Release notes

📘

Important information to our bi-weekly maintenance window

We aim to deploy new releases quickly and often to the SaaS environment. Our goal is to create value for our users and customers continuously. Hence, we deploy most of our changes with a "zero downtime" approach where users are not interrupted in their daily work. These releases can happen multiple times a day without a user noticing.

However, in some rare cases, we cannot deploy a release without some downtime. Instead, we are working with a release cycle of two weeks, resulting in a scheduled maintenance window for the European networks every second Thursday at 6 pm CET. For the US networks, it's every second Friday at 9 am CET.

You can find more information about unplanned downtime caused by maintenance or any other issue on status.starmind.com.

Release week 18.11.2024

• Search results now include people with matching values in the company field.
• We removed the “Fast Answers” and “Received Kudos” modules from the Home and updated the others’ UI.

Release week 04.11.2024

• We’re now displaying the “Request validation” button for expired answers more prominently on the answer card, along with an informative text.

Release week 14.10.2024

• We're officially retiring the old analytics dashboard! As part of this update, we've streamlined the Virtual Success Manager and Insights page by removing metrics that are also available in the new dashboard. This change provides a more focused and efficient analytics experience. All metric export functionalities remain accessible in the admin area. Please let your Account Manager know if you have any questions.

Release week 16.09.2024

• We have overhauled the admin area for topics to enable enriching topics with descriptions. These descriptions are used to better determine what the topic is about, find related topics and identify better experts. Some admin functionality has been removed because of lack of use. These actions can be requested as service tickets by clicking the "contact support" link.

Release Week 09.09.2024

• Previewing the approval dialogue text in the admin area shows the latest changes without saving. Additionally, non-activated users can now be added to answer verification groups.

Release Week 02.09.2024

• A click on a suggested person in the search's suggestion box brings the user directly to the person's profile.
• When opening the details to an expertise topic in your profile, you can now find an explanation of the score.
• The Home now shows a module that prompts users to endorse other users’ manually added expertise with little or no expertise. That way, we hope to get new users started faster. Please let us know if you have feedback on how we could improve it.

Release Week 26.08.2024

• We’re happy to announce that the new user profile as officially released. It celebrates the user’s expertise in its own way. Users can witness their contributions transform into a dynamic typestry of expertise, curated by Starmind yet always entirely under their control. They can add their own flair by adding additional expertise, career milestones, and projects.

Release Week 19.08.2024

• We’re continuously working to improve Starmind and better understand what features are most valuable to our users. In the latest release, you may notice a preview of a potential new feature, which we’re gauging interest for. If you have feedback to share with us, contact your dedicated Account Manager.

Release Week 12.08.2024

• We improved the usability of the navigation in the admin area.
• We improved the suggestions for the subscription module and now show more personalised options.

Release Week 01.07.2024

• By default, content with no activity in the last two years isn’t included in search results. This improves search performance in networks with a lot of old content. Users can include them via the filter panel.

Release Week 24.06.2024

• We are now informing users about new kudos through email and in-app notifications. Users can customise their preferences in their notification settings.

Release Week 17.06.2024

• We enhanced the subscription module to show the users the network’s trending subscriptions.
• The ask-question dialogue now shows the experts who would be informed about the question next to the topic input field to increase comprehensibility.

Release Week 10.06.2024

• We vamped up our empty states for the search overview page to ensure that users know they can ask questions or contact experts if there is no matching content.
• We updated the “question views” and “answered question views” metrics in the advanced analytics dashboard. They now show the aggregated total number of unique question views per day.

Release Week 03.06.2024

• We changed the information structure of the question view to make the most essential information easily accessible.

Release Week 27.05.2024

• We merged the two user appendix settings into one (available in the Admin area > Settings > Appendix user profile). Further, we deprecated the value “score_level” and "email". Your setting values should still be available.
• You can find an MS Teams button in the user profiles, which opens a private chat window with the user. If you want to change the button’s availability, contact us.

Release Week 21.05.2024

• We improved StarGPT’s UI to educate users better about valuable actions like inviting experts.
• We introduced an overview tab in the advanced analytics dashboard similar to the old dashboard (which will be removed soon—official communication will follow).
• The Expert Connect now shows three search examples to explain the feature’s value quickly. Examples can be clicked and tested.

Release Week 13.05.2024

• We updated the UI of Expert Connect to make its purpose more apparent to users from the beginning.
• Users can send direct messages to experts via email or MS Teams (depending on the network) by clicking the “message” button.
• We improved the profile preview card that is visible when hovering over an answer author’s name.

Release Week 06.04.2024

• We improved the user’s language setting page for clients with manual or automatic translations for better guidance with the available settings.
• We merged the “Hidden” and “System” user flags and call it “Technical User” from now on. Users flagged as technical will not be included in the expert search, gamification and analytics features.

Release Week 29.04.2024

• We tweaked our UI. We changed our (icon) font to increase readability on all devices. Besides that, we slightly changed the look of our cards and dialogues. Enjoy it!

Release Week 22.04.2024

• For poorly formatted questions (limited to English for now) in the ask-question dialogue, we show a visual cue that helps to write better questions. The aim is to educate users about writing good questions to increase the quality of the extracted topics and received answers.
• Users can now browse related topics in the Concept Explorer.
• Based on user feedback, Starmind remembers the latest selected "sort by" filter and sets it as a user's default for the next time they come back to the Feed.

Release Week 15.04.2024

• We display a description when hovering topics in the question view when our AI understands its context.

Release Week 08.04.2024

• Enjoy the latest update to the ask-question dialogue, where we display all relevant input fields in a row. This new structure helps users to focus on the task ahead. With that, the redesign is finalised.

Release Week 03.04.2024

• Click on a topic chip in the question view to experience the new topic page (called Concept Explorer) that goes beyond surfacing trends and contributions. The Concept Explorer provides real-time insights into topics and how they relate to your users and other knowledge pieces. As a next step, we'll also link the Concept Explorer to topic chips in other places, like the "related topics" module on the search results overview page.
• We now fully support Confluence and SharePoint as external data sources. Contact your Account Manager for more information.
• We deprecated the “predefined interest tags” setting as we have entirely replaced it with AI-assisted personalisation (e.g., onboarding and subscription module on the Home).

Release Week 25.03.2024

• We adapted the editor in the ask-question dialogue and now provide more formatting options. This change allows users to share code, for example. Additionally, we changed the design of the similar questions box.

Release Week 18.03.2024

• We have improved search by making query matching less strict. Now, if a query has many uncommon words, we try to match as many of them as possible.

Release Week 06.03.2024

• The "Accept answer" button is now at the top of the answer card in the header.
• We removed the "Rating" button at the bottom left of the answer card. Users who haven't rated an answer will see a "rate answer" button next to the rating stars.
• Users will now find a "Give kudos" button on the answer card. Whether someone shared a brilliant answer or offered valuable advice, it is the perfect way to say "thank you" and recognise contributions. It is a simple yet powerful way to celebrate the knowledge-sharing spirit while inspiring others to share their knowledge.
• Kudos user receive for their contributed answers are visible on their Home.

Release Week 26.02.2024

• We removed the network setting that controls which users (question author or everyone) see the "answer value" dialogue. If the feature is activated, all users who rate an answer with 4 or 5 stars will see the dialogue.
• Searches including concepts will include alternate labels (Search for AI and see results for artificial intelligence)

Release Week 19.02.2024

• Users who face the onboarding flow due to an empty expertise profile and who aren’t new users are now allowed to skip it. It will not be shown again in that case.
• We allow users to opt-in for user research (user interviews, surveys) on their notification page.

Release Week 29.01.2024

• We removed the "subscribe to category" functionality.

Release Week 15.01.2024

• We removed the anonymisation of the member list for Knowledge Spaces with less than five members.
• We updated the look and feel of the welcome email that new users receive.

Release Week 25.12.2023

• We released the new search results overview page to all customers.

Release Week 18.12.2023

• We started rolling out a new search results overview page to selected customers. The page highlights best-matching questions, experts, people and related topics based on the user’s search query. We’ll continue with the release to all customers in the next few days.
• The question edit view in Content Management now uses our new topic API endpoints. Question topics can be modified again without any issues.
• We updated the look and feel of the user invite email.

Release Week 11.12.2023

• We removed the "related topics" widget from the question view.
• Our Microsoft Teams integration is now officially available in the Microsoft Teams Marketplace.

Release Week 04.12.2023

• We simplified the UX of the recommend and share dialogues.
• Based on user feedback, we ensured that the answer editor isn't growing exponentially but gets scrollable when typing long answers.
• We reduced the number of tip emails for new users to one sent three days after their first login.

Release Week 27.11.2023

• We have some layout changes waiting for you, allowing us to use the available space better.
• Query matches in search results are now highlighted.
• We increased the contrast of our input fields to improve accessibility.

Release Week 20.11.2023

• Questions can be opened in a new browser tab.

Release Week 13.11.2023

• The timestamps in the user export file no longer include the UTC offset to support easy date formatting in Excel. Remember, the timestamps in the file are always still UTC.
• We removed the user search from the profile page. Users can still be found with their names through the main search.
• The extracted question topics can show additional context information in parentheses. Let your Account Manager know if you or your users spot inconsistencies.

Release Week 06.11.2023

• Upon first touch with the product, a new user is asked for the job title and five areas of expertise. Likewise, older users with no expertise topics associated with their profile will also see the onboarding. It will initialise the expert profile and ensure they're found quickly when colleagues need guidance.
• We improved the summary email for new questions to subscribed topics, so questions with which the users interacted aren't included.
• It’s now more straightforward for users to add links to answers.

Release Week 16.10.2023

• New users now see an onboarding checklist for at least 30 days unless all tasks are marked as done. The tasks allow them to discover the product and educate them about searching content and experts, asking new questions and how they are identified as experts.

• As part of the new onboarding flow, we now show two additional screens explaining Starmind’s value and benefits.

Release Week 09.10.2023

• We don’t pre-select the knowledge space in the ask dialogue anymore. If the knowledge space functionality is enabled, the user has to set the knowledge space field themselves.
• We removed the "unmatched tags" module in the VSM.

Release Week 02.10.2023

• We updated the content and design of the "Getting Started" Home widget visible to new users.

Release Week 25.09.2023

• All improvements of the “follow experts” feature are now officially released. It’s now easier to (1) see what experts and peers are doing, (2) tap into their professional network, and (3) directly connect with them for guidance and advice.
• The daily summaries for updates on followed questions and new questions a user might be interested in are now also available for browser push notifications.

Release Week 18.09.2023

• We redesigned the "following" tab in the user profile. Additionally, we introduced a new setting with which users can control if other users can see their "following" tab (something we'll release soon and also communicate to users with a whats-new message).
• The "latest activitiy" Home module now shows two tabs: one for the activities relevant to the user and another highlighting activities from followed experts. With that change, users stay effortlessly informed about experts' contributions to fuel productive conversations and enhance their professional growth.

Release Week 08.09.2023

• We now also send a daily email summary for updates on followed questions. With this, we further reduce the number of emails sent to users.
• We now display the private knowledge spaces on the overview page with a “request” button to simplify the request process.

Release Week 04.09.2023

• The navigation and header are restructured. Knowledge Spaces are grouped separately, in-app notifications can be found in the header, and the user guide is in the user menu.

• We now send a daily email summary of new questions users might be interested in (e.g. tag subscriptions) instead of one email per new question. With this, we reduce the number of emails sent to users.

Release Week 21.08.2023

• We worked on a better experience for the notification setting page. We grouped certain notifications for email and introduced web push notifications as a new communication channel. The latter is only available for customers that have the feature enabled. Contact your Account Manager to learn more about it.
• New users will be shown a module on the Home page where they can add up to five expert topics to their knowledge profile. It will kickstart their profile and make them findable for colleagues from the beginning. The module is visible for a maximum of five days but can be removed after adding five topics.

Release Week 14.08.2023

• We removed the "accept" button from the context menu in the answer card. Question authors can still accept answers via the primary button on the answer card and in the status dialogue.

Release Week 7.08.2023

• We improved the user bulk import validation process and now show better which rows failed and the reason for the conflict.
• Based on user feedback, we improved our monthly highlights email.
• We stopped sending redundant and poor-performing emails for the following notification types: comment has been upgraded to an answer, your question has been validated, answer has been validated, another expert followed you, new level reached, a question/answer has been updated. The according in-app notifications are still sent!
• We released our Expert Connect feature which is about connecting experts with people seeking their expertise.
• We changed the look of the knowledge topics, which helps users understand that they can interact with them.

Release Week 10.07.2023

• The user's joined knowledge spaces - visible in the navigation - are alphabetically sorted.
• Users can see the author's top expertise when hovering over their name in the answer card (limited to the question view).
• In the search results, the number of upvotes and downvotes is considered.
• Users can navigate to a dedicated overview page when clicking on a topic in the question view. The page shows relevant information about the selected topic.
• The question title field in the ask dialogue is now more clearly visible

Release Week 26.06.2023

• If multiple announcements are active, they are sorted chronologically by publish date
• Showing explanations for each metrics in the analytics dashboard

Release Week 19.06.2023

• Users can now filter the feed by selecting more than one category

Release Week 12.06.2023

• We improved the announcement feature so you can easily pass news regarding the workplace or company to your network. Furthermore, you can publish multiple announcements simultaneously to all users or specific knowledge spaces. Moreover, you can enable your users to react (we call it "clapping" 👏) to the news or add comments to create additional traction in the network. Please ask your Account Manager if you have any questions about setting up announcements.
• We applied a few changes to the new analytics dashboard that should make it easier (and more fun) to use it. In particular, the metrics are now grouped, the graphs more readable, and the filter menu more accessible.

Release Week 05.06.2023

• We updated the search bar with a more guiding copy. We recommend searching by questions instead of a keyword to get more accurate search results.

Release Week 15.05.2023

• We simplified community-based moderation for questions. We now clearly differentiate between the voting and reporting features. Users can push helpful, clear and relevant questions by giving an upvote. A downvote means the opposite and effects that people are less likely to see downvoted questions. Users should use the report function for any inappropriate question that goes beyond being relevant. Admins will get notified about any reported question, and questions reported three times are automatically deleted.

Release Week 08.05.2023

• For questions with prolonged inactivity, we now move the newest answers into the spotlight. They will now be visually highlighted at the top of the answer stack to help solution seekers find their answers faster. The spotlight lasts 30 days if the question has no verified answers or a new answer is added.

Release Week 01.05.2023

• User can now customise their "Home" page experience. Moreover, three new modules are available: expired answers, trending questions and latest activities.
• Over the next few days, all customers should have access to our new (and improved) analytics dashboard. Further, the knowledge space and category filters are now available for you in the standard version.

Release Week 24.04.2023

• To avoid confusion, we have improved the icons and copy for the "follow question" functionality.

Release Week 20.04.2023

• The user export file now includes information about the user's joined knowledge spaces.
• Admin users with access to the advanced version of the analytics dashboard can select data from 3 years in the past. Reach out to your Account Manager for more information.
• The translation features consider the “formal language” setting.

Release Week 03.04.2023

• Until recently, users could post questions with a maximum of 10 topics. We have now lifted that restriction in the UI.

Release Week 20.03.2023

• We ensured that users could revalidate their expired answers without needing someone to request validation first.
• We show users an in-app survey to collect data on how interested they are in enriching their Starmind profile with data from any professional network (e.g. LinkedIn). We are always looking into sources where we can learn more about a user's expertise and how valuable it could be for them.

Release Week 06.03.2023

• We have updated the visible banner after posting a new question. The goal is to ensure that users are clear about Starmind notifying the best matching colleagues and, thus, the next steps.
• Users are notified when others mark one of their answers as outdated. Editing the answer will again mark the answer as valid.

Release Week 20.02.2023

• We enhanced the user's search experience by polishing the filters. Additionally, users can now filter for answered questions and limit results additionally to only accepted or verified answers (if verification groups are enabled).
• We have improved the solution sorting for networks with the "answer validation" feature enabled. Verified answers are always returned first, while outdated answers are returned last. The remaining answers are sorted in descending order by their current rating.

Release Week 06.02.2023

• User Deletion / Anonymization: We’ve changed how user deletion/anonymization works and looks in the admin section to prevent unintentional data loss. Once a user gets deleted, they are deactivated immediately, which means they can no longer log in. The deletion itself gets scheduled for 14 days in the future – it’s a grace period in which the deletion can be undone before the user data becomes unrecoverable forever. We generally recommend deactivating users instead of deleting them.

• Self-delete / anonymization: The feature allowing users to delete themselves is no longer supported. This feature wasn’t enabled by any customers and complicated the anonymization feature set.

Release Week 30.01.2023

We updated the design of the answer status and added explanations in the interface for users to understand better what they are about.

Release Week 16.01.2023

Your organization changes with time, and so do answers. Users can now mark incomplete or out-of-date answers as outdated, either after someone requested revalidation or in the answer status overview. Outdated answers stay visible to show your users how information evolves with time. The answer author can make it valid again by updating its content.

Release Week 09.01.2023

The tags in the question view are now clearly visualized as clickable buttons. The new tag design helps users understand that they can be clicked and, for example, be used to continue their search.

Release Week 02.01.2023

Happy new year! 🎉

Today, the answer author and question experts are informed about expired answers when users request revalidation. However, so far, only the answer author has been able to revalidate it. We have now changed the process so that all notified users (and anyone else) can help revalidate expired content.

Release Week 26.12.2022

We adjusted the "import questions" template. In detail, we removed the language column and changed specific column titles and the overall design. All to make it more understandable for you and other users.

Please make sure you download the latest template in the admin area before uploading new questions.

Release Week 12.12.2022

A user with a new question can see a discrete copy in the question view as soon as someone works on a solution. It is solely visible to the question author, and no names are mentioned. This additional UI element should help users understand what happens with their questions and provide additional guidance to users that seek a solution.

Release Week 28.11.2022

We updated the design of the user's notification setting page to differentiate clearly between email and in-app notifications.

Release 03.11.2022

• With the aim of making the life of our admins easier, we have simplified the knowledge space management UI. Our admins can now easily add or remove members from the knowledge spaces by simply checking or unchecking the box next to their name.

Release 20.10.2022

• Users can now see the description of a knowledge space within the knowledge space. This allows them to clearly understand what the knowledge space is about, the rules, and best practices.

• As we strive to improve the search journey, we are conducting a survey to understand our users’ satisfaction with the search experience. Users will be asked to choose the emoji that better express their satisfaction state. The survey will be shown when users trigger a search and click on a search result or on a similar question in the ask overlay.

• Users will receive a monthly digest email, activated by default, that highlights trending content, updates, network activities, and personal contributions. Thus, the “stats and facts” emails and the notification setting in both the user and admin settings will be removed.

Users can turn on and off the monthly digest email anytime in their personal settings.

Release 06.10.2022

The questions a user is composing are saved by default in “my draft”. That way, if the user has to step away, the question is not lost. Users can either edit or delete a draft.

Release 22.09.2022

• A/B Test
  Users can bookmark their favorite answers to find them faster the next time they access Starmind. A bookmark marks the answers that users want to find again easily, allowing them to build their own knowledge collection for future reference. Users can mark as many answers as they want and can filter the feed by bookmarked content.

Release 25.08.2022

• Users can now see alternative query suggestions for question searches submitted with no search results. Starmind will suggest similar search queries that could give them the answer they were looking for.

Release 11.08.2022

• This release is all about enabling users to find more relevant content faster. To do that, we will improve the filters' experience by making them more prominent and visible. Users can also save their favorite combination of filters to save time the next time they search for similar queries.
  The filters will be released within a few days after the release date (11.08).

Release 28.07.2022

• We implemented Croatian as an additional user interface (UI) language. To enable your network to see content in Croatian feel free to contact your CSM for more information.

Release 30.06.2022

• Users can now edit their search queries in the search bar. Individual words and phrases typed into the search bar will not disappear after hitting 'enter' to save users’ time on editing or refining the search.

Release 02.06.2022

• We discovered that users are 3 times more likely to activate Starmind if they receive an invite from a colleague. In networks with simple log-in, all users can now invite other colleagues and the new user’s account is automatically created by simply clicking on the “Set password” button. (Admins can always disable the invite dialogue in the admin area).
  In networks with SSO and SAML nothing will change except for the notification email design. Users invited by other users will receive the same email as the ones invited by admins.

Release 19.05.2022

• Users can now translate comments by clicking on the translation button.
  [not activated in auto-translation networks]

• Our AI supports Hungarian! Starmind is now able to understand text in Hungarian to extract sensible tags that summarise what the text is about, and to use these tags to select relevant experts for these topics.

Release 05.05.2022

• We believe that speed is the essence of every search. To provide a better search experience to our users we have improved the speed (speed increase of 350ms). Users can now get results faster and avoid lags in the search. They can also edit the search query in the search bar by using the keyboard.
• Translation plays a crucial role at Starmind. More and more users use the translation features to share knowledge across locations and overcome language barriers. We improved the quality of our Italian translations to engage with more and more Italian users.
• We add Ask a question button when there are no search results to a query. Users can post a question and expect an answer from an expert coworker within 2 hours.

Release 21.04.2022

• We add a feature to connect MS Teams to Starmind. This enables users to start a MS teams chat with experts right out of the Starmind people search.
  [activated by admin]

• Users can see which answers and comments other colleagues have given in the ‘Activities’ section of a users profile to learn more about their expertise and interests.

  [activated by admin]

Release 2.156.0 // 07.04.2022

• Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Polish and Romanian will be implemented as additional languages. Please contact your CSM if you are interested in using any additional language.
• Users can copy-paste and drag&drop images into questions and answers.
• E-mail addresses in solutions, comments and questions are now clickable.
• Users can now add social links to their profiles.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.155.0 // 24.03.2022

• We enable our admins to integrate their MS company Search into Starmind to also show files from their main Microsoft file storage.
  [activated by admin]
• Users can copy-paste and drag&drop images into questions and answers.

Release 2.154.0 // 10.03.2022

• We improve the MS Teams Integration to automatically detect the right network for the users to connect to and it will show when a user is logged out.
  [activated by default]
• Portuguese will be implemented as an additional language. Please contact your CSM in charge if you are interested in using this additional language.
• Admins can now select not activated users for knowledge spaces and verification.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.153.0 // 24.02.2022

• After some feedback from different customers, we decided to bring back the expert search in the insight tab. This will enable users again to search for colleagues outside of the combined search and project teams to showcase the Starmind expert engine.
  [activated by default]
• We improved the question escalation feature by including email notifications instead of just using in-app notifications.
  [activated by default]
• We improved the people search tab in the combined search by showing some more information and enabling the user to reach out to a colleague directly.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.152.0 // 10.02.2022

• The expert tab will be slightly edited and renamed to insights. More information to come.
  [activated by default]
• We fixed some performance issues to make our UI load faster.
  [activated by default]
• We enable users to be able to choose no translation language if the automatic translation is activated.
  With this in place users are able to see all the content in the language is was created in.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.151.0 // 27.01.2022

• We deactivated the feedback pop-up for bad-rated answers.
  [activated by default]
• We improved the automated translation to run even smoother.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.150.0 // 13.01.2022

• We activated the automatic translation for our first customers. When activated users are now able to consume the Starmind content in their preferred language and all the content will be translated into this single language.
  [activated by CSM]

Release 2.149.0 // 16.12.2021

• We enhance the expert search function by activating a combined search function for all networks that have the expert search enabled. This enables the users to see Q&A Results next to experts with just one search query.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.148.0 // 02.12.2021

• We enrich our API to filter also with an "or" condition. This enriches the possible integration options via API and leads to more precise search results.
  [activated by default]
• We fixed some minor bugs.
  [activated by default]
• We are working on the automated translation to enable the users to interact with Starmind in the preferred language. This enables the users to read the content in their preferred language even though the content was provided in another language.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.147.0 // 18.11.2021

• We are now using the linked tags from the admin area to enrich our search algorithm. This will lead to improved search results.
  [activated by default]
• We fixed the handling of apostrophes in our search algorithms to deliver better search results.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.146.0 // 04.11.2021

• We improved the subscription module to not notify users about their own questions.
  [activated by default]
• We changed the default for the comment notifications to enabled for all new users and for all users that haven't customized their notification settings in the past.
  [activated by default]
• We fixed a bug in the activated user ratio in the VSM manager.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.145.0 // 21.10.2021

• We enrich the VSM with an overview of question tags that don't have any corresponding experts in the network.
  This will enable admins to search and invite experts based on missing expertise.
  [activated by default]
• We deactivate the function for the confetti whenever a user received a badge.
  [deactivated by default]
• We fixed a bug that enables users again to use shortcuts to add images to answers or questions.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.144.0 // 14.10.2021 (special brand release)

• We are replacing the old Starmind logo with the new Starmind logo.
  [activated by default]
• We are adjusting some of the colors used on the platform.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.143.0 // 07.10.2021

• We include the corresponding Knowledge Space into our notifications. This enables the users to determine directly the Knowledge Space the notifications come from.
  [activated by default]
• We enable admins to assign multiple questions into one knowledge space at once.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.142.0 // 23.09.2021

• We change our editor to enable the users to highlight code in the questions and answers.
  [activated by default]
• We enable admins to filter the space moderator selection by typing the name to ease up the selection.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.141.0 // 10.09.2021 (postponed for one day)

• We will enhance the VSM with some additional KPI and show you the Top 5 questions of the last 30 days.

[activated by default]

• We updated the question bulk import file to include the option to upload questions directly into knowledge spaces via the knowledge space ID.
  [activated by default]
• We enrich our user sync with the option to add the employee start date. With this information, we want to analyze how to customize the user experience for users that just started in your company.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.140.0 // 26.08.2021

• We will enhance the VSM with some additional KPI and show you the Top 3 contributors of the last 30 days.
  [activated by default]
• We enable admins to assign up to 4 space moderators for one Knowledge space.
  [activated by default]
• We implement a cross-lingual search feature that allows users to search in one language and get answers in all languages they selected to be shown. So if a user searches in English and is also able to understand Italian, we will also show Italian content that suits the search query. If you want to use this please reach out to your CSM in charge.
  [activated by CSM]
• We updated the user bulk import file to include the option to upload users directly into knowledge spaces via the knowledge space ID.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.139.0 // 12.08.2021

• We changed the question bulk import template to only feature 5 keywords as the automatic tagging takes place after the upload.
  [activated by default]
• You can now find a link to our service portal directly in the admin area.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.138.0 // 29.07.2021

• We enhanced the VSM with some additional KPIs.
  [activated by default]
• We implemented the option to restrict the visibility of the badges. If you decide to activate it users will only see their own badges.
  [activated by Starmind]
• We changed the method for our real-time notifications on our platform from WebSockets to SSE.
  Users won't notice any change.
  [activated by default]
• We implemented a country boost for questions in the feed to boost the content out from the user's region. So if a user is from Switzerland it is more likely that we will show questions that have been asked by another user from Switzerland.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.137.0 // 15.07.2021

• We implement a new badge that will highlight how many users read your answers.

[activated by default]

• Admins can set public knowledge spaces as default for all new users. They will be automatically added to the defined space once they log in for the first time.

[activated by admin]

• We enriched our API autocomplete function with the language information of the question to be able to show only content in a selected language.
  [activated by default]
• We fixed a bug to enable admins again to add a tag subscription for another user.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.136.0 // 01.07.2021

• Users can now request access to private knowledge spaces and the space admin can decide if they should be granted access to the knowledge space.
  [activated by admin]

• Users are now again able to change their email address when this setting it is activated in the admin area.
  [activated by default]
• We removed the dashboard. The main function of showing the gamification score will be merged into the user profile.

[activated by default]

Release 2.135.0 // 17.06.2021

• You can now assign a knowledge space admin for private knowledge spaces. These admins can add new users into the private space directly.
  [activated by admin]
• Content Admins are now able to delete also private knowledge spaces.
  [activated by deafult]

Release 2.134.0 // 03.06.2021

• We implemented an auto-logout process into our mobile app with a flexible timeframe to be set customer-specific. If you want to set up a specific auto-logout timeframe for your mobile app just reach out to us.
  [activated by admin]
• When uploading questions via the question upload feature the "tag" column is not mandatory anymore.
  [activated by default]
• We improved our tagging algorithm to prevent names from being extracted from connector data as a tag.
  [activated by default]
• We accepted an A/B test to make our search suggestions even more robust against typos and to improve the matching of the same word being written slightly differently. For example: When now searching for "roadmap" we would also suggest questions with the words "road-map" and "road map"
  [activated by default]

Release 2.133.0 // 20.05.2021

• We started an initiative to get inactive users back into the network.
  [activated by admin]
• We enable users to add other users into public knowledge spaces.
  [activated by default]
• We provide now a list with all members of public knowledge spaces.
  [activated by default]
• We integrated a better editor into the approval dialog feature to enable admins to create good messages.
  [activated by default]
• We add a new pop-up when receiving a badge additional to the notification.
  [activated by admin]

Release 2.132.0 // 06.05.2021

• We further improved the knowledge spaces by adding the following functions:
  Create private knowledge spaces, which will only share the content with predefined users. We also had a security scan of this feature by "compass security"
  Enable Admins and users to move existing questions into knowledge spaces.
  [activated by admin]
• The badges are going to be activated on all networks when gamification is activated.
  [activated by default]
• We fixed a bug to show again the similar questions clicks in the statistics export.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.131.0 // 22.04.2021

• We further improved the knowledge spaces by adding the following functions:
  Users are now able to browse public knowledge spaces and join them
  Users are now able to leave public knowledge spaces
  [activated by admin]
• We add more badges to the feature
  [activated by admin]

Release 2.130.0 // 08.04.2021

• We developed a badge system to motivate the users to get the most out of Starmind.
  To showcase it we will release it to insight.starmind.com first so all of our admins can test it.
  [activated on insight]
• We developed public knowledge spaces to enable the users to cluster the content on Starmind into different topics.
  The content will still be visible for all users, but if in the single knowledge spaces you only see content related to this topic.
  This will lead to a better structure of the content shared on Starmind.
  This feature will be also activated on insight.starmind.com but can also be activated per network.
  [activated by admin]

Release 2.129.0 // 25.03.2021

• We enable users to re-read the approval dialog message again if this feature is activated.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.128.0 // 11.03.2021

• We implement more filter options in the user management to enable admins to search for users that haven't accepted the approval message. Additionally, we also show the last accepted version of the approval message in the user profiles.
  [activated by default]
• Our RSS feed can now also be filtered by a certain tag, category, and the sorting options we have in the stream. This will enable you to display department or rollout FAQs in your intranet which have been gathered on Starmind. With this in place, you can use Starmind to generate FAQs on the fly while also displaying them on a central page when required.
  [activated by default]
• We improved the job to skill algorithms we are using to get even better results when matching the skills to provided job titels.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.127.0 // 25.02.2021

• We implemented a new feature to show an approval dialog to the users, once they enter the network for the first time. This feature can be managed in the admin area and also includes versioning so you can update it when needed. More information can be found on our help site. This feature is also replacing the Disclaimer feature. To ensure an easy transition we will migrate the current disclaimer into the new feature.
  [activated by admin]
• We will enrich our API with the information of the question language. This enables you to create integrations or reportings based on the question language.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.126.0 // 11.02.2021

• We enable the users to re-validate their expired answers easier with a new dropdown on top of the question.
  [activated by default]

• We upgrade the ElasticSearch to a new version, to improve our search algorithms.
  [activated by default]
• We improved our automated tagging to better determine if a word separated with an "/" belongs together or not. So for example, if you write "A/B testing" we won't separate "A" and "B". But if you write expert "best football/baseball team" we will still separate it.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.125.0 // 28.01.2021

• The translation services offer now all possible languages of DeepL. The user can decide on the language we translate to.
  [activated when translation service is activated]
• We remove the score in the expert search.
  [activated by default]
• We changed the solution value feature to enable users to skip the survey. Furthermore, we deactivated the default value.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.124.0 // 14.01.2021

• We fixed the user pictures in the latest contributor module. They are now shown correctly and not cut off anymore.
  [activated by default]
• We now hide the dashboard in the mobile app and mobile view.
  [activated by default]
• You can now connect your company translation service with our translate feature. Please connect to your CSM for more information.
  [activated by admin]

Release 2.123.0 // 17.12.2020

• We added a new function for admins to copy the invite link for users to use this link in individual emails.
  [activated by default]
• The user bulk upload was improved to make it easier for you to upload new users to Starmind. You can find a description of the new workflow right here.
  [activated by default]
• The missing user ratio data from 06.11.2020 until 15.11.2020 was restored and is now again displayed in the admin area.
  [activated by default]
• Announcements are now also shown on the homepage.
  [activated by default]
• Users get a new workflow when asking "identical questions" and we try to also discourage them to ask very similar ones, if we detect them based on the similarity score. We already conducted an A/B test on this feature and could spot some good improvements on the networks.
  [activated by default]
  Identical question:

Similar question:

Release 2.122.0 // 03.12.2020

• The solution approval feature will be added to the admin area. Admins are then able to set up the groups and manage them directly in the admin area. To distinguish the "solution approval" from the "accept solution" feature we will furthermore rename it to "solution verification". Furthermore users are now also able to verify answers from other users. You can find a short how to guide in the GIF down below.
  [activated by admin]

• Admins can activate the opportunity for users to delete / anonymize their accounts on their own. If this feature is activated a user can delete its own user profile completely from the network. If a user is deleting their profile, the admins get notification about the deletion.
  [activated by admin]

Release 2.121.0 // 19.11.2020

• Multiple minor bug fixes: The user ratio can be found again in the admin area. And filtering out user names in the skill profiles so no one can be an expert on a person in this network. (Could happen if people got mentioned in answers)
  [activated by default]
• The deletion process in the admin area was improved. Admins can now decide directly if they want to deactivate a user account (can be restored later on) or if they want to delete it (the data of the user can't be restored).
  [activated by default]

• We improved the subscription module on the homepage by rotating the suggested topics.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.120.0 // 05.11.2020

• After learning only from the job titles of new users we are now also learning from job titles from already activated users in the backend and enrich the skill profiles with them. The skills are based on a European data set on what kind of expertise is required for a certain job. All users are of course still able to also dismiss those skills out of their personal skill map.
  [activated by default]
• Multiple minor bug fixes
  [activated by default]
• Introduction of a monthly backend language detection job. This will ensure that we detect the right language for all the questions even after they may have been edited.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.119.0 // 22.10.2020

• Multiple minor bug fixes
  [activated by default]

Release 2.118.0 // 08.10.2020

• Multiple minor bug fixes
  [activated by default]

Release 2.117.0 // 24.09.2020

• New onboarding flow with a checklist to ease the usage from day one. The checklist and the workflow will disappear one month after the activation of an account.
  [activated by default]

• Admin area: Our virtual success manager will be introduced in order to enable admins to gain real-time insights of their networks and to improve the network health with the help of carefully chosen metrics.
  Over time there will be more updates coming to make even more metrics available, linked with more useful actions
  [activated by default]

Release 2.116.0 // 10.09.2020

• We enrich the skill profile details by showing which skill we learned out of the job title of a user and how a skill in- or decreased in the 30 days.
  [activated by default]

• New sort type: "Sorting by relevance" will be added as the new default sorting type for the questions stream. This enables the user to work with a customized stream.
  [activated by default]

• New Desktop App is ready. Please speak to your CSM in charge to get further information and evaluate the benefits for your network.
  [activated optionally]
• Improvement of the Job to skill matching algorithm to enhance the skill learnings created through the job title.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.115.0 // 27.08.2020

• We enrich the skill profile details by showing which skill we learned from an activated connector.
  [activated by default]
• Send out notification to users who haven't finished the new job wizard
  [activated by default]

Release 2.114.0 // 13.08.2020

• minor Bug fixes
  [activated by default]

Release 2.113.0 // 30.07.2020

• New onboarding wizard to learn from the user's job title: We will add a new wizard to ask new users for their job title to extract new skills for them. If they don't want to share this information they can skip the wizard.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.112.0 // 16.07.2020

• New module for the user profile: We will add a module for the user profile, it will give the user some more insight on the skills and where we extracted them from (eg. Questions, answers, connectors).
  [activated by default]

Release 2.111.0 // 02.07.2020

• New Homepage for users: We introduce a new modular homepage for the users to deliver an even more personalized view to all users. These modules will be updated and new ones will be published in the future.
  [activated by default]

• New profiles: We introduce a new profile for users to show them their connections to different topics even more precise. This is also build modular to enrich it later with more modules.
  [activated by default]

• Improvement of the search algorithm: The weight of the search results are now more strict to show just the best fitting content for the search. For queries with several words, a question must match at least 60% of all words, otherwise is it no shown as a matching result.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.110.0 // 18.06.2020

• Minor bug fixes and preparation for new homepage and profile page
  [activated by default]

Release 2.109.0 // 04.06.2020

• New welcome email: We will add more information into it about the network and a checklist with links to pages inside of Starmind like complete your profile, add your skills or subscribe to content.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.107.0 // 07.05.2020

• Adding a rating column into the question import feature: You are then able to also select a rating for answers uploaded with the upload feature in our admin area.
  [activated Admin]
• Improvements of the editable skill map: The structure of the edit skill map feature will be improved.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.106.0 // 23.04.2020

• UI Language can be changed in the login flow: To make it easier for a user to change the UI language the user is now able to adjust it directly in the login flow.
  [activated by default]
• Tooltip for Subscription feature: A tooltip for the subscription feature will be added for new users to show them this new option.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.105.0 // 09.04.2020

• Improvement of the ask overlay: We did some improvements in the ask overlay for example we now show the number of characters of the question titel and we show a maximum of 7 experts directly in the ask overlay.
  [activated by default]

• Admins can make the question description field mandatory: Admins are now able to make the question description field for new questions mandatory to commit the users to give some more context.
  [activated by Admin]
• Improvements of the text editor: The text editor is going to be improvedwith the new version.
  [activated by default]
• Context message feature: With this feature an admin is able to add a context message to all questions with a defined tag. This message is then shown on top of the question to inform the users that this is a question where the answer has to be really precise. You can use this function for example for legal questions or for questions in regard to the current Covid-19 crisis.
  [activated by Admin]

Release 2.104.0 // 26.03.2020

• Switch subscriptions as an admin when renaming a category: If an admin is renaming a category he now has the option to decide if the subscribed users will now be subscribed to this renamed category or if the subscription is removed.
  [activated by default]
• New tooltips in the ask overlay
  [activated by default]

Release 2.103.0 // 12.03.2020

• Change the header menu from the top centered to a left-aligned menu:
  The following change of UI will be released to all networks: The position of the menu items will change from a top centered to a left-aligned menu (see images). The position of the network logo will remain in the top left corner, the symbols for the menu items will be placed underneath it.
  This change will not alter or add any functionalities, it is purely a design change.This alteration is necessary due to several factors: On the one hand, the current menu causes unwanted behaviors with small or very large screens, where menu items either disappear or appear too spread out. The responsiveness for mobile use is also limited.
  On the other hand this change will mark the first step in creating a new start page for the Starmind users. The following months will be used to develop features to enhance the all questions-stream with elements that provide a faster overview of relevant content and a more intuitive access to the options the network provides. The plans for these changes are in their early stages and all elements will be tested thoroughly first.
  Over the next months we will provide you with regular updates on the state of the development.
  [ activated by default]

Release 2.102.0 // 27.02.2020

• Editing Know How Map: Users are able to edit their know how map to hide tags of expertise they don't want in there.
  [activated by default]
• Connect to non activated users: Users are now able to interact (mention, recommend, share, etc.) with non activated users if the non activated user was prefilled.
  [activated by default]
• Walkthrough for new users: We are going to implement a Walkthrough for new users to show them the benefits of Starmind. It contains three steps showing GIFs with three benefits and two features. The process is completed by either asking a question or doing a search.
  [activated by default]

• Enable users to subscribe to categories: Users are going to be enabled to subscribe themself to categories to receive notifications, whenever new content regarding this topic is added to the network.
  [activated by default]
• Optimized ask overlay: The ask overlay was optimized to be even easier to use.
  [activated by default]
• Enable admins to create and invite a user with on button: Admins are now able to create and invite a user with just one button.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.101.0 // 13.02.2020

• The involved user bar and the expert search tab can be deactivated in the admin area: With a switch tongel admins are able to deactivate the involved users (the profile pictures in the question view) as well as the expert search. There is a specific admin role (userstatistics_admin), if the expert search is needed for just a few users.
  [activated by default]_
• Add a message when inviting a person: Users are able to add a message when inviting another person.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.100.0 // 30.01.2020

• Remove the reset wizard button: The reset wizard button in the admin area is going to be removed, as the users are now able to edit the tags of interest by themself.
  [activated by default]
• Use of question categories for expert identification: If question categories are set up on the network they are going to be taken into account for the tagging to be even more precise.
  [activated by default]
• Bug fixes:
  Question were shown as unanswered after question import even though it had been imported with an answer.
  [activated by default]
  Questions were not displayed properly after clicking the validation notification.
  [activated by default]
  Clicking on question in stream opened the question view without scrolling the ministream to the clicked question.
  [activated by default]
• Motivation workflow to ask the first question: Users who used Starmind for a while but didn't asked any question get now a screen as a full page overlay with the key action to ask a question.
  [activated by default]

Release 2.99.0 // 16.01.2020

• Question Quality meter: When a user asks a question a quality meter is going to be shown to indicate the quality of the question.
  [activated by default]

• Question up- and downvote: Users are able to up- and downvote questions to indicate the quality of the question. If the downvote a question they are going to be asked for the reason why they downvoted it.
  [activated by default]

• Pictures can be added into announcement again: It is now again possible to add pictures into a announcements.
  [activated by default]
• The Algorithm now suggests hypernyms in the context of the user: The tagging algorithms can automatically suggest tags that are not in the input text, but are related to both the input text and the user's profile. For example, a question about the ambiguous word "apple" will be tagged with "fruit" if the question poser's profile has other fruit-related topics, however it will be linked with "IT" instead if the question poser's profile has other IT-related topics. In the past, we only used the title and description of the question to try to infer this context, without considering the known expertise of the question poser.
  [activated by default]
• Boost the non-common words from a search query in Elasticsearch: We are going to boost the non-common words in the search query to get better expert recommendations. How does this work? For example, when searching for "is there a list of competitors", there will be more results that match with the word "competitors" and fewer results that only match with the word "list".
  [activated by default]