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How to Automatically Change Entry Status on Submission

Nucleus has functionality that allows Admins to automatically change the Status of an Entry during the submission process. The Status change is triggered by the Category in which an Entry is submitted. This enables Admins to design a form that uses dependencies based on a User’s answers to place the Entry into a Category that automatically rejects or approves the Entry. For example, questions on the form can be used to determine the Entry’s eligibility, but Admins might allow the Entrant to submit the Entry even if it does not pass the criteria for monitoring purposes or an appeals process. This gives Admins more control over the workflows in Nucleus and saves time by reducing the need to check Entries in detail. Additionally, this feature is designed to integrate with other automated processes in Nucleus, such as progression and Entry Sharing, to support fully automated multi-stage Entry workflows.

How to Enable Automate Entry Status Changes

The UI for updating Entry Statuses exists on the Category Admin UI. Please note that, since an Entry can be submitted in multiple Categories, Admins need to be conscious of not setting up conflicting rules that might break the process. For example, if an Entry is submitted in two Categories, one that auto-approves and another that auto-marks as unsuccessful, this can cause issues. It is also not advisable to allow an Entry to be submitted in two Categories that both approve or both mark as unsuccessful. There is nothing in the Nucleus UI to prevent or warn against this, so Admin Users need to design their forms to ensure this situation does not arise.

  1. Log into the Admin interface
  2. Go to Actions > Categories
  3. Create a new Category or edit an existing Category
  4. Set Automatically change entry status to the required option:
    1. Do nothing – this is the default and if set the Status will not change
    2. Automatically approve – the Entry will be approved
    3. Automatically decline/reject – the Entry will be moved to an unsuccessful status
  5. Click Save and Close

Note – the rule will only apply to Automatic Categories as these are accessed as part of the submission processes. This functionality can not be used with Manual categories.