What It Controls
Portal display options control what members see and can do on Certifications Portal pages. They do not change certification, application, or program records, and they live with your other Certifications settings.
Where to Find It
Go to Certifications › Setup › Settings. The first three options are in the Portal Options card. The fourth option is in the Customize Display of Applications in the Portal card.
Prerequisites
- You need access to Certifications Setup to open the Settings page.
- To make the grouped program list useful, set up program groups first. Without groups, the list still shows programs, but the programs do not have meaningful headings.
The Settings
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allow users to print certification credit transcripts in the portal | On, Off | Off | Shows the Print Credit Transcript button on the Portal's My Credits page |
| Allow users register for multiple exams at once in the portal | On, Off | Off | Lets members choose multiple exams in one exam registration checkout |
| What should portal users see when browsing programs? | Rows and columns of certification programs with their logos (tiled), or a sorted, grouped list of programs | Tiled | Sets the layout of the Portal's Browse Programs page |
| Customize Display of Applications in the Portal | On, Off, with an HTML template | Off | Replaces the Portal's standard application summary with your HTML when the program does not have its own template |
Enabling Multiple-Exam Registration and Credit Transcripts
Turning on Allow users register for multiple exams at once in the portal lets members register for several exams in one checkout on the Portal's exam registration page. If your organization became a customer before June 2025, reinstall the Exams & Testing feature in your Portal so the multiple-exams page exists. Without that page, the setting has nowhere to send members. Any certification exam experience in the Portal also depends on the Exams & Testing Portal feature being installed, which is a separate setup step from these settings.
Tip
Fixing the multiple-exam option so staff can select it does not add content to the destination page. That page's content is configured separately in the Console, so it can still open with only a heading until you add the content yourself.
Turning on Allow users to print certification credit transcripts in the portal shows the Print Credit Transcript button on the Portal's My Credits page. Members can then print their own transcript instead of asking staff for one.
Choosing How Programs Are Browsed
The What should portal users see when browsing programs? setting controls the layout of the Portal's Browse Programs page:
- Tiled shows programs as rows and columns of logo tiles. This is the default layout.
- List shows a sorted, grouped list, which is useful when your account offers many programs. Programs appear under the program group headings you have set up, and programs with no group appear under Other Programs.
Customizing How an Application Looks in the Portal
Turning on Customize Display of Applications in the Portal opens a code editor where you write the HTML members see instead of the Portal's standard application summary. Above the editor, the merge-field picker lists placeholders you can use, grouped by record type: Contact, Organization, Certification Application, and Membership Program. The Membership Program group includes the program's own fields, including any custom fields. When you pick a field, Rhythm copies its placeholder to your clipboard so you can paste it into the editor.
Warning
The editor uses Handlebars syntax, but the Portal renders your template with a different template language. Simple placeholders, such as a contact's name, work in both places. Loops and conditional blocks use different syntax, so a template that looks right in the editor can fail in the Portal. Check your template in the Portal before relying on it.
Tip
If a specific program has its own application template turned on, the Portal always uses that program's template for its applications. This account-wide template is used only for applications whose program has no template of its own.
A blank field on the application does not appear in the Portal, whether members see the standard summary or a custom template. That happens because the application has no data for the field, not because the display is broken. You can format a date field in your template for a cleaner display, for example {{application.<field> | date('YYYY-MM-DD')}}. For an organization's certification application, a custom display can leave out the applicant's name if your template does not explicitly include it. The requirements box at the bottom of the standard application page is fixed, so you cannot remove it or hide it conditionally through this display customization. Custom field option labels shown on an application can also be truncated in the Portal, and there is currently no supported setting to expand them.
Dependencies and Precedence
- A program-level application template always wins. This account-wide template applies only when the application's program has no custom template turned on.
- The Browse Programs list layout depends on program groups existing to be useful. Without groups, the list still works, but it does not show meaningful grouping.
- The multiple-exam registration and credit transcript options only affect what is offered on those specific Portal pages. They do not change what happens if a member reaches the underlying registration or transcript function directly.
- Informational text on a certification's application or program page comes from that Portal page's own content area, not from the certification process configuration. If you want to show applicants a message on that page, add a text block on the Portal page itself.
- Save & Return Later's destination page is not configurable. You cannot use a transition expression to send members somewhere other than the built-in destination when they choose it on a certification application.
- The columns shown on the Portal's My Certifications page are fixed and can't be changed through console configuration.
- There is no native support for changing the language Rhythm displays for a certification or course experience in the Portal. A browser's own translation feature only affects part of the page, not the full product.
Change Impact and How to Revert
Changes to these options take effect on the Portal immediately. Turning off the application template switch returns members to the Portal's standard application summary the next time they open an application, unless the program has its own template. In that case, members see the program's template. To revert any other change, return to the setting and switch it back.
Permissions
Staff who can open Certifications Setup can view and change these settings.
Validation and Errors
| Behavior | Cause | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| The multiple-exam registration page reports that a member cannot register | The member reached the multi-exam registration page, but no multi-exam registration process exists for them | Set up an exam registration process that allows multiple exams |
| Printing a transcript fails | No active credit template is set up for the Portal to print from | Set up a credit type and transcript template before turning this option on |
| The custom application template is turned on with no template text | Nothing prevents saving an empty template | Write a template before turning the switch on, so members see something useful |
Related
- Program Groups covers the headings used by the grouped Browse Programs list.