HPU Form Configuration

Overview

Household Profile Update forms (HPU) exist to enable parents to verify and update a specific set of family information stored in a Veracross database. The HPU Admin tool allows schools to configure multiple HPUs across a number of contexts in order to collect targeted family information per context.

This article covers the range of form configurations possible through the HPU Admin.

HPU Form Contexts

Each HPU Form must be configured for a distinct context (from which it will be linked). These contexts include: Online Re-Enrollment + Enrollment, Re-Enrollment Only, Enrollment Only, Parents, Admission Portal, Alumni, Faculty/Staff, and Public.

All existing forms can be set up and configured with the HPU Admin tool as described in this article.

Available Category Headers and Category Cards will vary between Form Contexts based on what is applicable and relevant in the form’s context. Examples for each are illustrated in their respective sections below.

How to Access

Schools access the HPU Admin and configure their HPU Forms by clicking “Configure HPU Forms” on the System homepage under “Household Profile Update.”

Adding a New HPU Form

To add a new HPU form you need to copy an existing one. To do this, perform the following steps:

1. From the System homepage, click on the Available HPU Forms link and then select an HPU form closest to the one you'd like the create.
2. Click into the Organize (+) menu and select Copy Record....
3. Adjust the fields to your liking and click the "Add HPU Form" button.

Live Saving

When any change is made within the scope of HPU Admin, the application will update the school’s database automatically in the background. Users do not have to manually save any configuration changes. On changes, a Saving Indicator will appear and notify the user when the process has completed and then shortly disappear.

Editing HPU Forms in their various contexts

Open the list of all Forms by clicking on the green Expand button. Enabled Form Contexts will be displayed in blue and have a blue checkmark beside them. Disabled Form Contexts will be italicized and greyed out.

Clicking on the actual Form Name will navigate the user to that specific Form’s editing page.

Hide the list by clicking on the red “Collapse” button or anywhere outside of the Form Contexts dropdown.

In some cases a school may prefer to have a single form for both Online Enrollment and Online Re-Enrollment. This would be preferred in situations where the school uses the same form for both Contexts and wants to avoid making changes twice. See your Account Manager if you need this configured.

Form Settings

For each form the school can set the Form Status, and specify both a Form Description and Form Instructions.

Form Status

There are three Form Status types that can be set for each form. If the Form Status is checked, then it is set to active. Unchecked, it is deactivated.

1. Active. Forms with the Form Status “Active” are live to all users on the front facing side, mainly the parents and alumni of students.
2. Inactive. “Inactive” Forms will be hidden from every user, regardless of their role.
3. Testing. Forms in “Testing” will be visible only to users at the school who have the role within Veracross of System Administrators. This is a “staging” environment to allow schools to be able to view and configure their forms before setting them to “Active.”

Form Preview

This is a link to the front facing HPU Form. Clicking it will open up a new window with a preview of what the current work will appear like to its users. This is a real form representing actual constituent data. Please do not update or add data.

Form Description

Form Description is for the school to add further clarification and information about the particular form. This would be helpful in the case where multiple people at the school are using HPU Admin. This field is optional and displayed internally to the school and Veracross only. This is a plain text field and does not support the use of HTML.

Form Instructions

Schools can specify context specific Form Instructions by editing this field. These instructions are context specific and publicly visible at the top of each Form. This can be used to help provide parents or alumni any additional instructions that the school might want to give on using Household Profile Update. This is a text field and does not support the use of HTML, however does support the use of Markdown. Markdown is a lightweight markup language that allows for creating items like links and bolding text.

Category Header

Category Headers allow schools to logically group the various Category Cards. Household Contacts, Medication Information, and Directory Preferences are all examples of Category Headers. Category Cards will be organized to the parents and alumni based on how they are organized here. HPU Admin allows users to perform five tasks on Category Headers.

Available Category Headers will vary between Form Contexts based on what is applicable and relevant in the form’s context.

For example, in the Faculty / Staff Context, there will be no Category Headers with “child-related” information. Category Headers such “Household Contacts,” “Medicial Information,” or “Grandparents,” etc. are not applicable in the Faculty / Staff Context, and therefore will not be displayed on the HPU Admin or on the HPU Form.

1. Add new Category Header. This action can be done by selecting the desired Category Header from the Category Header list and clicking the blue “Add Category Header” button. Adding a Category Header will include all of its default Category Cards. See Add a new Category Card below to add a single Category Card. If the Category Header happens to already exist, the user’s browser will automatically be scrolled down to its location and it will be highlighted yellow for a brief moment.
2. Edit Category Header’s Name. This action can be done by clicking on the Edit button. This field is plain text but required. Once done, clicking the Save button will update the Category Header’s Name. Clicking the Cancel button reverts back to the Category Header’s original Name. This is a plain text field and does not support the use of HTML.
3. Rearrange Category Header Order. This action is done by clicking and holding the Sort button and dragging the Category Header to a new position. This allows schools to change the order of appearance of Category Headers (and their respective Category Cards) on the front facing HPU Form.
4. Delete Category Header. This action can be done by clicking on the Delete button. Users will be prompted with a Delete Confirmation dialog box. OK Confirmation will delete the Category Header AND all the Category Cards within it. This action cannot be undone and should be avoided.
5. Collapse / Expand a Category Header. Collapse a Category Header (and its Category Cards) by clicking on the grey minus button in the upper right-hand corner of the Category Header container. Expand a Category Header (and its Category Cards) by clicking the grey sign. Users can also quickly trigger this type of action on all Category Headers by clicking on the grey Collapse All or Expand All.

Category Card

Category Cards are the individual Forms that parents and alumni will use to update that particular set of information. Contacts for My Children, Review Household Doctors, and Grandparent Households are all examples of Category Cards. HPU Admin allows users to perform four tasks on Category Cards.

Available Category Cards will vary between Form Contexts based on what is applicable and relevant in the form’s context.

For example, in the Faculty / Staff Context, there will be no Category Cards with “child-related” information. Category Cards “My Children’s Contact Information,” “Pickup Authorization,” “Review Vehicles,” etc. are not applicable in the Faculty / Staff Context, and therefore will not be displayed on the HPU Admin or on the HPU Form.

1. Add new Category Card. This action can be done by selecting the desired Category Card from the Category Card list and clicking the blue “Add Category Card” button. The Category Card will be added to its default associated Category Header. If the Category Header does not exist, it will be added automatically. The newly added Category Card will be highlighted in green for a brief moment. If the Category Card happens to already exist, the user’s browser will automatically be scrolled down to its location and it will be highlighted yellow for a brief moment. If Collapsed, Category Headers will automatically all be expanded.
2. Edit Category Card. This action can be done by clicking on the Category Card Name. Clicking on the Category Card Name will navigate the user to that specific Category Card’s editing page. See Category Card Editing section below for further details.
3. Rearrange Category Card Order. This action is done by clicking and holding the Sort button and dragging the Category Card to a new position. This allows schools to change the order of appearance of the Category Card on the front facing HPU Form. Category Cards can also be “moved” into a different Category Header if desired.
4. Delete Category Card. This action can be done by clicking on the Delete button. Users will be prompted with a Delete Confirmation dialog box. OK Confirmation will delete the Category Card. This action cannot be undone.

Category Card – Editing

Editing a Category Card allows the school to specify various descriptive text fields, override default settings, and set a number of options for the specific Category Card.

1. Title & Description

Both the Category Card Title and Description are overridable from their system defaults. This action can be done by clicking on the Override button to the right of each field. This is a plain text field and does not support the usage of HTML.

Overriding System Defaults for these two fields is not recommended. The Household Profile Update utilizes SmartText to generate dynamically meaningful contextual Titles and Descriptions. If you choose to override the System Defaults, this will disable the SmartText feature. If you still feel strongly about overriding this field, we encourage you to have a discussion with your Account Manager on the specifics and reasoning.

2. Help Text

Every Category Card has a Help Text field. Schools can use this field to add additional supporting information to the Parents and Alumni who use HPU. If filled out, this field is automatically publically displayed. However this field is optional and it is up to the school’s discretion if they want to include it on Forms. This field has a maximum limit of 1000 characters. This is a text field and does not support the usage of HTML, however does support the usage of Markdown. Markdown is a lightweight markup language that allows for creating items like links and bolding text.

The Manage School Communication Category Card is the only card that has a System Default Help Text.

3. System Settings

There are up to four System Settings that can be adjusted for each Category Card. If the System Setting is checked, then it is set to active. Unchecked, the setting is inactive.

Some Categories have limited and/or read only settings that cannot be adjusted.

1. Allow Adding New Records. Are HPU users, such as Parents and Alumni, allowed to Add New records in this Category Card?
2. Allow Deleting Records. Are HPU users, such as Parents and Alumni, allowed to Delete records in this Category Card?
3. Updates Require School Approval. Does the school have to manually Approve all Updates HPU Users perform in this Category Card? Enable this field only for category cards that must be school approved before being entered into the system (such as an update that may be time-sensitive like an address that will be happening in the future). This field is discouraged from being enabled on arbitrary category cards.
4. Deletes Require School Approval. Does the school have to manually Approve All Deletes HPU users perform in this Category Card? Over-use of this field will add an unnecessary layer of administration (to approve the changes) and parent frustration. Schools are encouraged to enable this field only when necessary.

Category Card – Form Fields

Form Fields are all the fields that pertain to a specific Category Card. Here, schools can make a number of tweaks to the fields within the Category Card on the HPU side.

In some cases, a particular field’s settings will be system set. The HPU needs these system fields set with specific settings in order for correct functionality. These system set settings will still be displayed in this section, however will be read only and identified by being “greyed out.”

1. Enable / Disable Form Field

Checking the Enabled Box by a field controls whether or not the Form Field is visible on the Category Card to the Parents and Alumni using HPU. Blue checkmark identifies Form Fields that are currently being displayed. Grey checkmarks identify system enabled Form Fields and cannot be changed.

For any particular Form Field, it must first be enabled before any other changes can be made.

2. Update Permissions

This defines the permissions the HPU Users have on this particular Form Field. It answers the question, “Can the user edit this field?”

1. Read & Write. Users are able the Read this field’s current value as well as Write or make changes to its current value.
2. Read Only. Users are only able to Read or view this field’s current value. Users can not make changes or modify the field’s value.
3. Only Write New. Users are only able to set the value of this field only at the time of creating a New Record. These fields, once initially set, cannot be modified or changed after the New Record has been submitted.

3. Required

Checking the Required Box by a field controls whether or not the Form Field must be filled out by the HPU user and cannot be left “blank.” Required Form Fields are identified with a red * asterisk. This enables schools to optionally gather additional information from the HPU user that might be helpful if available. For example, on a contact related Category Card, schools could make a Home Phone field required, and optionally include (not require) a Work Phone field.

Read more about category card options →

Enable Read-Only Contacts

The “Relationships for Family Contacts” report (found on the “System” homepage under the “System” column under the “Household Profile Update” section) contains a dropdown of options for “Display on HPU”. Most familial relationships will default to “Standard Display.” However, you can also select the “Completely Hidden” option which will hide anyone related to a contact for a given relationship or you can select the “Read Only” option which presents the contact information in a read-only format among the contact cards.

Also, previously hidden resident family members now appear as Read-Only contacts on any HPU form.