Fornax (v1.27) | Release Notes | August 2021

Our release notes offer brief, high-level descriptions of new features, enhancements, and resolved issues. Detailed information on Set-up, Configuration and Feature Information is available in the Installation Guide and User Guide for each release.

Contact support@verasolutions.org to share feedback.

Key Product Features

New Features

Track Milestones in Implementation Plans

The previous release introduced a new and improved interface for managing implementation plans using the new lightning web component. This release extends that functionality to also enable users to create and track milestone-type activities in their implementation plans. These milestones can be used to monitor activities such as meeting requirements, checkpoints, and reviews. As with the task-type activity progress bars, the color of the milestone shape can also be customized in Lightning App Builder.

Implementation Plan Excel Download/Upload

To enable offline work on implementation plans as well as mass creation of activities, this release introduces the ability to download activities from an implementation plan as an Excel file, and subsequently upload the edited Excel file to create or edit activities in an implementation plan.

Impact Stories

Expanding on Amp Impact’s support for qualitative reporting, impact stories are now available. Impact stories enable users to capture narratives demonstrating the impact of their grant or project in an unstructured manner, with the ability to include rich text, links, photos, and videos.

Fund Management

Extending Amp Impact’s financial capabilities, we are introducing Fund Management. A new object Fund has been added to create and track funds. Users can associate that fund with allocations and disbursements. This enables organizations to track available funds for grants, allocate money from those funds to different grants or projects, and monitor disbursements drawing from those funds.

Auto Schedule Reporting Periods

To simplify the project setup process, this release introduces a screen flow to auto-generate Reporting Periods based on specified start and end dates, and reporting frequencies. Once those are defined, Reporting Period records are automatically created for the project.

Power BI Dashboard Starter

Extending the analytics capabilities that Amp Impact supports, we are introducing the Power BI Dashboard Starter templates. The following dashboards are included out of the box:

  • Impact Dashboard

    • See charts for objectives, indicators, targets, and results.

    • Filter the dashboard by indicator, project, geography, and/or date.

    • View a bubble map of results across geographies.

    • Compare targets vs. results over time.

  • Financial Dashboard

    • See charts for budgets, financials, and disbursements.

    • Filter the dashboard by project, budget, category, and/or date.

    • Compare planned vs. spent amounts over time.

  • Work Planning Dashboard

    • See charts for activities and implementation plan.

    • View activities by type or status for objectives or projects.

These dashboard templates can then be customized by organizations to create a visual narrative around their Amp Impact data.

Feature Enhancements

Activities (LWC): Compatibility on Implementation Plan Record Page

The previous release supported the ability to use the Activities Lightning Web Component on any Salesforce object, but using it on the Implementation Plan record page required creating a relationship from Project to Implementation Plan. This has been updated so that the Activities Lightning Web Component can be added to an Implementation Plan record page without any additional configuration. The component only displays the Activities belonging to the current Implementation Plan.

Manage Frameworks (LWC): Compatible on Framework Record Page

The previous release supported the ability to use the Manage Frameworks Lightning Web Component on any Salesforce object, but using it on the Framework  record page required creating a relationship from Project to Framework. This has been updated so that the Manage Framework Lightning Web Component can be used on the Framework record page without any additional configuration. The component only displays the Framework Objectives that belong to the current Framework.

Admin Note 

This functionality can only be used if a Framework record is being used on the Project. It can’t be used if Objective records are being added to Project directly without a Framework

Manage Frameworks (LWC): Header Row Frozen During Scroll

The previous release introduced the freezing of the header row in the Framework table on the Visualforce page, enabling users to keep the context of their table as they scroll through the table. This enhancement is now available on the Lightning Web Component as well.

Manage Frameworks (LWC): Disable Expand/Collapse All Button

The ‘Expand/Collapse All’ action on the Manage Framework Lightning Web Component is handy for the end-users but it occupies a lot of white space in the Framework table. The users can now choose to hide this action by checking the design attribute (Hide Expand/Collapse All Button) in the Lightning App Builder. By default, this attribute is kept unchecked so that it does not affect any of the existing client systems.

Manage Indicators (Visualforce and LWC): Custom Indicators Not Added to the Catalog by Default

When a user creates a new custom Project Indicator via Manage Indicators Visualforce or Lightning Component, a related Catalog Indicator is automatically created in the org. These Catalog Indicators are made visible to users in the ‘Indicators Catalog’ table based on the value of ‘Include In Catalog’ checkbox field on the Catalog Indicator record. In earlier versions of Amp Impact, the ‘Include In Catalog’ checkbox field is marked TRUE by default. With this release, the default value of the ‘Include In Catalog’ field is now FALSE, so that the Indicators are not displayed in the Catalog by default.

Manage Indicators (LWC): Disable Second Screen When Adding Custom Indicator

In the previous releases, the user has to go through a two-step process on Manage Indicators Lightning Page to create a Project Indicator. Step 1 of this process allows the user to enter details for the Indicator at a Catalog Indicator level and Step 2 allows the user to enter details at a Project Indicator level.

With this release, Amp Impact provides the option of creating a Project Indicator either as a one-step process or as a two-step process. In the one-step process, users will be asked to enter just the Catalog Indicator level details while creating the Indicator and add Project Indicator level details later by editing/customizing the Project Indicator. 

To enable the enhancement, Amp has introduced a design attribute named 'Disable Second Screen' for the Manage Indicators Lightning Web Component. With this new design attribute, the System Administrators can switch from a 2-step process to a 1-step process by simply marking the checkbox.

Manage Indicators (LWC): Disable Hyperlink in First Column

On the Manage Indicators Lightning Component, the users can currently view the hyperlinked values in the first column of the Selected Project Indicators Table. With this release, a new design attribute labeled 'Hide Hyperlink in First Column' is introduced to control the visibility of the hyperlinked first column values. Once the 'Hide Hyperlink in First Column' design attribute checkbox is marked/checked in the Lightning App Builder, the hyperlinked values in the first column will not be available.

Managed Indicators (LWC): All Custom settings at one place

We heard the feedback that customization of Amp Impact components was controlled by custom settings and design attributes on manage Indicators Lightning Web Component. This made the customization process challenging as system admins had to make the changes in two different places. In this release all the customization options for LWC components are controlled via design attributes on the manageIndicators Lightning Web Component which can be accessed via Lightning App Builder.

Set Targets and Add Results: Deactivate Project Geographic Areas & Reporting Periods

Based on the feedback received from various stakeholders, Amp Impact is bringing a new feature to allow deactivation of the Project Geographic Areas and Reporting Periods on the Set Targets and Add Results (STAR) pages. Through this feature, the users will be able to view only active Project Geographical Areas and Reporting Periods from the dropdown lists on the STAR pages.

This feature is offered through a new checkbox field ampi__Active__c on Project Geographic Area and Reporting Period, which is checked/marked by default for new records. Once the user unchecks this field for any record, the relevant Geographic Area and Reporting Period will stop displaying in the Reporting Period/ Geographic Area dropdowns  on the Set Targets and Add Results pages.

Risk Management: Visually Assess a Project’s Risk

Empowering users to visually assess aspects of a project’s risks, new fields on Risk display color-coded icons that can be used in Related Lists, List Views, and Reports. 

Additionally, new fields on Risk records auto-convert picklist values to scores and then calculate an overall Risk Score (based on Probability and Impact). Based on this score, the Risk Level is calculated. System Admins can control this calculation to be on either a 5x5, 4x4, or 3x3 Risk Matrix . 

Automation: Preventing Orphaned Records

To prevent orphaned records in the org, the users will not be able to delete the Parent records if there is a related child record in the org and will get an error message addressing them to delete the child records first. 

 Admin Note

The orphaned records automation can be deactivated through Dynamic Loader. See the installation guide for more information.

User Experience Improvements: Refresh Components to Access Latest Data

In the previous releases, the users are given an option to refresh the component and view the latest data when a change is made on other related components. . With this release, a new refresh button is added directly onto the Manage Frameworks, Activities, Manage Indicators Lightning components, so that users can refresh Lightning components whenever they want. 

User Experience Improvements: Field Help Text Displays in Popups in Lightning Web Components

In the previous releases,, the field Help Text only displays in pop ups in the Visualforce pages and Aura components. This feature is now extended to Amp Impact’s Lightning Web Components: Manage Framework, Activities, and Manage Indicators. With this release, the users can now view the info icon and help text on the fields as defined by System Administrator for a field on Lightning Web Components too.

User Interface Customization: New Design Attributes on Lightning Web Components

In previous releases, custom settings were used to modify/customize the User Interfaces (UI) of Visualforce Pages, Aura Components, and Lightning Web Components. To consolidate UI setup in Lightning App Builder (and to enable more nuanced UI customization based on user profile, record types, etc.), this release transferred the checkbox fields for customization (e.g. hiding buttons) into Lightning design attributes, which can be accessed when selecting the component in Lightning App Builder.

Resolved Issues

Manage Frameworks (LWC): Custom Setting Does Not Deactivate Edit/Delete Icons

In the previous version of Amp Impact, creating a custom setting record for ‘Manage Logframes’ does not hide Edit/Delete Icons on the manageFramework Lightning Web Component. But as we move to design attributes for custom settings with the Fornax release, the customers who want to deactivate Edit/Delete Icons on Manage Frameworks LWC can update ‘Hide Edit Icon’ and ‘Hide Delete Icon’ design attributes in the Lightning App Builder. 

Activities: Component Fails for Users in Locales with no Country Specification

Previously, Amp Impact compatibility was available for ‘Language(Country)’ (For Example- Spanish(Spain)) locales which is now extended for ‘Language’ locales (For Example - Spanish, French etc) with Fornax. With this release, the users will not face issues while loading the Activities Component for locales with no country specification. This improved experience will be available for both Activities Aura and Lightning Web Component users.

Manage Frameworks (LWC): Truncate Project Indicator Definition for Better UX

In the previous versions of Amp Impact, the ‘Project Indicator Definition‘ field text may be cropped while mapping Framework Objective to Project Indicator(s) on Edit Framework Objective Popup if Project Indicator Definition comprises approx 100 characters or more. To tackle this, Amp Impact will now truncate these lengthy texts followed by three dots (...) on Lightning Page Pop-Ups with Fornax release.

Reports : Enhancements to guard users against known Salesforce Issue

It is a known issue that deleting managed package reports will cause upgrade failure for package users. To inform System Administrators and Users against deleting any Amp Impact managed reports, descriptions have been updated on all Amp Impact reports to include the following: " Do not delete - this may cause issues upgrading to newer versions of Amp. “

 

As a precaution against accidental deletion of reports, the following reports have been cloned and their Lightning Pages have been updated to reference the newly cloned versions.

  1. Example_Targets_vs_Results_Number_Decimal

  2. Budget_and_Expenditure

  3. Results_v_Targets_by_Area_RP

  4. Risk_by_Status_and_Type

  5. Risk_by_Category_and_Status

Packaging Changes

New ampi__xx_Fund__c object

New fields:

Field Label

Field API Name

Data Type

Amount Applied For

ampi__xx_Amount_Applied_For__c

Currency(16, 2)

Amount Committed

ampi__xx_Amount_Committed__c

Currency(16, 2)

Amount Paid

ampi__xx_Amount_Paid__c

Currency(16, 2)

Fund Name

Name

Text(80)

Status

ampi__xx_Status__c

Picklist

Total Fund Amount

ampi__xx_Total_Fund_Amount__c

Currency(16, 2)

New page layout:

Page Layout Name

Change

Fund Layout

New Page Layout

New ampi__xx_Story__c object

New fields:

Field Label

Field API Name

Data Type

Geographic Area

ampi__xx_Geographic_Area__c

Lookup (ampi__xx_Geographic_Area__c)

Impact Stories Name

Name

Text(80)

Impact Story Narrative

ampi__xx_Story_Narrative__c

Rich Text Area(131072)

Project

ampi__xx_Project__c

Lookup (ampi__xx_Project__c)

Published

ampi__xx_Published__c

Checkbox(default FALSE)

Reporting Period

ampi__xx_Reporting_Period__c

Lookup (ampi__xx_Reporting_Period__c)

Thematic Area

ampi__xx_Thematic_Area__c

Lookup (ampi__xx_Thematic_Area__c)

New page layout: 

Page Layout Name

Change

Impact Story Layout

New Page Layout

Changes to ampi_Activity__c

New fields:

Field Label

Field API Name

Data Type

Activity Type

ampi__xx_Activity_Type__c

Picklist

Due Date

ampi__xx_Due_Date__c

Date

Disbursement

ampi__xx_Disbursement__c

Lookup (ampi__Disbursement__c)

Updated fields:

Field Label

Field API Name

Change

Status

ampi__Status__c

New picklist value: Open
Create dependency on ampi__xx_Activity_Type__c

  1. Task: Open, Planning, In Progress, Complete

  2. Milestone: Open, Complete

Earliest Start Date

ampi__Earliest_Start_Date__c

Add Value of ampi__xx_Due_Date__c to Earliest Start Date field if Activity Type = Milestone

New/Updated field sets:

Field Set API Name

Usage

Change

CREATE_EDIT_MILESTONE_POPUP

Fields present in the popup that creates or edits a milestone activity

New field set

MILESTONE_INFO_POPOVER

Fields in popover that displays when hovering on a Milestone activity

New field set

IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN_EXCEL_COLUMNS

Column headers in the downloaded Implementation Plan Excel file

New field set

ACTIVITY_INFO_POPOVER

Fields in popover that displays when hovering on Activity timeline

Added field as available:

  • ampi__Location__c

  • ampi__Contact__c

ACTIVITY_TABLE_SEARCH_FILTER

Search filters in Activity table

Added field as available:

  • ampi__xx_Due_Date__c

  • ampi__xx_Activity_Type__c

  • ampi__xx_Disbursement__c

Changes to ampi__Indicator__c

Default value has been modified for the following field on ampi__Indicator__c:

Field Label

Field API Name

Change

Include in Catalog?

ampi__Include_In_Catalog__c

Default value changed from TRUE to FALSE

Changes to ampi__Project_Indicator__c

Updated Field:

Field API Name

Data Type

Change

ampi__Target_To_Date__c

Number(16,2)

Relabeled field to “Total Target”

Updated Field Sets:

Field Set API Name

Usage

Change

ampi__SELECTED_PROJECT_INDICATORS_TABLE

Fields in table displaying  selected indicators for a project

Added fields as available:

  • ampi__Target_To_Date__c

  • ampi__Result_To_Date__c

Changes to ampi__Risk__c

New Fields:

Field Label

Field API Name

Data Type

Control Over Risk

ampi__xx_Control_Over_Risk_Icon__c

Formula field that displays a color icon based on the picklist value selected in ampi__Control_Over_Risk__c.

Impact Score

ampi__xx_Impact_Score__c

Formula (Number) field that calculates a croe based on value selected in the ampi__Potential_Impact__c field

Overall Score

ampi__xx_Overall_Score__c

Formula (Number) field that calculates a score based on value of the ampi__xx_Impact_Score__c and ampi__xx_Probability_Score__c fields

Potential Impact

ampi__xx_Potential_Impact_Icon__c

Formula (Text) field that displays a color icon based on the picklist value selected in ampi__Potential_Impact__c.

Probability Score

ampi__xx_Probability_Score__c

Formula (Number) field that calculates a croe based on value selected in the ampi__Probability__c field

Probability

ampi__xx_Probability_Icon__c

Formula (Text) field that displays a color icon based on the picklist value selected in ampi__Probability__c.

Risk Level

ampi__xx_Risk_Level_Icon__c

Formula (Text) field that displays a color icon based on the picklist value selected in ampi__Risk_Level__c.

Risk Level

ampi__xx_Risk_Level__c

Picklist

Updated Page Layouts:

Page Layout Name

Change

Risk Register Layout

Updated Risk related list to include respective icon fields instead of picklist fields. Following fields were added:
ampi__xx_Control_Over_Risk_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Potential_Impact_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Probability_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Risk_Level_Icon__c

Risk Layout

A new section ‘Scores’ is added with the following fields:
ampi__xx_Control_Over_Risk_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Potential_Impact_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Probability_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Risk_Level_Icon__c, ampi__xx_Probability_Score__c, ampi__xx_Impact_Score__c, and ampi__xx_Overall_Score__c

Updated fields:

Picklist Label

API Name

Change

Control Over Risk

ampi__Control_Over_Risk__c

New picklist values: Very Low, Very High

Potential Impact

ampi__Potential_Impact__c

New picklist values: Very Low, Very High

Probability

ampi__Probability__c

New picklist values: Very Low, Very High

Declarative Automation

New Screen Flow:

Flow Label

Flow API Name

Description

Scheduling Reporting Periods

ampi__Schedule_Reporting_Periods

Packaged Screen Flow to quickly schedule many reporting periods for a project, program, or grant. A user can indicate the required reporting frequencies to be generated, and with the input of a few details, Reporting Periods will be automatically scheduled in bulk..

New Autolaunched Flows:

Flow Label

Flow API Name

Description

Fund Allocations Deletion

ampi__Fund_Allocations_Deletion

This flow is triggered when an Allocation record related to a Fund record with a status of Applied For or Committed is deleted. It will recalculate the Amount Applied For and Amount Committed field values on the Fund record.

Fund Allocations Rollup

ampi__Fund_Allocations_Rollup

Rolls up Amount Applied For and Amount Committed on the Fund record/records related to the allocation that triggers the flow

Fund Disbursements Deletion

ampi__Fund_Disbursements_Deletion

This flow is triggered when a Disbursement record related to a Fund record with a status of Paid is deleted. It will recalculate the Amount Paid field value on the Fund record.

Fund Disbursements Rollup

ampi__Fund_Disbursements_Rollup

Rolls up Amount Paid on the Fund record/records related to the disbursement that triggers the flow

Process Builder:

Process Builder Label

Process Builder API Name

Description

Populate Risk Level

ampi__Populate_Risk_Level

The process updates the ampi__xx_Risk_Level__c field based on a comparison of the value of the ampi__xx_Overall_Score__c to the Risk Setting Custom Metadata Type

Custom Metadata Types

New Custom Metadata:

Field Label

Field API Name

Description

Risk Setting

ampi__Risk_Setting__mdt

Custom metadata type to specify risk settings which scale should be applied to risk ratings. This value is reflected in the ampi__xx_Impact_Score__c and ampi__xx_Probability_Score__c fields.

Custom Labels

New Custom Labels:

API Name

Categories

Value

Function

ACTIVITY_TYPE_MILESTONE

Activities, Amp Impact, Interface

Milestone

This label is used by Apex code. This label shouldn’t be translated

ACTIVITY_TYPE_TASK

Activities, Interface, Amp Impact

Task

This label is used by Apex code. This label shouldn’t be translated

CREATE_ACTIVITY_TYPE_MILESTONE

Activities, Interface, Amp Impact

Create Milestone

Button label to create milestone activity

CREATE_ACTIVITY_TYPE_TASK

Activities, Interface, Amp Impact

Create Task

Button label to create task activity

ACTIVITY_DEPENDENCY_SAVE_SUCCESSFUL

Activities, Toast, Amp Impact

Dependency saved successfully.

Toast for creating activity dependency

ACTIVITY_DEPENDENCY_DELETE_SUCCESSFUL

Activities, Toast, Amp Impact

Dependency deleted successfully.

Toast for deleting activity dependency