Last night we released some behind-the-scenes updates to Populi. We enabled some caching (which should speed up page load times), switched over file streaming to SSL (more secure!), and updated a number of server settings and other items, none of which can be described in readable English. Thus, the servers.

We also updated the back-end of online testing and email. Email has been around since we first loosed Populi back in 2007; online testing is just north of two years old this month. Since their initial release, we've added numerous new interface features that glide atop a fundamentally unchanged back-end. We've also added thousands and thousands of new users, who have introduced needs, situations, and pressures we didn't originally envision. So, last night's release optimized, streamlined, and stabilized the foundations of tests and email, which will enable these crucial functions to simply work better and more reliably. You won't notice anything new in the interface—all the work we've been doing is strictly under-the-hood.

Well, there's one new thing in tests: now you can re-grade questions. Just go to a student's test history, find the question you want to regrade, and click Edit points. Once you save your changes, the student's test score will automatically update.

This release is part of our ongoing current project: taking a break from developing brand-new features, we're dotting i's and crossing t's to improve the entire Populi experience for all of our users.