Ideas Admin is where you create and manage Idea Areas. Areas allow you to group your ideas by theme, for example, by department or campaign. You could add an Area for all general suggestions related to the running of your organisation, another for ideas related to events you run, and another limited to committee members for suggestions specifically related to their training. This targeted approach allows you to tailor the ideas process to address specific concerns or interests, ensuring that decisions are informed by those most directly affected.
Seeking clarification through a customisable set of questions against each idea using Content Items allows for deeper understanding and more informed decision-making. By requesting specific details and context from the submitter, you can help eliminate ambiguity and mitigate incomplete or vague suggestions.
Implementing an approval process ensures that suggestions undergo scrutiny, enabling the removal of low-quality or irrelevant ideas, and resulting in a higher standard of ideas for consideration.
Allowing anonymous contributions creates a safe space for members to freely express their thoughts and suggestions without fear of judgment, facilitating honest and diverse feedback that otherwise could be withheld.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
You can access this feature from your MSL website. Only Content Editors with access to Ideas Admin can access the Ideas Admin window.
For further information, see Student Voice Overview.
Idea Area Fields
This table lists and explains the Idea Area fields.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Name | This is the title of the Idea Area. The Name must be unique. This field is mandatory. |
| Organisation | This is the name of the Organisation to which the Idea Area belongs. This field is mandatory. To change the organisation, see How to Change an Idea Area's Organisation. |
| Description | This text should be a brief introduction to the Idea Area. Content should be written as plain text. This field is displayed only in the New Area dialog and Edit Area window. |
| View (Permissions) | This specifies who can view the ideas, comments and votes for this Area. The option selected from the View dropdown must be the same as, or less restrictive than the option selected from the Contribute dropdown. The options are:
This field is mandatory. This field is displayed only in the Edit Area window. |
| Contribute (Permissions) | This specifies who can contribute towards the ideas, comments and votes for this area. A user must be logged in to contribute. The option selected from the Contribute dropdown must be the same as, or more restrictive than the option selected from the View dropdown. The options are:
This field is mandatory. This field is displayed only in the Edit Area window. The following contribution permissions are set on the Idea List widget:
For further information, see Ideas Widgets. |
| Require(s) Approval | If selected, ideas require approval before they are visible. We recommend you add an Idea Area admin and enable the Idea Approval Admin notification if this option is selected. For further information, see Ideas Notifications and How to Add an Idea Area Admin. This field is displayed only in the Ideas Admin and Edit Area windows. The following approval permission is set on the Idea List widget:
For further information, see Ideas Widgets. |
| Submitters Can Edit | If selected, submitters can edit their ideas after approval. Should they edit their idea, this would require re-approval by an admin. This field is displayed only in the Edit Area window. |
| Allow Anonymous Submissions | If selected, an additional "Don't show my name" checkbox field is added to the Add Idea window where users submit their ideas should the submitter wish to remain anonymous. This field is displayed only in the Edit Area window. Optionally complete the Anonymous Submitter Text field on the Idea List widget to customise the text used in place of the submitter's name for anonymous suggestions. For further information, see Ideas Widgets. |
| Default Expiry Period | This is the number of days after which ideas are set to expire. If set, submitted ideas will automatically have an expiry date and time applied however this can be updated by an admin. If left blank, ideas will not automatically have an expiry date and time set, but admins can add one if required. This field is displayed only in the Edit Area window. If required, select the Show Expired Ideas to Users checkbox on the Idea List widget to include expired ideas on the list of idea submissions. For further information, see Ideas Widgets. |
| Tags | Tags offer further categorisation and filtering within an Idea Area. Enter a list of tags your users can select for their idea, one per line. For example, if you have an Area for general suggestions, your tags might be "Accessibility", "Wellbeing", "Transport", "Resources", "Sustainability" etc. When reviewing an idea, an admin can update the tags the submitter selected. This field is displayed only in the Edit Area window. Select the Show Search and Tag Filter checkbox on the Idea List widget to display a search box and tag filter on the list of idea submissions. For further information, see Ideas Widgets. |
| Idea Count | This is the number of idea submissions received for the relevant Idea Area. This field is displayed only in the Ideas Admin window. |
| Last Submission | This is the date and time the most recent submission was received for the relevant Idea Area. If no submissions have been received, this field is blank. This field is displayed only in the Ideas Admin window. |
Delete ( ) | Click to Delete the Idea Area if no ideas have been received for that Area. For further information, see How to Delete an Idea Area. This field is displayed only in the Ideas Admin window. |
For further information, see How to Add a New Idea Area.
Notification Templates Fields
For further information, see Ideas Notifications.
Content Items Fields
You can add a maximum of 5 Content Items per Idea Area.
This table lists and explains the fields on the Content Items window.
| Field Name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Title | This is the name of the Content Item, for example, this might be a question you wish to ask the submitter regarding their idea. |
| Hint Text | If required, enter additional text to help the submitter answer the question or complete this Item. Content should be written as plain text. Hint Text has a character limit of 200 characters. |
| Max Length | If required, specify the maximum number of characters allowed for the response (up to a maximum of 500 characters). This limit applies to plain-text submissions only, the Max Length isn't applied if the Allow HTML checkbox is selected. This field is displayed only in the Edit Content Item dialog. |
| Required | Select this checkbox if the submitter must provide a response to the selected Item. When selected, a red asterisk is displayed alongside the item, and the respondent can't submit their idea without completing the item. |
| Allow HTML | If selected, rather than a plain-text field the submitter provides their response to this Item via a word-processor style editor field which can contain:
The IdeaEditor Editor Toolbar can be edited to add or remove the available buttons. This field is displayed only in the Edit Content Item dialog. |
| Display Title | If selected, the Item Title is displayed to users viewing the idea submission. If deselected, only the submitter's response is displayed to users, however, the Title is always visible to admins on the Edit Idea window. This field is displayed only in the Edit Content Item dialog. |
| Display Order | This controls the order in which the Content Items are displayed to submitters on the Add Idea and Edit Idea windows, and users viewing the suggestion. Enter a whole number, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The Item with the lowest number is displayed first. For example, if one Item has a Display Order of 1, and another has a Display Order of 5, the one with the Display Order of 1 is presented first. This field is displayed only in the Edit Content Item dialog. |
| In Use | If selected, the Content Item is displayed on the Add Idea and Edit Idea windows for the relevant Idea Area. Deselect the In Use checkbox to archive the selected Content Item. |
For further information, see How to Add a New Content Item.