Editing Paths that have already been launched is strongly discouraged, as it can impact how Path progress is calculated and may cause discrepancies in user completion status. If circumstances require you to make a change, please review the following best practices to minimize any unintended impact to your Path(s).
V1 and V2 Path Processors and Editing Paths
Campuses using the V2 processor will experience faster and more frequent Path processing, ensuring users have the most up-to-date progress reports. Along with improved reliability, the V2 Path Processor also changes how edits to Paths are handled.
To determine if your Engage instance is using the V1 or V2 processor, follow these steps:
- Go to the Admin Panel.
- Click the "Paths" drop-down menu.
- Select "Paths" to access the Paths List screen.
If you see a column labeled "Last Reprocessed," your instance is using the V2 processor. If this column is not visible, your instance is on the V1 processor.
We anticipate completing the migration of all Paths to the new V2 processor by the end of 2024.
Understanding Domain Completion with the V2 Paths Processor
When you update a Path, it's important to know that Domain completion is calculated using a “forgiving” measure. This means that once a user has completed the requirements of a Path, they will keep their completion status, even if the criteria is changed later. For instance, if a new required item is added to a Domain, users who have already completed that Domain won’t need to meet the new requirement, while those who haven’t will still need to complete it.
Users who have completed the Domain based on a prior set of criteria will see this denoted on their Path Progress reports, as shown below:
Overall Path Progress is calculated based on the number of completed Domains relative to the total number of Domains in the Path. For example, the Path in the image above is comprised of two Domains. The user has competed one of the two domain and therefore they have completed 50% of the Path.
Potential for Completion Discrepancies
Editing a Path can result in users completing different criteria to achieve the satisfy the same Path. This is especially true if the criteria changes after some users have already completed a Domain within the Path. To minimize discrepancies, avoid making certain types of edits:
Edits Likely to Cause Discrepancies:
- Changing Required and Optional Items using the "ALL" statement.
- Adding new required items to a Domain.
- Changing requirements from "ANY" to "ALL."
- Increasing the number of Optional Items required in a Domain.
- Removing an item before adding a new one when swapping out equivalent items.
Edits Less Likely to Cause Discrepancies:
- Adding criteria using the "ANY" statement without changing the number of required items.
- Adding new items before removing old ones, especially when the items are similar.
- Adding or removing entire Domains from a Path.
Users by Path Progress Report and Path Edits
The "Users By Path Progress" report tracks a user's progress by counting the number of completed items within a Path. When a Path is edited, and a user had previously received credit based on the old criteria, the report will display the user's progress according to the updated criteria. This may result in discrepancies between what the user and the admin see in Engage and what is shown in the report.
To help identify when this occurs, the "Path Change Impacting Progress" column has been added to the report. This column indicates if a user has received credit in at least one domain based on the previous criteria by showing a "Yes" for the affected users.
As a best practice, periodically review the percentage of users impacted by Path changes. If a significant number of users are affected, consider creating a copy of your Path. Details on how to create a Path copy are provided below.
When Edits Cannot be Avoided
If you need to make edits that will cause discrepancies, we recommend creating a new copy of your Path. Our Support team can assist with this process. The new Path will not carry over any prior completion credits, and no participants will be enrolled in it. After making the necessary edits, enroll your users in the new Path to ensure everyone meets the same requirements.
Key Points When Copying a Path:
- The new Path will not have any participants enrolled; you must re-add participants after editing.
- Manually applied credits from the original Path will not transfer to the new Path.
- The new Path will include copies of all Domains and Items, which may result in duplicates. Filter by Path Name to ensure you’re working with the correct items.
If you no longer need the original Path, contact Support to request its deletion after confirming the new Path is set up correctly.
How to Modify Path Items
- Select the item you want to edit.
- Navigate to the "Criteria" tab (not available for Self-Reported items).
- To add criteria, click the "+Criteria" button and use the dropdowns.
- To remove criteria, click the red "X" next to the line you wish to remove.
- After making changes, click "Update" to see a notice screen that will inform you about potential impacts on Path participants. Click “Update” on this notice screen to continue.
- Click “View Completion Criteria” to review the impact and either "Accept" or "Discard" the changes. If you do not do this, the item will remain locked and no change will take place.
- If you accept changes, you'll need to send a message to users explaining the impact on their credits. Click “Send” to finalize the process.
- If you decline the changes, no further action is needed, and the Path will remain unchanged.
For any assistance with these processes, please reach out to our Support team.