Best practice forum (Archived) - 'Request an Extension' function on overdue certifications

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'Request an Extension' function on overdue certifications

Hi ,

Hoping someone can give me some advice. I've been on LMS Help to see if I can get some guidance about how the 'Request an Extension' function should work when a user is showing as overdue in their certification. We have tested it a few times and the user is shown 'extension request pending' but we are unsure where this request is going to for approval. It doesn't appear to be either notifying the user's manager or the site adminitrator, which is what we expected.

Also, it would be useful to know if there is any way we can turn this functionality off, as we don't really want users to be requesting extensions.

Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, Billie

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Hi Billie,

At the moment there is not a way to disable this functionality. I will put in an enhancement request, as this is the second time I've seen that request in the forums.

The request should be going to the Manager assigned on the learner's profile.

Can you let me know what version you are using so I can give it a quick test to make sure the functionality is working as expected?Cheers,

Lori

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Hi Lori,

We are running version 2.5.12. We have tested this a few times and it is definitely not going to the manager. Also, it seems to be random in that the function only exists on certain certifications, and on others there is not an option to request an extension.

Many thanks for looking into this.

Billie

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Hi Lori,

Having just tested this again, we have now randomly managed to get it to work in terms of my manager receiving an email when I requested an extension as a test. Very bizarre - as this is the first time we have had this work. However, there was no call to action in the email or a link for her to approve the request. As such, my certification is now reading 'extension pending'. How would you expect the manager should approve/reject the request?

Many thanks,

Billie

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Hi, Billie

Glad to hear you had success. I have tested this on 2.5.12 and it's working as expected.

Regarding those who do not have an option to extend, you may want to check they have a Manager or Temporary Manager assigned. If they don't, they do not get an option to request an extension.

The Manager will receive an extension request notification, although you're correct in saying that there is no link in the email, however there is also a Task generated on the My Learning page where the Manager can select the info (i) icon and grant or deny the request.

We are aware that there is an issue with getting to the extensions screen in order to approve the extension if the task is accidentally dismissed, for **ple. In the interim, if you need to get to the extensions screen, rather than from the Task, you can get to the extensions page by going to <yoursite>/totara/program/manageextensions.php

Note: You need to be a Manager to be able to grant or deny extension requests.

Let me know if that was helpful and/or if you have any other questions.

Regards

Tom

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Hi Tom,

Thank you that was very helpful. This has worked exactly as you described.

Unfortunately this function could cause big problems for us; we are audited by our insurers on staff's complaince with their mandatory training requirements within a set period of time. So staff being able to extend the period we have set is worrying. Whilst we can disseminate information to our managers asking them not to grant extensions, it will be nearly impossible to ensure that some of our 9000+ staff do not use this function. I know Lori said she would be putting in an enhancement request to be able to switch the function off, until then is there any way we can hide the alerts block from the My Learning page?

Many thanks for your help,

Billie

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This feature / enhancement request (tracked under enhancement ID 9603) has been deemed high priority and is under consideration for development by Totara core.

This does not indicate a delivery commitment. Development of the functionality is subject to further prioritization and resource availability.

I have created a new topic in the Suggest features forum here to provide visibility and allow for further discussion if necessary.

Development priorities are reviewed regularly. If you wish to escalate your market need for this functionality, please contact your Totara Channel Partner Manager.

Regards,
Totara Product Support

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New feature TL-2250 - Add settings to let people turn off extension requests has been included in Totara 2.9.0 which was released on November 3, 2015.

This was previously tracked under Bugzilla 9603.

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Hi,

I'm just wondering whether there's been any progress with the below comment (by Tom Ireland 2/5/14), specifically the ability to easily access the program extensions screen (without having to go to <yoursite>/totara/program/manageextensions.php") .....

"We are aware that there is an issue with getting to the extensions screen in order to approve the extension if the task is accidentally dismissed, for **ple. In the interim, if you need to get to the extensions screen, rather than from the Task, you can get to the extensions page by going to <yoursite>/totara/program/manageextensions.php".

Thanks,

Michelle

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+1 on this.

I have been wondering the same thing. We are running 2.5.23.1 right now.

Any progress on providing an easier way to get to the extensions approval screen (/totara/program/manageextensions.php)? We did several testing and there is no way that an manager can find a simple button or link in the "My Team" page (or anywhere else) to easily jump to that "extensions approval screen." Comments or thoughts? Have this been fixed in the latest 2.5.x?? Thanks!

It would be nice if that link (/totara/program/manageextensions.php) can be provided in the manager notification email as well (this is a super easy implementation!)

BTW, a quick side note. Although I know that Tom was just trying to help by mentioning that "This feature / enhancement request (tracked under enhancement ID 9603) has been deemed high priority and is under consideration for development by Totara core," in reality it's not really that helpful when we (Totara enterprise subscribers) do not have visibility in the Totara bug tracker. Why bother mention the ID when everything in the bug tracker is being kept as a private black box? My $0.02...

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Hi Wen and others.

The patch to include a link to manage extensions page in the notification email has passed review and testing and will be included in the next release of Totara (should be next week), branches 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7.

Nathan

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Nathan, this is great news!

Other than including the link (/totara/program/manageextensions.php) in the Manager's email notification, how about also implementing a button or link or something that is really easy for managers to find or access to, so that they can easily approve these training extension requests? Has this been implemented, and if not, is it in progress? Thanks!

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I just found an issue.

If the user who requested an extension for his/her training is part of an audience, after the manager "approves" the request, it seems that it would generate an "Exception" for that user. If we try to use "Override and add program" option for that user to resolve exception, the due date will go back to the old one. Is this a known behavior and has this been resolved in the latest version of 2.5.x? We are running 2.5.23.1. Thanks!

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Hi Wen,

This isnt a known issue with Certifications, can you submit a support ticket?

thanks,

George.

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Hi Wen,

Just to be clear - the ticket must be submitted through your Totara Partner.

many thanks,

George.

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Hi,

is there a possibility to approve as administrator extension request of a user when he/she is part of an audience? We are on Totara 2.9

When I try adding the extension, the system replies that I am not a manager. I understand that managers are primarily responsible for granting those, but I wanted to know if it is at all possible to do that as administrator.

Thanks!

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Hi Vladimir

I can't see any permissions in the staff manager role around program extensions so it is probably hard coded to the manager role.

A possible way for an admin to do this is top login as the manager or assign themselves temporarily as the user's manager.

Regards

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Hi Craig,

thanx for this. Yes, your proposal was suited ti the situation I had at that moment, but good to know that admins can’t do that sort of stuff without logging as managers.

Best,

Vladimir

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