post for update 3.4.3

Author: SelinaDev

_posts/2026-02-11-web-3.4.3.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Release of ESMira Server 3.4.3"
+date: 2026-02-11 14:00:00 +0200
+categories: update
+author: Selina
+---
+
+We just released a new path version of the ESMira web interface, which nonetheless brings some interesting changes (upon reflection, this should have probably been a new minor version).
+
+## Highlights
+
+### Plugins
+
+ESMira can do quite a bit by now, but for some special cases it can be nice to extend that functionality a bit. Previously we hat script extensions. This slightly hidden feature intended for power users allowed the creation of PHP script in a special directory on the server, which would get called when certain endpoints were called (e.g., when new data was uploaded by participants). Now this functionality has been expanded into a complete plugin system. Plugins can more easily be installed, and are more powerful than simple scripts, as they can also modify the website as it is shown to users.
+
+For more information on how to create plugins, visit [https://github.com/KL-Psychological-Methodology/ESMira/wiki/ESMira-plugins](https://github.com/KL-Psychological-Methodology/ESMira/wiki/ESMira-plugins).
+
+### Reward System
+
+With the reward system we tried to enable real life, performance-based rewards whild simultaneously separating the required information from participant data as much as possible. However, the summary information given in the reward view (i.e., how often each of the questionnaire has been filled out) might be unique in the data. To further protect participants anonymity, we have extracted the permission to view reward information from the permission to view the data. This allows you to assign these permissions to different users. So when anonymity is a concern, you can designate someone to handle contact with participants regarding rewards without that person having access to participant data.
+
+Note that when you update to this version, this new permission will automatically be assigned to all users who currently have read permissions to a study, so this change should not disrupt ongoing studies.
+
+### Configurable Scale Minima
+
+Scale minima can now optionally be configured for the following item types: Likert Scale, Visual Analogue Scale, and Single Choice List (when set to _save as number_). This allows you to configure Likert Scales that, e.g., start at 0, or maybe at a negative value.
+
+Note that due to the way the upper end of the VAS is defined, it cannot be set to a non-positive value. This means the VAS is technically limited, as it cannot fully lie in a negative range. However, this case should be uncommon enough. This only affects the maximum of the VAS, meaning the lower end can of course be negative. A scale from -100 to 100 is perfectly doable.
+