract zip files.
New Beta Dashboard Enhancements: Links Open in New Tabs
- All links in the new beta dashboard now open in a new tab for a smoother navigation experience.
Expanded File Download Support for Program Brochure Edit View
- Program Brochures now support downloading additional file types, including .DOCX, .XLSX, and more from the admin edit view.

✅ Resolved

Date consistencies updated to ensure term dates, deadlines, and other date fields display accurately across different time zones.
Mailer previews in the Automation Builder section have been updated to better align with the appearance of the editor, ensuring a more accurate and consistent preview experience.
Automations that trigger based on term start and end dates have been refined for better reliability, ensuring they function as expected across all scenarios.
We've made updates to ensure that required date fields must be completed before submitting forms, preventing incomplete submissions.
Admins can now download more than one application per traveler using the Application Template Standard Reports feature.

8/27/2024

📣 Coming Soon

Enhanced Dashboards are Rolling Out Starting 9/3!
- Administrators will soon be able to unlock robust functionality on Via dashboards including:
  - Advanced Filtering
    - Advanced Filtering for All Columns
    - Range-based filtering
    - Filtering on static data
    - Multi-select support
    - Real-time Filtering
    - Filter Search by Name
  - Robust Column Customization
    - Quick Column Show / Hide Functionality
    - Additional Columns Based on Partner Feedback
    - Column Name Searching
    - Column Reordering
    - Column Pinning
    - Column Resizing / Autoresizing
  - Saved Views & Usability Improvements
    - New Saved Filters
    - Deleting of Saved Filters
    - Copy / Paste Support
    - Export Support for Excel
    - Improved Page Load Speeds
    - Improved Visibility of Data

Administrators will be able to access the new dashboard views in beta by clicking the "Switch now" link in the blue banner as they become available.

We understand this is a busy season, so your existing views will remain in place until we receive feedback from the field to switch over! These dashboards will be rolling out to Via Travel first, and then Via Global Dashboards each week after that.

🆕 New

Custom Traveler Intakes are here!
- Admins can now tailor the traveler onboarding process to better meet the specific needs of their campus. Learn more about Intake here. New customization intake options include:
  - Add questions from a list of nine newly available options.
  - Make certain questions mandatory.
  - Reorder the questions as needed.
  - Hide any questions that aren't relevant.

New Automation Condition: “Cumulative GPA (Profile)”
- Admins can now use “Cumulative GPA (profile)” as a condition for Automations. This GPA can be synced from the SIS or manually added to a traveler's profile. This feature allows for customized messaging, application status updates, and other actions based on a traveler's GPA. Learn more about automations here.

✨Enhancements

When creating a new term in Term Settings, admins will now see an enhanced view for start and end dates, making it quicker to add these dates and providing clearer error messages if they are missing.
Signature question types now retain the original date and time when an application is transferred, ensuring accurate record-keeping.
Improved load speeds on the Via Travel Transportation Details Dashboard when details exceed 15,000 details or more.
We’ve added new subject area options on Program Brochures:
- Africana Studies
- Audiology
- Brazilian Studies
- General Education
- Honors
We’ve added support for two new language options on Program Brochures:
- Dzongkha
- Language Varies

✅ Resolved

Updated and improved the editor that allows admins to embed videos in automated messages, batch messaging, as well as the Plan builder within Via Travel.
Resolved an issue that prevented synced and required ‘Gender Identity’ fields from populating correctly when ‘Other’ is selected.
Ensured that an Automations’ status of active/inactive displays accurately on the Automations Dashboard and in the Automation Editor.
Updated program brochure editor to show an error message and prevent Admins from saving a location, if it cannot be confirmed by our location lookup service.
Resolved an issue seeing multiple alerts for the same alert in the Risk Alert History Dashboard.

8/7/2024

🆕 New

We’ve given Events in Via a refresh! Highlights include:
- An event creation stepped modal experience and an updated event editor page
- An event details page, including two new tabs with enhanced functionality including:
  - Share Event Tab: New QR Code generator with custom brand options as well as the ability to copy event share links for advanced and same-day registrations.
  - Event Participation Tab: New customizable table view with the ability to mark participants as attended, not attended, or remove them from the event in batch. The same functionality to upload attendees and invite travelers will now appear at the top of the participants data table.
- The ability to uncancel an event
- An updated Traveler experience when signing up for an event in advance or confirming attendance on the day of an event.
- Learn more about Events in Via!
We continue to make updates to Via Global to ensure permissions and functionality work seamlessly for Admins across all Via products. Our latest update is new navigational cards on the home dashboard, if your institution has purchased Via Contracts or Via International. Based on an Admins’ personal permissions in each product, the navigational cards will appear either enabled or disabled.
New Automation conditions: Application and Form Tags
- For Application-based Automations, we have added a new condition option “Application Tag,” allowing Admins to create Automations specific to Applications with certain Tags added.
- For Form-based automations, we have added two new condition options “Form Tag,” and “Application Tag,” allowing Admins to create Automations specific Applications or Forms with certain Tags associated.
- Learn more about all Application-based triggers and conditions. Learn more about all Form-based triggers and conditions.

✨Enhancements

We have made three updates to Form and Application-based Automations to make it easier to navigate through the options:
- The Trigger and Condition dropdown lists are now in alphabetical order.
- The "Program Is" condition now lists programs by their state (Published, Unpublished, Archived and Draft) and then within each state, in alphabetical order.
- For Application-based automations, the Term Tag condition list is now organized by state (Active and Archived) and then within each state, in alphabetical order.
We completed updates behind the scenes to improve load times for filters, saved filters and saved views on the Dashboards.
We updated our country lookup table to reflect more common spellings of countries, as well as official changes to country names since our last update.
- Changed Andorre to Andorra
- Changed Barbade to Barbados
- Changed Montenegro/Crna Gora to Montenegro
- Changed Swaziland to Eswatini
- Changed Congo to Republic of the Congo
- Changed East Timor to Timor-Leste

✅ Resolved

Updated mailer details so that only Travelers (not Admins) receive Traveler application status update mailers when a Decision Release Timeline (or DRT) passes.
Resolved display issue that meant Solo Plans appeared as Group Plans on the VT Travelers Dashboard view.
When adding Tags via Automations, we now ensure that the language on the warning banner correctly reflects whether Applications or Forms will be impacted.
For Application-based Automations, we have updated the ‘Form Template’ condition label to ‘Associated Form Template’ to better characterize which Form template the Automation is referring to.
For Form-based Automations, we have updated the ‘Application Template’ condition label to ‘Associated Application Template’ to better characterize which Application template the Automation is referring to.
Resolved an issue on the Term Settings page that saved Form Deadlines one day earlier than intended.
Resolved issue that prevented the 'Term Tag' filter from working correctly on the Form Completion Dashboard.

7/15/24

🆕 New

As Via prepares for the launch of new products, such as Via Contracts and Via International, we have begun making updates to Via Global to ensure permissions and functionality work seamlessly across products.
- Our first update in this effort is on the Users tab of Settings, where we ensure that current Admins of Via Global and Via Travel do not see Admins who only have access to Via International or Via Contracts. Additionally, we have blocked Admins from removing access for those who have permissions in multiple products.
We have added two new condition options to our growing Automation functionality:
- “Term Tag” will allow Admins to create Application-based Automations specific to Applications using Term Tags.
- “Program Type” will allow Admins to create Form-based Automations specific to the type of Program.

Learn more about all Application-based triggers and conditions. Learn more about all Form-based triggers and conditions.

We have also added two new Actions that Admins can take when creating Automations:
- “Change Status” will allow Admins to use Triggers and Conditions to automate the status change of either an Application or a Form.
- “Add Tags” will allow Admins to use Triggers and Conditions to automate adding Tags based on Automation type; Application-based Automations allows Admins to add Application Tags and Form-based Automations allows Admins to add Form Tags.

Learn more about all Application-based triggers and conditions. Learn more about all Form-based triggers and conditions.

✨Enhancements

We’ve given the Program Brochure Modify page and the Term Settings page - previously known as the Program Settings page - a refresh. Admins will have the same great functionality with an enhanced user experience, including:
- A static header with a sleeker user experience, where Admins can take action to preview, duplicate, and archive programs, along with managing internal terms.
- The ability to add an external link to Internal Program Brochures, for Admins with permission.
- Updated modals for actions like program delete or archive, or when adding applications or forms to a term.
- Accessibility friendly updates with a refreshed color palette.
We have updated the Admin experience of transferring a Traveler Application and reviewing Program Alternates. Admins with permission can now:
- See if Travelers have an existing Application for a Program Alternate
- View an existing Application for a Program Alternate by clicking on the appropriate hyperlink.
- Delete an existing Application to allow for a seamless transfer experience.
Previously, travelers were blocked from choosing program alternates if they had already started an application for that program term. Now they can select from available program alternates, even if they have already started an application for it.
To improve the speed of the VT Travelers Dashboard, we have added a Plan Timing Filters toggle to that page, and ensured that the default view shows Upcoming and On-site Travelers only. Admins can see all their data by choosing from the other toggle options.

✅ Resolved

Resolved an issue that impacted the visibility of message dates when an Admin clicked on their message center (envelope icon in the top right of the page).
Moved the Custom Message from the bottom to the top of the sign in pages to ensure accessibility across devices and browsers.
Resolved an issue that blocked Admins from adding Forms with present or future deadlines to Travelers from the Traveler Profile or Application Review Mode.
Updated the date fields in the "Add Form" modals on the Traveler profile, Application or Form review modes, and in the Application Dashboard and Form Completion Dashboard, to ensure that deadlines are not required, but if one is entered it must include the month, day and year.
Resolved an issue that prevented Travelers on Solo Plans in Via Travel from appearing on the VT Travelers Dashboard, even though their Solo Plan appears on the VT Plans Dashboard.

6/18/24

✨Enhancements

We have made updates to Via Travel Plans and Traveler Dashboards to improve page load speed and performance.

✅ Resolved

Resolved a rare issue that prevented some Travelers from appearing as expected in the Form Completion dashboard.
Resolved an issue that allowed Application Tags, that had been added to Applications, to also appear on certain Forms.
Updated the Internal Programs dashboard view to ensure that the Term name column appears as expected.
Resolved an issue that updated the "Application Created By" and “General Form Created By” fields when Admins changed an Application or Form status.

6/13/24

🆕 New

Create plans in batch from a program term
- Admins can now create travel plans from existing program term data in batch from the Internal and Authorized Terms dashboards. This new functionality eliminates the need to re-enter program details and makes it easier to create a critical link between a traveler’s committed programs and travel plans. To learn more, see this article.
PDF Batch download applications or forms
- Admins have loved downloading applications and forms, and now batch downloading is available! On the Application Dashboard, Application Content, Form Dashboard, or Form Content Dashboard, select multiple applications or forms to convert to PDF, including Traveler file uploads like passport copies and transcripts. Once ready, they will appear in a zip file on your Downloads page. To learn more, see this article.
Customized Sign In / Sign Up Page Info Banner
- Admins with permission can now add and edit custom language for their users on the Sign In / Sign-Up pages via an info banner. To customize your Sign In and Sign Up pages, go to Organization Settings > Organization > Sign In / Sign Up Settings. To learn more, see this article.

✨Enhancements

Automation improvements:
- We have updated Automation History, making column names more clear and providing a hyperlink to the traveler profile when clicking the traveler name
- On the main Automations page, Admins can now filter their automations, viewing active, inactive or all.

We’ve simplified some of your Organization Settings pages, including streamlining the branding options.
We have unified the withdrawn and deferred reasons across the app, to make the data cleaner and easier to analyze. We have also added 4 new reason options, including Declined, Switched to a future term, Chose a different program and Returned home early.
Admins can now add a form deadline when adding a form to a traveler, from the traveler profile, in review mode, or when adding a form to one or more Travelers on the Traveler applications Dashboard or Form completion dashboard.
Accessibility improvements

✅ Resolved

Resolved issue that made Request to Withdraw copy appear outside the designated copy box when Admins used a URL in their copy.
Resolved an issue that prevented Travelers from uploading .XLS or .XLSX files to Forms

5/20/24

✅ Resolved

Resolved issue with the date picker question type that made the previous day appear when users updated and saved a date.

5/15/24

🆕 New

Automation Action History Log is now here! Admins can now click a history icon for each Automation, taking you to a view of the history of the actions triggered by that Automation.
- For “Send Mailer” Automation Actions, you can now view a page with each mailer recipient, with columns for information like Mailer sent date/time, Email, Mailer Subject, and more. Each row has a view icon which will show the mailer preview at the time the Automation was triggered.
- For “Add Form” Automation Actions, you can now view a page with each form recipient, with columns for data such as Form sent date/time, Email, the Forms configured, and more. Each row has a view icon which takes Admins to the Traveler profile / Program details page where the Admin can view their forms.

New Traveler Insights Panel in Application or Form Review Mode
- We have added a new Traveler Insights Panel in application and form review mode which Admins can expand to see some critical Traveler profile data and their alternate programs (if any), as well as click a button to go directly to the Travelers’ Profile.

✨Enhancements

We have added two new Automation condition options, “Application Template” and “Form Template.” These new conditions allow Admins to create Automations to target Programs using specific Application Template Name(s) and General Form Template(s). Learn more about all Application-based triggers and conditions. Learn more about all Form-based triggers and conditions.
To allow Admins to view and report on a Programs’ public URL, we have added it as a column to three views: the Programs Report, and both the Authorized Programs and Internal Programs dashboards.
Via will now require Travelers to provide their first name and last name when starting an application in Via (along with Preferred First and Last Name as optional fields). Once a Traveler enters this information and continues, the data will populate their Traveler's profile fields.
- For institutions that have opted to not sync Traveler data, Travelers must type in their first name and last name before starting an application.
- Institutions that have data sync integrations for Traveler data will not see any change.
We have updated the ‘Activate Account’ button link in the invite user mailer to redirect Travelers based on the clients' settings and SSO configuration:
- For Non-SSO institutions, the 'Activate Account' button redirects travelers to the school's unique manual sign-up page.
- For SSO institutions, if the manual sign-up option is disabled, or if sign-up is available, the 'Activate Account' button redirects travelers to the welcome page (/authV2/welcome).
If a Traveler attempts to visit the link for a Program that has been unpublished/deleted, they now see a message that the Program is no longer available and a link that redirects them to the Programs dashboard.
In Organization Settings, the Tags tab has been renamed to Term Tags to make a distinction between these and other Tags available in Via.

✅ Resolved

Resolved an issue that caused some Admins to be unable to remove individual General Form Templates in Program Settings after they were added in a group with the same deadline from the term dashboards.
Updated Automation logic to ensure triggers and conditions always work based on “AND” logic as expected, not “OR” logic.
Resolved an issue where message recipients who were removed in batch from the Traveler dashboard were still appearing on the data table. This is now working as expected.
Updated the Internal Programs dashboard to ensure that all Program names appear in the filter list, whether or not they have an Application associated with them.
Resolved an issue that made some non-required questions appear required and erroneously prevented some Travelers from submitting Applications.
Updated Application and Form Tags to allow creating and saving tags with as little as 2 characters.

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:

Screenshot 2023-12-13 at 12.06.12 PM

🔋 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

Screen Shot 2023-08-20 at 6.36.27 PM

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!)

Coming soon - Admin Home Screen

Coming soon to Via Global - Request to Withdraw

Screen Shot 2023-08-20 at 6.36.27 PM

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

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

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.

To view release notes prior to 2022, please contact support.

Release Notes

Release notes are summaries of the new features, enhancements, and resolutions introduced in each update of Via TRM. We ensure that these notes are published no later than 24 hours after a release, providing you with timely information

12/02/2024

📣 Coming Soon

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

11/20/2024

📣 Coming Soon

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

10/30/2024

📣 Coming Soon

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

9/25/2024

📣 Coming Soon

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

8/27/2024

📣 Coming Soon

Enhanced Dashboards are Rolling Out Starting 9/3!

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

8/7/2024

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

7/15/24

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

6/18/24

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

6/13/24🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

5/20/24

✅ Resolved

5/15/24

🆕 New

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

4/24/24

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

4/22/24

✅ Resolved

4/11/24

✨Enhancements

✅ Resolved

4/4/2024

🆕 New

✨ Enhancements

✅ Resolved

3/29/2024

✅ Resolved

3/28/2024

🆕 New

✨ Enhancements

✅ Resolved

3/1/2024

✅ Resolved

2/15/2024

🆕 New

✨ Enhancements

✅ Resolved

1/29/2024✅ Resolved

1/22/2024

🆕 New

✨ Enhancements

✅ Resolved

Dec 13, 2023 - Jan 18, 2024

Via Global

New

Updated

6/13/24

🆕 New

1/29/2024

✅ Resolved