The Portfolio of Evidence Report settings provide administrators with strategic control over the report generation form. These settings are the primary controls for the report form’s behavior when creating both Curriculum and Transcript reports, specifically influencing dropdown filtering and the report generation process workflow.
This guide provides a detailed analysis of the two key configuration options available: “Filter User and Course fields” and “Use Two-Step mode.” By mastering these settings, administrators can streamline the user experience and enhance the flexibility of report packaging. We will begin by outlining the process for locating these critical settings within the administrative interface.
Accessing the Configuration Settings #
Before any configurations can be made, a system administrator must navigate to the correct settings panel within the administrative back-end. This section provides a direct and unambiguous path to the Portfolio of Evidence settings page.
To access the report configuration options, follow this precise navigation path:
Admin Menu → Settings → Portfolio of Evidence → Settings (tab)
From this location, you can view and modify the settings that will be analyzed in detail in the following sections.
Analysis of Individual Configuration Settings #
This section provides a detailed examination of the two primary configuration options that control how the Portfolio of Evidence Report form behaves. Understanding the default state, specific purpose, and operational behavior of each setting is critical for effective report management and generation.
Dynamic Dropdown Filtering #
Purpose and Impact #
The primary function of this setting is to dynamically limit the options in the Course and User dropdown fields, which enhances usability when generating a transcript report.
Default State #
This setting is ON by default.
Conditional Behavior #
The filtering action is conditional and adapts based on the administrator’s initial selection on the report form.
- When a Course is selected first: The User field is automatically filtered to display only those students who have started or completed that specific course.
- When a User is selected first: The Course field is filtered to show only the courses that the selected student has started or completed.
Critical Limitation #
It is crucial to understand that this setting has no effect when generating a Curriculum report. The filtering logic is not applied in this context because the User field is not utilized for that report type.
Advanced Report Packaging #
Purpose and Impact #
Activating this setting fundamentally alters the report generation workflow, converting the form into a two-step process. This provides greater flexibility for packaging and delivering comprehensive report materials by allowing for the inclusion of supplementary files.
Default State #
This setting is OFF by default.
Two-Step Process Explained #
When enabled, the report generation follows this two-step workflow:
- Step 1: In this step, the system generates the report, compiles it into a PDF, and adds that PDF to a ZIP archive.
- Step 2 (Optional): This optional step allows an administrator to upload and attach extra files to the ZIP archive created in Step 1. These files are packaged alongside the primary PDF and any other items pre-selected for inclusion in the “ZIP Archive content”.
Key Operational Note #
A critical operational detail is that the ZIP archive can be downloaded at any time after Step 1 is complete. It is not necessary to perform Step 2 to access the initial report.
Quick Reference: Default Settings and Core Functions #
This section provides a high-level summary table for quick reference. Its purpose is to allow administrators to recall the default configuration and primary function of each setting at a glance, reinforcing the key operational details covered in this guide.
| Setting | Default State & Core Function |
|---|---|
| Filter User and Course fields | ON by default. Dynamically filters the User and Course dropdowns to show relevant options for Transcript reports only. |
| Use Two-Step mode | OFF by default. Enables an optional second step for attaching additional files to the report’s ZIP archive. |