We are happy to announce that Totara Learn Version 11 has just been released. It has plenty to offer, from innovations, patches to bug fixes, as the Totara team constantly strives to improve and meet the wishes and expectations of its users.
Although at first sight not very different from Totara Learn 10, the 11th release has a few extra features, especially when it comes to supporting GDPR compliance.
For this occasion, we decided to list some of the main new features, which Totara 11 offers:
User data privacy and protection
As already mentioned, the main focus of this new Totara release as well as the reason for releasing a new version earlier than usual is user data privacy and protection. Ever since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been announced, it has given rise to discusssions, both among organizations and Totara users. What will change under the GDPR? What are the benefits for businesses and for users? How will the new set of rules actually work in practice? Are organizations prepared for it? Those are just some of the frequently asked questions.
GDPR, which comes into effect on 25 May 2018, has already been discussed on our blog. Although it is primarily an EU law, it affects everyone who has any EU users in their system, regardless of whether the organization is based in the EU or not.
New features to support GDPR compliance
Site policies
Administrators will now be able to create a site-wide user policy that can easily be updated. At the same time, this policy provides transparency to all Totara Learn users and provides information on who has access to their data and what the data will be used for.
Data access and export
One the one hand, this feature enables administrators to export all user data, review, and send them to users. Users, on the other hand, will get the export file where they will be able to see what type of data has been processed on the Totara Learn site.
Purge types
In addition to user data management, a new plugin has been added. Administrators will be able to create “purge types” that will allow them to specify which data will be deleted or anonymized. This feature supports GDPR compliance in so far as it offers more control over what data is removed and at the same time supports users with the “right to be forgotten”.
New site registration
New site registration applies to sites upgrading and beyond. The main idea behind this new feature is to keep track of how many Totara sites there are. Make sure that you have a registration code before you upgrade, whether through your Totara partner or directly from Totara Learning. Once you enter this code, certain information will be sent back to Totara Learn, such as a site identifier and a URL. However, it is important to point out that no personal data will be sent. Totara Learn offers plenty of documentation and support on this topic, where they explain the entire process step by step.
Other new features in Totara 11
Among the main focus on the GDPR-compliance, here are some future ones, which should also get your attention:
Schedule reports
If you ever wanted to gain the details about already existing scheduled reports, how often they run and who receives them - this is now possible with Totara 11 thanks to the new report source that has been added. Moreover, users will be allowed to create scheduled reports themselves. Users will also be able to send a copy of the scheduled reports to themselves.
Conditional access
Imagine you have a course with an activity or material that should be available only to users within a certain department, users with a certain position and/or a group of users speaking a certain language. In addition to already existing restrictions, Totara 11 enables administrators to restrict the access to course material, based on those three information from user profiles.
Featured links blocks
Since Totara 10, admins were able to upload any image in order to create a tile-based navigation. Totara 11 takes this feature a step further as from now there are two new title types: programs and certifications. Moreover, you can now decide whether tiles will be shaped as a square, portrait, landscape, or full width. We find this feature very helpful in giving your Totara an individual look and making it even more appealing to users.
Persistant login
Have you ever been slightly annoyed when the system automatically logs you off after being inactive on a site for a while? One click on the “Remember me” box on the login page and users will be able to remain logged into Totara Learn without the system automatically logging them off after a certain amount of time.
Seminar clash warnings
You no longer have to worry about schedule conflicts because this new Totara 11 feature makes the easier. When you want to add a new date to a wait-listed seminar events, and there is a scheduling conflict, Totara informs you about it.
Tags added on programs and certifications
This feature is especially useful because it allows users to search for a certain program or certification by clicking on the tag they are interested in, making the entire search more effective.
To conclude, Totara 11 makes your LMS GDPR-compliant and provides for more transparency. This will be key to building trust between organizations and users.
You can find the entire list of new features and bug fixes in Totara’s Learn Release Notes. If you have any questions about Totara 11 or GDPR, join our upcoming webinar or leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
