Due to the messages from Technolutions, I speeded up implementation of custom status portals for the MS programs and AVM. AVM is set for the 2024 cycle, and has been tuned over to JC to manage; MS portal needs more discussion of how things are set up to make sure all programs are covered.
- Three portals: DVM includes TDVM and BDVM; MS/PHD; and AVM
Hi Beth,
Thanks so much for reaching back out. It looks like you changed these to ‘Inactive’ status back on October 17:
It’s not strictly necessary to make any alterations to the /apply/status.xslt file, though it couldn’t hurt to remove the Teaser code within.
Ultimately, we are hoping for all Teasers to be deleted (rather than simply inactive). While this is something that we can do on your behalf, we want to be sure we aren’t creating issues for you or your applicants in the process.
There are a few options to ensure your database is not dependent upon Teasers:
Ensure all periods/rounds are configured to use a modern custom status portal,
Remove the Teaser code from your ‘/apply/status.xslt’ file, or
Completely delete the ‘/apply/status.xslt’ file.
Taking a look at your application periods and rounds, it looks like you have a few rounds that are using the XSLT file to generate their status portal:
With Teasers removed from your database, that XSLT portal will still function, but won’t display any conditional content that was configured in Teasers.
If you’re not concerned with the dynamic content from Teasers being displayed on those status portals, the Teasers can simply be deleted and we’ll mark this ‘complete’ on our end. Otherwise, you may want to create a new modern status portal for those periods/rounds so that you can configure dynamic content that way.
I hope that this is helpful—I apologize if these thoughts are a little disorganized, as my allergies are going a big ballistic this morning and my thoughts aren’t the most organized. I’m happy to make some time for us to chat on a call if you think that would be helpful. I’ll be out most of next week, but you can book an appointment with me any time through the rest of the year using this link: 30 Minute Call with Gwen
Thanks again for your attention to this, and let me know how I can be of assistance!
Gwen
Gwendolyn Page
Client Support Engineer | Technolutions
gpage@technolutions.com | www.technolutions.com
From: Storrs, Elizabeth <Elizabeth.Storrs@tufts.edu>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2023 10:20 AM
To: Gwendolyn Page <gpage@technolutions.com>
Subject: RE: [External] Following Up: Teasers Will Be Sunset
Hi, Gwen,
I am a little confused. All of the teasers in the Vet instance are marked as inactive:
Do I still need to adjust any of the xslt files?
Thanks~
-beth
From: Gwendolyn Page <gpage@technolutions.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 4:52 PM
To: Storrs, Elizabeth <Elizabeth.Storrs@tufts.edu>
Cc: Russo, Rebecca <Rebecca.Russo@tufts.edu>; tts-slate-team@elist.tufts.edu
Subject: RE: [External] Following Up: Teasers Will Be Sunset
Hi Beth,
Here’s the contents of that message—thanks for your understanding!
Best,
Gwen
Dear Elizabeth, My name is Gwendolyn, and I'm writing to you today to inform you of an upcoming change to Slate. This change will remove Teasers from the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Slate database. Teasers were once used to conditionally show or hide content in portals, at a time when portals were primarily configured using XML code. With the introduction of the Portals tool and improved functionality across Slate, Teasers are no longer needed. Our engineering team will be sunsetting Teasers globally across all databases, which will help us to make even greater improvements to Slate in the future. This change will also provide your users with greater control over your database with less prerequisite knowledge needed. Upon reviewing your database (TUV), we determined that you have one or more active portals that are currently using Teasers. We've created new documentation on the Knowledge Base with information you can use to eliminate your dependence upon Teasers before they're removed from Slate. Our goal is to have all Teasers removed from all Slate databases by December 1, 2023. To facilitate this transition, I will be your main contact from the Client Support team, and I can be reached at gpage@technolutions.com. I encourage you to confirm that Teasers are not being used in your database, and I will be in touch with you soon to discuss next steps. Best, Gwendolyn Page Slate Community Support | Technolutions |
On Oct 24, 2023, at 7:18 PM, Gwendolyn Page <gpage@technolutions.com> wrote:
Dear Tricia, Kristen, Rebecca, Danielle, and Elizabeth,
Earlier this week, I sent a message letting you know that Teasers will be removed from all Slate databases in the near future. I’m getting in touch today to share some additional information with you about this process.
In case you missed that message, Teasers are a deprecated feature in Slate that allow institutions to show or hide information conditionally on a portal—typically, an application status page. With new Slate features like the Portals tool and Content Blocks, Teasers are no longer necessary to deliver personalized content on portals.
It looks like you’ve already deactivated all the Teasers in the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine database; thank you so much for taking this step. In addition to moving the Teasers to ‘inactive’ status, we are asking all institutions to permanently delete all Teasers from their database to assist us with identifying which institutions may still need assistance and to prevent data from being orphaned on Slate’s lookup.teaser table.
I also noted that many of your application Periods/Rounds aren’t configured to use a modern custom status portal. Using a modern status portal isn’t necessary for deleting your Teasers, but I wanted to offer to assist with creating a basic portal for use in those periods/rounds that are still reliant on your /apply/status.xslt file. Alternatively, I would be happy to assist you with removing the Teaser code from your /apply/status.xslt file. I’ve copied a custom SQL query into your database which you can use to quickly identify which periods/rounds are using the /apply/status.xslt file rather than a modern custom status portal, denoted by the ‘Portal Type’ column. While we don’t expect any issues to arise from lingering Teaser code in XSLT status portals, we are recommending deleting or commenting out that code before Teasers are sunset for any institutions who intend to continue using XSLT portals.
I understand that you may not be familiar with Teasers or sure what to do next. I’m happy to work with you to move forward with removing Teasers from your database and to ensure any questions or concerns you have are addressed along the way. You can reach me at this email address (gpage@technolutions.com), or schedule a time to meet with me if you’d like. We’ve also compiled some new documentation that you may find to be helpful.
Thanks so much again for your attention to this issue, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon,
Gwen
P.S. My apologies to Elizabeth, as she was unintentionally left out of the first message we sent regarding this change to Slate. We’ve recently made some changes to our internal Slate database that caused us to miss a few people. Elizabeth, if you would like me to send a copy of that message to you, please let me know!
Gwendolyn Page
Client Support Engineer | Technolutions
157 Church Street, 22nd Floor | New Haven, CT 06510
tel 503-765-7500 | gpage@technolutions.com
www.technolutions.com
Add Comment