Accessplanit Blog

a true cross browser experience

2011-04-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

What is a browser? a browser is a computer program that lets you view the internet in plain English (or any other human language) I still speak to people in different industries today who are unaware that there are different browsers available, they simply think that the big blue 'e' icon is 'the internet' and around 6 years ago, it pretty much was! The internet is written in various different computer code languages and your browser reads this code and translates it into the colours, text, pictures and videos that we now recognise as thet internet or websites.

Back before the days of high speed broadband and multiple browsers having an internet based application such as our Course Manager or Accessplan LMS system tended to mean that 'it works in internet explorer' so it was more of an 'internet explorer based application' we were even guilty of this in our early years, ignoring the other browser that were creeping up here and there, not to mention ignoring the growing Apple Mac and Linux computers that were also starting to take hold.

There is an organisation called the World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3.org/ the W3C mission is to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure the long-term growth of the Web. The social value of the Web is that it enables human communication, commerce, and opportunities to share knowledge. One of W3C's primary goals is to make these benefits available to all people, whatever their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native language, culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability.

So what does this mean? Well, in a nutshell there are a set of 'rules' that people who create websites and content for the internet must adhere to in order to make the content available for everyone to access easily and so that all browsers can read the information thus presenting it in the way it was meant to be, clean and in a presentable format.

In the early days of Internet Explorer (IE), these rules were largely ignored by Microsoft and IE went down it's own route of interpenetration of internet code, this worked well for Microsoft and made the content of the web look great when viewed in IE but as the other browsers started to grow, they stuck to the rules laid down by the W3C so that content could be standardised as it was always meant to be, this caused a headache for web developers as they would have to make sure that content displayed well in IE and all of the other browsers too, but the strange rules that IE used meant that a website would look good in IE and poor in all of the other browsers, or vice versa, good across all other browsers and poor in IE.

Today there are a multitude of browsers on the internet, some are only available for Windows only, or Mac only but the list is a lot longer that most people realise... for example;

Firefox
Chrome
Safari
Opera
SeaMonkey
Flock
Prism
Avant
Maxthon
Camino
Shiira
OmniWeb
iCab
Stainless
Fluid
Konqueror
Galeon
Epiphany
Swiftfox
Swiftweasel

and of course, Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer is still the main browser but is being caught up by FireFox and Chrome but there are many different versions of Internet Explorer, from version 6 right up to version 9, each one of these versions of Internet Explorer works differently and may display a website differently even though they are 'the same browser'

Internet Explorer 9 is the latest version of IE, it now conforms to the standards that all the other browsers stick to. this means everyone is now at an even keel and content is much easier to write for websites, but there are still discrepencies between how browsers 'render' or 'draw' the web pages from the code they view.

Browsers are all about personal choice, they all now do pretty much everything in a similar way but it is up to the user to decide what he wants to view the internet with.

We are always modifying and updating our Course Manager and Accessplan LMS systems to be cross browser, by this we mean we want our system to work in the browser of your choice, most people will be happy to use Internet Explorer and some don't even know there are other browsers but for those who choose to use another browser because it is faster, has useful plug-ins or add-ons and is tighter integrated into the way they use the internet, they can rest assured that using our Course Manager and Accessplan LMS systems will work in their browser of choice.

The hard work is done by our development team so that you don't have to worry about what browser you run our software in, just rest assured that it will look and function correctly whether you are a FireFox-er a Chrome-er or simply oblivious and you just click that blue 'e' to view your companies and customers training requirements on our Course Manager and Accessplan LMS systems.

Do you look at your Dashboard before you drive?

2011-03-09T06:10:00.000-08:00

'Dashboards' have become very popular in recent years thanks to systems like the Xbox 360, Sony Playstation, Mac OSX and Windows Vista/Windows 7 the Dashboard is an interface at the root of your system that shows important information at a glance. You wouldn't drive a car that didn't have a speedometer and a fuel gauge so why would you 'drive' a computer system without having a powerful overview of each and every vital part of the vehicle that is your accessplan LMS or Course Manager system?

A Dashboard must communicate information clearly, fast and the information must be useful to the user.
even two 27 inch monitors wont convey a useful Dashboard if you don't have an effective look and feel with quick and easily adjustable settings.

If a Dashboard fails to alert you to upcoming important events or flag up any mandatory training/risk assessment deadlines it is completely pointless and will no doubt not be used again.

Both the accessplan LMS and Course Manager systems have an integrated Dashboard that is the fist thing a user sees once they open the system.

The Dashboard runs small reports and programs called 'Gadgets' that can be easily configured from the Dashboard options at the top right of your system.

The two options are 'Add Gadgets' and 'Layout'
clicking Add Gadgets brings up the Gadget Browser, this allows you to browse all the tools that will display on your Dashboard, the Layout option allows you to control how many columns of information are displayed and how high they are.

The Gadgets themselves range from company my courses and awards through to Twitter and Facebook.
each Gadget has it's own 'edit' option at the top right so that it's individual settings can be customised depending on what type of Gadget it is.

For further information on the Dashboard and Gadgets contact accessplanit on 0845 543 0229 or email support@accessplanit.com

Performance enhanced system plus new features available now and in the very near future...

2011-02-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

We have recently carried out scheduled maintenance on the accessplan system and in doing so have introduced some cool new features.

This update of the system has both enhanced and improved the way accessplan carries out daily tasks in the background making it more responsive and useful to you.

In addition to the updates, we have built some new features that can be added to your Course Manager or accessplan LMS system.

Report Writer

We now offer advanced reporting functionality that enables clients to tailor their own ad hoc reports, charts and dashboard items for any part of their system.
Key features of the new report writing functionality include:

Users can create and modify reports on their own
Reports can be saved and shared
Quickly apply new fields and sort options
Add powerful filters e.g. date period “last month”
Add Summaries & Drill downs
Quickly add charts to reports (pie, bar, trend and more)
Export reports to PDF, Excel and other popular formats
Report Scheduling - Automatically distribute reports via email (daily, weekly and time of day)
Add smart text, colour and styles
Create dashboard reports and charts

Contact us for further details…

Dashboard Homepage
As well as advanced reporting functionality, the experience for the end user has been enhanced with the addition of a ‘igoogle’ gadget style home page. The new interface allows both administrator and learners to view live information and reports from the system as soon as they login. Examples include:

Quick search
News
Resource issues
CRM opportunities
Tasks
Expiring Awards
My Courses
Sales or bookings
My Targets
Upcoming Courses
Course Viability

In addition widgets from external tools and information such as google gadgets, RSS feels, Twitter feeds and Images can also be added to the users dashboard.
Again, contact us for details on how to upgrade to the new dashboard interface..
Resource Calendar upgrade
The resource calendar has been enhanced to:

New vertical grouping display (available in timeline display)
Select multiple resources (from multiple resource types)
Allow new courses to be edited

Waiting list report
A new report has been added to the course management area that displays details of anybody who is on a waiting list.

SMS
The SMS functionality is now live and is already being used by a number of clients.

QCF
Support of the new QCF framework.

Custom Elements
Custom emails can now be edited and formatted using the new rich text editor.

Coming Soon
The following new features are currently in development and will be available in the coming months..

Translation Tool
Interactive Course Dates calendar allowing courses to managed and maintained through a calendar view
Integration with new payment providers
Invoice elements allowing automatic emails to be triggered against invoice status e.g. overdue reminder, thank you for payment

If you have any questions about any of the above new features, contact andrew@accessplanit.com for full demonstrations, pricing and advisability.

accessplanit, one to watch out for in 2011!

2011-01-28T02:24:00.000-08:00

We have just returned from the Learning Technologies conference and exhibition and we had a very busy stand indeed, potential customers from all kinds of different industries called in for live demonstrations of our accessplan LMS Course Manager and Composica products.

The stand was a hive of activity and we were rushed of our our feet! A great deal of enquires ended with demonstrations being arranged and follow up calls for more information, a large percentage of people stayed on the stand for over an hour discussing the benefits of using a Learning Management System or an on-line Course Booking system,

One question I heard several times was "What makes your LMS stand out from the crowd"? or "What makes you different from all the other LMS's out there"? (and there are a lot now)

My answer to this question is always the same... We have been building, modifying, improving and adding to our LMS since 2001, every new customer that we bring on board has excellent suggestions about ways that we could improve it, or subtle tweaks that would make the system go the extra mile and give them the added benefit of tying in with a system they already use or a procedure they are used to on their old spread sheet or database that they don't want to loose, so, in a nutshell, we have the best team of designers that anyone could ask for... the customer!

"The level of customer service you provide is, without doubt, the best I have ever come across in an IT company" - Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

I believe this gives us the edge over the competition that are too stuck in their ways and don't listen to the small customer (or even the big customer) this personal touch and attention to detail is what makes us different from the rest.

So to recap, the Learning Technologies show was a great success, a survey that was carried out by a "crack team of exit pollsters" that were patrolling London's Hammersmith road in the near freezing conditions on a late Thursday afternoon amidst the aftermath of the show showed some great statistics, the attendees were asked a series of questions about the event like "What was the best seminar"? and "Who gave away the best freebies"? "What were the must see stands"? But the last question they asked people was...

- What new, up & coming or niche acts would you describe as "the ones to watch in 2011"? You'll see that we are in the top five answers and for a very good reason! We are the ones to watch in 2011!!

If I could change anything about the show, it would be to add a warning sign to the edge of our nice wooden floor that was raised up about 2 inches... the amount of people that tripped over it was around 40 people!

Trip up from accessplanit on Vimeo.

Funding and the Need for Change

2011-01-20T02:11:00.000-08:00

This post is for changes to funding on our Lancashire LMS system.

The Lancashire system (or LancashirePlan as it is more commonly known) has had a significant change to the way that funding is handled, controlled and distributed, to help with these changes I have created a small user guide to explain how funding is now accessed on the system, we have blended it with course booking so that in order to apply for funding you follow the same process for booking a course as you do for applying for funding.

Previously there was a separate form for applying for funding, this would be filled in with the details of the candidates and what courses they required funding for, this would be sent to the LWDP processed by the funding manager who would then send an email to back to the applicant prompting them to book the training before the granted application expired.

The new guide that I have written will be available shortly and covers the new process from start to finish, explaining why the application form is no longer necessary.

I will post the guide on here and our support tracker site and also make it available on LancashirePlan itself.

Below is an exert from the LWDP website explaining the changes to funding.

"At LWDP each year we are entrusted with a Grant to improve knowledge and skill levels across the independent Social Care sector in Lancashire to improve the service delivered to those needing care.
As an organisation we need to manage the funding allocation equitably across all areas and to keep within our stated budget boundaries. This year with the changes in vocational training we have experienced some significant changes and were required to make changes in September to funding of NVQ’s in readiness for the roll out of the Qualifications Credit Framework (QCF) from January. In September we notified the sector about the need for Unique Learner Number’s (ULN’s) from January 2011, and we have continued to communicate this since that time giving the sector three months notice of the requirement.
We continued to support short courses and adopted a flexible approach to the budget for short courses.
Between September and December we experienced high levels of demand for short course funding, such that when we returned from the Christmas break we were required to make the changes which came into force on 17th January 2011, which was to stop new applications for short courses, continuous professional development and other funding streams. In previous years we have capped short course funding at around £500/600K, this year we have approved applications to £1m.
Also in previous years we have been fortunate enough to have reserves in the bank to cover any spend over budget, this year we have returned reserves to Lancashire County Council to help with the County deficit which for LWDP means we must work within our budget. Going forward we hope to have a budget to support training in the sector. We know that at best this will be significantly less than in previous years. We will be continuing to focus on training which improves care but will be reviewing how this is done. We will keep you informed and take your input in the established way through the Stakeholder Events.
To see a copy of the briefing note advising of the Funding changes from the 17th January 2011, click here."

Happy New Year from the accessplanit support team!

2011-01-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a happy new year? We have a busy January ahead of us here at accessplanit, lots of training sessions are penned in already and we have the Learning Technologies exhibition at the Olympia conference and exhibition centre as I mentioned in my previous post we can be found at stand 66. click here for information on how to get to the Olympia.

In the meantime the Support Suite system is looking like it's going to be launching very soon so watch this space for information and updates!

Regards,
Stuart.

Are you all set for Christmas?

2010-12-21T05:09:00.000-08:00

We would like to wish all of our customers a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!

Whilst also expressing our thanks for your business in the past year.

accessplanit will close for the festive period at noon on Friday the 24th of December (Christmas Eve) and we will resume normal operation on Tuesday the 4th of January 2011

We expect to hit the ground running in the new year with lots of training days and new customers launching their systems and 'going live' we are also attending the Learning Technologies exhibition at the Olympia conference and exhibition centre.

The exhibition starts on Tuesday the 25th of January and runs through until Thursday the 27th. Each day runs from 9:00am through until 5:00pm accessplanit can be found at stand number 66, click here for the full list of exhibitors see you there!

Are you available for the weekend?

2010-12-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

When assigning a trainer to a course the system will automatically check if that trainer is available, this means that if the trainer is assigned to any course at all that overlaps with the course you are working on they will not be able to be selected... But did you know that you can also set the trainers to unavailable between specific times and dates? e.g. if a trainer is on annual leave for two weeks or is off work on long term sickness?

If you click on Resources > Resources you will see a list of all your trainers down the centre column (along with all your venues and any other resources you have created) select the trainer and you will see a list of days and times displayed across to the right of the screen.

In my example above you can see that I have selected my self and made sure that I can't be selected for training at weekends and only between the hours of 9 to 5. this is great for a week by week basis, but for annual leave or sickness you will need to use the unavailability tab.

Once the Unavailability tab has been selected you can select a large date range and give it a description, you can see that I also can't be booked for training over the Christmas break.

All of these options work with any Resource, such as venue's and equipment, but because a trainer is a person, being able to set when they can and can't be selected is a very useful feature and remember, if you try and assign them to a course date that overlaps a date they are already booked onto, this will also prevent trainers (or any other resources) displaying.

So this is me basically saying that I'm not available over Christmas! ;o)

If you would like any further information on the subject above, contact me on support@accessplanit.com

or call the office on 0845 5430229

Regards,

Stuart

What is a Resource Clash?

2010-12-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

The chances are, if you put a lot of course dates onto your system, you will see this message at some point.

But what does it mean? What is a resource clash? Have I broken something?

Let me explain, a Resource is a component of a course, the components can be teachers, classrooms, computers, projectors, catering and just about anything else you can think of that make up the building blocks of a training course.

Your Course Booker or accessplan LMS will, by default have four standard Resources; In House Trainer, External Trainer, In house Venue and External Venue. every system will have these Resources, each course you set up will need to have a venue (classroom) and trainer (teacher) for it to be a course worth going on! The reason you see the pop up window telling you there is a Resource clash is simply because you have assigned a trainer or venue (or anything else you have created in the Resources module that only has one instance) to more that one course date that overlaps another course date.

For example; if you have two course dates both on the 8th of December and they are both being worked on by two different course administrators, lets say one is a first aid course and the other is a management course, both running from 9 'till 5. the only similarity so far is they are on the same date, however, if administrator A chooses trainer 'Geoff' who is highly skilled in the teaching of management courses & first aid courses and he gets assigned to the first aid course on the 8th of December, he will show up as unavailable for any course on that date... BUT if administrator B ticks the option shown below "Allow the selection of resources that are determined to be unavailable" then clicks the green arrow, Geoff will show up for selection.

Once both administrators have updated their course dates, clicking either of them will show up the original pop up telling them there is a resource clash.

This pop up will show constantly until the conflict is resolved as a trainer can't be in two places at once teaching two different courses (despite what the management may think!) so for any administrator to view this 'clash' they will need to click on the Resources tab on the course dates page to see a summary of the Resource (or Resources) that are overlapping each other, any problematic resources assigned to a course date that contain a clash will be highlighted in a nice salmon pink colour, clicking "Click here for Resource availability information" will open the information displaying all of the course dates that the resource overlaps or 'clashes' with.

Remember, clashes like the one described can be venues or trainers, or even any other resources that you have created, the main Resources for this to happen to is normally trainers and venues because when the Resources are created the amount will be set to "1" whereas Laptop or projector type Resources are more likely to be set to a number greater than 1.

For a lot more information on Resources, email support@accessplanit.com or call 0845 5430229

Stu.

Support System / Help Desk

2010-12-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

For the last year we have been working with a support system or 'help desk' piece of web based software, we are currently only using the system internally but intend to roll it out to our customers early 2011.

We use the system to log each issue that our customers have and it allows us to assign the issues to staff internally, each issue is prioritised and distributed to the department that is most relevant to the issue raised, each issue is raised as a 'ticket' and has a time scale automatically issued to it, the system then pesters whoever was issued the ticket to fix the issue. Once the issue is successfully fixed and tested, the issue is then closed and the customer informed.

Here is a screenshot of the customer facing support site.

The system also incorporates a messenger service that informs us in the office if anybody is browsing our support knowledge base and allows them to initiate a chat with a member of our support staff.

The customer facing support suite allows individuals to register an account and actually raise a support ticket, this ticket will then email staff internally and be taken up by the relevant department in the same way an internal ticket is dealt with.

Above is a screenshot of some knowledge base articles

Not every issue a customer has is an error with the system, some questions we receive can already be resolved by directing customers to the correct part of the system, we have updated the knowledge base on the support site with 20+ articles of common issues that customers can browse once logged in.

Whatever the cause of the issue, logging them on the system internally has helped us greatly over the past year and we think that our customers will enjoy the feedback the help desk gives.

Each time an issue is worked on and a staff member adds some information to the ticket, the customer will receive a system generated email updating them of the change and any replies to the issue internally that developers and support staff have added to the issue, this keeps everybody in the loop and makes tracking your issue a lot easier when you call the office for updates.

We aim to have the help desk live in the first quarter of 2011, if you have any questions about it contact the office on 0845 5430229 or email suppport@accessplanit.com

Welcome to the "other blog"

2010-12-07T02:03:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Stuart,

Welcome to accessplanit's "other blog", I will be using this blog for product news, support issues, tips tricks and 'how to' guides along with anything else I can think of that will be useful to customers both new and old.

be sure to check back and follow the blog to make sure you don't miss any updates.
if you have any questions or feedback contact me and let me know what you want to see.

Regards,

Stuart Grice

stuart@accessplanit.com