Before anyone sees an option to apply for an award, Rhythm checks which application processes that person or organization can use right now. This article explains how Rhythm makes that decision, so you can understand why a member might not see the application option you expected.
What Gets Checked, and in What Order
Each time Rhythm checks application access for an award, it reviews the award’s processes one at a time. A process drops from the list as soon as it fails one of these rules:
- The process must be active. Rhythm never offers an inactive process.
- Today must fall inside the process's open and close dates. A process with no opening date is treated as already open, and a process with no closing date stays open until you close it. After a process closes, anyone with a saved draft can no longer reach, open, or submit it, even if they started before the close date.
- The person must meet the process's eligibility criteria, if it has any turned on. If the process has no eligibility criteria turned on, Rhythm skips this check. Passing the criteria is not enough on its own because the eligibility criteria and the application process each have an applicant type, either contact or organization. If those types do not match, someone can pass the eligibility test as a contact but still not see Submit Application because the process is set up for a different applicant type.
- If the process requires a nomination, the person must already have a nominee record for the award. The nomination does not need to be in a specific state. The person only needs a nominee record for this award. That record only unlocks the application process; the nomination itself is not carried into the application or reviewed with it. The nominee still needs to complete and submit a separate application through the normal process.
- The person must be under the award's application limit, if one is set. If the award has a maximum number of applications per applicant, and this person already has that many or more, Rhythm does not offer any process. Withdrawn applications do not count toward the limit. A limit of zero, or no limit at all, means this check does not exclude anyone.
Rhythm only offers processes that pass every applicable check. When a process is not offered, the applicant is not told why. The process might be closed, the applicant might not meet the criteria, or they might have reached the award’s application limit.
Tip
If an applicant already has as many applications for an award as the award allows, the Submit Application option disappears from the Portal, and the Console shows no available processes to offer them. When their count drops below the limit, the process becomes available again in both places.
Tip
If a close date does not stop submissions the way you expected, check the award’s status as well as the process dates. An award that is still active can keep accepting submissions on its own, so confirm the award itself before assuming the date change did not take effect.
Tip
If you need to test a process before opening it to everyone, you do not have to make it fully public. Some accounts test with simpler eligibility criteria based on contact roles assigned to staff, set a close date on the process after testing, or restrict the Awards portal area to a security role until they are ready for public access.
Tip
If someone clearly qualifies as a contact but still cannot see Submit Application, check whether the eligibility criteria’s applicant type matches the process’s applicant type. A common mismatch is eligibility criteria set to "Contacts & Organizations" on a process configured only for contact applicants. In that case, the person passes the eligibility test, but the process still is not offered. Changing the eligibility criteria’s applicant type to match the process, for example to "Contacts" alone, typically restores the submit option for eligible members. If the award should accept both contacts and organizations, set up a separate application process for each applicant type instead of mixing types on one process.
Where This Shows Up
- The Portal. The
Submit Applicationoption on an award’s page appears only when applications are turned on for the award and at least one process passes every check above for that member. - The Console. Staff applying for a member see the same eligible processes when they use the manage applications flow to apply on someone’s behalf.
These same checks can affect testing, not just real applicants. If you or Support cannot get a reference-related workflow to run on a chosen award or applicant record, check eligibility first. For example, an award that requires an active membership can block a test run on a sample record the same way it would block a real applicant who does not qualify.
This Check Only Decides What Is Offered
The rules above decide what a person is shown. Rhythm does not re-check them when an application is submitted.
In practice, a direct submission is accepted even if the process is closed, the person does not meet its eligibility criteria, or they are over the award’s application limit. This applies to submissions made directly, rather than by choosing an offered process. The application limit, process dates, and eligibility rules control what applicants are offered; they are not hard stops on what can be recorded.
Warning
It is not confirmed whether turning on eligibility criteria for a process can make the Submit Application option disappear for an applicant who should qualify. If a member says an application option disappeared after eligibility criteria were turned on, and you believe they should qualify, check the criteria carefully. If the option still does not appear as expected, consider contacting support.
Related Reading
After someone starts an application, staff can find, create, and manage it from the Console; see Manage Applications. Nominations have a similar eligibility check, covered in Which Nomination Processes You Can Use. If your application form collects information beyond the standard fields, that information comes from your account’s custom fields setup.