PowerSchool Beta Plugin

The beta plugin is no longer needed as BrightView is now live. You may delete the beta plugin if you have it.

The BrightArrow Beta plugin adds an individual toggle to each user's personal preferences. With the toggle enabled the regular links within PowerSchool that would have gone to the current UI will now be directed to the BrightView Beta UI. This will only work with the latest base plugins, older base plugins will not have the logic embedded. If the beta plugin is disabled or deleted all users that have opted into the beta will be put back to the normal usage.

What is the BrightView Beta?

The BrightView Beta is a way for you to try and test our new user interface that is in development right now. It is NOT a finished product and should not be thought of as a finished product. We are actively looking for issues and adding features. If you do not have experience with working with a Beta it may be advisable to skip this or ask for more information.

What can I expect in BrightView?

This is a work in progress. Any screen that hasn't been converted yet will continue to show the current UI version of that screen. BrightView will be updated with the weekly changes each weekend so issue reported today may be fixed today but will not show up until the servers you reach are updated over the weekend.

There will not be a message sent with changes each week. 

If I perform a task in BrightView will it work in the current interface too?

Yes, with 1 exception. BrightView contains a new option to translate into other languages that is different and incompatible with the current interface. If you add a language translation using the new option the current interface will display that the message is not editable.

Base Versions:

The minimum base versions are:

Base 1: 23.01.30
Base 2: 23.01.31

You can get the latest versions on the Current Plugins Versions for Download page

Beta Plugin:

V 23.02.27
- Fix for Firefox on Windows

V 23.02.21
- Edit to work with Google SSO servers

V 23.01.25
- Initial version

How do I know if I'm able to use the Beta?

Anyone with the latest version of our PowerSchool plugins and the latest version of the Beta plugin can use it. Installing and enabling the plugin and then enabling BrightView Beta Testing is all that's needed for use within PowerSchool.

How do I default my PS user to the beta?

With the BrightArrow Beta plugin installed you'll have a new option in your settings.

1. Click on your initials in the upper right corner
2. Click on Managed Profile
3. Find the BrightView Beta Testing area and toggle the option from Off to On
4. Click Submit at the bottom

How do I know if it's on?

If the beta toggle is on the BrightArrow My Lists option on the left will be replaced with a BrightView link instead. 

What if we decide we don't want to default to BrightView, we'll go in each time through the menu?

Simply disable the beta plugin or delete it completely and the links will revert back for everyone, even if the preference still has it on. This will mean no one can default to BrightView. If you simply wish to change your personal default simply change your setting.

Are there other big changes to be aware of?

For the most part the BrightView interface should work in a similar manor to the current interface. This should help minimize the need for retraining. However BrightView is a full upgrade of the interface and does include some new features that will not be put into the current interface.

• Starting at BrightArrow Central
  In all iterations before BrightView the default "home" page is the My Lists page. In BrightView the new default location is the dashboard called BrightArrow Central. The dashboard will have more options in later versions but initially it will show a chart of messages sent the past week as well as status of currently running messages and scheduled messages.
• Message screen more closely resembles the app
  In an effort to make things more intuitive we've designed the message creation window to work more like how it works in the mobile apps. Before it was an all in one screen while the app was more of a guided step process due to screen size. BrightView also allows for a walk through approach to creating a message to help guide users along.

How can we report issues if we find them?

When in BrightView you will soon see a new beacon. The normal beacon is yellow/gold and takes you to documentation, the BrightView beacon will allow you to submit information to let us know of issues you have found. This system is separate from our normal ticketing system and will allow us to combine issues found by multiple people into a single task for development to work on.

We use Instant Connect, can we use this plugin?

Yes. Instant Connect and BrightArrow are the same thing. Before they were purchased eSchoolView had us brand our system as Instant Connect for their customers. For the purposes of the Beta though we are not making separate plugins. Update to the latest version of the instant connect base plugins and then use the BrightArrow Beta plugin to add the toggle.