A Note from Chris on the September Release
Listen to a recap from our CEO as he details the focus of this release and provides an update on new features to look out for.
“Introducing Storefront E-Commerce!”
– Chris Federspiel, Co-founder & CEO
September Release General Announcement
A note from Andrea Adcock, Chief Product Officer
In August, we celebrated the release of many long-awaited new features and introduced Blackthorn Storefront. We are now taking measures to reduce delays within our monthly release process. These measures will scale to meet the growth of our products and restore our release cadence.
Immediate Actions:
- September Release: Our September Events release shipped without Data Persistence enabled. In this way, our team can continue final testing on this critical feature without further delays in delivering the September monthly release. Once final testing is complete, an early access program will make Data Persistence available to a select customer audience.
- October Release: The October Events release is being streamlined to include only critical bug fixes and our generally available release of the Data Persistence feature. This step reduces the scope of testing for our Quality team and lets us close the gap on release cadence.
Long-term Solutions:
- Quarterly Planning: Teamwide quarterly planning will provide for more holistic resource and dependency planning.
- Continuous Integration Improvements: The Blackthorn portfolio now includes 12 different Salesforce Managed packages and 17 active webapps, services, Node packages, and mobile applications. We are experiencing a growing number of technical dependencies and other complexities with each release that impact development, quality, and release. These factors frequently roll-up to create delays during final testing. We are working on a cross-product continuous integration system that will detect and resolve issues sooner in the development cycle to prevent last minute delays.
We truly appreciate your understanding and patience as we work diligently to bring our software releases back on track. If you have any questions or would like more detailed information regarding our plan, please feel free to contact me – andrea@blackthorn.io.
Minor Update Release Notes
Blackthorn Events
- Campaign Sync Update: Users can now add Attendees from a Campaign on the Event’s Attendees tab, the Add Attendees button on the Campaign, and via the Event Auto-Sync field on the Campaign. In each scenario, the BT Event Attendee Duplicate Rule will be respected, and no duplicate records will be created. Previously, if One Unique Email Per Event = “False” and one or more campaign members were already Event Attendees, then duplicate Attendee records were created.
- Event Builder Update for Webinars: When using the Event Builder, users can now click Reuse Webinar Information from Event to copy webinar details from an Event record to a Session record. Previously, this option was present, but it was not functional. NOTE: This feature is a one-time shortcut. It does not set up an ongoing sync between the Event’s and Session’s webinar details.
- Big List Fix for Dynamic UI: A Form Big List Option will now load when registering for an Event that uses the Dynamic UI. Previously, Form Big List Options did not load. The other Event UI options were not affected. (Known Issue: 000002978)
Blackthorn Payments
Payment Gateway Object Update The following fields were added to the Payment Gateway object.
- Field Name: TouchNet uPay Site ID
- API Name:
bt_stripe__TouchNet_uPay_Site_ID__c - Data Type: Text(15)
- Field Name: TouchNet uPay Site URL
- API Name:
bt_stripe__TouchNet_uPay_Site_URL__c - Text(255)
- CVC Optional Feature for Virtual Terminal: A new custom setting called Make CVC Field Optional has been added to the Blackthorn Payments | Virtual Terminal custom settings. This setting allows users to make the CVC field optional when adding a new credit card Payment Method in the Virtual Terminal. The default setting is for the CVC field to be required.
Blackthorn Messaging
- Improvements on A2P Submission Process: The A2P submission process is crucial for businesses and organizations that send automated messages to users’ phone numbers. To enhance this process, we added a new step called Account Activation that will occur between the Account Registration and Phone Number Setup steps.
- Validating A2P Details: Validating A2P details is a crucial step that occurs when sending automated messages to users via platforms like Twilio. This step includes reviewing and verifying the information provided by the business or organization who intends to use the A2P messaging services.
- Searching Phone Numbers: During Twilio’s review and approval period, users can search for and use Phone Numbers by utilizing toll-free phone numbers. This feature ensures that businesses can continue their operations and prepare for A2P messaging without causing any interruptions.
Blackthorn Storefront (Grand Opening)
Storefront is a Salesforce-native digital eCommerce application designed to sell digital goods, services, donations, and course enrollments. It provides all the necessary tools to manage one or more customizable stores built on Salesforce, leveraging the existing security infrastructure for every transaction.
Click to learn more about this new product!
Storefront Release NotesBlackthorn Customer Support Notes
Data Persistence Testing
For customers experiencing delayed updates to event and event group sites, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or email the team at success@blackthorn.io for an off-cycle release that will include Data Persistence for testing. This will be available to the first dozen customers to make the request, are willing to provide feedback to the Product team, and have non-production orgs (sandboxes) available for testing.
New Tips & Tricks for Managing Your Cases in our Customer Community
- We have gotten a bit of feedback that it’s hard to view case comments when logged into our Community. We have a quick fix for that. When logged into our customer community, when viewing one of your cases, you can actually click into the Case Comments Related List and Wrap Text on the Comment Tab. Here is a video on how to do this!
- Previously customers were only able to reopen cases via email to case. We have added a new feature where Community Users can reopen a case right from our customer community. Please note if case was closed more than 7 days ago, a new case should be submitted using our support request form found here.
New Self Service Subscription! Increase your licenses in the Blackthorn Community, even if you require a PO.
Need to add a few more licenses to your existing subscription quickly, but require a PO for every purchase? You can now add and pay for them via the Blackthorn Community. Simply log into community.blackthorn.io and look for the subscriptions tab.
Blackthorn News & Events
Midwest Higher Ed Trailblazer Forum 10/12
This free in-person event will take place October 12th in the brand new Salesforce Chicago Tower. We can’t wait to reconnect and share more stories of innovation. The day will start with a breakfast keynote, followed by a full day of breakout sessions led by your peer institutions. We will wrap up the day with a toast to you and celebration on the Tower’s newly opened Ohana Floor.
Salesforce Tower Chicago
Chicago, IL 60654
2023 Advancement Forum 10/16-18
Huron, Salesforce, Blackthorn, UC Innovation, Affinaquest, FormAssembly, and Nintex are bringing together leaders from their respective development and alumni relations teams to provide you with an opportunity to engage and network with your peers. There will be institutions attending at all different stages in their journey. We are looking to build upon the success of past Advancement forums as solution offerings continue to mature and prove successful for advancement operations.
The forum provides you the opportunity to meet a team of experts and sponsors to discuss technology, strategy, and governance, and experience cutting-edge demos to support your digital transformation. If you’re interested in attending please contact Matt Frank at mattfrank@blackthorn.io for more information.
The St. Julien Hotel & Spa
900 Walnut St, Boulder, CO 80302
Salesforce Community College Day 10/17
You’re invited to an exclusive Salesforce event designed for Community Colleges in Illinois and surrounding states. Join us to network with your peers, learn more about Salesforce reporting & analytics and share experience at topical round table discussions.
Get a ticket or email Courtney Williams at courtneywilliams@salesforce.com to RSVP.
Florida Dreamin’ Event 10/22-24
We’re bringing the Engagement Suite to the Beach for the 2023 edition of Florida Dreamin’ at a newer, bigger location in Clearwater Beach, FL! The registration may look a little familiar to our Events users because Blackthorn is the Registration sponsor again this year. This community-led Salesforce conference is designed to bring you the latest Salesforce content, training, and opportunities to the Florida Ohana, and we can’t wait to see you there!
Sheraton Sand Key Resort
1160 Gulf Blvd.
Clearwater Beach, Florida, 33767
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