Troubleshooting Parent Issues

Q: Where can I access the OpenApply demo site?

A: You can access the OpenApply demo site at: https://demo.openapply.com

You can use this site to test the parent view, as you can easily switch between admin and parent view by clicking 'Browse Roles & Links' in the top right. Or you can use the demo site to try out anything that you may not wish to edit on your own OpenApply site first, as the demo site resets every hour.

Q: How do I process students that are re-applying for the same academic year?

A: Please click here for our tutorial, which explains how to handle applicants re-applying for a different academic year.

This would also be suitable if a student enrolled last year, left this year, and now wants to re-apply for this year, for example. As their first enrolment would relate to last year, and their new enrolment would relate to this year.

The only cases that are more complex are if the student is applying twice within the same year. Please feel free to contact us at support@openapply.com if you may have a case such as this, and you can inform us which student this relates to, and what the situation is, and we can advise on the best solution.

Q: When a student profile is unlocked, so that parents can update details, will I as administrator know when this has been updated? Do I need to lock it again?

A: If you have unlocked them and changed them to Pending so that they can re-apply, you will be notified when they submit the application as normal, as their status will change to Applied again. Alternatively, you can filter for those who are Unlocked on the Enquiries, Applicants or Students roster, and can Lock (or Unlock) them in bulk from there. We have further advice on filtering here.

Q: Is there a record kept of declined students that are re-applying for another year?

For the individual applicant, you will be able to see their applicant history at the bottom of the right panel on their applicant profile. So you can easily tell for an individual applicant whether or not they have been declined before, as this will be shown in their status history.

If you wanted to know this information in bulk, the easiest way would be export your applicants, and make sure to export the 'Declined Date' field, which can be found under 'Extra Fields' on the export page. If they have a Declined Date, this would indicate that they were previously declined. We have further advice on exports here.

Q: What does the key icon mean, and how should I merge duplicate parents if one has a key icon and one does not?

A: The key icon means that the parent has an account, and can log into OpenApply. We have further advice on the different parent icons, and how to activate parent accounts here.

If you have a duplicate parent where one has a key icon, and one does not, then you may wish to merge the account without the key icon, so that you can keep the parent that has an active account. We have further advice on merging parent accounts here.

Q: What should I do if I have a recommendation request but the parent does not wish to inform their current school about their application?

A: In this case, sending the recommendation request to the current teacher would inform them that the applicant is applying to your school. So it would be your decision whether you require the recommendation or not in this case. We have advice on how questionnaire type forms function here and advice on editing and re-sending recommendation requests here. Please contact us at support@openapply.com if you would like further advice on recommendations.

Q: Is there any way to create a test parent account without affecting the analytics that count the total of Pending and Enrolled?

A: You could create a test parent account, and then archive the applicant, to hide them from the rosters. But they would still be counted in the analytics. We have advice on how you can archive an applicant here. Alternatively, you can use our demo site, to easily switch between parent and admin views, for testing purposes, as mentioned above.

Q: Does OpenApply have any standard forms to help schools and parents annually update contact information?

Many of our schools choose to update contact information annually at the time of re-enrolment. The default re-enrolment form includes fields for parents to update their contact details. Alternatively, we can help you to build a supplementary form including fields such as phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses, and add this to all checklists for the Enrolled status. Then you can send a bulk email to the parents to requst them to complete the form. We have advice on bulk messaging here.

The information update form can be duplicated each year, to easily allow the parents complete the new form on an annual basis.  We have advice on building and cloning forms here. Please contact us at support@openapply.com if you would like assistance with this, and let us know which fields you would like the parents to update.