Dear Catalog Users and Community members,
As we bid farewell to 2023, it's time to reflect on the incredible journey we've had throughout the year. Catalog has been steadfast in its commitment to innovation, growth, and most importantly, serving our valued users. As we delve into this comprehensive yearly review, join us in celebrating the strides we've made, the features we've introduced, and the milestones we've achieved. 2023 has been a year of groundbreaking advancements and remarkable enhancements, and we're thrilled to share the highlights with you in this feature-packed summary.
Search improvements
One of our main goals was to help learners find relevant content faster.
At the start of 2023, we enhanced our search functionality to encompass not only titles but also descriptions, offering a more comprehensive search experience.
Recently, we’ve introduced weighted search to improve on the search experience a bit more - results are weighted by where the search term is found in the listing. The search returns listings with title matches first, followed by tag matches, then description matches.
More control for Catalog admins
We've also directed our attention towards granting Catalog admins additional controls, empowering them to tailor their Catalogs according to their specific requirements. This allows them to customize without the need for separate requests to be handled by us.
These were:
Supporting payments
As Catalog plays a pivotal role in assisting institutions to generate revenue, we are actively working to support the most requested integrations and incorporate additional features to streamline revenue management.
This year we’ve contributed to this goal by these items:
New and improved Catalog Analytics
Our biggest highlight of this year was with launching the new and improved Catalog Analytics. Catalog Analytics is now updated to equip users with improved filtering and search functionality, new report types, enhanced reports, and a more user-friendly export mechanism. This update delivered an improved view for admins to better drive student enrollment and understand student engagement.
Based on your feedback, after the release we’ve added these features:
- Use Past month as default filter
- Add report type to email title
- Add option that a certificate is offered but not yet earned
- Extend enrollment date information
- Add certificates on the listing tab + filter
- Add Order ID search
- Add API solution
And yes, we’ve heard you - most of you miss the graph view. Fear not, during this quarter’s Hackweek we’ve worked on bringing back the optional graph view to Analytics, so stay tuned!
New features for Catalog admins
Over the past two quarters, our focus has been on developing new features tailored to support the needs of non-traditional learners. Additionally, we've implemented features that grant greater control to administrators in managing subcatalog admin permissions. If you haven't had the chance to explore these updates, they're all accessible in beta and are scheduled for production release on January 8th, 2024. We eagerly encourage you to test them out and share your feedback with us. Your input is highly valued as we strive to enhance our offerings.
Improving the User Interface
For every new feature introduced this year, our goal has been to enhance the user experience too. These enhancements were largely shaped by your valuable feedback in the community and during customer calls, all while ensuring accessibility remains a key consideration. The most substantial improvements can be observed on both the Subcatalog Admins page and the Listings page. Take a moment to explore these updates and share your thoughts with us! Your feedback matters.
SOC2 Compliance
We’ve announced the attainment of SOC2 attestation for Canvas Catalog, a stringent standard set by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). This attestation verifies Instructure's effective information security policies and procedures, ensuring the secure management of customer data. Achievements include data security assurance, enhanced privacy measures, compliance with industry standards, and the bolstering of customer trust and confidence.
Plans for 2024
In the upcoming year, 2024, we have an array of ambitious goals set in place. Our primary focus will revolve around enhancing the cross-product experience within Instructure's suite of products, particularly between Catalog and Canvas. We're excited to introduce the Catalog Storefront Theme Editor, eliminating the need for custom JS and CSS, as well as refining user-defined fields and implementing CRM integration. Additionally, we aim to empower admins with the ability to modify certain data in Analytics while maintaining an audit log/history feature. Improvements in the registration and enrollment processes, integration with Credentials, facilitation of refunds, and a strong emphasis on ensuring accessibility, with a goal of achieving WCAG 2.1 compliance, are also on our agenda.
Stay tuned for our Roadmap update as we continue to evolve and innovate to meet these objectives!
Holiday Wishes
As we close this remarkable year, we want to express our heartfelt thanks for your incredible support, ideas, and feedback. Your contributions have been invaluable, guiding us every step of the way.
Wishing you all a joyful holiday season filled with warmth and happiness. Thank you for being an integral part of our journey. Here's to an amazing year ahead!
Warm regards,
The Catalog Team
