Totara Release Notes

Totara TXP 18.3, 17.16, 16.22, 15.28, 14.33 and 13.41 are now available

 
Angela Kuznetsova
Totara TXP 18.3, 17.16, 16.22, 15.28, 14.33 and 13.41 are now available
par Angela Kuznetsova, Monday 26 February 2024, 14:07
Groupe Totara

Hello everyone,

The following versions of Totara Learn have now been released:

These versions do contain security fixes, and for this reason, we strongly recommend the upgrade.
Each release also includes various bug fixes and improvements.

Kind regards Release Team

Release 18.3 (26th February 2024):

Security issues:

    TL-37622       Fixed bypass of SSRF protection for specific IP addresses

Performance improvements:

    TL-36115       Split query in batches to improve performance of the completion_start_user_bulk function
    TL-39258       Addressed performance issues with performance activity participation management and response reporting

                   Previously, the participation management and response reporting relied on
                   database queries to check for the
                   'mod/perform:manage_subject_user_participation' and
                   'mod/perform:report_on_subject_responses' capabilities which in certain
                   conditions are very costly and can lead to poor performance.

                   To address this, we simplified the logic to rely solely on new capabilities in
                   combination with checking whether the users are managed directly by the current
                   user.

                   If the role of the current user has the new capabilities assigned it will
                   automatically use the simplified and more performant check. Please note that
                   this version might not be suitable for every use case. Its suitability would
                   need to be carefully evaluated before making use of it. The new capabilities
                   will not be added automatically on upgrades. On installation only
                   'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation' will be added automatically.

                   * New capability 'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation':
                   When a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they will be able
                   to access the 'Manage participation' functionality for their direct staff only,
                   according to their job assignments.
                   * New capability 'mod/perform:report_on_staff_responses':
                   Similarly, when a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they
                   will be able to access the 'Performance activity response data' reports for
                   their direct staff only, according to their job assignments.


Improvements:

    TL-38579       Added hook to alter reports before they are processed

                   We added a new hook 'totara_reportbuilder\hook\scheduled_report_pre_process'
                   which can be used to alter reports before they are processed.

    TL-38615       Added a landing page for managers to view their team members' goals

                   Managers can now view their team members' Totara goals by going to Develop >
                   Team, then clicking the 'Goals' link under a team member's name. This page is
                   identical to what the team member sees, and the manager can add/edit/delete
                   goals for that team member as well.

                   The manager goal landing page is also accessible from the team member's
                   performance overview page (Develop > Team > Performance overview). If the
                   manager clicks on the goals section title, they will see all of the goals for
                   that team member. Clicking on one of the displayed goals in the various overview
                   progress sections will take the manager to that specific goal for the team
                   member.

    TL-39195       Added the ability to schedule 'program assigned' messages after the assignment

                   With the updated UI separating program assignments and the setting of the due
                   date for the assignment, it was found that sometimes the instant ‘assigned
                   notification’ would send before the due date was entered. This would lead to
                   notifications that used the due date replacement variable saying 'No due date
                   set'. These can now be scheduled to go out the next day, giving the admin plenty
                   of time to set the due date.

    TL-39588       Allow usage of tags in Engage content

                   Administrators can now select to use tags instead of topics. Regardless of which
                   tag collection Engage is set to use, it only allows "standard" tags, so if you
                   switch it to the default collection please check your tags are marked as
                   standard.

                   Endpoints formerly used for managing topics now redirect to the standard tag
                   management interface.


Bug fixes:

    TL-36762       Fixed issue where learners with the mod/facetoface:signupwaitlist capability cannot sign up for an event that does not have an available seat
    TL-37464       Tenant dynamic audiences will no longer add or remove members if the tenant is deleted

                   Previously when a tenant was deleted, any dynamic audiences belonging to that
                   tenant automatically became system-level audiences, which meant that unexpected
                   users could be added to audience. Now when a tenant is deleted the dynamic
                   audience is frozen, and members will not be added or removed until an
                   administrator edits it and adjusts the rules.

    TL-37760       Updated the name of the 'job assignment start date' option for program relative due date assignments

                   The name of this option was updated to ‘Position start date’ to more
                   accurately reflect its behaviour.

    TL-37793       Fixed that course notifications were being sent to users despite them being unenrolled or suspended
    TL-38183       Fixed caching issue when uploading a theme logo file with the same name as the current logo
    TL-38185       Fixed exception being thrown when updating the seminar with 'require event over' setting sets
    TL-38625       Extended date range for certification completion window
    TL-38668       Fixed a zero display value for the Menu customfield
    TL-38842       Fixed LinkedIn Learning sync if it fails on initial sync
    TL-38965       Fixed goal formatters to return null for (effectively) empty goal description
    TL-39076       Fixed [recipient:url] placeholder not working in notifications
    TL-39131       Fixed H5P 'General' section heading spacing and form legend spacing
    TL-39132       Added missing alt tag on QR code image in the MFA TOTP
    TL-39190       Fixed that the text editor for the textarea custom field is inconsistent
    TL-39392       Fixed a case where the 'View full notification' link may have overlapped with a notification in the notifications window
    TL-39434       Fixed a format float function when the decimal points is 'zero' and 'strip zeroes' is true
    TL-39540       Fixed Weka editor missing associated form label in some cases
    TL-39569       Changed breadcrumbs to use 'Home' instead of 'Dashboards' as the base element
    TL-39571       Improved keyboard navigation on the learning type list in the catalogue

                   The up, down, and space keys now navigate and select the lists.

    TL-39579       Fixed an issue where the certifications completion cron could hit exceptions updating course due dates
    TL-39587       Fixed user 'Request data export' ad hoc task to return missing Totara goals info
    TL-39589       Linked the category select to the category label on the Find learning page
    TL-39625       Fixed user data purging for Totara goals
    TL-39756       Fixed heading structure in user profile page
    TL-39759       Fixed an issue with guest access to front page and catalogue when 'Auto-login guests' settings  is enabled

                   In TL-36454 in version 18 we modified the behaviour of 'Auto-login guests'
                   setting with the intention of avoiding signing in users as guests on courses
                   where guest enrolment was disabled. This had the unintended side effect of also
                   preventing guests from accessing the site homepage and course catalogue.

                   This fix restores the original behaviour while retaining the intended change to
                   courses without guest enrolment enabled.

    TL-39534       Fixed an accessibility issue on the Totara navigation close button by adding the menuitem role on the close anchor tag
    TL-39536       Fixed an accessibility issue on the quick-access menu by changing the aside element to a div
    TL-39537       Fixed an accessibility issue on the course navigation and admin subnavigation blocks by adding the correct roles to the list items
    TL-39560       Fixed an accessibility issue with the current learning block items icons by adding alt text
    TL-39562       Fixed an accessiblity issue in user menu link by changing the attribute title to aria-label
    TL-39567       Removed empty caption elements from report builder tables
    TL-39570       Fixed site logo link's accessible name
    TL-39573       Fixed skip links on user profile page to specifically reference the block that is skipped
    TL-39592       Fixed focus issue on help popover

                   Keyboard focus for the help popover now begins on the popover itself, rather
                   than the close button.

    TL-39613       Fixed focus indicator in form content
    TL-39615       Fixed 'Skip to main content' on the dashboards not scrolling to the top of the main column
    TL-39745       Fixed focus ring overlapping link text
    TL-39757       Fixed accessibility warning on Find learning page (duplicate landmarks)

Release 17.16 (26th February 2024):

Security issues:

    TL-37622       Fixed bypass of SSRF protection for specific IP addresses

Performance improvements:

    TL-36115       Split query in batches to improve performance of the completion_start_user_bulk function
    TL-39258       Addressed performance issues with performance activity participation management and response reporting

                   Previously, the participation management and response reporting relied on
                   database queries to check for the
                   'mod/perform:manage_subject_user_participation' and
                   'mod/perform:report_on_subject_responses' capabilities which in certain
                   conditions are very costly and can lead to poor performance.

                   To address this, we simplified the logic to rely solely on new capabilities in
                   combination with checking whether the users are managed directly by the current
                   user.

                   If the role of the current user has the new capabilities assigned it will
                   automatically use the simplified and more performant check. Please note that
                   this version might not be suitable for every use case. Its suitability would
                   need to be carefully evaluated before making use of it. The new capabilities
                   will not be added automatically on upgrades. On installation only
                   'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation' will be added automatically.

                   * New capability 'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation':
                   When a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they will be able
                   to access the 'Manage participation' functionality for their direct staff only,
                   according to their job assignments.
                   * New capability 'mod/perform:report_on_staff_responses':
                   Similarly, when a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they
                   will be able to access the 'Performance activity response data' reports for
                   their direct staff only, according to their job assignments.


Improvements:

    TL-38579       Added hook to alter reports before they are processed

                   We added a new hook 'totara_reportbuilder\hook\scheduled_report_pre_process'
                   which can be used to alter reports before they are processed.

    TL-39195       Added the ability to schedule 'program assigned' messages after the assignment

                   With the updated UI separating program assignments and the setting of the due
                   date for the assignment, it was found that sometimes the instant ‘assigned
                   notification’ would send before the due date was entered. This would lead to
                   notifications that used the due date replacement variable saying 'No due date
                   set'. These can now be scheduled to go out the next day, giving the admin plenty
                   of time to set the due date.

    TL-39593       Removed advanced element indicator for forms

Bug fixes:

    TL-36762       Fixed issue where learners with the mod/facetoface:signupwaitlist capability cannot sign up for an event that does not have an available seat
    TL-37464       Tenant dynamic audiences will no longer add or remove members if the tenant is deleted

                   Previously when a tenant was deleted, any dynamic audiences belonging to that
                   tenant automatically became system-level audiences, which meant that unexpected
                   users could be added to audience. Now when a tenant is deleted the dynamic
                   audience is frozen, and members will not be added or removed until an
                   administrator edits it and adjusts the rules.

    TL-37760       Updated the name of the 'job assignment start date' option for program relative due date assignments

                   The name of this option was updated to ‘Position start date’ to more
                   accurately reflect its behaviour.

    TL-37793       Fixed that course notifications were being sent to users despite them being unenrolled or suspended
    TL-38183       Fixed caching issue when uploading a theme logo file with the same name as the current logo
    TL-38185       Fixed exception being thrown when updating the seminar with 'require event over' setting sets
    TL-38625       Extended date range for certification completion window
    TL-38668       Fixed a zero display value for the Menu customfield
    TL-38842       Fixed LinkedIn Learning sync if it fails on initial sync
    TL-39076       Fixed [recipient:url] placeholder not working in notifications
    TL-39190       Fixed that the text editor for the textarea custom field is inconsistent
    TL-39540       Fixed Weka editor missing associated form label in some cases
    TL-39561       Fixed colour contrast and focus state on the input fields
    TL-39569       Changed breadcrumbs to use 'Home' instead of 'Dashboards' as the base element
    TL-39571       Improved keyboard navigation on the learning type list in the catalogue

                   The up, down, and space keys now navigate and select the lists.

    TL-39572       Improved contrast of card focus indicators to meet WCAG standards
    TL-39579       Fixed an issue where the certifications completion cron could hit exceptions updating course due dates
    TL-39589       Linked the category select to the category label on the Find learning page
    TL-39756       Fixed heading structure in user profile page
    TL-39534       Fixed an accessibility issue on the Totara navigation close button by adding the menuitem role on the close anchor tag
    TL-39536       Fixed an accessibility issue on the quick-access menu by changing the aside element to a div
    TL-39537       Fixed an accessibility issue on the course navigation and admin subnavigation blocks by adding the correct roles to the list items
    TL-39560       Fixed an accessibility issue with the current learning block items icons by adding alt text
    TL-39562       Fixed an accessiblity issue in user menu link by changing the attribute title to aria-label
    TL-39567       Removed empty caption elements from report builder tables
    TL-39570       Fixed site logo link's accessible name
    TL-39573       Fixed skip links on user profile page to specifically reference the block that is skipped
    TL-39592       Fixed focus issue on help popover

                   Keyboard focus for the help popover now begins on the popover itself, rather
                   than the close button.

    TL-39613       Fixed focus indicator in form content
    TL-39615       Fixed 'Skip to main content' on the dashboards not scrolling to the top of the main column
    TL-39745       Fixed focus ring overlapping link text
    TL-39757       Fixed accessibility warning on Find learning page (duplicate landmarks)

Release 16.22 (26th February 2024):

Performance improvements:

    TL-36115       Split query in batches to improve performance of the completion_start_user_bulk function
    TL-39258       Addressed performance issues with performance activity participation management and response reporting

                   Previously, the participation management and response reporting relied on
                   database queries to check for the
                   'mod/perform:manage_subject_user_participation' and
                   'mod/perform:report_on_subject_responses' capabilities which in certain
                   conditions are very costly and can lead to poor performance.

                   To address this, we simplified the logic to rely solely on new capabilities in
                   combination with checking whether the users are managed directly by the current
                   user.

                   If the role of the current user has the new capabilities assigned it will
                   automatically use the simplified and more performant check. Please note that
                   this version might not be suitable for every use case. Its suitability would
                   need to be carefully evaluated before making use of it. The new capabilities
                   will not be added automatically on upgrades. On installation only
                   'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation' will be added automatically.

                   * New capability 'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation':
                   When a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they will be able
                   to access the 'Manage participation' functionality for their direct staff only,
                   according to their job assignments.
                   * New capability 'mod/perform:report_on_staff_responses':
                   Similarly, when a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they
                   will be able to access the 'Performance activity response data' reports for
                   their direct staff only, according to their job assignments.


Bug fixes:

    TL-36762       Fixed issue where learners with the mod/facetoface:signupwaitlist capability cannot sign up for an event that does not have an available seat
    TL-37464       Tenant dynamic audiences will no longer add or remove members if the tenant is deleted

                   Previously when a tenant was deleted, any dynamic audiences belonging to that
                   tenant automatically became system-level audiences, which meant that unexpected
                   users could be added to audience. Now when a tenant is deleted the dynamic
                   audience is frozen, and members will not be added or removed until an
                   administrator edits it and adjusts the rules.

    TL-37760       Updated the name of the 'job assignment start date' option for program relative due date assignments

                   The name of this option was updated to ‘Position start date’ to more
                   accurately reflect its behaviour.

    TL-37793       Fixed that course notifications were being sent to users despite them being unenrolled or suspended
    TL-38668       Fixed a zero display value for the Menu customfield
    TL-38842       Fixed LinkedIn Learning sync if it fails on initial sync
    TL-39579       Fixed an issue where the certifications completion cron could hit exceptions updating course due dates

Release 15.28 (26th February 2024):

Performance improvements:

    TL-36115       Split query in batches to improve performance of the completion_start_user_bulk function
    TL-39258       Addressed performance issues with performance activity participation management and response reporting

                   Previously, the participation management and response reporting relied on
                   database queries to check for the
                   'mod/perform:manage_subject_user_participation' and
                   'mod/perform:report_on_subject_responses' capabilities which in certain
                   conditions are very costly and can lead to poor performance.

                   To address this, we simplified the logic to rely solely on new capabilities in
                   combination with checking whether the users are managed directly by the current
                   user.

                   If the role of the current user has the new capabilities assigned it will
                   automatically use the simplified and more performant check. Please note that
                   this version might not be suitable for every use case. Its suitability would
                   need to be carefully evaluated before making use of it. The new capabilities
                   will not be added automatically on upgrades. On installation only
                   'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation' will be added automatically.

                   * New capability 'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation':
                   When a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they will be able
                   to access the 'Manage participation' functionality for their direct staff only,
                   according to their job assignments.
                   * New capability 'mod/perform:report_on_staff_responses':
                   Similarly, when a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they
                   will be able to access the 'Performance activity response data' reports for
                   their direct staff only, according to their job assignments.


Bug fixes:

    TL-36762       Fixed issue where learners with the mod/facetoface:signupwaitlist capability cannot sign up for an event that does not have an available seat
    TL-37760       Updated the name of the 'job assignment start date' option for program relative due date assignments

                   The name of this option was updated to ‘Position start date’ to more
                   accurately reflect its behaviour.

    TL-38842       Fixed LinkedIn Learning sync if it fails on initial sync

Release 14.33 (26th February 2024):

Performance improvements:

    TL-39258       Addressed performance issues with performance activity participation management and response reporting

                   Previously, the participation management and response reporting relied on
                   database queries to check for the
                   'mod/perform:manage_subject_user_participation' and
                   'mod/perform:report_on_subject_responses' capabilities which in certain
                   conditions are very costly and can lead to poor performance.

                   To address this, we simplified the logic to rely solely on new capabilities in
                   combination with checking whether the users are managed directly by the current
                   user.

                   If the role of the current user has the new capabilities assigned it will
                   automatically use the simplified and more performant check. Please note that
                   this version might not be suitable for every use case. Its suitability would
                   need to be carefully evaluated before making use of it. The new capabilities
                   will not be added automatically on upgrades. On installation only
                   'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation' will be added automatically.

                   * New capability 'mod/perform:manage_staff_participation':
                   When a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they will be able
                   to access the 'Manage participation' functionality for their direct staff only,
                   according to their job assignments.
                   * New capability 'mod/perform:report_on_staff_responses':
                   Similarly, when a user has this capability assigned in their own context, they
                   will be able to access the 'Performance activity response data' reports for
                   their direct staff only, according to their job assignments.


Bug fixes:

    TL-36762       Fixed issue where learners with the mod/facetoface:signupwaitlist capability cannot sign up for an event that does not have an available seat
    TL-37760       Updated the name of the 'job assignment start date' option for program relative due date assignments

                   The name of this option was updated to ‘Position start date’ to more
                   accurately reflect its behaviour.


Release 13.41 (26th February 2024):

Bug fixes:

    TL-36762       Fixed issue where learners with the mod/facetoface:signupwaitlist capability cannot sign up for an event that does not have an available seat
    TL-37760       Updated the name of the 'job assignment start date' option for program relative due date assignments

                   The name of this option was updated to ‘Position start date’ to more
                   accurately reflect its behaviour.