This article applies to the May 2020 release of the InCommon Discovery Service.

Support for international Identity Providers

To facilitate global academic collaboration, the Discovery Service now includes all Identity Providers listed in the global eduGAIN inter-federation as well as those registered in the InCommon Federation.

Where applicable, collaborators from institutions around the world can now select their home institutions in the InCommon Discovery Service when signing into your service.

Streamlined "remember my selection" flow

Previous versions of the InCommon Discovery Service offered different "remember my selection" options, but it didn't an option to "forget my selection". The new version has been streamlined to just one "Remember selection for this web browser session" option. This is how the new streamlined feature works:

Using the Discovery Service for the first time

On your first ever visit to the Discovery Service, the service will present a default interface prompting you to choose your home institution. Make your selection and optionally check the "Remember selection for this web browser session" option. 

If you check the option...

As long as you are within the same browser session (i.e., you have not quit the browser), the service will honor your choice and silently direct you to the home organization you previously selected for sign-in. The Discovery Service will not present its user interface.

If you do not check the option...

The Discovery Service will present its user interface prompting you to make a selection. However, it will remember your previous selection and pre-select it in the dropdown.

On subsequent visits to the Discovery Service (same browser; different browser session)

If you quit your browser and return to the Discovery Service at a later time, the Discovery Service will present its user interface prompting you to make a selection during your first visit of that session. It will remember your previous selection and pre-select it in the dropdown. It will also remember whether you had previously check the "Remember selection..." checkbox.

Subsequent visits within that session behaves the same way as described in the Using the Discovery Service for the first time section. 

New look

The May 2020 release of the InCommon Discovery Service sports a cleaner look and feel. Besides the updated styling, it prominently features the name of the resource you are signing into:

TIP for Resource Providers: Name your service with care. Choosing a clear and descriptive display name for your service really helps your user understand what happens next when he/she signs in via the Discovery Service. Take a moment, sign into Federation Manager and enter a good name in the mdui:displyaName field.

Additional information

To learn more, visit the Discovery Service documentation page.