1.1. New Functionality

Log directly into the LIMS

Upon logging in, you will now be taken directly into the LIMS - it is not necessary to click the [my home] link any more

To navigate to the front pages of the portal, click the [home] tab. To navigate from there back into the LIMS, click the [interlab] tab

No more verification of results not yet submitted

In the past members sometimes forgot to click the [submit] button before verifying results. We removed the [verify] menu option from the manage results page now so this cannot happen any more

Once [submit] is pushed, the results are submitted, the page closed and the user returned to the view page. Verification can only be done from the view page, thereafter the manage results page becomes unavailable

Please remember that this functionality exists to allow analysts to enter data - the manage results page can be accessed repeatedly - until final results get verified by a senior analyst or lab manager. Only then will stats be calculated

Top performers rankings!

Exciting. The same calculations used to calculate the lab of the year up to now, are now being applied to all samples and a top performers ranking table displayed. The calculations were also applied to all historic data in the system

On general pages, the top performers for the last 2 samples are displayed but you can see the rankings for other samples by navigating to them. The rankings are only shown for closed samples

The tables rank labs with the same score in the same position and each lab's score is displayed behind its name. Originally it was thought to display the top 5, but so many labs share position 5 that the list became impractically long. Only the top 4 are now displayed. If you are not in the top 4, your position and score will be showed to yourself only

The scores are calculated by awarding 2 points for an A performance and 1 for a B, for the following 7 analyses:
    Alcohol
    Free SO2 ripper
    pH
    Reducing Sugar
    Titratable Acid
    Total SO2 ripper
    Volatile Acid

Full marks is 14 thus

Methods per analysis restriction

The LIMS manager can now set which methods are allowed per analysis - when entering your data you'll notice that the method selection drop-down menu items will have been adjusted accordingly

Same date Z-value plots

Z-values on the same date are not plotted next to one another any more but correctly for the same x-axis date. The plot itself runs through the average for the Z-values at that particular date

Closing emails

You should receive system generated emails with your statistics and performance results upon the closing of the rounds now

More data everywhere

The sample lists now include an 'All' list which lists all samples regardless of their statuses, an extra column shows the status for that sample

On sample detail pages, there are new columns for the standard deviation and mean per analysis

Most tabled data can now be sorted per column by clicking on the column header

Before rounds close, this disclaimer is displayed with results:

        Statistical parameters may fluctuate before sample closing
            dates while results are being submitted by members

Fully fledged web portal at www.sawla.org

The upgrade also means migration to the Plone 2.5 architecture, facilitating a much more dynamic web portal that can be edited by SAWLA management in on-line 'MS Word' like editors. Expect to see things moving soon