Internal case tracking code for submissions

⚙️ Features Case tracking
1

Almost all of the orgs I work with that deal with “cases” be they grant applications or incident reports etc, use an internal tracking code for the “case” a unique, internal reference.

The code is usually alphanumeric and has some metadata coded into like the theme, date, department.

what format should it have?

staff should be able to choose one of:

  • Completely randomly generated hash with a setable length
  • Entirely auto-generated based on a defined preset convention (for eg: SPF-2020-Q1-00332 where SPF = fund or theme or program, 2021 = year, Q1 = quarter, 00332 = auto incremented serial number)
  • Entirely created by staff on first interaction with a submission

where to set it up

  • while creating a Fund/Lab.

where does it show

  • listings
  • detail displays
  • as a filter

should it be editable

possibly also should be able to set this while creating the fund/lab

  • if it moves between program area or theme and hence the code needs to change (?)
  • remains locked and unedtiable
3 Likes
2

This does not sound so hard to implement.

Add a setting on the Fund that will specify the format of the auto generated submission code.

The setting could have a number of tags for {id} {uuid} {yyyy} {mm} {dd} etc. If left empty nothing would be autogenerated and staff would need to manually fill it in on each submission.

1 Like
3

This sounds like a useful feature, particularly when discussing the application/funded project/etc across different departments.

In terms of UI design this can get overly complicated, it’ll (more than likely) be a set it once and forget setting.

Here’s some examples of how these codes can be configured

Wordpress permalinks

image
image1212×580 62 KB

Providing clickable options to choose from will make this easier for those who aren’t sure what to do, and as @frjo mentions a default can be set which the user can change if they wish.

Ghost permalinks

This is a discussion showing how Ghost blogging platform does it. I think this is overly complicated but put it here for record too.

4

Would it be possible to use the title field itself for this? I know for sure in rapid response grants for emergency relief, relocation etc - having to provide a title might be confusing or at most times just not possible for an applicant.

I see from the code though that the title field is indispensable as it is the tracking field for the application.

I suggest:
While creating the form it should be possible to specify if the title field is configured to be:

  • auto-generated (using the method @bernard described above) and not exposed as a field to the applicant. OR
  • entered by the applicant