If a file type can't be converted, don't allow upload
One of our applicants uploaded an Open Office word processing file (.odt). That type of file doesn't convert in the Application Packet or in Create Documents (merge templates)... so I wish it couldn't be uploaded at all. That way, the applicant would have to convert to a different file type before uploading, and our exported documents would be complete.
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Chris Dahl commented
Hi all -
Thanks again for your time and constructive conversations around this idea. As of the evening of Tuesday, November 17, this is currently in Production. I hope you all find it useful (and easy to use). Let me know if you have additional feedback.
-chris -
Chris Dahl commented
Hi Carol,
Yep, that's correct. If someone's uploaded a .DOCX file, that will still be there, but after you apply the filter, only indicated file types will be accepted.
-chris -
Carol Pace commented
I think I do, Chris, but just to be sure: you're saying that if I open the program tomorrow, I can still change the question to allow only PDFs a week later? Thanks for this!!
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Chris Dahl commented
Hi Carol,
We have a bit of testing to complete before we can move our 5.9.0 release into the Demo environment, and it'll be a week after that before we can move it to Production. At this point, we're targeting Nov. 17 as the date for the Production release, but that could slip. It is something that can be added to a file upload at any point, so even if a file upload question is added today, in 2 weeks it can be configured to accept only certain file types.
I hope that answers your question - timelines are a challenge, but again, we're going as quickly as we can with the 5.9.0 release.
Thanks,
-chris -
Carol Pace commented
Hi Chris,
Just want to be sure I'm clear: the option to limit what kind of files an applicant can upload is still weeks away? So it will not be ready in time for scholarship season?
Thanks,
Carol Pace -
Chris Dahl commented
Hi all,
This is currently in our Development environment. If you want to look at it and give me some feedback, please let me know as soon as you can - you can just respond to this thread. We probably won't be making any radical changes to it prior to releasing it to Production in a few weeks, but some feedback would be good and could help us anticipate training issues, wording issues, etc.
Looking forward to releasing this! Thanks,
-chris -
Chris Dahl commented
Hi Mary,
Thanks a LOT for the additional information. We're currently investigating how much work it will be to do the feature as has been discussed in this thread ... in quick summary - for file upload questions, setting a list of file extensions that are allowed on a question-by-question basis. I will make a note to look into the 2 issues you raise above. I can't promise what we'll be able to do at this point, but I really believe we can prevent the first case at least.
And as an FYI for everyone, I still want to get this out before December. I'll definitely keep this thread updated as we go.
Thanks again everyone,
-chris -
Mary Giraulo commented
Here's a wrinkle - please let me know if the planned update would address this. We just did a merge for our applications and found that for two of the applicants, a document was uploaded to the application, but did not show up in the merge. We made some corrections to their documents as explained below and after that, the documents showed up in the merge.
For the first document, the problem was that the applicant deleted the file extension - it was a PDF file, but they deleted .PDF so the software may not have known what to do with it. My question is, if we set the file extension allowed as .PDF, will that prevent (hopefully) a deleted file extension from being uploaded? For the second document, it looks like the file name was just too long - 90 characters! I don't know if there is a way to prevent this via the software, but since the merges don't work because of it, this would be important to try to prevent. -
Carol Pace commented
Chris, this is wonderful news ... thank you! Applications for my first (and largest) scholarship program are due in mid-January, so the timeline you hope for would be perfect. Thank you for keeping this on your list and for your efforts to try to have it in place by the beginning of 2016!!
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Chris Dahl commented
Hi all,
Carol, you're right in that we haven't tackled this yet, but it is still under consideration. Based on feedback I've heard from a variety of users, this will be a valuable feature to have in place. I can't commit to a time frame right now, but I think it entirely makes sense to have in place prior to the start of 2016 as the first 4 months of the year are the busiest for scholarship users.
We will be looking at how to best implement it, but I think doing it on a question-by-question basis makes the most sense. And I think letting people set the file types / extensions they will ALLOW also makes the most sense, at least for the first pass.
If you have more feedback, let me know, and thanks again for your comments.
-chris -
Elizabeth commented
We face the same issues at our organization. This feature would save us some time and headaches. I hope they do consider adding this feature.
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Carol Pace commented
I noticed that this feature (to restrict file types for upload) wasn't included in the recent upgrade. Just hoping it's still under consideration. We just finished our scholarship program (20 different programs for a total of over 200 applications). Even though the instructions clearly state that file uploads must be PDF only, applicants continue to upload all sorts of file types. I'm in a constant debate over whether to allow their applications to come through or to disqualify them, especially when the overall pool is small. Our timeline doesn't allow for personal follow-up with individual applicants. The reason I want PDF files is so that my reviewers don't have to create a PDF of the whole packet in order to complete their review. The feedback from those comfortable with technology is that it's cumbersome and time-consuming. The feedback that I get from reviewers that are not so tech-savvy is that it's confusing. I never know what kinds of software and computer systems my reviewers are using so I can't anticipate in my written instructions to them how their own computers will treat the PDF. Thanks for your consideration!
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Carol Pace commented
This is wonderful news! My preference is your last bullet point but where I can restrict the type of upload. I prefer pdf only for a number of reasons so would like there to be some way that users are smacked on the wrist (smile) if they try to upload anything else. Thanks Chris!
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Mary Giraulo commented
Question-by-question: yes
Supporting Docs for Request or Organization: not necessary
update when new file extensions come out: yes - we have done this in our guidelines in the past, and are pretty conscious of new extensions
set the extensions allowed or disallowed: either is helpful
Thanks! -
Chris Dahl commented
Hi all,
I agree that it would be nice. When we initially wrote the system, we discussed this at length, but clients wanted to have so many different types of files that we left it open.
At this point, there are a couple challenges / questions:
- Would you want this on a question-by-question basis?
- What about Request and/or Organization supporting documents?
- Would you be willing to update these when new file extensions come out (i.e. like .docx came out for MS Word in addition to .doc)?
- Would you want this to be a feature where you set the extensions you wanted to allow, or where you set the extensions you didn't want (I'm guessing the former, but want to confirm)?Based on feedback and development bandwidth going forward, this may be something we can look at next year. I know that sounds like a long way off, but there are a lot of other things we're trying to tackle too.
Thanks for the suggestions and feedback,
-chris -
Emily Bronson commented
Absolutely agree. This is a major problem for us...with a few different types of files not converting to the Print Packet. Our directions are very clear on the types of files that we request, but users do not always follow the directions. If Foundant were to limit what could be attached, that would be very helpful.
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Mary Giraulo commented
That would be very useful! (Being able to specify the type of file(s) allowed) For some forms, I ask for Excel or Word only, and applicants don't always pay attention.
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Carol Pace commented
I agree, except that my hope still is that we have the option to limit to the file type we want to get (I'd prefer to limit file uploads to PDF only).
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Mary Giraulo commented
I expect that it may not be possible to anticipate all the types of files that wouldn't work, but the ones that have been proven not to work should be excluded, and that list should be updated when a new file type is proven not to work.
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Elizabeth commented
Absolutely agree with that. Many times we end up having to go back to folks and asking them to reload their files and resubmitting their applications.