An explanation of how application process works in Fluxx.

Visual Overview

Grantee's View

This is the online application submission from the grantee's point of view:

Grant Officer's View

This is the online application submission from the grant officer's (and system analyst's) point of view:

Overview

In general, we have either single stage applications or two-stage applications.

In Single Stage Applications, we gather all necessary information and documentation upfront.

In Two-Stage Applications, we break the application process into two parts. For example, consider requiring a Letter of Intent (also known as an LOI), followed by a full proposal. Accept or decline applications at the first stage (letter of intent), determining which applicants make it to the second stage (full proposal).

Application Themes

In order to allow the external users to submit an application, we have to set up a Form that will ask the right questions and collect the necessary data and attachments.

To access the Form Editor, you have to enter into the Admin Panel (only available for users marked as Admins).

The online forms can be accessed through:

Admin Panel > "Forms" Submenu > "Grant Request" Data Type

Accessing the Admin Panel

If you're user account has Admin Privileges, you'll be able to see a "Gears" icon in the top right-hand corner of your screen from any dashboard you are on (see also the screenshot below). If you do have Admin Privileges, you can just click on the Gears icon to be brought into the Admin Panel.

Into the Admin Panel

Once you click the "Gears" button, you'll be brought into the Admin Panel, which should look somewhat like the screenshot, below. See below for descriptions of the boxed items in the screenshot.

Within the "1" Box in Red, you'll find the Menu groupings. These groupings usually contain within them submenus (see "2" box in Yellow to see what those submenus look like). More on this and all of the Amin Panel menus can be found in the standalone Admin Panel page.

For now, the important pieces to note are covered here:

Box # 1: Main Menu Groupings. The one important to us in this article is the first one in the list: Forms. This menu contains all of the submenus to edit the forms for various records (e.g. application forms, requirements forms, organization forms, registration forms, etc.)
Box # 2: Submenu groupings underneath the Main Menu Grouping. For the purposes of this article, box # 4 – Grant Requests, is the submenu we care about. Clicking on this submenu will allow you to edit Application forms.
Box # 3: Shows the Preview of the form theme in question. In the example screenshot, you can see a preview of the Bank Account Theme "Bank Card."
Box # 4: Shows the Grant Requests Form submenu. Click on this in order to see what Application themes we have and to edit said themes or add a new theme.

Go ahead and click on the "Grant Request" submenu (box # 4). Doing so will display a screen similar to the one seen below. See below for descriptions of the boxed and numbered items.

Box # 1: Still shows the Main Menu Groupings. This is convenient if you need to switch back and forth between two different "Main Menus" while building a form.
Box # 2: Shows the Submenu "Grant Request" and the already-built Themes (different application form types) underneath the submenu. If you want to edit/preview a specific theme, simply click on its name from this list to select it.
1. Additionally, you can find the "New Theme" button at the of this list before "Retired Themes" and "Filter." This allows you to create a new application form either from scratch or by copying another form first.
Box # 3: Displays the Preview of the Theme currently selected. In the example screenshot, you can see a Preview of the "2022 COVID-19 Response Application" (the currently selected Theme).
Box # 4: Displays where you can find Retired Themes. These are application forms that are no longer used, but can still be found for referential (and copying) purposes. Click on "Retired Themes" to see a window with all of the application forms that are no longer used; from this window, you can also "Unretire" these themes (i.e. make them active application forms once again).
Box # 5: Displays the "Build" button; this is what you'll press in order to begin Editing the form itself. More on building forms can be found on the dedicated Admin Panel page.
Box # 6: Shows the toggle that allows you to switch an application form from being in "Draft Mode" (not yet usable) to being "Active" (ready for use as an application form). Best practice recommendation is to leave unfinished applications forms in Draft status until they are completed, after which you MUST ENSURE you move it to Active status otherwise the form will not be accessible.

Note: Clicking "New Theme" will pull up the a window with both the options to create the new theme from scratch AND to copy the existing view of another theme. It is recommended to always start an application by copying another, and then making the necessary changes on the copy.

How To Allow Grantees to Apply for a Grant

There are, generally speaking, two ways to allow Grantees to begin an application for a grant program.

The first, and more common way, is to place an apply for XXX grant application button within the Fluxx Grantee Portal. This button will allow them to begin an application whenever they click on it, with no further intervention required by staff (except for adding and then subsequently removing the "apply for XXX grant" button).

The second, more targeted but less common way, is to directly create an application for the grantee(s) who needs to have an application. This is NOT standard WPP practice, but happens occasionally. Generally, this happens for Grant Programs that are NOT open to the public but are open only for Grant Renewals (i.e. you've previously had a grant with the WPP for this grant program, the WPP will allow you to apply for what is technically a "new" grant program, but in reality it just serves as a "round 2" of your original grant). This allows the folks we want to apply for the grant to submit their application but prevents anyone else from being able to see/access the application.

Method 1: Place an "Apply for Grant Program" Button in the Fluxx Grantee Portal

Before You Begin

This section assumes you have familiarity with both the Admin Panel in general and Editing Forms within the Admin Panel specifically. Additionally, it assumes that you have already created the Application Form (AKA Theme) that you want to use. Please familiarize yourself with those articles before reading the information provided below.

Adding the Button

To add an "Apply for XXX Grant Program" button, navigate to the Form menu of the Admin Panel and select the Generic Template record type. Within that record type, select the "Grantee Portal" generic template. From there, you should click the "Builder" button in order to be able to edit the generic template and add the "Apply for XXX Grant Program" button. See also the screenshot below for highlighted, important items from the screen and beneath the screenshot for descriptions of said items.

Box # 1: Shows the Forms Menu of the Admin Panel as currently selected.
Box # 2: Shows the Generic Template record type as currently selected.
Box # 3: Shows the Grantee Portal generic template as currently selected.
Box # 4: Shows the Builder button used to be able to Edit this generic form. You'll want to click on "Builder" in order to add the "Apply for XXX Grant Program" button to the Grantee portal.

In the Builder Menu

Once you click the "Builder" button the form editor menu will pop up. WPP best practice is to add the "Apply for XXX Grant Program" button at the end of the Grantee Portal generic template. So, hover your mouse just below and to the right of the last item that is listed on the template (in the screenshot below, after the "(line separator)" and "Spacer" items) and click on the white plus ("+") button that appears. See also the screenshot below for an image of where you'll need to put your mouse and click.

Adding the Button

Clicking on the plus button will have the system add a new item to the end of the template. By default, the type of item (in Fluxx called "Kind") will be the same as whatever item had previously been selected OR the first item on the template if no item was selected. In this example, I had NOT clicked on any items, so the item was created by default as a Spacer (since the first item on this template is a Spacer item). In order for us to add the "Apply for XXX Grant Program" button, however, you'll need to change the Kind from whatever it currently is (in this example, Spacer) to be a Component instead. See also the screenshot below.

One you tell the system you want to add a Component item, a new dropdown for Type will appear. This is referring to the Component Type. From the list, select Portal Themed Request Link.

Final pieces: Now that you've selected the correct component, all that's required is configuration. Please see the screenshot below for highlighted, important items for this configuration and beneath the screenshot for descriptions of said items.

Box # 1: Shows the Label for the button. This is where you can enter the text such as "Apply for a *Insert Grant Program Name Here* Grant." WPP best practices call for that language. If, for example, you're creating a button for the Community Impact Grant Program, we would have the label read "Apply for a Community Impact Grant Program Application."
Box # 2: Shows the possible Themes that you can link out to with this button. If this button were for the 2022 Community Impact Grant Program, for example, we would select the theme "2022 OAC CIG Grant" to allow grantees to begin a 2022 Community Impact Grant application.
Box # 3: Shows the Delete button. This can be used to remove the application link button. This should be done when Round 1 (or the Preliminary Round) phase of the application is over (so as to NOT allow any submissions after the deadline).
Box # 4: Shows the Save button. If you want any of your changes saved, you will need to click on the Save button to save your changes. If you have any unsaved changes, do NOT click the save button, and click away to another template/record, any unsaved changes will be lost.

Adding Text Beneath the Button

Finally, we usually add a text element after the "Apply for XXX Grant Program" that lists the eligibility requirements from the RfP in question.

For example, for the 2022 PERC New Investigator Program preliminary application, we took language directly from the 2022 NIP Request for Proposals (RfP).

From the RfP, here's the text we added beneath the button:

Eligibility
A Principal Investigator (PI) is required and must be a UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) assistant professor with a salaried appointment of at least 50 percent and an appointment start-date on or after the dates below based on their SMPH faculty track. For applicants with approved clock extensions, the appointment start-date is adjusted by the duration of the extension. Applicants with appointments below 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE), or with eligibility questions, contact the Wisconsin Partnership Program at wpp@hslc.wisc.edu.
SMPH track Appointment start-date on or after:
Tenure August 1, 2018 (within four years of start-date)
Clinical Health Sciences August 1, 2016 (within six years of start-date)
Clinician-Teacher August 1, 2016 (within six years of start-date)
Eligible faculty in all UW School of Medicine and Public Health departments, including the basic sciences, are encouraged to apply.

Please add the eligibility text beneath the button so that grantees know before they apply whether or not they are eligible to apply for the grant program.