We've implemented some significant under-the-hood improvements to certifications in a June 2021 update. Unfortunately, the feature requests forced our hand on a few breaking changes to existing functionality. The good news is, no data is lost - and LemonadeLXP can regenerate historical data.
What are Certifications?
Certifications are a vital reporting container for the LLXP administrator. They are the sole mechanism to establish periods within which learners must achieve minimum grades in specific courses.
Conceptually, you can divide certifications into two types: recurring and fixed.
Recurring Certifications
Recurring certifications are predicated on two main pieces of data:
Effective From Date
Renewal Period
LemonadeLXP will perpetually partition monthly, quarterly, semi-yearly, or yearly periods with these two bits of information. One powerful aspect of the system is setting your "Effective From" date in the past. LemonadeLXP will gladly recompute progress for each learner retroactively, applying present-day group and course requirements.
In a recurring certification, periods are automatically "chained."
In a recurring situation, Grace period is only applied to the first recurrence.
Fixed Certifications
Much simpler parameters define fixed certifications:
Effective From
Due Date for Non-Recurring Certifications
Your period container will be limited to a single period, whose period spans "Effective From" to "Due Date" (exclusive).
Important: Recompilation
If you change any of these details in a certification's configuration, recompilation is automatically triggered:
Effective From
Due Date
Grace Period
Renewal/Recurrence
Course Requirements, incl. Min. Passing Grade
Enrollment Requirements
When recompiling, LemonadeLXP will:
clear existing certification records
signal to the reprocessor that recompilation is required
within 5 minutes, the reprocessor is marshaled to your task
historic certification data is rebuilt using old user plays
Note: Changing course requirements by retiring courses associated to certifications has the same effect. The certification will be recompiled.
Also Note: Even retired certifications will be recompiled! Make sure to download any exports to freeze your certification data in time before modifying their configuration.
Caution!
If you are recompiling historical data and the number of steps per course has changed, it will affect completion rates. For example, suppose a user achieved 100% on all three steps in a certificate's single course requirement in 2019, and in 2020 you added a step to the course. In that case, recompilation will show a final result of 75%. Be careful before recompiling certificates that are in this situation.
Some band-aid fixes might be possible. For example, you could return your course to its original three-step configuration and call it Course 1.0, paired with Certification 1.0. Then, duplicate that Course configuration, add your fourth step, and call them Course 2.0 and Certification 2.0.
What's in the Update?
This massive 2.0 update puts some exciting under the hood features right at your fingertips:
LemonadeLXP can recompile any certification's data anytime, with any configuration change! 🎉
We've added a new "Left Edge" for time calculations. As a result, you must set Effective From for each certification configuration.
Grace period is now implemented even on recompilation! In a recurring certification, it only affects the certification's earliest time period.
You're now able to toggle between fixed and recurring certifications.
In V1, you were bound to course-group assignments when creating certifications. In V2, they are "free form" and determine visibility by assignment. Thus, when you assign a certification to a group or learner, they will instantly see all courses required by the certification.
In V1, the certification periods were a little ambiguous when combined with automatic renewal. In V2, you will find "period pickers" in every admin view.
FAQ
How are time periods calculated in a recurring certificate?
In a recurring configuration (Renewable set to Yes), the Effective Date is used as a "start period", and the monthly interval you've specified is added in a recurring fashion after that (for eternity).
When recompiling a renewable certification, the user's registration date is pitted against the recurrence. Users that did not exist within a fixed period, are omitted from certification period's progress exports.
I played a step on 4/1 at 10AM, and had a certification that spans from 1/1 to 4/1 configured. It did not include the play. Is it broken?
No, this is intentional. The "right edge" of the time span that you configure is excluded. In other words, a certification that spans from 2/1 to 3/1, stops considering plays after 3/31 at 23:59:59.
If a user completes a Step in one Course, and I then take that same Step, and add it to a different Course required by my Certification, will the grade carry over?
No. Steps that are not collated to Courses, don't carry grades. A grade can only ever be obtained for a Course & Step combination. In this case, the user will have to retake the step in the new Course in order to get a passing grade for the certification. As note, this is also true of Courses. A step in one course, has a totally different identity than the same step in another course. This is by design.
I created a certification that should start on 2021-06-04, what's the actual cutoff time for that date at which the engine will start to consider plays?
2021-06-04 is effectively 2021-06-04 at 00:00:00.