Today, we are thrilled to announce the release of GrassBlade LRS 4.0! This major update brings drastic improvements over the previous version, focusing heavily on robust security, backend optimization, and giving you better control over reports and data.
We at Next Software Solutions continuously work towards making GrassBlade LRS as powerful, secure, and user-friendly as possible. We are always looking for ways to enhance security, add impactful features, improve the UI, and ensure the strictest compliance standards.
Let’s dive deeper into everything new that comes with this update.
Enhanced Security and Conformance
GrassBlade LRS 4.0 comes with the top priority of data integrity and security. We have introduced new xAPI conformant modes: Basic, Strict, and Log Only, to give you more control over learning data. This will allow you to choose the exact level of data validation your environment requires.
- Basic: This option applies basic check to validate requests and incoming statements while ignoring some of non compliant components.
- strict: This mode strictly validates xAPI statements and rejects statements if it doesn’t follow the xAPI standard as specified in the specification.
- Logs Only: This mode accepts statements like the basic mode but filters non compliant statements like strict mode and logs them in error instead of rejecting them.
We have also overhauled the initial setup process. Instead of relying on the default email and password out of the box, administrators are now required to complete a secure Admin Credential setup. To ensure maximum protection, these credentials enforce strict password policies.
Password must be at least 8 characters long and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (e.g., @, $, !, %, *, ?, &).
Speed Optimization for some Reports
Waiting for large datasets to load can be unproductive, you can lose focus, and it will slow down your workflow. In this update, we have completely optimized the backend architecture powering the Attempt and Attempt Summary reports. This under-the-hood optimization will deliver a massive boost, allowing you to generate and analyze complex learner data much faster than before without losing attention.
Note: This performance optimization is exclusively available on the Premium plan for Installable LRS, and across all Cloud LRS plans.
Keep track of the Report Downloads
Managing, tracking, and retrieving your exported data is now easier than ever. We have added a dedicated Download History page that lists all of your generated downloads in one place.
In the Download History page, you get:
- Each download entry has a link to go to the report with the exact filter that was used when you downloaded the report
- Each download entry includes a download link for easy re-download.
- When you delete a download, you lose its file but link to go to report with exact filter still be there.
To make the redownload process quick, a copy of the downloaded file is securely saved on the server side. With the help of the Trash report file setting, you can set how long they will remain at the server before being trashed.
The download history page lists all downloads, a redirect link to report with an exact filter, and a redownload button. Once the downloaded file copy also saves in server for redownload for speed, but these files can be trashed by the Trash report file settings.
UI Improvements and Extra Features
We’ve also packed in a few extra quality-of-life updates to improve your daily administrative experience:
- Custom Logo Settings: You can now personalize your dashboard! The new logo settings allow you to upload your organization’s custom logo, instantly replacing the default GrassBlade logo.
- Improved Multiple Selection UI: We have upgraded the user interface for fields requiring multiple selections. By implementing Select2 dropdowns, searching and selecting multiple items is now much cleaner, faster, and more intuitive.
Conclusion
GrassBlade LRS v4.0 is a significant leap forward, offering a faster, safer, and more customizable experience. Whether it is the strict new security policies, lightning-fast report generation, or enhanced download tracking, this update is designed to make managing your learning records smoother than ever.
Upgrade your installable LRS to version 4.0 today to experience these powerful new features firsthand!
If you are using GrassBlade Cloud LRS, these updates are already available in your environment.