Verify Your Applicant Portal Setup

Verify Applicant Permissions

The default Admissions Connect - Submit Applications permission set includes the minimum level of portal access that applicants need. Don’t forget to also grant additional access based on the records and fields you plan to show in the portal. To allow applicants to edit field-level data, this access is crucial.

If you used the Applicant Portal Template as a sample for creating your applicant portal, be sure to grant applicants access to the ApplicantCommunityHomePageController apex class.

For details about setting up applicant permissions, see Set Up Security for an Admissions Connect Portal.

Verify Applicant Settings in Mapping Records

Applicant portal settings defined in Application Material Mapping records determine what applicants see and what they can do in the portal.

For details about these settings, including the prerequisites for these settings to work, see Set Up Application Requirements and Action Plans.

Understand Application Completion and Submission

The Application’s status and submission window determine how Applications show in the applicant portal and whether they can be submitted. The status is controlled by the Application Status field and the submission window is controlled by the Open Date and Due Date fields.

When thinking about Application submission, try visualizing a series of switches that control the state of an Application. The first switch is the applicant’s access to the Application Status, Open Date, and Due Date fields. The second switch is the value of the Application Status field. And the third switch, which is optional, is the submission window. We’ll go over how all of these switches work together in detail. 

Applicants need Read and Edit access to the Application Status field. They also need Read access to the Open Date and Due Date fields. We include this access by default in the Admissions Connect - Submit Applications permission set. 

• If an applicant has Read access on these fields, they see the Application record in a read-only or editable state depending on the Application Status value and the submission window. 

• If they don't have Read access, they see the Application record in a read-only state and they can’t submit it regardless of the Application Status value or submission window.

When an applicant has the necessary access, here's how the Application Status maps to read-only and editable states.

Application Status Value	Application State	Can the Application Be Submitted?
Started, Incomplete, or not specified	Editable, depending on the applicant’s access to the fields and records shown Note If a document is approved before the application is submitted, the applicant can’t upload a new version unless the document is Rejected. Tasks, however, can still be edited after they’re marked Complete.	Yes
Submitted, Received, In Review, Waitlist, or other custom values*	Read-only, except for these items: Incomplete Tasks, which have any status value other than Completed Document Checklist Items with a status of Rejected Note If an applicant submits their application without submitting optional documents (which means the item wasn't marked as Required), the document can only be submitted if its status is updated to Rejected.	No, because the Application is already submitted.
Admit, Admit with Conditions, Deny, Deferred Offer, Accepted Offer, and Declined Offer	Read-only	No, because the Application is already submitted and a final decision issued.

*Custom Application Status values can’t automatically move the Application into a fully editable state. Use custom status values only for application submission.

If you’ve configured a submission window with the Open Date and Due Date fields, the window also determines the Application state and whether applicants can submit their Applications. Remember, defining a submission window is optional.

If setting up a custom value for application submission, update the Status for Submission property on the Applicant Application Header component to add the API name of your custom picklist value. That way, when applicants click the Submit Application button, the Application Status value for their Application record updates to match your custom submission value. For example, you could set the property to the existing status of Received to indicate an application was submitted. Just don't set this property to the existing Incomplete or Started values.

To help applicants understand what's needed to submit their application, we show a percent complete in the Checklist Progress shown in the Application Application Viewer component. When the progress is 100% complete, applicants can submit their Application. The percent complete calculations include only Required documents and Tasks that the applicant can see in the portal. Admissions staff sometimes see a different percent complete, which is calculated based on all Required items regardless of applicant visibility or ownership.

Be aware of these scenarios where an applicant can’t take action on a required item, which also means that they could be blocked from submitting their application.

• If you assign a required Task to someone on your admissions team and it shows in the applicant portal, applicants can’t update the Task because it’s not assigned to them.

• If you configure a required document that doesn't allow applicants to upload documents.

• If a required document is uploaded by someone other than the applicant and then marked as rejected, the applicant can’t upload a new version of the document because they aren't the owner of the document anymore.

• If a required Task shows data in a related list, which means the item’s corresponding Application Material Type record specifies a Child Object, applicants can’t update the Task.

To ensure applicants are successful, consider providing a custom Applicant Instruction Message or detailed Rejection Comment explaining how applicants can complete these items, since they can't do it themselves.

Important If you're using ad hoc Tasks, make sure to review Plan Your Applicant Experience as some of these items can impact submission.

Understand How Document and Task Statuses Work

The Status of Document Checklist Items shows differently for applicants. Admissions Connect also provides basic automation for updating statuses based on applicant actions, such as uploading a document. Make sure you understand how document statuses work in an applicant portal.

For more information, see Considerations for Document Management.

The Status of Tasks are updated automatically as the applicant works on their application. 

• If only some the Required fields are filled out, the Status is updated to In Progress.

• If all the Required fields are filled out, the Status is updated to Completed.

  

  Note If automation or an admissions staff member fills out all the Required fields for a Task, it can show as incomplete until the applicant tries to update the information.

For more information about how Tasks work in an applicant portal, see Plan Your Applicant Experience.