📚 Part of the series Application Building Phase II: The Slate-hosted Application
The Slate-hosted application includes a references page that lets students request recommendations from references.
The elements of references in Slate
There are four different components that work together to make references work in Slate. Their names are similar, and it can sometimes be easy to conflate them; see the table below for a breakdown:
Component | Audience | Configuration |
|---|---|---|
References host page | Applicant | Slate-Hosted Application Page form |
Add Reference popup | Applicant | Reference Widget form embedded in the host |
Recommendation Request email | Recommender | System email containing Slate’s generated secure link |
External recommendation form | Recommender | Reference Page form selected under |
The references page and widget
Your Slate for Admissions database is provisioned with a custom form page called References.
Find this form in Forms → Folders → Slate-hosted application pages → References.

📝 Older databases may use a previous version of this page with limited configurations. You can replace it with a custom form page.
Also in the References folder, you’ll find the form Slate-Hosted Application Widget - Recommendation. This form is the popup that appears when they select Add Reference.
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📖 Learn how to make changes to this form and its embedded widget, or create your own.
The Recommendation Request (To Recommender) system email
When the applicant selects Send to Recommender, Slate sends the reference a system email. This email informs the reference that their recommendation has been requested and provides a link to an external reference form.
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You can edit the content of this email, but not the Submit Recommendation link.
📖 The Recommendation Request (To Recommender) system email
The external reference page
When the reference selects the Submit Recommendation link in the email, they’re brought to the external reference page. This is the form references complete on behalf of the applicant.
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This is the third form found in Forms → Slate-hosted application pages → References.