Dovetail SelfService Documentation

What's New

Version 3.0.0

Enhancements

Dynamic Home Page Content
Custom Content Pages
Dynamic Menus
Favorite knowledgebase articles
Recent knowledgebase articles
Comment and Rate knowledgebase articles
Solution listings now include more context (last updated, created, first few hundred characters of the description, rating)
In-app Feedback
Register / request access workflow
Support paging on all listing and search pages
Change severity on a case
Track page visits
Track searches
The SelfService Application now requires a SelfService license key
Display rich, formatted text (using Markdown) within case history.
Exclude file uploads based on file extensions. Configurable via the AttachmentSettings.ExcludeExtensions application setting.
All case file attachments can now be downloaded. Previously, only certain file attachments were available for download.

Bug Fixes

Able to log an empty note to a case
Paragraph spacing could be missing in case history

Changes of Interest to Developers

New application config settings:

Assorted changes to the web.config file.
Application Infrastructure and dependencies have been upgraded
- The application is now a .NET 4.5 project (previously it was .NET 4)
- Upgraded to use FUBU MVC 2
- Upgraded to use StructureMap 3
- Upgraded to use Dovetail SDK 3.5

Upgrading to Version 3.0.0

Install the .NET Framework 4.5 Full
Install Dovetail Selfservice license key, which enables access to the general app functionality

License keys can be obtained from the My License Keys page on the Dovetail Selfservice portal. If you do not have these keys, contact Dovetail Software, and we will provide them.

License keys an be installed using the Dovetail Software License Installer, which is included with the Dovetail SDK.
Apply Schema Changes.

The schema changes to be applied are defined in $dovetailSelfservice\config\schema\selfservice.schemascript.xml

The easiest way is to simply apply these changes using Dovetail SchemaEditor and the agent.schemascript.xml file - it will add the new schema and skip over any changes that already exist.

Import the following Data Files
selfservice-menus-list.dat
activity_codes.dat
Merge in your customizations with the baseline source code
Update the web.config file. If you re-use your existing web.config file, be sure to merge in the latest changes.
- The assembly binding definitions have changed
- Content-Security-Policy has changed
- customHeaders section has been updated
- httpErrors section has been updated
Build / Test / Release / Deploy

Previous Versions

Version 2.4.0

Enhancements

Support for displaying embedded YouTube and Vimeo videos on solutions.
Improved the user experience when a user's session has timed out
Improvements to the user authorization module

Of interest to developers and implementors

The web.config file now contains a machineKey setting, needed for CSRF tokens to work across app recycle events

Version 2.3.0

Enhancements

Display rich, formatted text (using Markdown) on solutions.
Display inline images on solutions.
On cases, show thumbnails of image attachments in the history, and open in lightbox.

The following issues are resolved

Incorrect log4net assembly reference
Long contact names can wrap in header causing overlap of page content
Validation messages display off screen if page is scrolled
Incorrect url for reset password in email when app is in a virtual directory
Clicking a submit button twice results in double posts

Version 2.2.0

Enhancements

Added new application configuration settings: SelfServiceSettings.IncludePerformedByDetailsForContactActions, which tells the application whether or not to prepend the "Performed By Contact" details to act_entry records. This is useful when using the Clarify Client to work cases.

Fixes

Resolved incorrect URL for password reset when app is running in a virtual directory. The fix requires a new application configuration setting: WebsiteSettings.IsPublicRootVirtual
Populate the case2address relation when creating a case.

Version 2.1.0

Enhancements

Knowledgebase - users can now search and view public solutions
Security enhancements
- Configurable Password complexity rules
- Additional checks to prevent CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) attacks
- Failed login attempts are throttled by a time delay - helping to prevent brute force login attacks
- Disable browser caching for sensitive information
- Disable autocomplete for login and lost password pages
- Set cookies to be HTTP-only
- Set cookies to be secure (if using SSL)

Fixes

Resolved assorted IE8 specific styling issues

Version 2.0.2

Fixed a build issue causing application components (bottles) to not initialize correctly at runtime.

Version 2.0.1

Enhancement

Minimized Javascript now includes Source Maps for a better debugging and error reporting experience.

Fixes

Resetting password no longer redirects you to the sign-in page.
Removed IE8 workaround obviated by an update to the respond library.

Version 2.0.0

Dovetail SelfService 2.0 is a completely redesigned user interface and architecture.

On the back end, it uses the FUBU MVC Framework, which is a popular .NET framework for building web applications. It's built on top of the core ASP.NET libraries. The back end is all written in C#. On the front end the site is created using HTML 5, CSS3, and JavaScript. It uses the Backbone JavaScript framework, along with a boatload of other common JavaScript libraries, including Require.js, jQuery, Marionette, Underscore.js, and Moment.js. In short, all leading-edge technologies.