11.4.0

New action tag: @IF - Allows various action tags to be set based on conditional logic provided inside an @IF() function - e.g., @IF(CONDITION, ACTION TAGS if condition is TRUE, ACTION TAGS if condition is FALSE). Simply provide a condition using normal logic syntax (similar to branching logic), and it will implement one set of action tags or another based on whether that condition is true or false. For example, you can have @IF([yes_no] = '1', @HIDDEN, @HIDE-CHOICE='3' @READ-ONLY), in which it will implement @HIDDEN if the 'yes_no' field's value is '1', otherwise, it will implement the two action tags @HIDE-CHOICE='3' and @READ-ONLY. If you wish not to output any action tags for a certain condition, set it with a pair of apostrophes/quotes as a placeholder - e.g., @IF([my_radio]='1', @READONLY, ''). You may have multiple instances of @IF for a single field. You may also have multiple nested instances of @IF() inside each other. Both field variables and Smart Variables may be used inside the @IF condition. The @IF action tag is also evaluated for a given field when downloading the PDF of an instrument/survey, in case there are any PDF-specific action tags used inside of @IF(). Note: The conditional logic will be evaluated only when the survey page or data entry form initially loads; thus the action tag conditions will not be evaluated in real time as data is entered on the page.
New feature: Protected Email Mode
- Users can enable the Protected Email Mode on any project on the Project Setup via the Additional Customization dialog. This setting prevents identifying data (PHI/PII) from being sent in outgoing emails for alerts, survey invitations, and survey confirmation emails.
- If enabled, either A) all alerts, survey invitations, and survey confirmation emails or B) those whose email body is attempting to pipe data from Identifier fields will be affected, in which it will not send the full email text to the recipient but will instead send a surrogate email containing a link that leads them to a secure REDCap page to view their original email. If someone is accessing an email in the Protected Email Mode for the first time (or for the first time in the past 30 days), it will send a security code to their inbox that will allow the recipient to view any protected emails for up to 30 days on that same device. The Protected Email Mode is similar to Microsoft Outlook's "sensitivity label" feature.
- When enabled in a project, user’s may specify custom text/HTML to display at top of the sent email and web page where the original email is viewed. This will allow users to also display logos/images pertaining to their project or institution.
- This feature can be disabled in all projects via a global setting on the Modules/Services Configuration page in the Control Center.
New feature: Email Logging page
- This is a new project page that contains a search interface to allow users with User Rights privileges to search and view ALL outgoing emails for that project (also includes searching and viewing of SMS messages if using Twilio services).
- This feature can be disabled in all projects via a global setting on the Modules/Services Configuration page in the Control Center.
- “Re-send email” feature - When viewing an individual email after performing a search on the page, a “Re-send email” button will be displayed in the dialog to allow users to re-send the email. Note: If the original email contained email attachments, the attachments will not be included in the email that is re-sent.
- Only users with User Rights privileges in the project may access the page, and additionally they must opt-in and agree to a disclaimer before being able to view the page. The following text will be presented to the user before accessing the page: “Before viewing and accessing this page, you must first agree that you understand the following important information and conditions. This page is only accessible by users having User Rights privileges in this project. The Email Logging feature allows users to search and view *all* outgoing emails related to this project, and this includes being able to view all aspects of any given email (i.e., the recipient(s), sender, subject, message body, attachment names). If you are using anonymous surveys in this project, keep in mind that viewing this page and the emails displayed therein might inadvertently cause anonymous survey responses to be identifiable/de-anonymized. Additionally, if the project is using Data Access Groups, you will be able to view the emails related to all DAGs in this project (and thus possibly any data piped into the body of those emails). If you understand and agree to these conditions, click the button below. Please note the act agreeing to this disclaimer will be documented on the project Logging page.”
Improvement: New "Banned IP Addresses'' page in the Control Center allows administrators with "Manage User Accounts'' privileges to add or remove IP addresses to/from the blocklist of banned IP addresses for the REDCap installation. The IP addresses listed on that page are IPv4 or IPv6 addresses that have been blocked manually using that page or have been banned automatically via the Rate Limiter feature (enabled on the General Configuration page in the Control Center).
Improvement: When using the ''Reason for Change'' feature in a project, a new button is displayed underneath each "reason for change" textbox on the Data Import Tool summary page. Users can simply click the button to copy the text to all other "reason for change" textboxes on the page, thus saving lots of time of having to add text to each individually. This feature is the integration of Luke Steven’s “Copy Change Reason” external module, which will be automatically disabled at the system-level when upgrading to (or past) REDCap 11.4.0 to prevent any conflicts.
Improve: New data export option - Export blank values for gray instrument status
- All instrument complete status fields having a gray icon can be exported either as a blank value or as "0"/”Incomplete”. In previous versions, they could only be exported as “0”. By default, they are now exported with a value of “0”, but this option can be changed via a drop-down option in the “Advanced data formatting options” section of the data export dialog.
- When exporting the Project XML file with both metadata & data, the option to export gray instrument status as a blank value will be preselected by default, whereas in other data export contexts (e.g. My Reports & Exports page), the option to export them as “0” will be preselected by default.
- The API method “Export Records” has a new optional parameter “exportBlankForGrayFormStatus” that can accept a boolean (true/false) with default value = false, and it functions the same as its equivalent data export option in the user interface.
- Note: Exporting gray instrument statuses as blank values is recommended if the data will be re-imported into REDCap. For example, when users export a Project XML file for a project and then create a new project with it, all the gray instrument status icons will be preserved in the new project, whereas in previous versions they were all converted into red status icons.
Improvement: New option “Allow normal users to edit their primary email address on their Profile page” on the User Settings page in the Control Center. This setting will be enabled by default, but an admin can disable it if they wish to prevent any users from modifying their primary email address for their user account.
Improvement: The developer methods REDCap::getSurveyLink() and REDCap::getSurveyQueueLink() now have an optional parameter "project_id" that (when provided) allows one to call the method outside of that target project's context. If project_id is not explicitly provided, then the methods must still be called within their target project's context.