Create a live voting dashboard on your MSL website with our range of widget options. Use the Election and Referendum Voting Counter widgets to present vote and voter numbers. Enhance voter insights using the Election Membership Stats and Election Data Parameter Stats widgets, allowing you to display voter information split by membership or data parameter groups. For instance, compare the voting turnout between sports club and society members and participation levels among different faculties or academic years. You can customise the look of all widgets with the appropriate script and CSS.
Use these widgets on admin-only pages for internal insights into voter turnout, or add them to voter-facing pages to encourage engagement and create a friendly sense of competition.
You can see an example here: https://knowledge.ukmsl.com/releases/elections-dashboard/
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Configuring Your Voting Dashboard
- Organisation Membership Groups Fields
- Set Up Parameter Groups Fields
- Voting Stats Widgets
You can access this feature from your MSL System Admin site. Only Super Admins with Membership Admins or Site Admins permissions can access the Set Up Parameter Groups and Organisation Membership Groups windows.
Data Parameter voting stats and Organisation Membership voting stats includes members active at any point during the election's display period. If your election's display dates overlap your system's Global Expiry Date, then previous member numbers will appear in your charts.
The Election Voting Membership Stats widgets will specifically count only those who are eligible to vote in the targeted election. For example, in Officer elections where only current students can participate, if a society has 100 members but 20 of them are associate members, the displayed turnout percentage or number will be calculated based on the eligible voter count of 80 (members of the society who have the right to vote).
Remember to update your Parameter Groups or Organisation Membership Groups if new data parameters or organisations have been added since you last configured your voting stat groups. This ensures that your dashboard includes all relevant items for your upcoming elections.
For further information, see Elections Overview, Elections Widgets and Referenda Widgets.
Configuring Your Voting Dashboard
To create your Voting Dashboards on your MSL website, the Voting Counter widgets can be added to a web page without additional setup. However, for the Election Voting Membership Stats and Election Data Parameter Voting Stats widgets, some configuration is needed.
Organisation Membership Groups
For the Election Voting Membership Stats widgets, start by adding an Organisation Membership Group. For further information, see How to Add an Organisation Membership Group. After that, add requirements to the group. To find out more, visit How to Add a Requirement to an Organisation Membership Group. Then, assign the corresponding values to items. For additional details, see either:
- How to Create and Assign Items Based on the Organisation's Category
- How to Create and Assign Individual Items to Each Organisation
- How to Create and Assign Items Based on the Organisation's Type
You can also map Organisations to any individual item you choose (i.e. any arbitrary mapping). To do so simply add a new item, following these instructions How to Manually Add a New Item, then assign an Organisation to that item.
Data Parameter Groups
For the Election Data Parameter Voting Stats widgets, the available Parameter Groups depend entirely upon the data you receive from your University, or other parent institution, for example Student Type, Faculty, and Department. Start by adding a new data parameter group. You can do this by following the guidance provided here How to Add a New Parameter Group. Alternatively, you can edit an existing one using the instructions outlined here How to Edit a Parameter Group. Then, assign new values to your parameter group. For additional information, see How to Assign New Values to a Parameter Group.
You can also map Data Parameter Values to any individual item you choose (i.e. any arbitrary mapping). To do so simply add a new item, following these instructions How to Manually Add a New Item, then assign a Data Parameter Value to that item. This allows you to link the value "UG" to "Undergraduates" or merge multiple values into a unified label, such as mapping both "PGT" and "PGR" to "Postgraduates". Any values without a specific mapping can be directed to an "All other values" item to account for outliers, or you can choose to leave values unassigned.
Organisation Membership Groups Fields
This table lists and explains the Organisation Membership Groups fields.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Name | This is the label for the Organisations whose voter turnout will be displayed under this heading. For instance, if you're showcasing a list of sports clubs and their voter turnout, the Name might be "Sports Clubs". |
| Items | This represents the number of existing items for the selected Organisation Membership Group. |
| Description | This is the description given to the Organisation Membership Group when it was added, which should explain what it is used for. |
Edit ( ) | Click to display the Edit Group dialog. This is where the Organisation Membership Group Name and Description fields can be updated. For further information, see How to Edit an Organisation Membership Group. |
Delete ( ) | Click to Delete the relevant Organisation Membership Group. For further information, see How to Delete an Organisation Membership Group. |
For further information, see How to Add an Organisation Membership Group
Edit Group Fields
This table lists and explains the Edit Group fields.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Top Group ID | This is the unique ID number for your selected Top Group. All groups in your MSL System have a unique ID number. For information about how to locate an Organisation ID, see How to Locate a Group's ID Number. |
| Top Group | This is the Organisation for which the voting statistics of its child groups will be displayed. To display voting stats for specific groups, ensure they are under the selected Top Group in your MSL System's grouping tree. For example, if you want to display voting stats for all your Societies, your Top Group might be your Activities or Societies Federation organisation. |
| Organisation Type | This dropdown field helps to refine the display of voting stats for specific organisations. The options are any Organisation Grouping Types you might have set up. For example, if your selected Top Group has child groups of different types, like Society, Sports Club and Campaign, use this field to include only organisations of a particular type. |
| (Organisation) Category | This dropdown field helps to further refine the display of voting stats for specific organisations. The options are any Categories you might have set up for Organisation Grouping Types. For example, if you've set the Organisation Type as Society and want to display voting stats specifically for Special Interest societies, use this field to filter and include only organisations of that particular category. |
| Delete Requirement and Refresh Items () | Click to Delete the requirement. This action will also remove any Organisations listed in the Values section. This field is displayed only in the Edit Group window. For further information, see How to Delete a Requirement from an Organisation Membership Group. |
| Item (Name) | This is the label for the Organisation or set of Organisations allocated to this Item. By default, there is a pre-assigned All Other Organisations item applied to all values. |
| This Item Includes All Unassigned Values | When editing an Item, selecting this checkbox field makes the selected item the default item for Organisations you would prefer not to be assigned to their own item. You can assign this to only one item. This field is displayed only in the Edit Item dialog. For further information, see How to Set an Item for All Unassigned Items. |
| Values | This is the number of Organisations assigned to the relevant Item. |
| 'Other' Item | This field indicates whether the This Item Includes All Unassigned Values checkbox has been selected for the respective item. The options are:
|
| Edit Name () | Click to display the Edit Item dialog where you can update the Item name and select or deselect the This Item Includes All Unassigned Values checkbox. For further information, see How to Edit an Item Name. |
| Delete () | Click to Delete the relevant Item. For further information, see How to Delete an Item. |
| Assign By Category | This maps all Organisations within the same Category to the same Item. For example, if you're creating a list of Societies, this approach will result in an item for each category, allowing you to compare turnout among different sorts of societies, such as campaigning, performance, cultural, etc. For further information, see How to Create and Assign Items Based on the Organisation's Category. |
| Assign To Individual Items | This maps each Organisation to its own Item. For example, if you're creating a list of Societies, you'll have an item for each organisation, allowing you to compare turnout between individual societies. For further information, see How to Create and Assign Individual Items to Each Organisation. |
| Assign By Type | This maps all Organisations of the same Type to the same Item. For example if you have created a list of Sports Clubs, Societies, and Campaign groups, you'd end up with one item for Sports Club, one for Society and one for Campaign Group. For further information, see How to Create and Assign Items Based on the Organisation's Type. |
| Value | This field contains the names of the Organisations that meet the specified requirements added to the Organisation Membership Group. |
| Type | This is the Organisation Grouping Type allocated to the corresponding Organisation. |
| Category | This is the Category allocated to the corresponding Organisation. |
| Assigned To Item | This is the Item assigned to the corresponding Organisation. If this field is empty, it means no item is assigned to the value. |
| Link To An Existing Item () | Click to display the Select Item dialog. From the Item dropdown, you can reassign the Organisation to another Item. For further information, see How to Update the Item Assigned to a Value. |
Set Up Parameter Groups Fields
This table lists and explains the Set Up Parameter Groups fields.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Name | This is the label for the Data Parameter for which voter turnout will be displayed under this heading. For example, if highlighting voter turnout by the STUDY_SITE data parameter, the name could be "Study Site" or "Where Our Voters are Studying". |
| Parameter | This is the name of the Data Parameter associated with the parameter group, such as COURSE_NAME or YEAR_OF_STUDY. |
| Items | This represents the number of existing Items for the selected Data Parameter. |
| Description | This is the description given to the Parameter Group when it was added, which should explain what it is used for. |
| Edit () | Click to display the Edit Parameter Group dialog. This is where the Parameter Group Name and Description fields can be updated. For further information, see How to Edit a Parameter Group. |
| Delete () | Click to Delete the relevant Parameter Group. For further information, see How to Delete a Parameter Group. |
For further information, see How to Add a New Parameter Group.
Edit Group Items Fields
This table lists and explains the Edit Group Items fields.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| (Item) Name | This is the label for the Data Parameter Value or set of Data Parameter Values allocated to this Item. By default, there is an All Other Values item available to assign to any values you would prefer not to be assigned to their own item. |
| This Item Includes All Unassigned Values | When editing an Item, selecting this checkbox field makes the selected item the default item for Data Parameter Values you would prefer not to be assigned to their own item. You can assign this to only one item. This field is displayed only in the Edit Item dialog. For further information, see How to Set an Item for All Unassigned Items. |
| Values | This is the number of Data Parameter Values assigned to the relevant Item. |
| 'Other' item | This field indicates whether the This Item Includes All Unassigned Values checkbox has been selected for the respective item. The options are:
|
| Edit Name () | Click to display the Edit Item dialog where you can update the Item name and select or deselect the This Item Includes All Unassigned Values checkbox. For further information, see How to Edit an Item Name. |
| Delete () | Click to Delete the relevant Item. For further information, see How to Delete an Item. |
| Assign New Values | This maps each Data Parameter Value to its own Item. For further information, see How to Assign New Values to a Parameter Group. |
| Reset All Assignments | Click Reset All Assignments to restore all values to their default state, with each Data Parameter Value assigned to its corresponding item. |
| Value | This field displays the names of Data Parameter Values present in the data for the selected Data Parameter. |
| Assigned To Item | This is the Item assigned to the corresponding Data Parameter Value. If this field is empty, it means no item is assigned to the value. |
| Link To An Existing Item () | Click to display the Select Item dialog. From the Item dropdown, you can reassign the Data Parameter Value to another Item. For further information, see How to Update the Item Assigned to a Value. |
Voting Stats Widgets
For further information, see Elections Widgets and Referenda Widgets.