Looking for details on older releases? Here is a summary of Little SIS Premium updates by release date.
Pro Tip: If you want to be notified when a new release article is added, click What's new above the article title to go to the section page. Then click the Follow button above the article list.
We're excited to introduce new actions in the Teacher Review Admin page that give admins more flexibility in managing Google Classroom states. Whether you're dealing with teachers on extended leave or any other scenario, you'll now have the power to manage classroom provisioning more effectively.
Little SIS Premium > Teacher Review
Here's what's new:
- Course Selection Checkboxes: The Teacher Review Administration page now has checkboxes for single, multiple selection and select all.
-
Actions Menu: Select one or more courses and the Actions menu appears at the top right of the page. The menu contains the following actions:
- Accept Pending/Provisioned Classes: Admins can now manually accept classes, ensuring immediate activation for pending classes or adjusting the state for already provisioned ones.
- Restore Archived Classes: Bring back archived classes by changing their Google Classroom state back to active.
- Archive Active Classes: Archive active classrooms when they’re no longer needed, with the option to reverse the action if necessary.
-
Unlink Classes: Easily unlink classrooms as needed.
Note: These actions can only be taken on classes that are created by Little SIS. Also, only actions that apply to the selected courses are available in the menu. Other options are inactive.
These actions can be applied to multiple classes at once using the selection checkboxes or managed individually with a right-click menu.
You'll have a chance to Confirm the changes before the action happens.
These actions can be applied to multiple classes at once using the selection checkboxes or managed individually with a right-click menu.
Plus, audit log entries will track every action, and teachers will receive automatic email notifications about any updates to their classes.
This update gives you the control you need to manage classrooms efficiently, regardless of provisioning status.
In this release, we have removed the field used for transferring aliases from Little SIS Premium. Previously, the Transfer Sync Agent Classes field was a required step in the Getting Started process and on the General Settings page. This field was specifically used with our legacy sync product to transfer the original Little SIS Sync Agent Aliases. With the introduction of our new sync product, this field is no longer necessary and has been removed.
This release covers the following:
Clearing Pending Classes from Teacher Review
Adding an SSH Key in SFTP Settings
Clearing Pending Classes from Teacher Review
Say goodbye to a growing list of Pending classes in Teacher Review with our newest feature to streamline your workflow.
Why Clear Out Pending Classes?
As your organization grows and evolves, so does your list of pending classes awaiting teacher review. But fear not! We're here to help you keep things organized and up-to-date.
When to Clear Pending Classes
- End of Academic Periods: Bid farewell to classes from previous terms at the end of each academic period.
- Staff Transitions: Ensure classes are assigned correctly during staff transitions by clearing pending classes.
- Disable Teacher Review: If transitioning to alternative methods like Provision Classes or Analyze for class links, disable teacher review first.
How to Clear Pending Classes
- Navigate to Little SIS Premium.
- Click on Home and find the Teacher Review card.
- Click Clear Out Pending Teacher Review Classes.
Warning: If you are transitioning away from Teacher review, be sure to first disable Teacher review, before Clearing out Pending to prevent classes from being reassigned. If Teacher Review is not disabled, but Pending are cleared, those classes will be re-assigned during the next sync.
See, Clearing Out Pending Teacher Review Classes
See, How to Override Teacher Review
Adding an SSH Key in SFTP Settings
In addition to using an SFTP username and password, we now allow you to use an SSH or PUB key file to authenticate secure connections for your SIS exports.
Warning: For our Infinite Campus users, Infinite Campus is deprecating the username/password authentication method for SFTP exports. You must set your exports up using this .pub key file method.
- To start, you’ll need to create your keys within Infinite Campus.
- Once your key is created, you must download the public key file to upload it into Little SIS (step 4 of the linked instructions).
- In Little SIS Premium, navigate to Administration > General Settings and scroll to the SFTP settings box.
- Click on Add SSH Key, and upload the .pub file.
- Once uploaded, go back into Infinite Campus and complete steps 7-10 of the linked instructions to confirm your connection tests successfully.
See, Adding an SSH Key in SFTP Settings
SFTP Port Change
To enhance the security of your data transfers, we have updated the port for your SFTP connection. You must update the port in your SIS for your data exports to Port 2225. We will continue to support connections on Port 22 until October 1, 2024.
We are excited to announce an update to Little SIS Premium that focuses on enhancing the user interface experience. In this release, we have optimized row height, improved button text wrapping, and adjusted spacing for a more visually appealing layout. These changes ensure a smoother and more intuitive interaction with the software without affecting its functionality.
- The location of the left navigation pane lock (3 line/hamburger) button has been moved to be consistent with Little SIS for Classroom. Previously the lock button was to the right of Home when hovering. It is now located to the right of the 9-square/waffle button. Functionality is still the same, hover over the navigation pane to show the lock and click it to lock the menu in place. Click again to unlock the navigation pane.
Little SIS Premium > [hover over left pane] > 3 line/hamburger - When a guardian invitation was resent and the reason listed Withdraw existing invitation and resend, the history log only displayed withdrew invitation sent to and did not display information for the resend. With this release when guardian invitations are resent via Withdraw existing invitation and resend both the withdraw and the resend show in the history log.
Guardians > Explorer
Little SIS Premium > Administration > Settings
- When copying and pasting the designated admin email on the Settings page, an extra space could cause the email to save incorrectly. In this release, any extra space is removed at save.
- See, Use the Little SIS Premium Getting Started Stepper, Step 2, Designate an Admin
Little SIS for Premium> Grid Icon > Sync
Previously, searching within Teacher Review, by name or email address, was not producing consistent results. This behavior has been corrected so that searching by name or email address is reliable.
Little SIS Premium > Support > Feedback
- With our integration into CDW, it was time to shed the Amplified IT logo and coloring for that of CDW. As a part of this process the logo at the top of the login page has been updated. References on the Terms and Conditions page and Privacy Policy are updated as well.
- Delete file
Little SIS Premium > Files
- The Delete option tool tip is update to reflect the purpose of the option.
- When attempting to delete a file, when the This file cannot be deleted message shows, the OK button was outside the message box. The button now fully shows within the message box.
- The Delete option tool tip is update to reflect the purpose of the option.
- Edit Roster Sync job button alignment
Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Roster sync jobs > [open job] > Step 2 Source Data > Delete
- When deleting a source data file in step 2 of the Roster sync jobs stepper, the Yes and No buttons could be cut off. The buttons now fully show.
- When deleting a source data file in step 2 of the Roster sync jobs stepper, the Yes and No buttons could be cut off. The buttons now fully show.
- Previously the feedback icon, located under Support in the left navigation pane, opened to a Google form. This update redirected the feedback icon to the Labs Club Feature Requests page.
-
- Click the Feedback icon. The Feature Requests page opens. Click Start new topic. Next, enter a title and description, then click Submit topic.
- Click the Feedback icon. The Feature Requests page opens. Click Start new topic. Next, enter a title and description, then click Submit topic.
-
Little SIS for Classroom > Grid Icon > Sync
When navigating from Little SIS for Classroom to Little SIS Premium, Premium would not properly open. Instead, users needed to click the grid icon > Sync a second time for Premium to open. We fixed this issue. Users can successfully navigate from Little SIS for Classroom to Little SIS Premium on the first attempt.
Little SIS Premium > Support > Feedback
Do you have a suggestion that could improve our tools? We would love to hear from you. We’ve added the Feedback icon to the sidebar of our Labs Tools to give you 1-click access to our feedback form.
- See the What is the best way to submit a feature request? article.
- This release includes visibility improvements for scheduled but not active and manual sync jobs and invalid emails in sync history and emails.
Sync jobs list visual changes
-
Scheduled but Inactive jobs: New text appears on the card for inactive jobs, indicating and can be manually triggered or reenabled. These cards and their header are gray.
-
Manual jobs: Manual jobs now show the card header and manual icon as orange.
See the Introduction to class and roster sync jobs article.
Changes to increase visibility for invalid emails
-
Sync history: The number of invalid emails with details appears in the sync history. Click # Invalid emails detected to view details.
-
Notification emails: The number of invalid emails with details appears in notification emails.
See the View roster jobs sync history article. -
Review and Action: Excluded emails are captured in the sync analysis as roster exceptions. They are noted on the Summary tab and details are visible on the Roster Exceptions tab.
-
Scheduled but Inactive jobs: New text appears on the card for inactive jobs, indicating and can be manually triggered or reenabled. These cards and their header are gray.
-
Little SIS Premium > Teacher Review
Previously, teachers could link active classes after class rosters loaded. This would cause the following error message if the class aliases had not yet loaded:
(Uh oh, we could not link these classes; r.result.currentAliases is not iterable)
With this release classes can be linked only after both rosters and aliases load.
The class card shows:
- Loading until both rosters and aliases are loaded.
- Retrying if the load fails and the load is reattempted.
-
Review & Action: Class changes column filter
Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Review & Action > Roster sync jobs > Class Changes- A drop-down filter was added to the Class actions and Teacher change columns on the Class changes page of Review & Action.
-
Class actions: Select the filter button to filter for Existing class will be updated or New class will be created.
-
Teacher change: Select the filter button to filter for no changes (N), has changes (Y), or Select All.
-
Class actions: Select the filter button to filter for Existing class will be updated or New class will be created.
- See the Review, approve and stage, and commit class changes article.
- A drop-down filter was added to the Class actions and Teacher change columns on the Class changes page of Review & Action.
-
Improvements to selecting all items within grids
various- In some pages with grids, the Select All checkbox at the upper left, selected all items on the current page, rather than all items in the grid (all items on all pages of the grid). Now when the Select All checkbox is selected, all items on all pages of the grid are selected.
This improvement was made to the following grids:- Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Roster Sync Jobs > Review & Action > Class Changes
- Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Roster Sync Jobs > Review & Action > Staged Actions
- Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Roster exceptions
- Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Classroom exceptions
- Little SIS Premium > Guardians > Explorer > Staged Actions
- In some pages with grids, the Select All checkbox at the upper left, selected all items on the current page, rather than all items in the grid (all items on all pages of the grid). Now when the Select All checkbox is selected, all items on all pages of the grid are selected.
-
Validation within the Getting Started stepper
Little SIS Premium > Administration > Getting Started- Validation was added to the Getting Started stepper. When there is an error on the page, the page can not be advanced using the Next button or the tabs at the top.
- See the Use the Little SIS Premium Getting Started Stepper article.
-
Little SIS Premium > Administration > Audit Logs
The following Guardian Sync Job types are captured in the Audit Logs and include a detail modal for the actions listed below.
- Created new roster sync job
- User X created a Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- Edited guardian sync job
- User X edited the basic information for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- User X edited the source data and mappings for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- User X edited the data mapping for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- User X edited the inclusion and exclusion rules for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- User X updated the preferences for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- User X edited the automation settings for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- User X ran a sync analysis for the Guardian Sync Job on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- Deleted guardian sync job
- User X deleted (INSERT JOB NAME) on (INSERT DATE/TIME)
- See the Work with Audit Logs article.
- Created new roster sync job
- Previously when syncing Sync Agent aliases, the process went through all classes no matter the state and retrieved aliases. With this release, you can focus the class aliases to sync based on the class creation date. Aliases for any classes created after that date are included in the alias sync.
- See the Use the Little SIS Premium Getting Started Stepper article.
- See the Migrate from Little SIS Sync Agent to Premium article.
- Two new automation settings have been added (step 6); Perform analysis and stage changes on a schedule and Perform full augmented sync on a schedule.
- See the Setup guardian sync article.
- An improvement has been made to keep Little SIS Premium roster changes up to date in Little SIS Classroom. As sync jobs run and change rosters in Little SIS Premium, those changed rosters refresh in Little SIS Classroom.
- See the Introduction to class and roster sync jobs article.
- The user cache can be manually refreshed from the Settings page and Getting Started stepper in Little SIS Premium. Both are accessible from Administration in the left navigation panel.
- The cache also automatically refreshes when a new domain is added and saved.
- See the Add user account domains and refresh the user cache article.
- Withdraw Selected Invitations
- In Guardian Explorer, the invitation status represents the status as of the last guardian sync. If you are withdrawing invitations from unaccepted accounts, the withdrawal will happen even if the invitation is accepted after the last sync. There is an exception. If the invitation has a status change and is accepted from a different email account than the original, the invitation is not removed.
- See the Withdraw guardian invitations article.
- Roster Sync Job, Automations
- The Hold changes when the source file has not been updated field has been added to the Automation step when adding or updating a roster sync job. It is visible when the Schedule automated sync analysis and auto-approve and execute all changes that meet the specified hold conditions automation setting is selected. The option is selected by default and cannot be deselected. When there is an automated sync job, changes are held for manual approval when the source file has not been updated. An email notifies the designated admin of the hold.
- See the Set up a sync job, step by step article, Selecting automation settings section.
- See another change specific to Little SIS for Classroom.
- The sync history for both Roster sync and Guardian sync has been updated to divide records into smaller chunks making the history easier to scan. Each page in Roster sync and Guardian sync histories now contains 20 rows.
- See the View roster jobs sync history and the View guardian sync history articles.
- Teacher Review custom welcome message setup notification
- When a roster sync job is created with Teacher Review enabled or is edited to have Teacher Review enabled, a notification appears in the following locations. The notification lets you know that there is a sync job that is not using a custom welcome message. Meaning, the Teacher Review Welcome Message toggle is OFF. The notification disappears when the toggle changes to ON.
- Left navigation pane > Teacher Review
- Teacher Review > Edit Custom Teacher Review
- Left navigation pane > Teacher Review
- See the Set up a sync job, step by step and Edit the Teacher Review Welcome Message articles.
- When a roster sync job is created with Teacher Review enabled or is edited to have Teacher Review enabled, a notification appears in the following locations. The notification lets you know that there is a sync job that is not using a custom welcome message. Meaning, the Teacher Review Welcome Message toggle is OFF. The notification disappears when the toggle changes to ON.
- Roster Sync job Commit Staged Action updates
Little SIS Premium > Add/Edit roster sync job > Update Preferences >Teacher Review/Class Links- The Commit # Staged Action Now confirmation now includes the following information:
- If the Enable Teacher Review option is selected: XXX classes will be assigned in Teacher Review.
- If the Provision classes option is selected: XXX classes will be created.
- See the Review, approve and stage, and commit class changes article.
- The Commit # Staged Action Now confirmation now includes the following information:
Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Roster Sync Jobs
-
Future Scheduled Automations has been added as a sort option. When selected, the jobs list sorts all fully automated and automated analysis roster sync jobs by their next scheduled automation.
- Fully automated jobs will go off of the next sync date/time.
- Automated analysis jobs will go off of the next scheduled analysis.
- The sort will proceed to sort jobs in ascending date and time order.
- All other remaining manual jobs will be sorted below those automated alphabetically A-Z.
- The Last Run sort option has changed to Last Sync.
- The Last Run Date filter option has changed to Last Sync Date.
- See the Filter and sort the roster sync jobs list article.
- Roster Sync Job Card Updates
Little SIS Premium > Jobs > Roster Sync Jobs- Icons representing roster sync job types have been added to the bottom left of job cards. Types include:
- Fully automated
- Automated analysis
- Manually triggered
- Job with teacher review enabled
- Fully automated
- The last analysis date/time has been added to the job card.
- See the Glossary of terms and icons for Little SIS Premium article.
- Icons representing roster sync job types have been added to the bottom left of job cards. Types include:
- Email Teacher from the Teacher Review dashlet
Little SIS Premium > Teacher Review ~ Teacher Review (last 24 hours)- Click on the Teacher Review dashlet to open Teacher Review Overview. Rt-click on a teacher and select Email teacher.
- See the Email a teacher from the Teacher Review dashlet article.
- Click on the Teacher Review dashlet to open Teacher Review Overview. Rt-click on a teacher and select Email teacher.
- A popup has been added to Guardian Explorer Staged actions to summarize staged actions before committing. Click Run # Staged Actions to display the summary popup.
- See the Stage guardians and run guardian sync article.
- Analyze Guardians
- The progress bar has been replaced with a progress spinner, name of the current step, and Cancel at the top of the page.
- Guardian Sync Job
- A new option was added to Guardian Sync step 5 to constrain the scope of the job to students in the source data: REMOVE guardians in Classroom where the email address does not match the source data AND REMOVE ALL guardians for students not included in the source data.
- See the Setup guardian sync article.
- The Guardian Explorer now maintains rather than clears the selected guardians between filter changes. Guardians can be repeatedly filtered and while selecting all necessary guardians.
- See the Withdraw guardian invitations article.