Documentation

Work in progress

• Creating a unit now says so in the activity log. A newly created unit logs that it was created along with its starting status, instead of reading as though it had checked in.
• Clearer errors when naming a place or route. Saving a place or route with a missing, blank, or too-long name now explains what is wrong instead of failing with an unexplained error, and the route name box stops at 100 characters like the place name box already did.
• Route split, join, and reverse. Map admins can reshape routes from Edit Routes without redrawing them.
  • Split. Click the route, choose Split, then click the cut. First piece keeps name and settings; second is a new numbered route. A short gap is left at the cut (the stretch you click is removed). Needs at least four points; cannot cut the first or last stretch.
  • Join. Click the first route, choose Join, then the ends to connect. First route keeps name and settings; second is absorbed. Confirm if the ends are far apart.
  • Reverse. Flip direction of travel so arrows match. With Split and Join, fix a loop drawn the wrong way.
• Admin navigation and sign-out. Back and history cache behave correctly for administrators and after logout.
  • Admin Back. The Back button on dispatch-center admin pages returns to the dispatch-center list instead of the sign-in page. The sign-in page no longer shows the application menu bar, and returning while already signed in takes you where you left off.
  • History cache. Pages are no longer kept in the browser's history cache, so signing out prevents previously-viewed pages from reappearing via Back. Navigating back reloads from the server.
• Intersection geocoding. Searching for a street intersection now shows both crossing street names (not just city and state), works regardless of which street you type first, and accepts &, and, or / as separators.
• Unit column on logs. Log entries show which unit they belong to on the Recent Activity list, Audit Log, incident detail and edit pages, and the printed activity report — including existing entries and live-updating rows on the Command page.
• Closing an incident releases units. Units return to In Service and the release is logged.
  • At Destination → In Service. A unit sitting At Destination returns to In Service when its incident is closed (Transporting is unchanged, since the unit is still on the move).
  • Release log entry. Closing an incident records a log entry for each unit it releases, on both the incident log and the unit's own log.
• Live unit info box on map. A unit's map info box now updates status, incident assignment, and location as they change — on both the dispatcher map and the unit dashboard map.
• Position trail accuracy. Trails stay continuous and correctly attributed.
  • Duplicate beacons and impossible speeds. Repeat radio beacons and positions implying an impossible speed are rejected, so trails no longer zig-zag backwards. A parked unit still beaconing stays current rather than fading.
  • Phone GPS per dispatch center. Phone-GPS trails no longer mix units that share a callsign across dispatch centers. Note: phone-GPS trails look short or empty for up to eight hours after this update while new positions accumulate — older ones could not be attributed to a center and were cleared. APRS trails are unaffected.
  • Dual GPS + APRS merge. A unit tracked by both phone GPS and radio (APRS) draws one continuous track in true time order, not two tracks joined by a long straight line.
  • aprs.fi-tracked units. Units tracked through aprs.fi now draw a trail like any other unit. Previously the marker moved but the line behind it stayed empty; the history already recorded appears straight away rather than building up from scratch.
• Turn cues survive shape edit. Adjusting a route's shape no longer erases turn-by-turn cue labels. Cues stay attached when a point is dragged; adding a point starts with no cue, and removing a point removes its cue.
• Map toasts and edit UI. Confirmations and errors appear on top of the map (not under it). Edit-box instructions are larger and easier to read, and direction arrows no longer block clicks on the route underneath.
• Dispatch-center import is checked before anything is applied. A file with a bad entry — a missing map-point coordinate, a callsign with a space in it, an unrecognised access level — is rejected up front, naming the entries at fault, instead of being written in and then failing part-way through or leaving unusable records behind. Nothing is changed unless the whole file passes, so a rejected import can no longer wipe existing places or units on its way to failing.
  • Callsigns tidied on import. Callsigns and radio callsigns from an imported file are trimmed and capitalised the same way as everywhere else in the application, so a unit imported in lower case is still recognised by radio tracking.
  • Duplicates skipped, not doubled. A unit whose callsign already exists in the destination is reported as skipped rather than added a second time, matching the bulk unit import.
  • Weather zones follow the shape. The zones covered by an imported service area are worked out from the area's shape instead of being taken from the file, so they can no longer disagree with the shape they belong to.
• Typed log entries are no longer lost on save. When editing an incident, a log entry you have typed but not yet added is recorded when you save the page. The Add button still works as before, for logging without saving.
• Reconnecting never gives up. After a connection is lost, Skylog keeps trying for as long as the window stays open instead of stopping after a couple of minutes and asking you to refresh. It retries quickly at first, then settles to about every 15 seconds, and reconnects straight away when your network comes back. The banner now shows how long you have been offline rather than an attempt count.
• Keyboard focus is now visible on form checkboxes. Tabbing to a checkbox on the New Incident page and the admin forms draws a highlight ring, matching the behavior on the Edit Incident page.
• Weather watches release their units when they end. When a watch closes because its last area has been dropped, any units assigned to it are now released and returned to service the same way a dispatcher-closed incident releases them, with a log entry for each. Previously those units stayed attached to the closed watch until someone cleared them by hand.
• Position tracking IDs are checked when you save a unit. A radio callsign or aprs.fi station ID that could not work — one with a space, one longer than the field allows, or one beginning with #, which Skylog reserves for phone-GPS tracking — is now refused straight away with a clear message, wherever the unit is created or edited. Previously some of these were accepted and then quietly failed to track, or picked up positions belonging to another dispatch center.
• Impossible map coordinates are refused. Saving a place or a route with a latitude or longitude outside the real range is now rejected with a message naming the field at fault, instead of being accepted and drawn somewhere it does not belong. The same check applies when marking a road closure or splitting a route, and it matches what the dispatch-center import already required — so a place you can create by hand is one a copy of your dispatch center can import back.
• Route arrows follow shape edits. Direction arrows now clear the moment you start adjusting a route's shape and redraw along the new shape when you save, instead of hanging in their old position until you finish editing. Cancelling puts them back on the original shape.
• The command box is ready to type on arrival. Every page that shows the command/callsign box now puts the cursor in it when the page opens — including the Dashboard, Chat, the dispatch-center admin pages, System Status, Settings and the activity report, which previously left you to click into it first. Pages with their own entry field, such as New and Edit Incident, New Unit and Edit Unit, still start in that field instead. On phones and tablets the command box is not focused on arrival, so the on-screen keyboard stays down until you tap it; pages with their own entry field still start in that field there as well.
• Hover a collapsed map cluster to see what is inside it. The grouped units, incidents and places are now listed in a tooltip, so finding a specific marker no longer means clicking in and changing zoom. Long lists show the first twelve and a count of the rest.
• See who is online. A new Online page lists everyone currently signed in to your dispatch center, what each is signed in as — their access level, or the unit callsign for someone signed in as a field unit — and how long ago they were last heard from. It refreshes on its own every 30 seconds. Someone who closes their browser can linger on the list for up to two minutes before dropping off.
• Administrative user management is now restricted to top-level administrators. Listing, viewing, creating and editing user accounts, clearing lockouts, and granting or removing a user's access to a dispatch center were previously reachable by any signed-in account, and could be used to grant oneself administrator rights. The screens themselves were always administrator-only; the restriction now applies underneath them as well. Setting a dispatch-center access level through these screens also rejects values that are not a real access level, instead of storing them.
• Your data is now strictly scoped to the dispatch center you are signed in to. Incidents, units, places, routes, chat, logs and map data are served only for that center; to work in another one, sign out and select it. Managing dispatch centers and viewing the System Status page are likewise limited to accounts that hold the corresponding administrator role.

26.06.21

• Replaced user-to-user messaging with a dispatch-center-wide Chat. A new Chat panel on the dashboard (between Open Incidents and Recently Updated) shows recent messages and lets you send one to everyone; each message stays for 30 minutes, and you can click the acknowledge (✓) icon to dismiss it sooner — a dismissal also clears that message from your other open windows. The Chat page now shows the full history of every message, newest first, with a send box at the top. On other pages, incoming messages appear as a popup with an Ack button; the messages you send yourself don't pop up at you, but they still appear in the Chat panel (with the acknowledge icon) so you see them in context with everything else. There are no more private or directed messages — every message goes to all dispatchers. The :SEND command now posts to Chat (:SEND/your message).
• Added a Terms of Service that every user must read and accept before using Skylog. The terms cover using Skylog only when stopped (never while driving), that Skylog is not a substitute for a primary emergency-dispatch system, and each user's responsibility for their own judgement and actions. You scroll through the full document and check a box to accept; you'll be asked to review and accept again whenever the terms are updated.
• Dispatch-center admins can no longer accidentally lock themselves out: lowering your own access level — whether by editing your own row or by re-linking your own login through the "Link Existing User" form — is now blocked with a clear message.
• Fixed getting stuck on the dispatch-center selection screen after a login attempt expired: instead of repeatedly failing with a misleading error, you're now sent back to the sign-in page with a clear "Your login session expired. Please sign in again." message.

26.06.13b

• Map admins can now reorder routes to control which one draws on top when routes overlap — in Edit Routes, click Reorder Routes and drag the routes into the order you want.
• Fixed the map page logging you out after about an hour when left open in its own browser window for monitoring; it now stays signed in for as long as the window is open.
• Fixed new incidents created by another dispatcher showing a blank Reporting Party on your dashboard until you refreshed; the RP now fills in immediately when the incident appears.
• Map markers no longer merge so aggressively: places, incidents, and units now only group together when they almost completely overlap, so you can spread out across a large event without constantly zooming in to find your units. Units always draw on top, with incidents above places, so the markers you care about most are never hidden behind another.
• Fixed map markers at the exact same location hiding one another at the closest zoom: stacked places, incidents, or units now automatically fan out when you zoom all the way in, so none stays hidden behind the others.
• Fixed: setting an assigned unit's status (RES, ATS, etc.) from the edit-incident screen no longer clears that unit's APRS callsign.
• Fixed: assigning a unit to an incident no longer overwrites the unit's destination with the incident's location.
• Fixed an intermittent issue where closing an incident (by unchecking "Open" on the edit form) could leave it lingering in the dashboard's Open Incidents list until a manual refresh. The dashboard now reliably drops closed incidents on its own.

26.06.13

• Reworked the map's Places and Routes editing for a clearer, less cluttered workflow:
  • The editing modes (Route Closure, Edit Places, Edit Routes, Service Area, Edit Unit Area) are now mutually exclusive — opening one hides the others, so the toolbar only shows the controls for what you're doing.
  • "Edit Routes" lets you click a single route to edit its name, category, color, and shape, instead of every route sprouting drag handles at once.
  • "Edit Places" works the same way: click a place to rename, recolor, move, or delete it, with the other places dimmed while you reposition one.
• You can now import routes from a GPX file (such as a ride or course export) in the map's Edit Routes mode: pick a detail level, category, and color, and Skylog builds the route. Very long tracks are automatically thinned — corners and turns are kept while straight stretches collapse to a few points — and you can fine-tune the result afterward.
• Routes can now show directional arrows indicating traffic flow; set a route's direction (Forward, Reverse, or None) when drawing or editing it.
• You can now track units that report their position from the aprs.fi phone app instead of over the air. On the unit form, set the APRS location source to "aprs.fi" and enter the station's aprs.fi ID (shown in its aprs.fi web address); their position then appears with an "APRS.FI" label.
• The dispatch center member list (DC Admin → Members) now shows how long ago each member was last active.
• The login page now reminds users to allow notification and location (GPS) access when the browser prompts, so dispatch alerts and unit positions work correctly.

26.06.08

• Added a Documentation page (this page) with release notes, reachable from the version number in the corner and from the user menu.
• Dispatch center admins can now see each member's email address on the dispatch center admin screen.
• Fixed the Settings menu so it works in admin mode (it previously bounced to the login page); it no longer appears as a dead link on the dispatch-center selection screen, where settings cannot yet be saved.

26.05.27

• Active weather warning polygons now appear on the unit dashboard map, color-coded by alert type.
• New setting to switch the order of the incident entry fields (Reporting Party / Description / Location) between the ham-radio and telephone workflows.
• Units can be given a geographic service area; the incident screen now flags units whose service area covers the incident's location.

26.05.09

• Bulk-import units from a CSV or JSON file on the dispatch center admin page.
• Geocode and map a unit's location directly from the unit form.
• Dispatch center admins can copy a center's configuration — including its map — to another deployment.

26.05.07

• New incident reminder/tickler feature with pop-up alerts at the scheduled time.
• A reporting party entered with a trailing period (for example "BOB.") now creates that unit automatically.
• Unit notes can be added and are shown on the map (hover or click) and on the unit list.
• New setting to choose the order of the unit status buttons.
• Dispatch center cloning was generalized and the dispatch center admin screen reorganized.
• Map routes can now be edited, their line width adjusted, and they fade out as an event progresses.
• Fixed re-opening an incident not refreshing the list of available units.
• Fixed the mobile map not staying hidden when toggled off.
• Fixed an error that prevented saving dispatch center member changes.
• Fixed route closure points snapping to the wrong vertex on the first update.

26.04.21

• The dispatch center map is now copied automatically when a new center is created from an existing one.

26.04.17

• Weather warnings are now plotted as polygons on the map.
• Map warning polygons link through to their alert details.
• Improved weather-alert handling: watch extensions, expansions into the service area, and SVS updates to severe-thunderstorm and tornado warnings.
• Additional SVS/WCN bulletins are appended to the raw alert text.
• Map auto-zoom now accounts for the dispatch center's service area.
• The unit username now appears on the create-unit screen.
• Clearer service-area editing — removed the confusing double-save step.

26.04.16

• New dispatch center service area feature.
• Optional county overlay on the map.
• Fewer false weather incidents thanks to more accurate alert matching.
• Warning expiry now cancels the correct alert segments.
• Clearer warning when a dispatch center admin adds a user who already exists.
• More comfortable spacing on table rows.