New Unified PO Line Task List

Enabling the New Interface

The new Unified PO Line Task List User Interface is being gradually rolled out to production. For more information regarding the detailed roll-out plan for the interface, see Unified PO Line Task List. Once your institution activates the option for users to enable/disable the new layout (see Feature Rollout Configuration), a new Feature Rollout Configuration menu link is added to the User menu. 

1. In the User menu , select Feature Rollout Preferences. The Feature Rollout Preferences page opens.
2. Select the switch beside New Unified PO Line Task List Category Acquisition. The new interface is activated, the Feature Rollout Configuration page closes, and the Alma Home page opens. For additional information about the Feature Rollout Configuration page, see Opting In or Out of a New Feature.
    

Enabling new PO line layout

General Overview

A new All PO Lines menu link enables users to view all PO lines in all their types and workflow steps (statuses). All existing PO line menu links (Renew, Review Deferred, Renew, Package) navigate the user to the new unified task list with the relevant facets pre-selected. This also applies when entering the PO line list from the Task List icon .

The PO line search results are now presented with all the various PO line workflow steps (statuses) and tasks, on a single page. Below is a screenshot highlighting the main elements in the new user interface. Below the screenshot you can find explanations for each element.

1. Task list as facets — The new facet options for assignments (Unassigned, Assigned to me, Assigned to others) enables the user to search for PO lines and edit them (without the extra step of "Go to task list").

   The new unified PO line task list does not automatically assign PO lines to users who are viewing/editing the PO lines. If there is a need to assign a PO line to a specific user, this can be achieved using the Assign to action for the relevant PO line. You can also assign a single or multiple PO lines to a user with the Assign Selected option above the PO line search results (see Top List Actions).

   Note that the Create Logical Set button will not display when accessing the All PO line menu link. It will only appear once a facet is applied or after an Order Line search.

   

   A clear and prominent information hierarchy of the PO line search results enables Acquisitions staff users reviewing the PO line's search result list to find what they need faster and with less navigation needs. Here are the main modifications:

2. Multi-select facets — The ability to select multiple facets and select Apply in a single operation enables the Acquisitions staff to focus on the PO line/s with simplicity and efficiency. You can still select a specific facet and filter the list immediately by selecting the specific facet name. 
3. Full page refresh — This clickable icon allows the user to refresh the entire page, including facets and search results. Whenever the icon appears with a green dot, there may be a need to refresh the page in order to make sure all the facets and search results are updated.
   For example, in a scenario where the page facet for Workflow Steps is set to "In-Review" and the user selects Save and Continue for a specific PO line, the PO line changes from "In-Review" to "Auto-Packaging/Manual Packaging" and remains on the screen (even though the page facet  is still set to "In-Review").
   In this case, a green dot appears next to the "Full page refresh" icon, to reflect that the search results presentation on the page needs to be refreshed.
4. "Select all" checkbox — This checkbox can be used to select all the records on the current page and apply bulk actions using the Top list actions (see Top List Actions below). Users can select records from multiple pages. Note that the more records you select, the longer the bulk operation will take. If all items are selected on a page, selecting this button will deselect all the items on the page.
5. Sort by — The sort functionality was added to help users focus the list of PO line search results according to their preferences. This selection is kept across sessions. The list can be sorted by Title, Modification Date, Creation Date and Sent Date. The Ascending/Descending option can be used to arrange the list.
6. Top list actions — The actions presented on top of the search results list  are context sensitive according to the user selection. The top list actions are enabled when single/multiple PO lines are selected. The top list actions are:  
   • Create new PO — This action enables packaging of multiple PO lines, whose workflow step is "Manual-Packaging", into a PO. If a selected PO line is not in the "Manual-Packaging" step, the operation will not apply to it.
   • Change Expected Date — This action enables modifying multiple PO lines whose workflow step is "In Claim", and setting their expected receipt date. If a selected PO line is not in the "In Claim" step, the operation will not apply to it. 
   • Manage Labels — This action enables the user to add/remove labels from multiple PO lines at once (see Labels).
   • Assign Selected — This action enables users to Assign to themselves/ Release Assignment /Assign to for multiple PO lines at once. This operation is context sensitive to user roles. Some of the operations may not appear for users without the proper role.
     
     If the user selected to run a bulk operation on a PO line that does not support the selected operation (for example, Create New PO for a PO line whose workflow step is not Manual Packaging), the operation skips this PO line and an appropriate message appears:
     
     
      
7. Export — This operation exports to Excel, all the PO line information presented in the search results.
8. Record, Sections and Facets customization  — This clickable icon enables users to manage their preferences for 2 elements on the page: 
   1. Record customization — Enables users to determine which information will be presented/hidden when reviewing the search results.
   2. Sections customization — Enables users to set the order for the sections that are presented in the right panel of the Split View (see Split View below). From here you can also hide sections.
   3. (New for November) Facet customization — Enables users to reorder and/or hide facets. See Customizing Facets for more information.
9. Create Logical Set — This operation allows users to save the search results to a logical set that can be used to run Manual Jobs.
10. Personalized presentation toggle button  — This button enables users to determine the way the PO line is presented on the page. Selecting this button toggles the presentation on the page between the following two options:
    1. List View — The full list of PO lines is displayed in a single panel across the page.
       
       If the user selects one of the PO lines in the list, the PO line will open in "Full View" on the entire page.
       
       Select the X icon at the top of the side (details) pane to close it and return to the full list of PO lines.
       
       For details of the Full View see New Unified PO Line Task List User Interface - Full Page View.
    2. Split View  — The full list of PO lines displays on the left panel in the page, with more information about the currently selected PO line in the right panel.
       
       Select the Full View icon to open the page in full view.
       
       Select the Split View icon to return to the split view.
       
       Select the X icon at the top of the side (details) pane to close it and return to the full list of PO lines.
       
       To open the side (details) window again, simply select one of the PO lines in the full list.
       
       Users can determine the width of the left/right panel by dragging to the left or right, the vertical ruler that separates between the left and right panels.
       
       For details of the Split View see New Unified PO Line Task List User Interface - Split View (Side By Side View).
11. Clear information hierarchy in the search results
    • The PO line identifier and workflow step (status) are now on separate lines. 
    • Permanent location for the PO line type and workflow step (status).
    • More prominent location for the PO line's price (on top of the main record action). Fund and vendor (first column) information is set to grant staff users a quick overview on mandatory information.
    • Additional icons for:
      •  Alerts 
      •  Note to Vendor
      •  Invoice Lines
      • Attachments
      •  Receiving note 
      •  Activation note 
      •  Interested User
      • Rush  
      • Labels  (see Labels below for more information.)
        
        The addition of the icons above is set to improves the user's ability to quickly focus on the needed information within the PO line record. These icons present the users with additional information when hovering over them with the mouse. They navigate the users to the relevant view/edit section upon selecting them.
         
    • The new PO line list of search results supports assignment functionality for all types of PO lines (excluding PO lines in Closed and Cancelled workflow steps). A clear indication on the PO line record enables users to quickly understand the PO line assignment status:
      • Assigned to Me PO lines have a dark grey badge indicating that the PO line is assigned to them: 
      • Assigned to Others PO lines have a white badge indicating that the PO line is assigned to another person:
      • Unassigned PO lines have no indication badge

12. Save and Continue action - The Save and Continue action is available only for PO lines that are in the workflow step (status) "In-Review". It  is equivalent to the Save and Continue action in the previous PO line user interface. When selecting this action, Alma attempts to progress the PO line to the next step of the workflow (Manual/Auto packaging) provided that all the mandatory fields are populated. The Order now action is also available and progresses the PO line in the workflow as well.
13. Dedicated "Edit" action - While clicking anywhere on the record will open the PO line in "View mode", selecting the dedicated Edit icon, will open the PO line immediately for editing (if the user has relevant editing roles and privileges).

Split (Side By Side) View

To improve the usability of the unified PO line task list, a "side-by-side" view presentation enables users to view a list of PO lines on one side and detailed information regarding the selected PO line on the other side. The right panel holds relevant information regarding the PO line, for users with relevant roles. This information is editable in the panel, preventing users from needing to navigate to a specific PO line editing screen.

To open this view, click anywhere on the PO line record or select the Split View toggle (see Split View). 

The general elements which characterize the side-by-side view are numbered in the following screenshot, followed by explanations for each element:

1. Compact left side record view —This view presents users with key information regarding the PO lines they would like to work on. Clicking on a specific PO line from the left panel selects it and presents detailed information regarding the PO line on the right panel.
2. Right side panel — This panel presents detailed information regarding the selected PO line.

3. "Sections" panel — This panel holds a list of all the available sections for the selected PO line. This section enables quick navigation between the various sections. This navigation can also be done manually using the mouse scroll button on the right panel. Under the internal sections are links for viewing additional information relating to the PO line:
   
   Selecting one of these links opens a "Slide-out" Panel with more information for that PO line.
   
4. Left/right panel actions — For users with editing privileges, the left/right panel actions enable the user to perform functional actions on a PO line, such as Assign to Me, Release Assignment, etc.
5. Navigation arrows — These arrows enable users to navigate to the next/previous PO line presented within the left panel.
6. "X" icon — This closes the right panel and returns the user to the "List-view" presentation which presents the full list of PO lines in a single panel across the page.(see List View).
7. "Refresh" indication — This notifies the user that there were elements (PO lines) on the list which were modified and there is a need to refresh the list. While there is no mandatory need to refresh the list, in some cases refreshing the list will cause PO lines to disappear from it. This may occur for example if the Assigned to Me facet was selected and the user selected the Release assignment action. In this case, the PO line still remains in the list in order to prevent the user from losing the orientation. To present only PO lines that are Assigned to Me, the user needs to select the "Refresh" icon.

Full Page View

The full page view displays the details for the currently selected PO line, spread over the entire screen. This enables maximum width presentation to the user, and focused editing of a single PO line.

To activate this view, in Split View, select the Full Page icon.

 

The presentation is similar to the display of the right panel in the "Split View" mode.

1. "Sections" panel — This panel holds a list of all the available sections for the selected PO line. The purpose of this section is to enable quick navigation between the various sections. This navigation can also be done manually by using the mouse scroll button. In addition to the internal section navigation, users can click on the additional information links to view more information relating to the PO line within a "Slide-out" Panel (see Slide-Out Panel).
   
2. Back to "Side-by-side" view — In order to go back to the "Side-by-side" view, users can select the dedicated icon and easily return to the previous view. This icon only displays when the Split View is enabled (see Split View). 

Slide-Out Panel

The slide out panel enables users to access entities that relate to the PO line while keeping the PO line in the background at all times. The For example, a user who works on a PO line and would like to view/modify the information of the item associated with that PO line, can select on the Edit action in the Ordered Items section.

This opens a sliding panel that holds the item's information.

You can also open the panel by selecting one of the additional information sections. 

Additional Functionality

The new unified PO line task list was enhanced with more functionality, as described below:

1. The Go to task list action was deprecated.
2. The "Assigned to Me", Assigned to Others" and "Unassigned" tabs, were moved to the facets panel.
3. A new option to label PO lines was added. Every PO line has an +Add label action in the PO Line Summary section of the right panel. 
   
   Once a label is added, it can be searched for and it appears in the facets panel. Added labels are visible to all users who review the PO line.
   
   When adding labels to a PO line, all the labels added to other PO lines appear as options to add.
4. Seven new facets were added to the facet panel:
   1. Assignment — Presents the following options for users with relevant roles and privileges:
      • Assigned to Me
      • Assigned to Others
      • Unassigned
   2. PO line in Claim — The potential values are:
      • Yes
      • No
   3. Sent Date — The potential values are:
      • Not yet sent
      • This week
      • This month
      • In the past 6 months
      • More than 6 months ago
   4. Renewal date — The potential values are:
      • Undefined
      • Earlier than today
      • In a week
      • In 2 weeks
      • In a month
      • Over a month
   5. Creation Date — The potential values are:
      • This week
      • This month
      • In the past 6 months
      • More than 6 months ago
   6. Labels — Presents the users with the labels associated with the PO lines in the search results. For a a long list of labels, it is recommended to use the Find specific facet option located on the top of the facet panel. See Labels for information on adding labels.
   7. Material type — Presents user with the material types associated with PO lines in the list.
5. An option to search for a specific facet value was added to the top of the facets panel.
   
6. A new advanced search UX enables users to perform complex "nested search" queries. This is in addition to a new "Or" operator that is now available, when using the advanced search for a complex query that has more than one row of parameters.
7. Eight new search indexes were added to the advanced search:
   1. PO Line in Claim— This has the optional values of Yes/No.
   2. Assignment — This enables users to search PO lines by the assignment they are in, provided they have the relevant roles/privileges. It has the following optional values:
      •  Assigned to Me
      • Assigned to Others
      • Unassigned
   3. Assigned user — This option allows users to locate PO lines assigned to specific users (although this option is also visible in the classic interface, it is only fully functional with the new interface).
   4. Alert — This option allows users to locate PO lines with specific alerts (although this option is also visible in the classic interface, it is only fully functional with the new interface).
   5. Creation Date — This option allows users to locate PO line by the date they were created.
   6. Sent Date — This option allows users to locate PO line by the date they were sent.
   7. Renewal Date — This option allows users to locate PO line by the date the subscription was renewed.
   8. Labels — This option allows users to locate PO line by the labels they are associated with. See Labels for information on adding labels.
8. A new Receive option is available for Physical PO lines. This option receives the item and progresses it to the next step in the fulfillment process. There is no option to Keep in department as exists in the Receive New Material page (Acquisitions > Receiving and Invoicing > Receive). This enhancement will be introduced in one of Alma's next releases.

9. The new Notes section allows users the option to see who originally created the note, as well as who last updated the note.
   ,
   A toggle button allows the user to select between a "Notes layout" visual presentation and a "List layout" visual presentation.
   
     
                                                                   List Layout                                                                               Notes Layout
10. The Interested Users section was enhanced to present the list of 100 first users upfront, when selecting a user. As with most fields, this field displays the five "Recent Selections" values and enables the user to type in order to limit the search.
    
    After selecting an Interested User, a notification box appears for the user to update the relevant details:
    • Notify user upon receiving activation
    • Hold item
    • Notify upon cancellation
      
      Alma automatically saves the changes when updating an option in this box. If the user cancels Edit mode for this PO line, the changes that were made for Interested User notifications will remain. 
    Close the box by selecting the X icon or selecting an area outside the box. The selections appear as icons next to the user name:
    
    This functionality also exists in the Notes section.

12. A new Items in Claim section. This section will only appear for PO lines that are in claim, and it will list the actual items that caused the PO line to enter Claim status. This enhancement is especially important for subscriptions, where users can see the information about the holdings (as they can with the existing interface), but enhanced with the new section elaborating on the specific items which were expected to arrive.