Release Notes

Basilisk Release

Preliminary listing. Features may be added to or removed from this list before the release is finalized.

Filter by Author in News

This new filter panel option allows you to view News items written by a specific author.

TOTAL:  38 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: The Wizarding World of Jostle

B is for Basilisk

The problem with being a kid from the Harry Potter generation is that it's genuinely hard to find a did you know fact that seems unknown enough to be interesting. 

The Basilisk makes spiders run in terror? Duh!

Looking a basilisk in the eye is fatal, but seeing its gaze through another only petrifies you? Tell me something I don't know!

Basilisk venom can kill a person within minutes, and destroy Horcruxes? Well, now you're just bragging about paying attention.

But if you're wondering where the basilisks came from, the answer might be a little stranger than you think. While there are male and female basilisks, they don't breed. In fact, according to the works of Newt Scamander, basilisks are created by hatching a chicken egg under a toad. 

Not that you asked me, but that feels a little too easy for such a fantastical and deadly beast. It's almost enough to make you grateful the price of eggs makes basilisk breeding out of reach for us muggles.


Azkaban Release

Released April 7, 2025 (build 48.1.18)

Recently arrived: Exact match in Search

Search now supports exact phrase matching. If you know the exact term you’re searching for, put it in “quotations.” Search results will only include items with those words in the exact order in the quotations.

Filter by multiple categories in News

Want to see News items across several categories? The filter panel in News now allows you to select multiple categories at once.

Filter by Sign Off in News

This new option in the News filter panel allows you to view all published News items with Sign Off enabled.

TOTAL:  36 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: The Wizarding World of Jostle

A is for Azkaban

As we venture into the fraught world of witches, wizards, and house elves, we immediately run into the age-old debate of which was better: the books or the movies. 

It probably doesn't come as a shock that the author of this "Did you know" has a special affinity for the written version of the story. The movies skip too much, including the details of how Sirius Black became the first Wizard ever to escape the Alcatraz-inspired wizarding prison known as Azkaban

As Sirius tells it, his time in the Dementor-guarded Azkaban left him hopeless and unable to transform into his Animagus (a big black dog). But, when he saw a photo of Peter Pettigrew in his rat form on the cover of the Daily Prophet, his need for revenge gave him just enough hope to make his transformation, allowing him to sneak out past the Dementors who couldn't sense the soul of an animal. 

The one question we're left with is how long it took to doggy paddle from Azkaban to the British shore.


Zinnia Release

Released March 12, 2025 (build 47.26.8)

Simplified Smart List management in Tasks

In Tasks, each Smart List now has its own action menu, making it easier to access management actions. Users will also have the option to view hidden Smart Lists. With these changes, we’ve simplified the view by removing the Manage Smart Lists menu. 

TOTAL:  21 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

Z is for Zinnia

The zinnia flower is enduring—it’s a “cut and come again” flower, meaning that if you cut a flower above a pair of leaves, two new flower buds will emerge. But did you know that it’s also endured multiple PR disasters? When the Spanish first encountered zinnias in Mexico, they found them so small and ugly that they named the flower mal de ojos or “sickness of the eye.” Despite that, they were eventually brought to Europe, where they were relabeled the “poorhouse flower” because they were so common and easy to grow. And yet, hundreds of years later, the zinnia survives as a common and even beloved garden and gift flower. The “ugly” and “poor” accusations, on the other hand, have been lost to history.


Yarrow Release

Released February 20, 2025 (build 47.25.23)

Filter by User Status in People

Users can now filter People by User Status. See all users who have set a preset status, like “On Vacation” or “Out Sick.”

Improved file previews in News

The new Full View option in the File Attachment block allows News authors to include a full preview of files like PDF or Word documents. For example, a PDF poster can be fully displayed in a News item without the need for the user to open the file.

Jostle Digest updates

The Jostle Digest has been redesigned to better highlight platform content that is tailored to the user. In addition to these visual improvements, the Digest will now include an unlimited number of featured items, allowing News Editors to curate content for this email newsletter more effectively.

TOTAL:  34 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

Y is for Yarrow

You may have seen the pretty white flowers of yarrow in a cottage garden, but did you know that the plant has a long medicinal history? Yarrow was popular in European folk medicine, most commonly taken to reduce inflammation, help with digestion, or to ease anxiety and insomnia. But it was also used in ancient times to dress wounds and stop bleeding–the traditional story of Achilles includes the great warrior using the flower to treat his soldiers. For that reason, yarrow has the Latin name Achillea millefolium, which carries on the legend to this day.    


Xeranthemum Release

Released January 30, 2025 (build 47.24.8)

Recently arrived: Improved Search experience

A major upgrade to Search has arrived. This includes improved technology that searches all views, attachments, and comments, as well as a new look that provides more context for your results. You can learn more in the Support Center.

Text colors in News

You can now add a pop of color to your News articles. A selection of visually accessible colors are available in all Text blocks, including paragraphs, headers, and lists.

TOTAL:  7 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

X is for Xeranthemum

Have you heard of the xeranthemum plant? We always have to get creative at this point in the alphabet, but this time a cool theme fell right into our lap. Did you know that xeranthemum shares the same word origin as the Xerox company? Xerox is a Greek word that means “dry,” and xeranthemum got its name because it flourishes in a warm, dry garden. 

The Xerox company, on the other hand, was originally named Haloid. In the 1940s, when they commercialized the modern photocopier, they were looking for a way to describe their unique approach, which used dry powder toner rather than wet ink. They hired a Greek scholar to work on this marketing project and with him, coined the term “xerography” – a newly invented phrase that translated from the Greek words for  “dry writing.” Their product took off, and just over a decade later, they changed their name to the Xerox Corporation. And while “xerography” never quite caught on, we still call photocopying “xeroxing” today.


Wasabi Release

Released January 16, 2025 (build 47.23.15.1.7f51e67)

Special release

Aside from the usual improvements and bug fixes, the majority of features included in our Wasabi release will be used to lay the groundwork for upcoming advancements. As a result, there are no customer-facing features included in this release.

TOTAL:  36 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

W is for Wasabi

It’s perhaps a played-out fun fact that the “wasabi” you usually get with sushi isn’t actually the wasabi plant. It’s usually replaced with horseradish and green food dye. And while the flavor is certainly distinct from real wasabi, it’s chosen for good reason – it’s from the same family of plants and produces a similar type of spiciness. 

But did you know that this spicy sensation is completely distinct from the one we get from peppers? We think of these foods both as “spicy,” because of their intense flavor and the reaction we feel when eating them, but those effects come from different chemicals and cause distinct reactions. The spice in peppers is from a chemical called capsaicin (the concentration of which is used to measure a pepper’s Scoville rating), which sits in the mouth and causes a lingering, burning sensation. On the other hand, the spice in wasabi is caused by allyl isothicyanate, a more volatile compound that causes the sensation of spice traveling up the nose. 

See if you can remember all that next time your sinuses are on fire!


Violet Release

Released December 23, 2024 (build 47.22.52)

Navigation improvements in People 

We’ve updated the layout of People view, allowing users to more easily sort and filter Profile cards. This includes a newly designed panel under the action bar and a better display for filters, paving the way for Custom Filters in People in the future.

Locations filter configuration updates

We’ve improved the Locations setting page, allowing administrators to more easily manage hierarchies and fit new Locations into their existing hierarchy.

User provisioning API allows custom filters

Administrators can now create and update custom filters via our user provisioning API.

Jostle TV relinking

We’ve updated Jostle TV configuration, making it simple to relink Jostle TV to an existing device that has become disconnected. 

TOTAL:  45 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

V is for Violet

“Roses are red, violets are blue” is how the poem goes. But most modern English speakers who look at a violet wouldn’t exactly call it blue. This fact may make you wonder if the author was colorblind, but that’s not the whole story—did you know that the meanings of color names have changed significantly over time? The best evidence of this is that many older languages call things that we still have today by a different color. In ancient Arabic, for example, the color of the sky was commonly referred to as green (al-khaḍrā'). And while Arabic also has a word for blue, it’s not uncommon for languages—particularly ancient ones—to only have one word for both green and blue. But the poem doesn’t rhyme very well if you say “violets are green.”


Ursinia Release

Released December 12, 2024 (build 47.21.52.3)

Special release

Aside from the usual improvements and bug fixes, the majority of features included in our Ursinia release will be used to lay the groundwork for upcoming advancements. As a result, there are no customer-facing features included in this release.

TOTAL:  59 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

U is for Ursinia

Did you know that the ursinia flower is also known by the name “solar fire?” The plant is indigenous to South Africa and has been imported to Australia for use as an ornamental flower. Now solar fire grows in the wild in Western Australia and is often one of the first plants that repopulates a forest area after a wildfire. It’s a strange twist of fate that a flower named for the vibrant color fire now grows in the wake of its destruction.


Tulip Release

Released November 12, 2024 (build 47.20.31)

AI image suggestion in News

News Editors and Reporters can now select a high-quality Cover image for their News item with the help of AI recommendations. Images are recommended based on the item's title and content.  

Updated Profile cards

The design of cards in People view has been updated to better highlight important information. The new cards clearly feature the user’s job title and badge details. And, when you sort people by any field (like birthday or join date), that information is displayed for each user in the top right corner of each card.

TOTAL:  46 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

T is for Tulip

You may have heard of the Amsterdam Tulip Festival, but did you know that tulips actually originated in the Tian Shan mountain region in the Himalayas? They were first imported to Turkey, where Sultans held annual tulip parties, and were only brought to the Netherlands in the 16th century. Since then, however, the tulip has become a substantial part of Dutch culture. The Amsterdam festival hosts more than one million visitors annually, and similar festivals have popped up all over the world in places with Dutch heritage or influence. In fact, the largest tulip festival in the world (by number of tulips) is no longer in Amsterdam but in the nation’s capital of Jostle’s home country—Ottawa, Canada. 

The beginnings of that festival are another story worth telling. During World War II, the Dutch Royal Family fled Europe—to Ottawa, of all places. Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa’s Civic Hospital, and her room was declared Dutch territory so she could officially be born on home soil. As a thank you, the Netherlands pledged to send 10,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa every year, a tradition that continues today.


Sage Release

Released October 28, 2024 (build 47.19.1.10)

Dark Mode (Beta)

Dark Mode is now available across the Jostle platform. It creates better visibility in low-light conditions, can reduce battery usage, and offers a modern look and feel.

To get started, a System Admin must enable the feature and set Dark Mode brand colors at Admin Settings > Brand Your Platform > Dark Mode. Once enabled, all users can configure as they wish via Appearance in My Preferences. This feature is still in Beta, so some unexpected behaviors may occur. Please report any issues to product@jostle.me.

 

TOTAL:  28 bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements.

***

Release cycle theme: Flowers and Herbs

S is for Sage

You likely know sage as an herb used for its distinct flavor and medicinal properties. But did you know that one of the best ways to enjoy the benefits of sage is in honey? Croatia is one of the leading producers of sage and also home to a large population of honey bees. Bees who live on sage plantations collect the plant’s nectar and produce honey that carries a rich sage flavor and medicinal benefits like easing sore throats and assisting brain function. What a delicious way to treat a cold!