Step Description Text

This article is considered appropriate for administrators or workspace users with an intermediate level of knowledge about submission portals. If you are a beginner, we recommend reading the following article first:

• Submission Portal Key Concepts: Beginner

For more information about suggested learning paths, see Introduction to Submission Portals: START HERE.

Contents

• Overview
• The Purpose of the Step Description Text
• Where to Find the Step Description Text Settings
• Editing the Step Description Text

Overview

In the Submission Portal, the Submission Page is the screen that contains the different Stages and Steps that a portal user is in the process of completing or has already completed. This article will detail how to change the text that appears with each Step on the Submission Page screen.  The instructions are the same regardless of whether the Step is a Primary, Single Form, Listing, or Request type.

The Purpose of the Step Description Text

The Step description text often consists of the step requirements or instructions for the portal user to complete that Step that are relevant to a particular program. Note that unlike Stage text, Step text will not change after the Step is completed or the Stage is submitted.

The following screenshot provides an example of what the Submission Page can look like to portal users.  The sections of the page are as follows:

     A. The Record Name of the Primary Form (This will vary depending on which field is designated as the Record Name for the Primary Form, and what the portal user enters into that designated field.)

     B. The Submission Page Description.

     C. The Stage information.

     D. The Step information (the topic of this article). (More than one Step may exist for a particular Stage.)

Where to Find the Step Description Text Settings

In the Submission Portal Settings, the Step Description can be added or edited on the Step Settings page for the Step to be configured.

To access the Step Description setting:

1. Logged into a program as an administrator, navigate to the Settings & Tools section by selecting the cog wheel icon in the top navigation bar.
2. Select the Submission Portal tile from the Plugin Settings section.
3. Select the Edit button to the appropriate submission portal.

4. In the Portal Sections pane on the left side of the screen, select the link for the desired Step that contains the Step Description Text to be edited. (Steps are associated with a Stage, and are shown on the Portal Sections pane as indented further to the right.)  Multiple Steps are highlighted in the screenshot below to show there may be more than one to choose from.

5. Selecting a Step in the Portal Sections panel will change the contents of the right panel and display the Step Settings.  

6. Select the Step Description tab to access the setting.
   
   
   
   
7. The formatting box for the Step Description is in the middle of the page.

Editing the Step Description Text

The text editor box on this screen provides the means to add or edit the text that appears to a portal user when they are in the process of completing Steps before submitting a Stage. As such, this text will typically provide some level of instruction to portal users on how to complete the Step, or a description of what the Step requires.

After navigating to the Step Description tab:

1. Select inside the formatting area to create, edit, and format the program’s Step Description text. When a submission portal is first created, the Step Description is blank by default.

There are several standard formatting options available to customize the appearance of the text, including changing the font and text size; displaying text as bold, italicized, or underlined; changing font highlights or text colors; changing text alignment; adding bulleted or numbered lists; and creating hyperlinks. 

2. After all changes are made to the Step Description for this submission portal, select the blue Save all settings button in the lower right corner of the screen.