A round-up of some upcoming changes to the Buzz platform.
Contents
Sign up for our grade passback beta!
Recently released:
Feature switch update: Dark color scheme
Feature switch update: Student due date scheduler
Reduced use of cookies and added IP masking to Google Analytics integrations
Updated reset password process
Announced: August 18, 2022
Release date: August 25, 2022
Change: Updating elements of the reset password process, including:
- Reset password email
- URL used to reset password
- Reset password screen
Reason for this change: To update the look and feel of the reset password UI and to better accommodate customers using a custom URL. The reset password URL can now reflect any custom URL where it previously couldn't.
Sign up for our grade passback beta!
Announced: May 26, 2022
Release date: Summer 2022
Our grade passback using Buzz's SIS Sync (via OneRoster) is ready for beta!
If you're interested, but haven't signed up, there's still time: System administrators can sign up to get ongoing updates about this feature and to have a chance to take part in our beta program.
- Remember, you must use the Buzz SIS Sync (via OneRoster).
- If you're not the system administrator in your organization, but want your school to participate, please send this form to your system administrator.
Completed
Feature switch update: Dark color scheme
Announced: June 16, 2022
Released: July 14, 2022
In March of this year, we released a new optional feature: Dark color scheme under an admin feature switch.
When we release new features that may impact current workflows, we keep the feature switch default setting to disabled, so you can explore them at your own pace before we enable them by default.
On July 14 of this year, we changed the default setting for Dark color schemes from disabled to enabled. Administrators can still choose to disable the feature at that time.
Related articles
- Release announcement: Buzz Release Notes (2022-03-03; v3.0.272) - New dark color scheme option!
- "How to" article: How do I change my interface colors?
- Admin article: How do I enable/disable Features in my domain?
Feature switch update: Student due date scheduler
Announced: June 16, 2022
Released: July 14, 2022
In November of last year, we released a new optional feature: Student due date scheduler under an admin feature switch.
When we release new features that may impact current workflows, we keep the feature switch default setting to disabled, so you can explore them at your own pace before we enable them by default.
On July 14 of this year, we changed the default setting for Student due date scheduler from disabled to enabled. Administrators can still choose to disable the feature at that time.
Related articles
- Release announcement: Buzz Release Notes (2021-11-18; v3.0.258) - Students personalize due dates, drag and drop course ordering, and more!
- "How to" article (student): How do I personalize due dates in Continuous enrollment courses?
- Admin article: How do I enable/disable Features in my domain?
Reduced use of cookies and added IP masking to Google Analytics integrations
Announced: March 10, 2022
Released: March 24, 2022
Change: Updating Buzz's Google Analytics integrations to reduce the use of cookies and adding IP masking. Only customers that integrate with this tool will be impacted.
Google Analytics will begin tracking users differently after this change, so customers may see their usage attributed to a new user going forward.
Reason for this change: To improve user privacy.
Update default content font
Announced: January 28, 2022
Released: February 3, 2022
Change: Changing the default font used for user-created content from Verdana to Roboto.
Reason for this change: Roboto is already used for all other default fonts in Buzz, so this increases consistency. Certain special characters (pi, for example) are better represented in Roboto. This change will impact user-created content where the font was not changed from the default font. Users can still change their fonts with the rich text editor.
Beta LTI 1.3 for Publish Anywhere
Announced: September 16, 2021
Released: September 30, 2021
Change: LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage are now enabled for Publish Anywhere in beta.
Reason for this change: To take advantage of the updated security in LTI 1.3 and LTI Advantage.
Learn more: Publish Anywhere publisher steps: How to export courses
Blocking messages to unverified accounts
Announced: February 23, 2021 (originally posted only to authorized support contacts) and February 25, 2021
Updated: July 15, 2021
Released: August 19, 2021
Change: Buzz will begin blocking messages for unverified emails and phone numbers. After implementation, when a message is sent from Buzz to an unverified account, the user is given one week to verify their information before Buzz begins blocking messages. During this grace period, the banner remains visible, and users receive an automated message from Buzz prompting them to verify their information along with the first message they receive during this time.
This change impacts: All Buzz users who have not verified their email and/or phone numbers.
Reason for this change: Improve security for users.
Changes to Remediation assessments
Announced: July 15, 2021
Released: August 12, 2021
Change: We enhanced Remediation assessments to automatically grant a student a retry on any gradable activities that are aligned to objectives that the student failed to show mastery of in the Remediation assessment.
As a part of this, we also updated the Activity stream to inform learners of activity retry opportunities and recommendations that are initiated by this change.
Reason for this change: To better personalize learning and help the student gain proficiency in the learning objective.
