Release 29th November 2017
CORE 1.12.7 [sciNote free]:
Protocols.io integration
For this release we have prepared a special treat for you that is sciNote integration with protocols.io, an open access repository of bench protocols that are shared among researchers from different scientific fields.
You can now import a protocol from protocols.io into sciNote in a very simple way. When logged in your protocols.io account, search for a protocol of your interest and click “Export” button. Choose JSON file format from the drop down menu.
Then go to your sciNote account and open Protocol management, which is the second icon from the left at the top menu bar of the dashboard. Select between Public protocols or Private protocols tab and then click “Import protocol” button.
Choose a protocols.io file from your computer and click “Upload file”.
After that a preview window of the protocol displays. In the first protocol step all the basic information of protocol.io file is included (such as abstract, guidelines, protocol description, publish date, vendor name, etc.) and the rest of the content is arranged between the other protocol steps. To load the protocol into Protocol management click the “Import” button at the bottom.
Your protocol also includes the author name, who is usually a person that publishes the protocol at the protocols.io platform. You can still add the names of other authors as well. Pictures are left out of the imported protocol for now, but this is planned as a soon-to-be improvement.
Bug fixes
- Fixed issue with preview for images with transparent background.
- Minor text changes for uploading avatar.
- Improving the Experiment overview (canvas) responsiveness.
- Fixed a minor issue with reports when tables had no title.
- Fixed issue when importing samples with rows that have some empty cells.
ADD-ON: AI MANUSCRIPT 1.0.3 [sciNote free]:
Bug fixes
- Fixed an issue when user with no project wants to create a manuscript.
Release 7th November 2017
sciNote Manuscript Writer add-on launch:
sciNote Manuscript Writer generates a draft of your scientific manuscript based on the data you saved in sciNote.
Release 20th October 2017
CORE 1.12.5 [sciNote free]:
Improvements:
Bug fixes:
Release 3rd October 2017
CORE 1.12.4 [sciNote free]:
Improvements:[SCI-1481] – Optimize export of audit trails script
Bug fixes:[SCI-1376] – DelayedPaperclip::ProcessJob/execute ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound[SCI-1587] – Importing samples – errors
OPENSCI-26 null value in column “updated_at” violates not-null constraint
Release 3rd August 2017
CORE 1.12.3 [sciNote free]:
Improvements:
SCI-1524 – Fixed permissions for editing, deleting custom columns on custom repositories
Release 23rd June 2017
sciNote version 1.12
You are already familiar with two currently existing repositories in sciNote, which are sample and protocol management. To expand your repositories even more, this sciNote version brings you custom repositories.
This is one of the most anticipated features that our users requested, since it allows you to create personalized repositories and this way manage all kinds of laboratory necessities such as reagents, instruments, chemical formulas, literature, etc.
Custom repositories are accessible via REPOSITORIES tab within a task or via general repository icon at the top left side of the dashboard.
You can assign individual items from a selected repository (e.g. Reagents) to the task and choose to view all repository items or only the assigned ones, which are marked with blue. In contrast to the assigned samples from sample management, the items from custom repositories are assigned only to that specific task and are not propagated downstream the connected tasks.
You can create up to five custom repositories and add unlimited number of items to them. When the 5th repository is added, the Add repository tab becomes inactive. It is activated only if at least one repository is deleted.
Besides the default table fields (Name, Added on, Added by) you can create unlimited number of custom columns.
You may upload comma separated (.csv), tab separated (.txt or .tsv) or Excel (.xlsx) files by clicking the Import button. In addition, you may also select the items from the repository and export them as a .csv file.
Under the cog wheel icon, you can choose to rename, copy or delete the selected repository. Only Team administrator can perform these actions as well as create new repositories.
Another major advantage of custom repositories is that you can link individual items from repositories with different sciNote elements (projects, experiments, tasks and samples) or your colleagues.
Last but not the least, each individual repository has a Search field that searches throughout the selected repository.
For this sciNote version we have also made some other improvements. Now it is possible to:
- Add Uncompleted steps to the reports
- Add content to the reports in an easier way
- Drag and drop multiple files at once to the protocol steps and results section
Additionally, we have fixed a great number of bugs:
[SCI-405] – Minor bug fixed on result tables[SCI-903] – Error at importing large sample files[SCI-1109] – E-mail notifications – missing avatars[SCI-1240] – Protocol steps – Load from repository minor text changes[SCI-1288] – Error message at saving file result without included file[SCI-1291] – Error at copying workflow on a canvas[SCI-1306] – Saving of results not responding if result has a smart annotation[SCI-1309] – Saving of steps not responding if step has a user smart annotation[SCI-1321] – Edit button on protocol steps not responding on tutorial project
Release 18th May 2017
sciNote version 1.11
From now on you have a possibility to use advanced search function that allows you to match key words in three different ways:
- matching any whole word,
- matching whole phrase,
- matching case (of letters).
With sciNote 1.11 you are also able to see number of assigned users to projects or tasks under the avatar icon, as well as the number of notifications (bell icon) and comments (chat icon).
Several customers requested the option to add images into description field of protocol steps. You can upload an image directly into rich text editor field, without needing to upload it as an attachment.
Additionally, we have fixed a great number of bugs and also made some improvements. Let us point out a few:
[SCI-373] – Clone of workflow gets wrong position (overlaying)[SCI-719] – Tutorial ends when navigating with button enter[SCI-860] – Project overview – description out of bound (Firefox, IE)[SCI-1051] – Report – avatar for user smart annotation not showing[SCI-1194] – Smart annotations – error while saving checklist on Safari[SCI-1247] – Image preview from step description is out of border in report[SCI-724] – Add a notification when user gets additional free space[SCI-1195] – Notifications are missing experiment level[SCI-1200] – Add a popup with a choice for approval to complete Task after all steps completed
sciNote Premium
sciNote Premium already enables you to export a complete audit trail (i.e. a recorded history of all changes made in the system). In addition, we have implemented an option for exporting system logs records.
System logs can be viewed only by Organization administrators. They can access system logs on a separate page, located under the Organization tab when entering profile settings in the right upper corner.
System logs records can be exported in a readable file format and there is no need to worry of information being lost or modified, since it stays exactly the same as you see it within sciNote.
When clicking the “Export” button the system logs are exported in comma separated file (.csv) which can be opened in the form of a spreadsheet table.
Release 20th April 2017
sciNote version 1.10
Based on the extensive feedback from sciNote users, we updated certain sciNote functionalities. This time we focused on improving the global search, fixing an issue with navigation bar in Safari and some other minor bugs. We also introduced notifications for user smart annotations. This means that users that will be annotated (tagged) on different tasks, samples, projects, etc. will receive a notification that they have been mentioned by their colleague.
sciNote Premium – Additional Functionalities:
For this release, we have been mostly focusing on improving sciNote Premium and adding new features to it. The main new features are System log record and Audit trail which are part of 21 CFR Part 11 requirements.
System log functionality enables recording of system activities and detection of unauthorized access to sciNote. The activities that are being recorded are the following:
- invalid and valid user logins,
- user logouts, and
- system errors.
Password expiration is also a part of 21 CFR Part 11 requirements. Password expiration allows your organization to periodically reset passwords of all organization members, which will increase your organization security if used properly. Passwords can also be reset on demand for individual users on Members page.
sciNote also maintains an audit trail i.e. a recorded history of all changes made in the system.
Under the “Audit trail” page you can select what record type you want to see, for instance projects, experiment, tasks, samples or results, and from which the time period. You can view all the information of data entries, such as their date, who has made the change, what type of record it is, etc. If you expand individual records you can also see what the values were before and after the changes.
Additionally, you can easily export the audit trail as .csv file.
Release 23rd March 2017
sciNote version 1.9
We have been working really hard for this release and we can proudly announce that sciNote and Microsoft Office Online integration is official!
You can now upload and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents to sciNote, where all your changes are automatically saved as you type. You can invite others to review and co-author in real time, knowing that everyone is working with the latest version.
Microsoft Office Online supports the viewing of many major Microsoft Office file types, and editing of file types including .xlsx, .docx and.pptx.
When in editing mode, you can navigate through sciNote elements with a help of bread crumbs at the top. You can also exchange comments with your colleagues when reviewing the document.
You don’t need to worry about saving the document, since changes are saved automatically. Moreover, you can download or print the document directly.
This sciNote release includes another highly anticipated functionality that is task completion. You can now complete tasks, even when protocol steps are not completed or results are not created. When completing all protocol steps, task is automatically marked as completed.
The completion status can be seen on task cards in experiment overview and in “Due date” and “Status” fields of protocol overview. Task can be completed by the following project user roles: Technician, User and Owner.
sciNote Premium – Additional Functionalities:
21 CFR Part 11 Compliance and electronic signatures:
Besides improving free sciNote version we have also invested our time in developing new features for the Premium edition, such as electronic signatures, advanced Team management and new User management functionality.
According to FDA guidelines electronic signatures are considered to be trustworthy, reliable, and generally equivalent to paper records and handwritten signatures executed on paper, therefore sciNote Premium is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant.
Electronic signatures are required for completing and locking, unlocking or co-signing of entire task (part of the performed experiment). They are unique, since they are based on combination of an individual username (e-mail) and password and cannot be reused or reassigned to anyone else.
Overriding the signatures is not possible, so if a task has already been signed, it can only be co-signed or unlocked. All activity is recorded.
CFR permissions are accredited to the users with the following roles: Owner, User and Technician. This means they have a full authority of signing and co-signing any task. Please note that signed tasks cannot be co-signed by the same user.
Electronic signature can be executed by clicking the “Lock task” button in the protocol overview.
When a task is signed, the status changes and the due date color turns to green.
For unlocking a signed task, you must have a higher role than the original signer, e.g. if you signed the task as a Technician, only the User or Owner can revoke your signature. Furthermore, in case of signing the task as an Owner, only another Owner can unlock the task.
As mentioned earlier, Premium edition includes Team and User management as well. In this case, we have added a new user role called Organization administrator.
Organization administrators can see all the Teams within the Organization and have full access to manage individual Teams and its members. New users can be invited only by the Organization administrator, either in “Members” tab or directly within the Team. Team administrators can only add existing users to a Team by clicking on the “Add team member” button.
User management has been added as a new “Members” tab under the Settings page. Only Organization administrator can access it and make changes. User management contains an alphabetically organized list of all users in the current Organization.
We also want to mention that some minor bugs have been fixed as well.
Release 23rd February 2017
sciNote version 1.8
We fixed a lot of minor bugs for this sciNote release, mostly the ones associated with Protocol steps, Results and Reports. Additionally, we made some improvements on smart annotations and image preview.
Furthermore, Team administrators are now able to view all Projects, including the private ones. Technically, Team administrator has the role of a viewer for all Projects within the Team, even if he/she is not directly assigned to a specific Project.
The list of fixed bugs is here:
SCI-965 Protocol step doesn’t save if the table is without content
SCI-957 Search does not work upon a click to keyword
SCI-955 Comments vanish on Results page
SCI-952 Smart annotations – changing avatar
SCI-951 Missing preview images in Tasks and Protocol management
SCI-913 Missing user annotation for Samples table
SCI-997 Smart annotation is missing at editing column
SCI-991 There is a blank page when restoring archived Task
SCI-958 Team administrators are viewers of all Projects within a Team
SCI-900 Research and fix potential memory leaks in worker process
SCI-510 When uploading files the spinner doesn’t go away
SCI-873 Bottom black banner at image preview gets over the image
SCI-947 Error when exporting to pdf in Reports
SCI-928 We merged Profile and Preferences pages under one tab, now called Account
Release 26th January 2017
sciNote version 1.7
It is the first sciNote release in 2017 and we already have major improvements to share with you.
We added Smart annotations in sciNote 1.7, which are referrals or hyperlinks used for indicating sciNote elements such as Projects, Experiments, Tasks or Samples and can also be used for referring users. Annotations are entered within most text fields throughout sciNote with the help of specific tags (# and @) and autocomplete functionality.
sciNote now recognizes # as annotation of specific sciNote element and creates a permanent link to this element, e.g. displaying an individual Sample from the Samples table with all Sample information.
Furthermore, it can also display other interesting information, such as which Project or experimental Task a specific user is assigned to. This way users can annotate their Experiment descriptions, Protocol steps, Samples tables, Results, Comments, etc. In case you wish to mention a specific user, you can use @ to trigger the annotation.
Our second major improvement is the possibility of previewing the images and protocols. When you click on a certain image thumbnail or its filename listed below, a preview screen opens. This preview screen is displaying the image itself, its name and the name of the Protocol step or the specific Result (it depends where the image is located). There is also a shortcut to download the image.
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