Update Log 05/04/2023 (Spring Update)
DescriptionWe are delighted to annouce a significant Hermes update will be released on 05/04/2023. This update will include a number of bug fixes, improvements, and new features, particularly in the area of Meeting Management. Please see this video for a demonstration of the key user-impacting changes within this update, and for further details of other changes please see below or download the Change Log by clicking here.
Updates
Removal of ‘Submit’ button with Agenda Creation Within the Pre-Meeting tab of Meeting Management, the ‘Submit’ button relating to Agenda Creation has been removed and the process flow redesigned to allow the amendment of agenda items (add, remove and edit) after date of the meeting. A number of smaller modifications have also been made to accommodate this change in process flow, such as amendments to which tab the screen defaults to and new on-screen messages to help direct Hermes Administrators. 
Amendments to ‘Submit PMR & Complete Meeting’ button The ‘Submit PMR & Complete Meeting’ button has been amended so that it no longer submits a meeting if the Attendance Register status is not quorate, and additionally it now is always accessible and will direct the Hermes Administrator with relevant on-screen instruction, as to what aspects of the Post Meeting process are still outstanding. 
New ‘Abandoned or Not Quorate’ button New button added to manually record a meeting as abandoned or not quorate, separating it from the ‘Submit PMR & Complete Meeting’ button, which previously automatically calculated it based on the Attendance Register status. 
Post Meeting Report status always ‘Not Started’ bug fix Bug addressed that showed ‘Post Meeting Report’ as being ‘Not Started’, even when all agenda items had been appropriately updated. Status will now be ‘Not Started’, ‘In Progress’ or ‘Complete’. 
Amended ‘Updated?’ label to ‘Agenda Item Updated’ Amended the label on the ‘Post Meeting Report’ and Post Meeting Report ‘Update’ screen to use a label of ‘Agenda Item Updated’, rather than ‘Updated?’ which was confusing. 
Prohibited saving duplicates within Installation Return screen Introduced two fixes to prevent the accidental saving of multiple Officers within the same Office when saving an Installation Return.
Comma issue with ‘Arrears Amount’ on PMR submission Fixed a bug that resulted in an error upon PMR submission when the ‘Arrears Amount’ of a R181 was greater than 999.
Comma issue when saving Charitable Donations Fixed a bug that resulted in an error when saving Charitable Donations that included a Charity with a comma in the name.
Change to Ceremonial Activities screen to advise to complete attendance register New guidance text added to ‘Add/Edit Ceremony Participants’ screen to reminder Hermes Administrators that they can only select members marked as ‘Present’ on the Attendance Register. 
Honorary Members can now be included as Ceremonial Participants With the addition of Honorary Members within the Attendance Register, they can now also be selected as Ceremonial Participants. 
Blank GL Ref Ceremonial Activities Fixed a bug that could occur when saving a Visitor as Ceremony Participant without searching, resulting in a blank GL Ref being stored and an error when submitting the PMR. 
Honorary Members added to Attendance Register Honorary Members (both Past Subscribing and Never Subscribing) are now included within the Attendance Register, meaning they can be recorded as both ‘Present’ and ‘Apologies’. This will also allow them to be recorded as having participated in ceremonial activities. Additionally the System Generated Email to the Almoner for members who ‘Did Not Respond’ for 2 consecutive meetings has been amended to only include Subscribing Members. 
New Columns added to Attendance Register New columns added to the Attendance Register to indicate Membership Type and Date Joined. 
Columns in Attendance Register can now be sorted The Member Column, as well as the newly added Membership Type and Date Joined columns, can now be sorted Ascending or Descending as required. The default sort for the Attendance Register will also now be alphabetical by Member, meaning the list is sorted by Surname ascending. 
Download Attendance Register The Attendance Register can now be downloaded, using the newly added ‘Download’ button available both within the ‘Apologies Received’ region of the Pre-Meeting tab, and the ‘Attendance Register’ section of the Post Meeting tab. 
Attendance Register Document The Attendance Register Document can be downloaded using the newly added ‘Download’ buttons, which serves 3 primary purposes: 1. Prior to the meeting to be used as a sign in sheet or tick sheet, to record which members attended a meeting. This should then help Hermes Administrators with entering the attendance in to Hermes.
2. After the Attendance Register has been completed to be stored for the Lodge/Chapter records.
3. After the Attendance Register has been completed the final section of the Attendance Register document can be copied and pasted in to the Minutes. 
(Document abridged for screenshot)
‘Send to Treasurer’ button will now only send 2 emails, specific to the relevant Annual Return (Prevent duplication of emails to Treasurer) Previously when clicking the ‘Send to Treasurer’ button the Treasurer would often receive additional emails, some of which may have been for a previously approved Annual Return. The system will now only send the two emails relevant to the Annual Return tab the button was clicked from. 
'Send to Treasurer' will now check for updated email address and prioritise Treasurer Office Specific Email Address The system will now correctly check for changes to the Treasurer email address when clicking ‘Send to Treasurer’. Previously, after the initial ‘Send to Treasurer’, the email address would not update on subsequent use of the button. Additionally the system will now correctly prioritise an Office Specific Email Address for Treasurer. 
Improved validation of Treasurer Date of Birth when approving Annual Returns The system will now better validate the Date of Birth of the Treasurer when they approve an Annual Return.
Online Registration Form Declaration Page Changes The Declaration pages of the Online Registration Form have been updated to have revised formatting and additional guidance. This guidance should improve the applicants understanding of what to include on the Online Registration Form and thus reduce the number of unnecessary halts. 
Amended ORF Output to accommodate Declaration changes The downloaded ORF output has been amended to reflect the changes made to the Declarations 2 questions, as well as the Declaration 1 formatting.
Removal of duplication of Approver emails if WM/MEZ is also Proposer/Seconder The system will no longer duplicate emails to the WM/MEZ if they are both Proposer/Seconder and the WM/MEZ. Previously the WM/MEZ could receive 4 emails after approving a Prospective Member as a Proposer/Seconder.
System Generated Emails - Email Job ID Change System Generated Email processing has been fundamentally redesigned to now create a Job ID when an email is generated linked to a specific process or action within Hermes. Only once a process fully completes will the Email Job ID then be released, meaning there should no longer be occurrences of emails being sent even when an error occurred with a process. Additionally, any emails that are not sent due to server unavailability will now be sent at the end of the day, reducing the likelihood of emails failing to go out.
Email to Lodge Secretary/Chapter Scribes E regarding deceased members removed The email sent to Lodge Secretary/Chapter Scribes E regarding a member within their unit having been recorded as passing to the Grand Lodge Above has been removed. An email will still be sent to relevant Provincial/District Offices, with recommendation that they pass on the news where necessary.
Updated email to Almoner where a member ‘Did Not Respond’ for 2 consecutive meetings Updated Almoner email to only include Subscribing Members who were not Present/Apologies for 2 meetings, to prevent notification of Honorary Members being sent/included.
Updated Agenda Creation Emails to only look for Agenda being started not 'Submitted' Agenda Creation reminder emails (14 days and 21 days) will now only be sent if the Agenda Creation process is not started, as there is now no submitted status (with button having been removed).
Updated PMR Reminder emails to only look for meeting status Submitted PMR Submission reminder emails (7 days and 21 days) will now only be sent if the meeting status is not ‘Submitted’, rather than ‘Complete’. This is to accommodate the change to ‘Submit PMR & Complete Meeting’ button and associated status changes.
Further Changes relating to Dispensations and Degree By Request, see download for further information For a list of all the changes, please click here to download a PDF Change Log document.
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