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The Review Portal Experience

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Contents

Overview

Many programs using a Zengine workspace include one or more Review Stages, during which external reviewers (who do not necessarily have access to the administrative workspace) can review assigned submissions and submit review feedback on the quality of an application package. 

This article contains both written instructions and a video demonstration of how to use a Review Portal that has been set up for this purpose, from the perspective of a reviewer. It includes the process of creating a reviewer account and logging into a review portal, viewing and accessing review assignments, navigating submission materials, and submitting review feedback. 

It begins with the Review Portal login page and assumes that administrative tasks, such as assigning submissions to reviewers, have been completed. The video demonstration and written instructions cover the same material, and it is not necessary to review both to fully understand this process.

 

Video Demonstration of the Review Portal

This video walks through the process of creating a reviewer account and logging into a review portal, viewing and accessing review assignments, navigating submission materials, and submitting review feedback from the perspective of a reviewer. It begins with the Review Portal login page and assumes that administrative tasks, such as assigning submissions to reviewers, has been completed.

The time stamps listed below provide points in the video for quick access to specific tasks.

  • 00:50 The Review Portal Login Page / Logging Into a Review Portal
  • 01:50 Creating a Review Portal Account
  • 03:22 Viewing Review Assignments
  • 05:44 Reviewing Submission Materials
  • 06:47 Navigating Forms
  • 09:07 Viewing Attachments
  • 10:24 Printing the Current Form
  • 11:19 PDF View
  • 12:48 Downloading Review Assignment Materials
  • 14:29 Submitting Reviewer Feedback
  • 18:34 Logging Out and Changing Passwords

 

The Review Portal Login Page

Program administrators will provide all reviewers with the URL web address to the relevant Review Portal for a specific program. Upon following this link, reviewers will be taken to the Review Portal Login Page.

 

 

Note that the text on the left side of the screen and the banner image at the top are editable and may appear differently to reviewers.

 

Logging Into a Review Portal

If a reviewer has already created an account and accessed the Review Portal, they can log in with their email address and password. If this is the first time accessing a Review Portal, continue to the section Creating a Reviewer Account below before logging in.

To log in as a reviewer:

  1. Enter your email address in the Email box and select the blue Continue button.

 

  1. The screen will change and will prompt portal users to enter their password. Enter the password that was set up when the account was created into the Password box.

 

  1. Select the blue Log In button to complete the login process.

 

Continue to the section Viewing Review Assignments below.

 

Creating a Review Portal Account

If a reviewer is visiting a Review Portal for the first time, they must first confirm their email address and create a password before logging in.

To create a Review Portal Account:

  1. Upon arriving at the Review Portal Login Page, enter a valid email address in the Email box and select the blue Continue button.

 

  1. If the email address entered matches one that has been approved by program administrators, the portal user will receive a green message stating that a confirmation email has been sent to that email address.

If the email address has not been approved, the portal user will receive an error message with instructions to contact the program administrator.

  1. Portal users should open the confirmation email they received and select the link Confirm Your Email to Get Started. 

  1. Selecting this link in the confirmation email will open a new web browser tab or window directing portal users to the Review Portal Sign Up page.

 

  1. Create a login password for use with the Review Portal by entering the same password in the Password and Confirm Password boxes on this screen.

Valid passwords must:

    • Contain at least one lowercase letter
    • Contain at least one uppercase letter
    • Contain at least one number
    • Be between 8 and 32 characters in length
    • Not be an email address
  1. Once a valid password has been entered, select the blue Create Account button. Users will be logged into the Review Portal upon doing so and will be able to see their review assignments if any exist.

Continue below to the section Viewing Review Assignments. 

Return to Contents

 

Viewing Review Assignments

Once they have logged into a Review Portal, portal users will be taken to the Listings Page. From here, portal users can view, filter, search for, and access their assigned application packages for review, as shown by the image below. If enabled by program administrators, portal users can also download all assigned application packages as a single ZIP file (see the section below Downloading Review Assignments for more information). 

 

  • A - Review Assignment Listing: this section of the screen contains a list of application packages that have been assigned to the portal user for review. The white bar for each review assignment will display key identifying information as determined by a program administrator, while the blue, green, or orange buttons to the right of each review assignment display the completion status of that assignment:
    • Review (blue): the review feedback has not yet been started for this application package.
    • Continue (orange): the review feedback has been started and saved, but is not yet complete.
    • Done (green): the review feedback has been completed and submitted for this application package.

See the section Submitting Reviewer Feedback below for more information.

  • B - Search: portal users can use the search bar to locate specific application packages that have been assigned to them for review. 
  • C - Review Assignment Filter: Selecting the dropdown menu next to the text Show allows portal users to view all assigned application packages, or only those that match a particular completion status (Review, In Progress/Continue, or Done). 

  • D - Instructions: instructions on using different components and functions of the Review Portal can be seen on the right side of the screen. This text is editable by program administrators, and may vary by program.

To access the materials for a specific application package that has been assigned, select the button labeled Review, Continue or Done to the right of the assignment listing. 

 

Note that review feedback can only be added or changed for those marked Review or Continue. Review feedback for assignments marked Done cannot be changed once submitted.

Return to Contents

 

Reviewing Submission Materials

The Review page for a particular assignment contains an Interactive View that allows portal users to navigate through different forms and attachments that belong to a specific application package (see the section Navigating Forms below for more information). 

 

  • A - the main part of the page, surrounded by a gray border, shows the information on the form currently being viewed (in this example image, the form is the “Applications” form). Each response provided by the applicant can be viewed.
  • B - Select Listings in the upper left corner to return to the Listings Page (see the section Viewing Review Assignments above). 

Portal users can also view attachments on particular forms (Viewing Attachments), print the current form being viewed (Printing the Current Form), change the interactive view to a PDF view (PDF View), and begin submitting review feedback (Submitting Reviewer Feedback).

 

Navigating Forms

The Review Portal Interactive View allows portal users to easily switch between different forms, submitted by the applicant and/or collaborators, that make up a single application package for review. 

Changing the form that is currently on display in the main part of the screen can be done by using the dropdown menu and buttons next to Select Form, located just above the form display section.

  • Selecting the left or right arrow buttons will change the form display to the previous or next form in order, respectively.

  • Selecting the name of the currently displayed form will open a dropdown menu, allowing portal users to directly choose which form they wish to display by selecting the name of that form. 



— IMPORTANT —

The forms available for review as part of the application package, and the order in which they appear, will vary from program to program. In the event that a specific program’s review portal only has one form available for review, the Select Form buttons will be grayed out.

 

In some cases, an application package may include a form that will be completed more than once. For example, if a program requires two letters of recommendation from an applicant, then the same Letter of Recommendation form will be filled out by two collaborators and included in the application package for review. This will create one record for each submitted recommendation letter, in which the same questions were answered by different people with different responses.

Upon selecting a “listing” form like this to display, a portal user will first be shown a list of these records before being able to select an individual record to view. To view a form with multiple records as part of a single application package:

  1. Navigate to the Select Form dropdown box and select a form that contains multiple entries. (In this example, that form is Letters of Recommendation.)

 

  1. The form display section will change to show a list of available records for this form.

 

  1. Select the View button to the right of a record to open the information for that particular record. 

 

This will open the form display for that record (see image below, Step 4).

  1. When finished viewing this form record, select the name of the form (in blue) in the gray bar above the display to return to the record list for this form.

 

Viewing Attachments

Attached files that have been uploaded to application materials do not appear on the interactive view in the form itself; only the file name that was uploaded is shown underneath the upload field. 

 

 

However, the contents of these attachments can be viewed using the Form Attachments Dropdown menu, which appears at the top of the form display. Note that only attached files that appear on the form currently being viewed can be selected from this dropdown menu.

To view a form’s uploaded attachments:

  1. Locate the button labeled Form Attachments at the top of the form display area. 

 

  1. Select the Form Attachments button to open a dropdown menu to display a list of upload fields for which a file has been attached on this form. (In the example image below, only one upload field exists on this form, so only one option can be selected.)

 

  1. Doing so will display the contents of the attachment in the main form display area.

 

  1. To return to the form contents, select the name of the form (in blue) next to Viewing at the top of the form display area. 

 

Printing the Current Form

Portal users can print the current form being displayed for review outside of a review portal. This will create a version of the current form in a new web browser window or tab, which can then be printed using the browser options.

To print a form currently being viewed in the form display area:

  1. Locate the Print button in the upper right corner of the form display area.

 

  1. Select the Print button. This will open a new browser window or tab with the questions and responses from the form currently displayed, appearing similarly to the way it appears in the form display area. 
  2. Use the web browser options to Print the page in the desired format. 

Note that only the currently displayed form can be printed. If multiple forms from an application package will be printed, then this process should be repeated for each form.

 

PDF View

Portal users can also switch between the Interactive View and a PDF View when viewing an application package. This option will generate a single PDF with all materials in the application package (including attached files) and display that PDF in the main form display area of the screen. Any forms that are part of the application package will appear in the order in which they are listed in the Select Form dropdown menu, and any attached files will display after the form to which they belong.

To view the application package in PDF View:

  1. Locate and select the button labeled Switch to PDF View above the main form display area.

  1. This will begin generating the application package as a single PDF file. This may take 10-20 seconds the first time this option is selected, though it may take longer for complicated application packages with a lot of material, or if the application package contains more or larger attachments. 
  2. When the PDF conversion process is complete, portal users will see a green message appear at the top of the screen, and the application package will appear as a single PDF in the  main form display area with all forms and attachments in-line. In addition, the Switch to PDF View button will change to say Switch to Interactive View.

 

To return to the Interactive View, select the button Switch to Interactive View. Portal users can switch between Interactive and PDF View using this button at any point.

 

Downloading Review Assignment Materials

On the right side of the screen above the Instructions, some portal users  may see a box labeled Download All Files with a green button labeled Download ZIP.

 

This feature allows portal users to create a compressed ZIP (.zip) file of all assigned application package materials that can be downloaded for review outside of the review portal. Each application package will be compiled into a separate PDF file containing all of the application package materials, and all PDF files will be included in the resulting ZIP file. 

This will only appear if the option to allow downloads is enabled by program administrators, and so may not be available for some users. If enabled, however, this option will appear on every page of the review portal once a user has logged in.

To download all assigned application packages as a ZIP file:

  1. Select the green Download ZIP button to begin generating the ZIP file.
  2. A blue bar appears at the bottom of the Download All Files box that displays the completion status of the PDF generation and ZIP file.

 

When the blue bar is full, the ZIP file will typically begin downloading automatically (though this may vary by web browser settings). 

Note that the time required to prepare the ZIP file can vary widely depending on the number of application packages assigned, the length of each application package, and the number and size of attachments that must be created. For some portal users, preparing and downloading this file may take a considerable amount of time; for others, only a few minutes. 

However, portal users can complete other tasks while the ZIP file is being prepared. When the ZIP file is complete, an automated notification email will be sent to the email address used to log into the review portal.

Return to Contents

 

Submitting Reviewer Feedback

While some review portals may be set up to allow reviewers to only view submitted application packages, most will request evaluative feedback from reviewers. When a portal user is ready to submit their evaluations, they can do so from the Review page for a particular application package that has been assigned to them.

To submit review feedback:

  1. Locate and select the blue +Feedback button above the main form display area. (Note that this button is customizable and may appear differently in some review portals.)

 

  1. This changes the main form display area to a side-by-side view, showing the application package materials to the left and the review feedback questions to the right. 
    • Portal users can continue to independently navigate and view the application package materials without affecting their place in the Feedback submission on the right side (see the section Reviewing Submission Materials above).

  1. Enter responses to the questions on the Feedback panel as the application materials are evaluated.
    • Each feedback form is unique and created with a specific application package in mind, so each program’s review feedback form will look different. Some feedback required is extensive, with multiple scoring aspects and comments, while others may be simpler, depending on the needs of the program.
    • All required questions, marked with a red asterisk, must be completed before the feedback can be submitted. If a portal user attempts to submit their feedback while a required question is blank, a red message will appear above that question.

The message will disappear once a response has been entered into that question field.

    • If a response is entered that is outside of the acceptable responses, such as a score that is too high or low, a red message will appear informing the portal user of the acceptable response boundaries.

  1. At the bottom of the Feedback pane, three buttons can be found: Close, Save Draft, and Submit.

    • Select Close to close the feedback pane. The form display pane will expand to fill the screen as it looked before selecting the +Feedback button. Responses will still be saved unless a portal user returns to the Listings page. The feedback pane can be re-opened by selecting the +Feedback button again.
    • Select Save Draft to save responses for a partially completed feedback form. This is useful if a portal user is interrupted while completing a review and needs to return later. This will update the icon for this application package to Continue on the Listings page.
    • Select Submit to complete the feedback form and submit responses. Note that all required responses must be completed before a feedback form can be submitted. This will update the icon for this application package to Done on the Listings page.
    • See the section Viewing Review Assignments above for more information on application package statuses on the Listing page.
  1. Once the feedback for an application package review is submitted, the Feedback pane will display a “submitted” message in place of the review questions.

 

  1. Select the Listings button in the upper left corner of the review page to return to the Listings page and select another application package to review.

 

Normally, once a review feedback form has been submitted, it will be possible to view submitted feedback for that application package, but not edit it. However, administrators can open review assignments for editing and resubmission. In addition, review portals can be configured to allow for editing and resubmission without administrator intervention, so the specific experience may differ for some review portal users.

When all assigned application packages have been reviewed and submitted, portal users can log out of the review portal.

 

Return to Contents

 

Logging Out and Changing Passwords

Reviewers can log out by selecting the gear icon next to their email address on the gray navigation bar towards the top of the screen on any page, then selecting Log Out.

 

 

Reviewers can also change their passwords here by selecting Change Password. 

 

 

The screen will change to the Change Password screen and prompt portal users to enter their current password, their new password, and confirm their new password. 

 

 

Portal user passwords can also be changed from the Login Page (see the section Logging Into a Review Portal above):

  1. Begin logging in by entering a valid email address for a portal user account.

  1. Select Continue (see image above).
  2. On the next screen, instead of entering a password, select Having trouble logging in?

 

  1. Portal users will be prompted to enter the email address for which the password should be reset. A confirmation email will be sent to that email address with a URL link to reset the password.

  1. Upon selecting the link in the confirmation email, a new browser tab or window will open to the review portal password screen, allowing the portal user to create and confirm a new password.

 

Return to Contents

 

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