User Flags and User Text Fields

User Flags and User Text fields data fields on Student records that are defined locally by the District: there are no User Flags or User Text fields distributed by Genesis. They are exclusively created locally.

User Flags and User Texts can be set to rollover/not rollover into the new year.  This is the "Allow Flag/Text to Rollover" option found on Setup->Districts->Master District Parameters->User Flags / User Texts.

Any User Text or User Flag questions you set for Open Registration can now be displayed in the normal registration process. Even if you don't use Open Registration, you can still use this to collect information like AUP and Media Release during the normal registration process.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• User Flags
• User Text Fields
• User Field Groups
• Staff User Flags and User Texts
• FAQ
  
  

User Flags

User Flags are booleans.  They represent yes/no questions and can have a value of "true" or "false" ("yes" or "no").

Optionally, a User Flag can be linked to a small icon that is displayed on the Student Information Bar and in the Gradebook when that User Flag is set to Yes ('true').  

User Flags are created and managed on the Setup->Districts->Master District Parameters->User Flags screen:

However, the student's User Flag screen does not indicate if a given User Flag has an icon or not.

User Flags for an individual student are located on the Student Data>Modify Student>User Flags screen of the student's record.

User Flags can be manually turned on and off via a checkbox on the students' Student Data>Modify Student>User Flags screen, or they can be tied to a Document Type in Document Management.

When a User Flag is tied to a Document Type, it cannot be directly turned on or off on the student's User Flags screen.  

User Flags can also be set via a Form in the Parent Portal Module and by a Custom Question in Open Registration.

You may now control which User Text and which User Flags carry over during rollover for students.

This is done by setting the checkboxes for "Allow Text to Rollover" and "Allow Flag to Rollover" from Setup>District>User Flag and User Text.

All Flags and Texts are defaulted to currently rollover. Uncheck the option if you do not wish to have the Student retain the data for these flags and texts in the next school year.

Other options you can modify:

• Description
• Can be turned on automatically when a specific document type exists: When a user flag has this checked, it will appear in the list of user flags that can be automatically turned on based on the presence of a document (or signed document) of a particular document type.
• Searchable
• Gradebook
• Icon: Set the icon
• Archive: This will hide the user flags on student if the field is blank and will hide the flag from Parent Portal.
• Mass Change Role
• Allow Flag to Rollover
• Seq #

Student Data>Modify Student>User Flag screen:

The list of User Flags includes all of the flags, even those that cannot be directly set from the student's User Flag field:

To update a student's User Flags, simply check or uncheck the flags, and click "Save".

User Flags have an icon instead of a checkbox cannot be updated directly, but are tied to a Document Type in Doc Management.

User Text Fields

User Text fields are medium sized text fields containing a maximum of 255 characters: they can be used to hold either a free form bit of text or a value selected from a set of pre-set options.  

They are located on the Student Data>Modify Student>User Text screen of the student records, the student's User Text screen.

User Text fields are created and managed on the Setup->Districts->Master District Parameters->User Text screen:

User Text fields can be manually turned on and off on the students' Student Data>Modify Student>User Text screen directly.

They can also be set via a Form in the Parent Module and by a Custom Question in Open Registration.  

It is not possible to restrict a User Text field to only be updated by a Form or by a custom question in Open registration: all remain editable directly on the student's User Text screen.

You can set up a User Text to have more than one option, in a dropdown.

Go to the Setup>Districts>Master District Params>User Text and add the User Text as you normally would.

In order to add the options to the drop down, click on the "Create" link next to the field that you just created:

This will open up a set of blank text boxes.

Simply fill in the text boxes and then hit the floppy disk icon to save:

Once the options have been added, this field will be considered a drop down.

You can also had an icon to each value you've added.

Student Data>Modify Student>User Text screen:

The User Text fields either allow users to directly enter text or they have a pre-set list of possible values:

To update a student's User Text fields, simply enter text, or make your selections in the drop down and click "Save".

Here is an example of a dropdown User Text:

User Field Groups

User field groups give you the ability to group both User Text and User Flags into groups,  Groups will appear in both grouped off section of a students User Text and User Flag screens, they will also appear as new tabs within a students User Fields tab that appears with the existence of established User Field Groups.

You may set security on your created User Field Groups to limit users ability to see certain flags and texts.  This security will work within the new User Fields tab and also propagate to a student's Student Information Bar.

To add fields to groups by clicking on the User Text or User Flag totals.  This is found via Setup>Schools>Modify School>User Field Groups.

You can then set specific User Flags or User Texts to a newly created group from the Setup>Schools>Modify School>User Flags and/or User Texts screen:

Staff User Flags and User Texts

User Texts and User Flags may now be set to be used for Staff in the Setup>Districts>User Text and Setup>Districts>User Flags screens.

There is a new tab titled "User Fields" added to Modify Staff screen. This screen allows you to view and set User Flags and User Texts set to be used for staff.

It essentially works the same way as the student user flags and user texts.

Steps to Add a New Staff-specific User Flag

1. Go to Setup>Districts>User Flags screen.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen until you see the spot to add a new code in:
   
3. Enter a Code, a Description, and select "STAFF" in the dropdown. 
   1. Note: the code and description is up to the district to decide
4. Click ADD.

Steps to Add a New Staff-specific User Text

1. Go to Setup>Districts>User Texts
2. Click "Add User Text Field"
3. On the pop up, enter the Code, Description, and select "STAFF" in the dropdown:
4. 
5. Click "Add User Text Field."

FAQ

Q: How can we mass update students' User Texts / User Flags?

A: Here are the spots where these fields can be updated:

• Individually via Student Data>Modify Student>User Flags/User Texts/User Fields.
• With STUDENT LISTS via Student Data>Mass Change. (User Flags and Texts are at the bottom of the list in Step 2.)
• With a template in Core>Import in the Student-Data group.

Q: Are there reports I can run to gather this data?

A: Here are some spots to gather this data:

• For User Flags, we have Report  21470 - User Flag Report
• You can create Search Result Views via Student Data>Student List>Search Result Views for User Texts and User Flags.
• We have a few report writer reports that you can import into your Genesis system on our Useful Reports page - for User Texts and User Flags.
• You can create your own report writer report at any time.  The data tables are StudentUserText and StudentUserFlag in the STUDENT group.

Q: I'm creating a dynamic list / dynamic query, and I cannot get results for students WITHOUT this user text/flag and/or with a BLANK value in the User Text/User Flag.  How can I get this to work?

A: Unfortunately, you can't use a query to find people who did not receive a user flag/text because the record is only created when they get a value. So, there is no "N." That's the logic here. Student User Text and User Flags only exist for a student IF there is a value filled in.

So, you can't really grab this data with a dynamic list/query.  However, you can do this with report writer.  And we have reports in Useful Report page for you to import, which are created to grab "blank" values etc.

Look for the reports in the Student Data area named "Locate Students With Blank User Text Value" and "Locate Students with Blank User Flag Value."

Q: Can I have specific user flags / user texts clear out upon rollover?

A: You may now control which User Text and which User Flags carry over during rollover for students. This is done by setting the checkboxes for "Allow Text to Rollover" and "Allow Flag to Rollover" from Setup>District>User Flag and User Text. All Flags and Texts are defaulted to currently rollover. Uncheck the option if you do not wish to have the Student retain the data for these flags and texts in the next school year.