The operating system
for modern schools.

The CMS Widget - Actions records a student action from a portal page and, when configured, collects typed attribute values alongside it. The widget can be found within the Student Details group. Please review Adding CMS Widget for more information. To limit the visibility of this widget, review CMS - Conditional Logic.

Action Types determines which student actions the page may record. When a single action type is selected, the type selector is hidden and every entry is recorded as that action.

Attributes determines which student action attributes are collected with the action. Each selected attribute renders the input that its data type calls for, so an Integer attribute is entered as a number, a Date attribute through a calendar, a Boolean attribute as a checkbox, and an attribute driven by a lookup list as a drop-down. Attributes are defined in Campus under Administrator, Maintenance, Student Action Attributes, and they appear in the order set on that page. Note: the list below the entry form carries an Attributes column that stays hidden until it is enabled through Columns.

Add Confirmation Email sends an email when an action is recorded. The emails are configured in Admin, Students, Email screen.

Delete Access Type controls who may remove a recorded action. Access Restricted To Modifier allows a user to remove only the entries that the same user recorded. Full Access allows any entry to be removed. No Access hides the delete option.

Hide Comment removes the comment box from the entry form.

Hide Date removes the date field. The action is then dated with the current date.

Hide File removes the file upload from the entry form.

Is Edit Disabled renders the widget as a read only list, with no entry form.

Is File Upload Required requires a file before the action may be saved.

School Division limits the widget to a single division.

Year determines which academic year the recorded action belongs to.

Example: a school that collects community service hours defines Activity, Hours and Description as student action attributes, then places this widget on a portal page with Action Types set to the service action and those three attributes selected. A student records each activity through the year, and the hours report in the Data Analytics Tool as their own value rather than as text inside a comment.

Student actions now carry structured fields. A student action can hold a number, a date, a checkbox, a link, or a value picked from a list, and each of those fields reports as its own column.

Student Action Attribute is a named field attached to a student action rather than to the student record. The attribute is defined once for the school and then recorded on individual actions, in the same way attributes already work for students, households, inquiries and staff.

Defining attributes

Requires the Admin Full role.

• Navigate to Administrator > Maintenance > Student Action Attributes.
• Enter a name under Category and click Add Category. A category groups related fields, for example Service Hours or Athletics.
• Select the category, enter a name under Attribute, and click Add Attribute.
• Set the Data Type. The choices are Text, Integer, Date, Boolean and Hyperlink.
• For a Text attribute, set a Lookup Type when the value should come from a list rather than free typing.
• Click Reorder Attribtues to drag the fields into the order staff and students should see them.

Note: attributes are defined for the school as a whole and are available on any student action. Limit which fields appear on a portal page through the widget settings described below.

Recording attributes in Campus

Requires the Actions Read role to view and the Actions Full role to edit.

• Open the student and go to Actions.
• Click Attributes on the action row.
• Choose the category and the attribute, enter the value, and click Add New.

Collecting attributes in the portal

• Add the Actions widget to a page from the Student Details group.
• Set Action Types to the action the page collects.
• Set Attributes to the fields the page should collect. The widget renders each one with the input its data type calls for, so an Integer attribute gets a number box and a Date attribute gets a calendar.
• To show recorded values in the list underneath, enable the Attributes column under Columns.

Values entered by a student save with the action in a single step.

Reporting

Student action attributes are available in the Data Analytics Tool as Student Action Attributes, joined to Actions and to the attribute definitions. Each attribute reports as its own value, and the comment field is free to hold narrative again.

Examples

Example: a school that requires community service defines a Service Hours category with Activity as Text, Hours as Integer and Description as Text. Students record each activity through the portal across the year. The registrar reports total hours by student, by grade level and by year, and produces a transfer letter listing every activity with its hours.

Example: an athletics department defines Sport and Season as Text attributes driven by lookup lists, and Varsity as Boolean. Participation reports then group cleanly by sport and season.

Example: a counselor defines Follow Up Date as Date and Referral Made as Boolean on a counseling action, and pulls a list of students whose follow-up date has passed.

Attribute Module is the type of record that an attribute can be attached to. An attribute is one mechanism reused across the system rather than a feature of any single record, so the same category and attribute definitions, the same data types, and the same way of recording a value apply whether the attribute sits on a student, a household, a donation or an action.

Every module works the same way. An administrator defines a Category and then the Attributes inside it, each with a Data Type of Text, Integer, Date, Boolean or Hyperlink, and optionally a Lookup Type so the value is chosen from a list. A user then records a value on an individual record. Please review Attribute, Attribute Category, Creating Attribute and Recording Attribute - Individual for the shared steps.

The order fields appear in follows the category order first and the attribute order inside it, both set with the Reorder buttons on the setup page.

Where attributes are defined

Note: attributes for inquiries, inquiry actions and event categories are defined from Admissions, Administrative Settings.

Where attributes are recorded

Attributes on an action

An action is a record in its own right, so it carries attributes the same way a student does. The difference is what the value describes: an attribute on a student describes the student and holds one value at a time, while an attribute on an action describes that one event, so a student may hold as many values as there are actions. A school recording community service enters the activity, the hours and a description on each action rather than on the student. Please review Student Action for the fields an action carries, and CMS Widget - Actions for collecting the values through a portal page.

Note: attributes are defined for the school as a whole and are offered on every action. A portal page limits which of them a student sees through the widget settings.