An application process defines one way someone can apply for an award. It controls who can use the process, which form they complete, when it is open, whether it has a fee, and whether it requires references.
What It Controls
Each award can have one or more application processes. When an award has more than one process, applicants choose one at the start of the application flow. Rhythm shows an applicant only the processes they can use right now. The process must be active, today must fall within its open and close dates, the applicant must meet any eligibility criteria you set, the process must be available to nominees if you turned that on, and the award must still be under its application limit if one is set. Rhythm checks that limit anywhere the process is offered, including when staff apply for a member from the Console, not only when a member applies through the Portal. Rhythm checks eligibility when it offers the process, not again when the applicant submits, so later changes do not affect applications that were already submitted.
If you are testing a process end to end, keep it active and open for the full test. If you switch it off or let the close date pass partway through, staff may not be able to continue processing or reviewing the applications you already submitted until you reopen or extend it.
If the award uses reviews, applications move through review rounds as a group, not one at a time. Every review in a round must be completed, then you close the round manually, and only then does the next round open. Applications do not automatically move from one review round to the next, and there is no setting to turn on auto-advance.
Award applications and Events registrations are separate workflows. You cannot link them so that an award decision controls access to an Events registration process.
Where to Find It
Go to Awards › [award name] › Setup › Applications › Processes. The Applications group appears in the award’s setup menu only while applications are switched on for that award.
Create or Edit a Process
- From Manage Application Processes, select Create Application Process, open an existing process to edit it, or use its Clone option to start from a copy.
- Give the process a Name:. Rhythm suggests an ID: from the name and prefixes it with the award’s own identifier; you cannot change the ID after you create the process.
- Choose the Applicant Type:, either Contact or Organization, to decide whether people or organizations apply through this process.
- Choose the Application Form: applicants complete. The list includes only active web forms built for Awards applications.
- Optionally set Open this Application Process: and Close this Application Process: dates. Leave either field blank if the process should have no start date or no end date.
- Turn on This process is only available to award nominees if only people already nominated for the award should see this process.
- Turn on There is a fee associated with this award process if applicants must pay to use it, then choose the Application Fee: they pay.
- Set up Application Updates in the Portal if applicants should be able to change their submission later. See the section below for details.
- Set up reference requirements if referees must vouch for the applicant. See the section below for details.
- Configure the rest of the process in the panel below the reference requirements. This includes a contact or organization form shown before the application form, whether the process appears in the Portal, its confirmation email, eligibility criteria, and checkout settings for a paid process.
- Select Save Changes, or select Save & Add Another to save this process and start a new one right away.
Result
Rhythm saves the process. Applicants can use it once it is active and, if you set dates, once today falls within those dates.
Tip
There is currently no way to make a field group collapsible on an application form. Every field group displays fully expanded, so keep individual groups short and use additional pages for a long form instead of relying on a group applicants could collapse.
Collect Contact or Organization Details First
Turn on the contact or organization form when applicants should confirm or update their details before they start the application itself. You can also use this form to collect specific CRM contact fields for the process. Create the contact form in CRM, then select it here. Fields you collect this way are saved to the applicant’s contact record, but they do not appear on the application form in the review center. If reviewers need to see the information, put it on the application form instead.
The built-in Organization field on the application form works differently. Rhythm sets it automatically from the applicant’s selected organization, and it can show the organization’s identifier instead of its name. Treat this field as read-only on the application form. If applicants need to update their organization before submitting, collect that update on the contact or organization form shown before the application, not by editing the Organization field directly.
Settings Reference
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applicant Type | Contact, Organization | Contact | Decides whether the process asks for a person or an organization. Rhythm does not compare this setting with who is offered the process, so make sure it matches what you intend. |
| Application Form | Any active application web form for Awards | None; required | The form applicants complete. For a paid process, choose a form built with the Commerce order components, specifically one that includes both the Collect Order Details and Confirm Order Details components. A paid process will not work correctly for applicants if its form is missing either component. |
| Open / Close dates | Any date, or blank | Blank (always open) | Controls when Rhythm offers the process to applicants. It does not control whether a direct submission is accepted. |
| Only available to award nominees | On / off | Off | Offers the process only to people who have a nominee record for this award. If the award does not use nominations, nobody qualifies. |
| There is a fee associated with this award process | On / off | Off | Requires you to choose one Application Fee:. You cannot offer multiple fee choices on one process. |
| Application Updates in the Portal | On / off | Off | Lets applicants revise their submission through a separate edit form until the deadline you set. See below for details. |
| References | On / off | Off | Requires referees before the application can be considered complete. See below for details. |
Let Applicants Update Their Application
Turn on Application Updates in the Portal to let an applicant return and revise their submission until a deadline. You choose a separate Application Form: for edits, often a shorter form that includes only the fields an applicant can safely change. You also set a Modification Deadline:. Both fields are required once the switch is on.
Warning
The update switch and deadline only control whether Rhythm shows the applicant the Update My Application button on their own application. They do not stop someone from opening the edit form directly and saving changes after the deadline, so treat the deadline as guidance for applicants rather than a hard cutoff.
Require References
Turn on References to require applicants to name one or more referees before their application is considered complete. For each reference type you require, add a row with:
- Reference Type: one of your account’s active reference types.
- Reference Process: the active reference process for this award that invites and collects that type of reference.
- Required #: the number of references of that type required, from 0 up to 10.
Once References is on, you need at least one requirement row, and each reference type can appear in only one row per process. When an applicant completes the application form, Rhythm creates one empty referee row for each required reference, and the applicant must name every referee before submitting.
Order, Activate, and Delete Processes
Drag a process’s row on Manage Application Processes to reorder it. Rhythm saves the new order for every process immediately, without confirmation. Use the Status: switch on the process to stop offering it without deleting it. Existing applications made through that process are not affected, and staff can still find and process them.
Warning
Rhythm will not delete an application process that at least one application still names. Remove or reassign those applications first. Deleting a process does not delete the web form, application fee, reference type, or reference process it names, but you cannot delete those records while any active or inactive process still names them.
Preview the Confirmation Email
If the process has a confirmation email turned on, you can preview it before you rely on it. Open the email editor’s preview control to open Preview Application Email, enter the Application ID: of a real, existing application in your account and a Send Preview To: address, then select Send Preview. Rhythm fills in the template with that application’s details and sends it to the address you entered. It uses the email exactly as written on the form, whether or not you have saved it yet.
Tip
Find an application’s ID from its 360 page’s options menu using Copy ID to Clipboard.
Who Can Do This
If you can open the award’s setup pages, you can create, edit, reorder, and delete its application processes.
Related Reading
Set up the fee applicants pay in Application Fees before you turn on a paid process. Give your account its own explanations for a decision in Application Status Reasons. Application forms are built with your account’s web forms.