Application Management Portal

For a more personalized, flexible experience when managing Slate applications, you can create an application management portal.

Users can visit your application creation page, which displays different information if they fall within a specific set in the applicant pool. Create as many entries as you want within your Portal tool to customize landing pages and application management pages as finely as your process requires.

💡 This article uses a graduate application as the example throughout.

Why use an applicant management portal?

You might ask: why make an application management portal, when the applicant status portal already exists? The application management portal offers unique settings, including a setting that dictates Application Creation Behavior. This setting limits the applications available to be created depending on the applicant.

Should I make one of these portals for each round/program?

Does your audience share authentication, branding, entry URL, and overall experience, but need to see different rounds or applications? If so, you can do it with one portal, then add filters to the Create Application and Application List widgets that determine who sees which applications.

We cover these widgets in detail later in the article, but some background may be helpful here. In the application management portal, you can drag in an Application Creation widget. Applicants see this widget as a Start Application button that opens a popup, from which they can (by default) select an active round from an active period. You can change this default to only display the periods or rounds of your choosing, or replace the list altogether with an application creation form. Similarly, the Application List widget displays the user’s existing applications, and filters can be added to this list to show only certain applications as needed.

If, on the other hand, you find that your audiences have substantially different application creation and selection experiences, including distinct authentication, branding, and URLs, then you may want to create more than one portal.

Creating a new portal

To create a custom application landing page for a subset of applicants:

1. Go to Database → Portals.

2. Select New Portal.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Active

   • Name: Enter a name, like Graduate Application.

   • Key: This key, which is unique to the portal, appears in the portal’s URL. Enter a unique key, like gr_app.

   • Folder: Keep your portals organized by placing them in a folder. Create a new folder by selecting Other and entering a name, like Start Application.

   • Default View: Leave blank for now—you haven't yet set up a view for this portal. We'll come back to this setting later.

   • Scope: Person

   • Security: Person

   • Secure Link: Disable access via secure link and require login.

   • Anonymous Access: Allow anonymous access to view unpersonalized content

   • Anonymous Default View: Defaults, with no other options, to Do not override default view for anonymous access. We'll come back and change this once we have a view.

   • Special Portal Type: Application Management Portal

4. Select Save.

Next, we'll create the portal’s views.

Creating a login page

We need to create a default page that visitors arrive at that prompts them to enter their credentials.

Create the view

To create a new login page view:

1. Select New View.

2. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Active

   • Name: Enter Login.

   • Layout: Dynamic Layout Editor

3. Select Save.

Configure the view layout

In this example, we’ll walk you through a layout that mimics the Slate login experience, but you can set this up however you want. On the newly-created login view, add a header row with one columns followed by a row with two equal columns.

In our example, we direct existing users to one column, new users to the other, and add some introductory text to the header. Insert a Static Content block in each area:

• Header: Add introductory text

• Left column: Create a login section for returning users

• Right column: Create a Create Account section for new users

Create a login link

In each column, we'll create a link that directs new visitors and those with an existing account to the appropriate page.

To create these links:

1. Select your login section’s static content block.

2. Highlight the text you want to link.

3. Select the link button in the WYSIWYG editor.

4. In the URL field, enter:

   /account/login?r=/portal/your_portal_key

   In our example, this would be /account/login?r=/portal/gr_app.

5. Select OK.

6. Select Save.

Create a new account link

Repeat the preceding steps, this time in your Create Account section’s static content block. Enter the following in the URL field:

/account/register?r=/portal/your_portal_key

In our example, this would be /account/register?r=/portal/gr_app.

Creating a Start Application page

We have a login page. Next up is a page that lets logged-in users start an application. To create this page:

1. Follow the breadcrumb navigation to the portal overview page.

2. Select New View.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Active

   • Name: Enter Start Application

   • Layout: Dynamic Layout Editor

4. Select Save.

There are some components to be configured before you start customizing this page, including widgets that display a list of applications and one that lets the user create one.

Adding an Applications List widget

Use the Applications List widget to display a list of existing applications an applicant has on file.

1. Select Applications List from the palette.

2. In the Details tab, configure the following settings:

   • Name: Enter an internally-facing name for the widgets, like Application List.

   • Status: Active

   • Anonymous Access Filter: Use standard filters (restricts all anonymous access).

3. Select the Application List View tab. This tab handles how the widget displays the list of applications.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Label: Add an applicant-facing label for the widget. Defaults to Your Applications.

   • No Results Text: Add an applicant-facing message that appears when no applications are returned. Defaults to You have not yet started an application using this account.

   • Exports: A few exports are already configured, but you can customize which data points about each application appear in the list view to the applicant.

   • Filters: Add filters to the application list view tab to show specific application types on your page. For example, after joining to the Lookup Round base, you could add a Round Key filter to only show Graduate round applications.

     

5. Select the Application Display tab. This tab handles how the widget displays each individual application when the applicant selects it from the list.

6. Configure the following settings:

   • Title: Add an applicant-facing title to the application detail view. Defaults to Application Details.

   • Open Button Text: Add an applicant-facing label to the button that opens the application detail view. Defaults to Open Application.

   • Help Text: Add optional help text for the applicant.

   • Round Update: Select Allow round update (based on round eligibility) if you want applicants with unsubmitted applications to be able to override locked or unlocked rounds.

   • All Deadlines Passed: Customize the applicant-facing text that appears when the deadline for all application rounds has passed.

   • Selected Deadline Passed: Customize the applicant-facing text that appears when the round for a selected application round has passed.

   • Exports: A few exports are already configured, but you can customize which data points about each application appear in the detail view to the applicant.

7. Select Save.

💡 Tip

The Application Header (External) Rule will behave as intended for default application management pages, but may not display correctly for custom app management pages. Recreate custom header behavior through exports, filters, and more.

Adding a Create Application widget

Insert the Create Application widget to allow a potential applicant to create a Slate application. In this example, we are allowing the applicant to only start a 2021 Graduate application.

1. Select Create Application from the palette.

2. In the Details tab, configure the following settings:

   • Name: Enter an internally-facing name for the widgets, like Create Application.

   • Status: Active

   • Anonymous Access Filter: Use standard filters (restricts all anonymous access)

3. Select the Start Application Settings tab.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Start Application Type: Choose Link or Button, which renders Start New Application accordingly as a link or as a button.

   • Start Application Label: Add an applicant-facing label for the link or button. Defaults to Start New Application.

   • Start Application Alignment: Choose an alignment (left, center, or right) for the Start New Application link or button.

   • Application Creation Behavior: Select one of four options:

     • Default (Active Rounds in Active Periods): Display only the active rounds in active periods.

     • Custom Application Creation Form: This setting overrides the remaining settings and replaces them with:

       • Application Creation Form: Select an existing application scoped form to pull in to display on the widget.

       • Form Height: Specify the form’s height in pixels. Defaults to 500px.

       • Form Width: Specify the form’s width in pixels. Defaults to 650px.

       • Start Application Button Text: Override the default button text, which is Create Application.

     • Show Specific Round: Replace the direct round URL.

     • Show Specific Period Key: Display all rounds under a specific key (for example, the keys GR or FR).

   • Round/Period Key Restriction: Appears if you select Show Specific Round Key or Show Specific Period Key. Select the round or period key from the list to which you want to restrict the new application.

   • Application Creation Help Text: Add optional help text for the applicant when creating their new application.

   • No Rounds Available Text: Override the default text that appears when no rounds are available, which is There are no application types currently available.

   • Period Label: Override the default text that appears for the application period, which is Application Type.

   • Round Label: Override the default text that appears for the application round, which is Application Subtype.

   • Start Application Button Text: Override the default button text, which is Create Application.

5. Select Save.

Setting default views

Next, update the portal configurations to include your new view.

1. Follow the breadcrumb navigation to the portal overview page.

2. Select Edit.

3. Set the Default View to Start Application.

4. Set the Anonymous Default View to Login.

5. Select Save.

Customizing your views with merge fields

Application management portals do not use methods. If an improperly structured query were to fail, the portal page wouldn't load. So, if you're looking to customize your portal with merge fields, select the Merge Field Content block from the palette and select the Merge Fields tab. From here, you can choose and filter exports.

For example, you can display a welcome message that includes the viewer's first name only if their account was created within the last seven days.

Routing applicants to your portal

With your application management portal configured and thoroughly tested, the last step is to send your applicants to it. There are a couple of Slate locations that you can replace with your new portal, including the Home link inside the Slate-hosted application and the default /apply page.

Add Home link to application management page for specific application types

Once complete, it is possible to substitute the default home link that the applicant sees within the Slate application, replacing it with the appropriate application management page for the application type in question. In this example, the Graduate application's home may be replaced with a link to this custom portal.

1. Go to Database → Application Editor.

2. Select the link you want to modify. In this example, it's /apply/GRAD, but your instance may be different.

3. Select Edit Menu.

4. Select Add Link.

5. Configure the following settings:

   • Type: Application Management (Home)

   • Subtype: Select the appropriate Application Management Portal from the drop-down menu.

   • Label: Give your page a label, like Home.

   • Page Key/Round Key filters: Add a page key if the visibility of this page should be limited to only specific applicants. If all applications using this base should see this link, no page keys are needed.

6. Select Save.

Any applications that do not meet the criteria to see the custom home link will see the default home link instead, linking to the standard /apply page.

Setting up an Apply page redirect

If you want your new application management portal to replace your standard /apply page, you can set up a database-level redirect that sends users arriving at https://slateuniversity.edu/apply to your new application management portal instead.

💡 You don’t need to do this if your applicants will be receiving the /portal/your_portal_key link from you directly.

To set up the redirect:

1. Go to Database → Configuration Keys.

2. Select Apply Page Redirect.

3. From the list, select your portal in the Application Management Portal section.

4. Select Save.

📝 Changes to configuration keys can take up to 15 minutes to be reflected across all web nodes.