Features Included in Marlin
Regional Release Schedule
Major Functionality Enhancements
Duplicating Blockout Periods
- Instead of recreating identical Blockout Periods item-by-item, users can now easily duplicate their existing Blockout Period by selecting ‘Duplicate Blockout Period‘.
- This item can be found under Release > Blockout Periods > Action > Duplicate Blockout Periods.
Environment Booking Smart Alerts for Phase Date Changes
- When a Release Phase date has been changed and an existing booking may be conflicted, an alert window will appear on screen to notify the user.
- In the alert window, users can choose the way they want to deal with these conflicts.
- Users have three options to solve the conflicts as follows:
- Accept all conflicts and keep current booking dates
- Shift all conflicting booking dates to new phase dates
- Manage booking dates one-by-one
Add TEBRs, TECRs and Reports to My Favorites List
- Users can now add TEBRs or TECRs to their favorite items list to access those TEBRs or TECRs with fewer clicks.
- An ‘Add to Favourites’ star icon has been added to the TEBR or TECR window located at the top right-hand corner.
- Once the TEBR or TECR has been marked as a Favorite, users can access this window by hovering the mouse over the Environments Menu, and the corresponding Favorite item will be displayed at the bottom of the menu.
- By clicking the star icon in the menu, users can remove the TEBR or TECR from the Favorites list.
Adding Comments for Preventative Measures and Actions in Post Implementation Review
- Users can add their comments to each Preventative Measure or Action items when viewing PIR item details.
- This new functionality can be accessed for existing Preventative Measures or Actions under the PIR item details window > The right part of the window > click the Show Comments button in a certain Preventative Measure or Action item > add/reply/delete comments.
- For newly created Preventative Measures or Actions by clicking the Add button on the right top corner, users need to save them first via clicking the Save button before adding comments. After this save operation, the Show Comments button will show up at the bottom of each Preventative Measure or Action item.
- Comments under each Preventative Measure or Action item could be hidden for the purpose of conciseness.
JIRA Integration Adaptor (Self-Service)
- The JIRA Rest-API integration has been moved off Plutora’s internal servers and can be set up by end-users easily using the Plutora front-end.
- Users can now integrate JIRA and Plutora using a self-service integration adaptor provided out of the box. The JIRA integration is a two-way integration with real-time synchronization between Plutora and JIRA.
- This new feature can be accessed from Settings
> Customization > Integration > JIRA Integration. - This is compatible with JIRA version 6 and up.
ServiceNow Integration Adaptor (Self-Service)
- The ServiceNow Rest-API integration has been moved off Plutora’s internal servers and can be set up by end-users easily using the Plutora front-end.
- Users can now integrate ServiceNow and Plutora using a self-service integration adaptor provided out of the box. The JIRA integration is a two-way integration with real-time synchronization between Plutora and ServiceNow.
- This new feature can be accessed from Settings > Customization > Integration > ServiceNow Integration.
Functional Enhancements
Release Manager
Color Customization for Blockout Periods
- Users can choose a specific color for each Blockout Period item after opening the Blockout Periods detail window.
- This option is under Release > Blockout Periods > Block-out Periods details window > Blockout Type Color.
Duplicating Blockout Periods
- Instead of recreating identical Blockout Periods item-by-item, users can now easily duplicate their existing Blockout Period by selecting ‘Duplicate Blockout Period‘.
- This can be found under Release > Blockout Periods > Action > Duplicate Blockout Periods.
Email Daily Digest – Email Template Wizard
- Instead of users receiving many email notifications for Release and/or Project Activities, users can now set up an email digest. This will allow users to receive one daily consolidated email with all activity notifications.
- This can be setup using the ‘Release Activities’ trigger in the Email Template Wizard.
Environment Manager
Environment and Environment Group Separation
- By clicking the ‘Add Environment’ button in the TECR detail window, users can now select either Environment or Environment Group to create a new Environment. This allows the user to efficiently add an Environment Group.
New Customization Option for TECR
- Users can now set whether their new TECRs will show on “Environment Schedule”.
- This new feature can be accessed from Settings > Customization > Environments > TECR Setup and its default value is “No”.
General Email Template Wizard Enhancement
- Users now have more trigger options for each entity in the Email Template Wizard.
- This new feature can be accessed from Customization > Email Template Wizard > Add or Edit > Entity and Trigger.
Deployment Manager
Group tasks functionality improvement for Deployment Activities
- Grouped Deployment Tasks can be easily ungrouped into single tasks by clicking on the new Ungroup Tasks item found under Group > Ungroup Tasks.
Swapping between labeling items by status or name in the Master Plan view
- A new ‘Show Activity Titles’ checkbox for the Master Plan has been added which allow users to select an activity based on its title or its status.
- An Export to XLS button to the top right corner of the Master Plan window has been added.
- Both of the new features can be accessed under Deployment > Master Plan > on the top right-hand corner of the Master Plan window.
Sort Deployment Plans Alphabetically in the Master Plan view
- All plans are sorted automatically based on alphabetical order in the window of Master Plan.
Default to last viewed settings in the Master Plan view
- When users re-open the Master Plan window, they will see the settings that are kept from their previous session.
- This new feature is applied to four fields in the Master Plan window, including Releases, Interval Type, Interval Value and the width of each re-sizable column.
Master Plan by Systems – Open deployment plan by clicking on the Info icon
- By clicking the Information icon, users can now see details of the specific deployment plan in the Master Plan by Systems window.
Display all activity statuses below the Releases and Groups selectors in the Master Plan view
- The Status of the Deployment Plan Activities has been moved below the Releases and Groups selectors. Instead of scrolling the status selector bar, users now can see activity statuses directly in the Master Plan by Systems window.
Deployment Broadcasting Enhancement
- Additional options have been added to the broadcasting of emails with the Deployment Plan and they include:
- If an activity has not yet started on time
- If an activity has not yet ended on time.
Custom Columns in Deployment Plan
- The ability to customize columns in Deployment Plans have been added.
- Administrators can customize these in Settings > Customization > Deployments > Deployment Plan Custom Columns.
- Administrators can customize these in Settings
Post Implementation Review
Ability to Add Actions for PIR items
- An Action can be created and assigned to a user for them to do to complete the PIR item.
Ability to Assign Preventative Measures and Actions to Users without a Plutora Login
- External users can be assigned to Preventative Measures and Actions by adding a First Name, Last Name and Email address.
- Previously only current users in Plutora could be assigned.
Access PIR items (Actions & Preventative Measures ) via a Secure Token URL
- Users have the ability to send a PIR item to be filled out by the corresponding user whether they are a user in Plutora or a non-user of Plutora.
- Basic information about the PIR is sent along with a secure URL that will take them to the PIR item.
Commentary for Root Cause
- Users can add comments to Root Cause Commentary regarding to a specific PIR item directly in PIR item details window which will help them to be more efficient in communication.
My PIR Actions
- A new tab has been added to the inbox of the user called “My PIR Actions”.
- If a Preventative Measure or an Action has been assigned to you, the PIR item will appear here.
Report Manager
My Favorites List – also available for Reports
- Users can now add their most interesting report to the favorite items list to quickly access those reports with fewer clicks.
- An ‘Add to Favorites‘ star icon has been added to the top right-hand corner of the Reports window.
- Once the report has been marked as a Favorite, users can access this window by hovering the mouse over the Reporting Menu, and Report Favorites will be displayed at the bottom of the menu.
- By clicking the star icon under the menu, users can remove the report from the Favorites list.
Usage Report
- This report will allow users to view the statistics of how many users use Plutora.
Ability to export to PDF and schedule data grids with charts
- Users who create charts to support the data grid will be able to export or schedule these charts along with the data.
- Previously, only the data grid was exported.
Common
Add description column to Custom Fields
- In the custom fields customizations, users can now add in descriptions which will then show up to all users in the form of a tooltip. This will allow users to add in detailed information about what each custom (additional information) field is set up to do.
Bug Fixes
Release Manager
| Fix |
| The Changes grid in the Release Manager section now persists properly when the user removes or adds columns. |
Environment Manager
| Fix |
| In the Environment Schedule, blank bars no longer appear. The TEBR title is now populated when ‘Bookings with Environment only’ is selected. |
| In the TEBR form, Environment Groups can now be correctly dragged & drop to be booked. |
| If ‘Booking with Project Release’ is selected in the TEBR form, it no longer shows all environments listed in the Release but rather, only the environments created from the TEBR form. |
| The TEBR form and grid only shows Environments that are booked from the TEBR form. The Release > Environments tab still shows all Environment Bookings however. |
Report Manager
| Fix |
| Blockout Period times have been included in the Add Reports > Blockouts report. |
Common
| Fix |
| The Announcement feed has been improved to reduce CPU usage. |
