A submission type is the choice a member selects when they start a submission in a space, such as President or Board Member on a committee-nominations form. Each space that collects submissions through a Portal form needs at least one type. Each type points to a submission process, which determines the web form the member completes. Use this page to add the submission choices your space accepts, control who can use each type, and choose what staff see when they work with that type's submissions in the Console.
Prerequisites
- You need access to the space's setup pages.
- The space must already exist. For a Portal-form space, create at least one submission process first so you can attach it to a new type; see Submission Processes.
Where to Find It
Go to Spaces › (space) › Setup › Submissions › Types to see every submission type in that space. From this page, you can create, edit, reorder, clone, or delete a type. Select Create Submission Type to open a blank editor, or select a type's name to edit it.
When you drag the rows into a new order, members see the types in that same order when they choose what to submit.
The Settings
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Any text | — | The name staff and members see for the type. Required. |
| ID | Generated from the name; letters, digits, underscore, colon, pipe, and hyphen only | Generated from the name, prefixed with the space's identifier | The permanent identifier. You cannot change it after saving. |
| Submission Process | One of the space's processes | None | The web form members complete for this type. The form marks this as required, but you can save without one; see Dependencies below. |
| Console page layout for editing submissions of this type | One of your Rhythm account's Submissions page layouts | The space's default layout | The fields staff see when they create or edit submissions of this type in the Console. This does not affect the Portal. |
| Status | Active / Inactive | Active | Marks the type as retired for your own reference. This does not stop members from being offered the type. |
| Description | Rich text | Blank | Descriptive text saved on the type. |
| Eligibility Criteria | Off, or a set of rules | Off | When this is on, only contacts who meet the rules are offered the type. |
Tip
Each type's ID is permanent. To view it, select the hashtag next to the type's name on this page. If a query filtered by type name does not return what you expect, try filtering by this Type ID instead.
Choosing a Process, and the Unenforced Warning
The process is the most important choice on a type. Members are offered a type only when they are eligible for that type's process, so a type with no process never appears in the Portal. The editor shows a warning when you have not chosen a process, but you can still save the type because neither the form nor the underlying rule requires one. If your space has only one submission type and you leave its process blank, submissions will not work in that space because members have nothing to submit against.
Creating a submission process by itself is not enough. A process with no submission type pointing to it does not appear to Portal users. Before members can use the process, create at least one type and choose that process on it. If a space defines both a specific type and a specific process, make sure the type is associated with that same process. A mismatch between the two, such as a portal-form-style type that does not carry the process you expect, can keep the space from working as intended.
The Console Page Layout, and How It Differs from the Portal
A submission type's page layout controls the fields staff see on the Create or Edit Submission screen in the Console for submissions of that type. It does not control what members see when they submit or edit their own submission in the Portal. The Portal experience comes from the web form chosen on the type's process and, for editing, the separate editing form a process can name; see Submission Processes and Contact Details, Editing, and Confirmation Email for a Process.
If you leave the page-layout field blank, Rhythm uses the space's default layout instead. A submission's Console view is decided in two steps: the space's default layout applies first, and the type's layout overrides it only when you choose one here. You set the space's default layout on the space itself, not here; see Edit and Delete a Space for When editing submissions in this space, what page layout should be used?. If staff do not see a value that a member entered on the submission form, check whether this type's layout or the space's default layout includes that field. The value can still be saved even when the layout staff see does not display it.
This layout changes only what staff see on the Create or Edit Submission screen in the Console. It does not customize the rest of the submission console, such as the search and list views staff use to find submissions. A page layout setting you find elsewhere in Submissions, such as one for reviewers, is a different setting and does not change this screen.
Manual creation of a submission in the Console, described in Create, Edit, or Delete a Submission for a Member, is available only in a space that has this type-and-process configuration in place. A space without an active type and process configured this way does not support the manual create flow.
Tip
If submitters need to enter formatted content, such as an abstract body with bold text or paragraph breaks, create a custom field of type Text (HTML) and add it to the form. A plain text field does not keep that formatting.
Warning
If you later delete the page layout a type points to, the type keeps that reference instead of clearing it automatically. After you delete a layout, check the type's layout setting and choose a replacement if the field looks unset.
Eligibility Criteria
Turn on Eligibility Criteria to limit a type to contacts who meet the rules you define, such as membership type or committee seat. The rule builder uses the same criteria engine as the rest of Rhythm. After you turn the switch on, you must add at least one rule before you can save the type.
Eligibility is always checked against the individual contact who submits, even in a space that accepts submissions on behalf of an organization. If you administer an organization-submission space and a type's eligibility looks unexpected for an organization's staff, remember that Rhythm is checking the person, not the organization.
Tip
To gate a type on something more specific than your standard eligibility rules, such as the applicant's category or intent, add a required custom field to the contact form the submitter fills out first. Then reference that field's value in the type's eligibility criteria. Only submitters whose answer matches are offered the type.
Dependencies and Precedence
- A type needs an active process to reach the Portal. Without one, members are never offered the type, regardless of the type's own status.
- Marking a type inactive does not hide it from members. The Portal does not use this flag when deciding what a member can submit. Use it only for your own bookkeeping, or remove the type's process if you need to stop offering it.
- The identifier must start with the space's own identifier. Rhythm generates this automatically from the name and refuses a hand-edited identifier that breaks the pattern.
- A type cannot be deleted while any submission still uses it. Reassign or remove those submissions first. When you delete a type with no dependent submissions, nothing else is deleted, and the process it pointed to is left untouched.
- The Portal's Submit entry point is standard across every submission space. There is currently no way to remove it for just one space without affecting other spaces your account may create.
Change Impact and How to Revert
Changes to a type's process, layout, or eligibility take effect immediately for new submissions and the next time staff open an existing submission of that type in the Console. These changes do not change data already saved on existing submissions. There is no built-in undo, so if you need the previous value back, you must set it again by hand.
Permissions
Creating, editing, reordering, and deleting submission types requires the day-to-day or administrator access your organization grants for Submissions setup. A read-only Submissions user can see the list but cannot create, edit, or delete a type.
Validation and Errors
| Message or behavior | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red warning about the type not being available in the Portal | No submission process is chosen | Choose a process, or leave it unset intentionally if the type is not meant to be offered yet |
| "A record already exists with this name" beside the ID field | The generated identifier matches an existing type or process in the space | Change the name, or edit the identifier. This warning does not block saving, so confirm the identifier really is unique before relying on it |
| Save refused when eligibility is on | The Eligibility Criteria switch is on but no rule has been added | Add at least one rule, or turn the switch off |
| "Unable to delete Submission Type" | A submission still names this type | Reassign or remove those submissions, then delete the type |