What's new in CyberFaCES
Every feature and improvement we have shipped, newest first. Jump to a month, or filter by the part of the site you care about.
July 2026
Copy a course in one click, and a guide for every role
Duplicate an entire course
Copy a course and its structure instead of rebuilding it from scratch. A Duplicate action sits on the course admin list, on course cards, and on the course detail page.
CoursesReplace an asset file in place
Swap the file behind a course asset without deleting the asset and recreating it, so links, ordering, and learner progress survive the update.
CoursesMay 2026
Discussion forums inside communities, and a way to apply
Module-aware course sidebar
The course sidebar now knows which module you are in, numbers the modules, and links straight to each asset.
CoursesFind your way back from any viewer
Every asset viewer carries a back button and a breadcrumb that keep the surrounding course context.
CoursesApril 2026
Announcements, community analytics, and a much richer reader
A better markdown reader
Course material now renders with a table of contents, colour-coded headers, and discussion, callout, and spoiler blocks. Asset links and download URLs are rewritten to match the context you are reading in.
CoursesWarnings for units you have not started
The course menu warns before you jump into a unit you have not started, and its dropdowns behave more predictably.
CoursesMarch 2026
Read PDFs and play media without leaving the course
Stable course links
Course URLs carry the course ID, which keeps links working when titles change.
CoursesFebruary 2026
Smart Search and Communities arrive
Markdown in course descriptions and materials
Write course descriptions and material in markdown and have it rendered rather than shown raw.
CoursesCarpentries-style callouts
The markdown viewer recognises and styles Carpentries callout blocks, so lessons written for that format render as intended.
CoursesSurveys and assessments out of the browse list
Pre- and post-survey and assessment units are filtered out of browse and landing pages, and units carry a display_on_browse setting to control this directly.
CoursesLong names on certificates
Certificates lay out correctly for learners with long names.
CoursesJanuary 2026
Faster, more interactive dashboard metrics
Pathway navigation across modules
Moving through a learning pathway is consistent from module to module, with clearer wording throughout.
CoursesDecember 2025
Workshops, exportable reports, and staff permissions
Workshops, distinct from modules
Filter for workshops specifically, and tell the two apart at a glance with Module and Workshop badges.
CoursesFilters on the instructor view
The instructor view gained filtering options and a clearer layout.
CoursesContributors on the course page
Courses credit their contributors and show when they were created, loaded efficiently enough not to slow the page down.
CoursesJuly – August 2025
Sign in to JupyterHub once, and run a course as a workshop
Workshops
A course can be marked as a workshop, which separates short workshop offerings from full learning modules.
CoursesMore than one instructor per achievement
An achievement can credit several instructors instead of just one.
CoursesJune 2025
Decide who issues an achievement
Set the issuer of an achievement
Choose which organisation or person is named as the issuer on an achievement, rather than accepting a fixed default.
CoursesInstructors required when building a unit
Naming the instructors is a required step of building a unit, enforced at every step of the build rather than only the first.
CoursesMay 2025
Certificates for finishing, and a rebuilt dashboard
Completion certificates
Finish a course and receive a certificate, carrying the NSF grant number that funded the work.
CoursesApril 2025
Badges and achievements you can earn and share
Achievements
Complete a module or a course and earn an achievement that records what you finished.
CoursesA page for every badge you earn
Each earned badge gets its own page, which you can share outside the platform.
CoursesBadges created as you build
A badge is created automatically while a unit is being built, drawing on badge and certificate templates, so it is not a separate job afterwards.
CoursesForm input survives a mistake
What you typed into the course or module creation form is kept when the form comes back with an error, instead of being cleared.
CoursesRoom for longer descriptions
Course and unit descriptions accept substantially more text.
CoursesMarch 2025
Seeing engagement over time
Achievements know their course
An achievement records the course it belongs to, which is what makes course-level achievements possible.
CoursesThis page covers changes you can see and use. Internal refactoring, dependency updates, and documentation-only changes are left out, and a quiet month is a month spent on those. Months with no user-facing changes are not listed.