Deprecation announcements

ThoughtSpot sometimes deprecates and then removes existing features, replacing them with new and more effective means to use our products. In this article, we give you advance notice of features we are discontinuing in future releases.

Please contact your Customer Success or SRE team for clarification.

ThoughtSpot deprecates some existing features, and then removes them. These terms mean two different things.

Deprecated

A deprecated feature still exists in the product, for backward compatibility, but there is a plan to remove it in a later release. Deprecated features do not receive ongoing support from ThoughtSpot.

We recommend that you stop using deprecated features as soon as possible, and change your workflows to use the new, improved functionality instead.

Removed

A removed feature no longer exists in the product. When you upgrade to a newer release, any workflows that rely on a removed feature no longer work.

Deprecated in 9.0.0.sw

The 9.0.0.sw release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for February 2023 (LA) and May 2023 (GA), will drop support for the following feature:

Pin Headlines

ThoughtSpot will deprecate the pin Headline to Liveboard feature. Beginning in the 9.0.0.sw Software release, users will no longer see the pin icon when they select table summaries. To visualize and pin single aggregated measures, attributes in string/date format, or time-series metrics with sparklines, we recommend creating KPI charts. Existing Headlines pinned to Liveboards will not be affected in this release.

Removed in 9.0.0.sw

The 9.0.0.sw release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for February 2023 (LA), and May 2023 (GA), will remove the Instant Search functionality. Instead, searching in ThoughtSpot will use the Search on Enter functionality.

In Instant Search, the system triggers a query every time you add an item to the search bar. When you use Search on Enter, the system only triggers a query when you select the Go button. Search on Enter avoids unnecessary query cost and ensures that users are in full control of when to trigger a query.

Deprecated in 8.8.0.sw

The 8.8.0.sw release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for October 2022, will deprecate the following features. ThoughtSpot will drop support for these features in a later release.

New Liveboard experience deprecations

The following features are not available with the new Liveboard experience, but they are available in the classic experience. The new Liveboard experience is on by default. The option to turn it on or off individually is also on by default. If you would like your company to be able to use these de-supported features, you can turn the new Liveboard experience off for your company from the Admin Console. Alternatively, users can turn it on or off individually from your profile.

  • Share a visualization: The share button for a specific visualization within a Liveboard is no longer available. Instead, share the Liveboard. Then, select the more menu More options menu icon for the visualization, and select Copy link. This provides you with a link to the specific visualization within the Liveboard. You can send that link to the user you shared the Liveboard with.

  • Switch between Liveboards from the Liveboard title: This feature allowed you to click on a Liveboard title and view a list of other recently edited Liveboards that you could click on. Instead, navigate between Liveboards from your home page, or the Liveboard list page.

  • Copy embed link: The Copy embed link option in the more menu More options menu icon for the Liveboard or a visualization is no longer available. Instead, use the SDK for embedding purposes.

  • Change title menu option: The Change title option in the more menu More options menu icon for a visualization is no longer available. Instead, select the Edit option in the more menu More options menu icon for the Liveboard. Then, click on the visualization title or description to edit it inline.

  • Liveboard edit icon: The Liveboard edit icon Edit icon image next to the Liveboard name, for editing the Liveboard name or description, is no longer available. Instead, select the Edit option in the more menu More options menu icon for the Liveboard. Then, click on the Liveboard title or description to edit it inline.

  • Edit an answer in Liveboard present mode: This feature allowed users to select the edit icon Edit icon image while presenting a Liveboard, and directly edit the answer. Instead, exit Present mode, and edit the answer.

Removed in 8.4.0.sw [LA]

Liveboard follow

In 7.2.1 and earlier, there are two different ways for a user to ask ThoughtSpot to email them a Liveboard PDF on a specified schedule. Users can follow the Liveboard, or schedule a Liveboard job.

In 8.4.0.sw [LA] and later releases, ThoughtSpot will combine these features into a single action called "Schedule." The Follow option will not be available. This change will allow any user to schedule their own Liveboard emails. To send Liveboard emails to other users, you still need the Can schedule for others permission.

ThoughtSpot will migrate any existing Liveboard follows to Liveboard schedules. If you followed a Liveboard in releases earlier than 8.4.0.sw [LA], you will see it in the list of Liveboard schedules for that Liveboard as Migrated from follow (your display name).

Deprecated in 8.4.0.sw [LA]

The 8.4.0.sw [LA] release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for May 2022 (LA) and August 2022 (GA), will deprecate the following features. ThoughtSpot will drop support for these features in a later release.

New answer experience deprecations

The following features are not available with the new Answer experience. The new Answer experience is on by default. The option to turn it on or off individually is also on by default. If it is on in your environment, and you would like your company to be able to use these de-supported features, you can turn the new Answer experience off for your company from the Admin Console. Alternatively, users can turn it on or off individually from their profile.

  • Browser back button: you can no longer use the browser back button to go back one step in a search or answer. Instead, use the new product back button to the left of an answer name.

  • Multiple join path resolution within the formula editor or a search: when you try to search on columns with more than one possible join path, the system no longer allows you to define the join path within the search. Similarly, when you try to create a formula with columns with more than one possible join path, the system does not allow you to define the join path. Instead, the system now prompts you to resolve this issue and avoid confusion or incorrect data by creating a worksheet with the correct join path.

  • Send feedback: The option to send product feedback, from the more options menu more options menu icon on an answer or search.

  • Client-side summaries for tables: We consolidated column summaries and headlines into one summary, called a headline summary. To calculate these headline summaries, ThoughtSpot executes a query against the underlying database. If you are connecting to your data in an external database, ThoughtSpot executes one query for each summary. If you store your data in ThoughtSpot’s in-memory database, ThoughtSpot executes one query for all summaries in the search. These headline summaries are integrated with the table columns. You can pin them to Liveboards. After you upgrade to the new answer experience, you must manually re-enable headline summaries on charts and tables in your Liveboards from the chart or table settings. ThoughtSpot won’t migrate them automatically, because of high query costs.

  • Granular access to Liveboards: A privilege limiting some users to Read only access on curated Liveboards. These users could view and explore; however, they could not copy, alter, download, or share the Liveboards.

Removed in 7.2.1

The 7.2.1 release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for April 2022 (GA), will drop support for Self-Service Upgrade (SSU). This feature allowed customers to upgrade their environment to a new ThoughtSpot release themselves, from the UI.

Additionally, the 7.2.1 release will drop support for the Available Updates section of the Upgrade page in the Admin Console. The Available Updates section contained information about available releases customers could upgrade to.

Self-Service Upgrade and Available Updates both appeared on the Upgrade page in the Admin Console. This page will not be available, starting in release 7.2.1.

As an alternative, contact ThoughtSpot Support to upgrade your Software environment when necessary, or consider ThoughtSpot’s Software as a Service offering, ThoughtSpot Cloud, which upgrades to the latest Cloud release automatically.

Removed in 7.1.1

The 7.1.1 release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for November 2021 (GA), will drop support for the following feature.

Ask an Expert

This feature allowed users to ask a designated expert on a particular data source for help when they run into an issue with an answer or search they created on that data source. Starting in 7.0.1, users can learn about specific data sources in a different way, by completing Search Assist sample queries on their own data sources.

Removed in 7.1

The 7.1 release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for July 2021 (LA) and Oct 2021 (GA), will drop support for the following features.

Instant Insights

Prior to 7.1, the Instant Insights feature worked only in on-prem deployments that use our internal database, Falcon. Connections and cloud deployments never supported Instant Insights.

Prior to 7.1, Instant Insights appeared in four (4) areas of our product:

  • Home Page: Did you know

  • Search: under the answer

  • Liveboard: Liveboard Insights at the top of the Liveboard

  • Worksheet and Table: the Spotiq Insights tab

Learn how to use ThoughtSpot Liveboard

This Liveboard contained search replays created in the system. The Replay Search feature is also removed in 7.1. Customers currently use Replay search and the Learn how to use ThoughtSpot Liveboard to learn how to use ThoughtSpot’s search on data. As an alternative, starting in 7.0.1, use Search Assist to learn how to use ThoughtSpot search on your company’s data.

Replay search

This feature allowed you to replay the search used to create an answer. As an alternative, starting in 7.0.1, use Search Assist to learn how to use ThoughtSpot search on your company’s data.

Custom actions

Starting in the 7.1.0 software release, embed customers can no longer use custom actions created in the Action customization section of the Admin Console, or create new custom actions in the Admin Console.

Instead, starting in the 8.4.0.sw [LA] release, if you are embedding through ThoughtSpot Everywhere, you can create new custom actions in the Develop tab. Refer to Custom actions overview.

Removed in 7.0

SearchIQ

The 7.0 release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for March 2021 (LA) and June 2021 (GA), will drop support for SearchIQ. This feature was always in Beta, and was never deployed on production environments.

As we move to ThoughtSpot Cloud, we incorporate and further enrich the affordances of SearchIQ in Ask Answers features, and in an enhanced experience with our Home page.

SpotIQ Monitor Headlines

The 7.0 release of ThoughtSpot Software, targeted for March 2021 (LA) and June 2021 (GA) will drop support for SpotIQ Headline Monitoring. This feature has been in Beta and was never deployed on production environments.