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Submission Portal Settings

  • Updated

This article links to other articles that are considered appropriate for administrators or workspace users with an intermediate or advanced level of knowledge about submission portals. For more information on how submission portals work, please see:

For more information about how the collection of articles on submission portals is organized, see Introduction to Submission Portals: START HERE.

 

Main Article Collection

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Contents

 

Overview

The main purpose of a submission portal is to provide a comprehensive way to collect and follow up with target end-user’s information. Zengine submission portals offer a multitude of features and tools designed to help manage applicants through the full lifecycle of a program. These features and tools can all be configured and customized in different ways through the Submission Portal Settings.

This article will explain how to access the Settings, offer a primer on how to navigate the different pages, and list frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the settings that can be configured in a submission portal. Each question will link to a short article explaining the process. These FAQs are organized below by the section they appear on in the Settings.

 

Accessing the Submission Portal Settings

To access the Submission Portal Settings:

  1. Logged into a workspace as an administrator, navigate to the Settings & Tools section by selecting the cog wheel icon on the right side of the top navigation bar. 

  1. Select the Submission Portal tile from the Plugin Settings section. 

  1. Select the Edit button for the appropriate submission portal.

 

Submission Portal Settings Landing Page

When first entering the Submission Portal Settings, the landing page opens to the General Settings tab of Portal Settings.  From this page, there are three main sections that can be accessed:

  1. Navigation buttons
  2. Portal Sections
  3. Portal Settings

 

Different configuration options for the entire submission portal can be accessed from this landing page. 

 

Navigation Buttons

At the top of the screen, there are three main navigation buttons.  There is also a fourth button highlighted here, as it relates to one of the main buttons.

  1. Select the Portal Settings button on the top navigation bar to return to this page at any time. (See the Portal Settings section below for more information.)
  2. Select View All Submission Portals on the top navigation bar to return to the list of submission portals for this workspace.
  3. Select Test Submission Portal in the upper right corner of the navigation bar to access the submission portal applicant experience for testing; this will open the portal login page in a new browser tab.
  4. A second way to access the submission portal is by navigating to the URL section under the General Settings tab and selecting the Go to Submission Portal icon to the right of the URL slug. 

 

Portal Sections

On the left side of the screen, there is a list of the Stages and Steps that a portal user will progress through during the full duration of their Submission Portal experience. (For more information on Stages and Steps, see Submission Portal Key Concepts: Beginner and Submission Portal Key Concepts: Intermediate)

Selecting one of the Stages or Steps will bring up the configuration page for that Stage/Step on the right side of the screen.  All of the links found under the Homepage section have the same options for configuration except Submissions.

Selecting Submissions will bring up the Submission Section Settings page, which will display a linear flow of the stages through which an end-user/applicant will progress. Stages and Steps can be added or deleted on this page. 

Please note that Stages and Steps can be renamed to better reflect a program’s individual requirements, so the image below may look different.



 

Save All Settings

Anytime changes are made on any of the screens, they need to be manually saved.  To save changes, select the Save all settings button in the lower right corner of the screen before moving off the screen.

If, at any time, changes need to be canceled, simply exit the Submission Portal settings without saving, and any changes made will be reverted to the last saved configuration.

 

Portal Settings

The Portal Settings page allows administrators to make changes to the portal as a whole. There are five main areas of Portal Settings:

  1. General Settings
  2. Users
  3. Style
  4. Help Page
  5. Translations

 

General Settings

The General Settings section includes configuration options for:

  1. The submission portal’s URL.
  2. Email sender display name.
  3. Portal start date.
  4. Submission date capture.


Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Users

The Users section includes:

  1. Verification of the User Form selected for the submission portal.
  2. Verification of the Email Field selected from the User Form.
  3. Verification if users create a password when signing up for the program.
  4. Formatting options for the Login Text, the text users will see on the login screen.
  5. The option to add user consent before they log on to the submission portal.
  6. The option to enable Google Analytics/Tracking for the submission portal.

 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Style

The Style section allows administrators to customize the submission portal in terms of:

  1. A header image
  2. Portal font
  3. Brand colors
  4. Submission Text

 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Help Page

A submission portal can have a custom Help Page that can contain text and links, with formatting options, or a link to an external URL if the help information is found elsewhere, like on an organization’s website.


 

Select the following article link for more information:

 

Translations

If a submission portal requires translation into another language, please contact the Implementation Lead or Support Team.


 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Homepage Settings

When an applicant first logs in to the submission portal, the first screen they see will be the Homepage.  Within the Homepage Settings screen, administrators can:

  1. Customize the Profile Section description that users will see.
  2. Configure the Profile form.
  3. Customize the Submission Section description that users will see.
  4. Configure the Stages and Steps of submissions.


 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Profile Settings

The Profile Settings page provides access to three tabs of settings for the Profile form, but only the first two are covered here, as the third tab is disabled in most situations.

  1. General Settings
  2. Details

 

General Settings

The General Settings tab under Profile allows the administrator to configure whether the portal user can complete the Profile form or whether it is View Only.


 

Select the following article link for more information:

 

Details

This tab allows administrators to change the order in which questions and fields appear on the Profile page, whether questions and fields are hidden or view only (i.e., cannot be edited by the applicant), how questions or fields appear, or customize Help Text for individual fields or questions.

 

--- IMPORTANT ---

Changing these configurations for a particular form or step in the Submission Portal DOES NOT affect the form itself in Zengine.

 

 

 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Submission Section Settings

The Submissions section allows administrators to:

  1. Add or edit text that appears at the top of the Submissions Page.
  2. Add Stages.
  3. Designate folders that are associated with each Stage.
  4. Change the order in which Stages appear. (Not shown.)

Please note that deleting a Stage can be done on the Stage Settings page; see the sections on Required Stages and External Stages below for more information.)




Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Stage and Step Settings

Configuration settings for Stages and Steps in the Submissions section are accessed by selecting the relevant Stage or Step under the Portal Sections panel on the left side of the screen. 

To visually identify them on the screen, Stages are aligned further to the left, while Steps are indented. 

There are two types of stages: Required and External. To learn more about them, please visit the corresponding sections below.  At this point, however, it’s important to understand that:

  1. Required Stages have Steps associated with them.
  2. Each Required Stage will show Steps listed underneath them.
  3. External Stages lack any Steps.




Select a Stage or Step to access the configuration settings for that section of the Submission Portal.

Stages are aligned further to the left, while Steps are indented. Required Stages (A) have Steps associated with each Stage listed underneath them, while External Stages (B) lack any Steps (C).  




Required Stage Settings

Required Stage General Settings Tab

Remember that Stages are typically associated with specific folders on the Primary form. 

Selecting the General Settings tab provides access to several settings associated with that Stage where they can be verified or configured:

  1. Note or change the folder on the Primary form that is associated with this stage. (The first Stage in a submission portal cannot be assigned to a different folder.)
  2. View or change the Stage deadline.
  3. View or change the Stage Completion Name.
  4. Configure the text that appears to portal users prior to submitting.
  5. Configure the text that appears to portal users after submitting.
  6. View or change the name of the Completion button. 
  7. Delete a Required Stage. Please note that Stages associated with a Primary form cannot be deleted from the Submission Portal.


 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Required Stage Steps Tab

Selecting the Steps tab for a selected Required Stage provides access to the following:

  1. Configuration settings for that Step (see Step Settings below for more information).
  2. Move the Step to a different Stage.
  3. Add a Step to the Stage; remember that each step must have its own form so a Step cannot be added until the related form is created.



 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

External Stage Settings

External Stage General Settings Tab

Selecting the General Settings tab provides access to several settings associated with that Stage where they can be verified or configured:

  1. Configure the Primary form folder associated with this Stage.
  2. Configure additional Primary form folders associated with this Stage. 
  3. Delete an External Stage.  Please note that the button will reflect the name of the Stage as shown in the image below.

 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

External Stage Steps Tab

Selecting the Steps tab for a selected External Stage provides access to the following:

  1. Add a Request Step in the Stage; remember that each Step must have its own form so a Request Step cannot be added until the related form is created.

 

 

Select the following article link for more information:

 

Step Settings

Selecting a Step in the Portal Sections panel on the left side of the screen allows an administrator to configure multiple aspects of a Step (as shown by the tabs highlighted in the screenshot below) and format how the Step’s form appears in the Submission Portal to applicants. 



 

An alternate way to navigate to these tabs is to:

  1. Select a Stage from the Portal Sections panel on the left side of the screen.
  2. Select the Steps tab for that Stage.
  3. Select the Configure Step button to the right of the Step to configure.



Step Description Tab

Selecting the Step Description tab provides access to settings associated with that Step, where they can be verified or configured:

  1. Edit the name of the Step.
  2. Note the form associated with the Step.
  3. Note the Step Type.
  4. Configure the text that appears to portal users for that Step.
  5. Delete a Step; please note that the Step associated with the Primary form cannot be deleted from the Submission Portal.



 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Listing Page Tab

Selecting the Listing Page tab provides access to settings associated with that Step where they can be verified or configured.  (This tab will appear only for Listing Steps.):

  1. Step field columns and messaging.
  2. Step Listing Page messaging.
  3. Minimum number of Listings per Listing Page.
  4. Maximum number of Listings per Listing Page.



 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Form Pages Tab

This tab allows administrators to configure the messaging that appears above the Step form in the Submission Portal.



 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Details Tab

This tab allows administrators to change how the fields on a Step appear without changing the associated form.



 

Select any of the following article links for more information:

 

Profile Mapping Tab

Profile Mapping is a feature that allows an administrator to pre-populate certain fields in the Submission Portal with information from the portal user’s Profile form.

 

 

Select the following article link for more information:

 

Request Steps

The Requests feature allows the Submission Portal users (typically applicants) to request a collaboration from a contributor outside of the Portal that can be submitted as part of their application package. 




A common use for the Requests feature is to collect blind letters of recommendation. This would allow the portal user (applicant) to enter in the collaborator (recommender) details. The collaborator will then receive an email that asks them to submit a recommendation form on behalf of the applicant. 

This feature also allows the portal user to see the status of the Request and send a reminder email up to once per day. However, the portal user will not be able to view the collaborator response with this feature. 

Portal users can submit the Stage before a Request response has been provided, or the setting can be configured to require a response before submission.

Using the Request feature requires specific form and field configurations, as well as a unique type of Step to be set up in the Submission Portal. For information on how to set up and use a Request Step, please refer to our article on Requests.

 

Reports

Many programs will require an awarded applicant or organization to submit one or more regular reports on the status or progress of their awarded project. 




Reports can be handled in one of three ways:

  1. Create one or more Required Stage(s) and Single Form Step(s) in the submission portal workflow for a Single Form Step (for more information, see Submission Portal Key Concepts: Intermediate).

    This option is best for when an awardee will complete one or two separate forms, for example, a Mid-Year Report and a Final Report, or just a Final Report, and will move through these stages at their own pace, or at the administrator’s discretion.
  2. Create a Required Stage with a Listing Step in the submission portal (for more information, see Submission Portal Key Concepts: Intermediate).

    This option is best for when an awardee needs to complete the same report form more than once, but the number of times that form should be completed, and the schedule at which an awardee should complete these forms, varies between different awardees.
  3. Use the Progress Reporting feature.

    This option is best for programs in which all awardees should complete the same report form (or a few report forms) multiple times, but the reporting schedule is the same for all awardees.

The Progress Reporting feature of the Submission Portal allows program administrators:

  • To set up a schedule of reports that is consistent for all awardees,
  • Set start and due dates, and
  • Track awardee completion of these reports.

Progress Reporting can accomplish these without the need for administrators to take actions on individual records between the submission of these progress reports (other than those required by a program, such as reviewing or approving reports). 

Using the Progress Reporting feature requires specific form and field configurations, as well as a unique configuration to be set up in the Submission Portal. For information on how to set up and use the Progress Reporting feature, please refer to the article on Progress Reporting.

 

 

 

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