Friday, March 11, 2011

Version 2.0 of WarpPLS will be available soon!

Version 2.0 of WarpPLS is currently being tested, and will be available soon, barring any unexpected problems.

Here is a list of new features in this version:

- APC fit index. The algorithm that calculates the average path coefficient (APC) was modified to correct a problem that was leading it to be underestimated for some models.

- Drag-and-drop user interface. Latent variables can now be moved around, during the model creation/editing step, via drag-and-drop actions.

- Help menu options. Most menus now provide one-click access to Web resources, including Web videos and the WarpPLS blog.

- Incremental code optimization. At several points the code was optimized for speed.

- Loadings and cross-loadings. The software now provides the following tables in connection with loadings and cross-loadings, from a confirmatory factor analysis, on both the screen and model estimates .txt file: combined loadings and cross-loadings, pattern loadings and cross-loadings, and structure loadings and cross-loadings.

- Moderating relationship visualization. The software now shows two plots for moderating relationships, referring to low and high values of the moderating variable. They can be viewed through the “View/plot linear and nonlinear relationships among latent variables” option, under “View and save results”.

- Saving model diagrams as .jpg files. The software now allows for model diagrams, with and without results, to be saved into .jpg files for later inclusion in reports.

- Standard errors for path coefficients. The software now reports standard errors for path coefficients, on both the screen and the model estimates .txt file. These allow for newer mediating effect tests to be conducted, in addition to Baron & Kenny’s (1986) test. The newer tests include those proposed by Preacher & Hayes (2004), and Hayes & Preacher (2010). These citations are fully referenced in the newest version of the User Manual.

- Support for .xlsx Excel files. The software now reads new .xlsx Excel files. Excel workbooks with multiple sheets can also be used, in which case the sheet with the data to be analyzed must be the first in the workbook.

- System.wrp file. The extension of the “System.sys” file was changed, and the content of the file was modified to store a few additional parameters necessary for code optimization. The file is now called “System.wrp”.

- VIFs for formative indicators. The software now calculates variance inflation factors (VIFs) for the indicators of formative latent variables, which can be used for indicator redundancy assessment.

Stay tuned!