Table of Contents
Overview
Default Value Options
Defining a Default Value
Seeing Default Values in Forms
Related Articles
Overview
During the setup process, Coursedog and your institution’s administrators carefully review the fields and configuration to be used in each form’s template.
Over time, users and administrators may identify opportunities to improve the use of the platform by providing default values to questions and fields.
Defaults pre-populate a field, offering suggestions and saving users time.
An administrator may choose to set a default for a field that is not editable by users to ensure it remains as intended.
Setting a default is handled separately from editing and Role Based Access Control (RBAC) configuration for the field.
This article will focus on configuring defaults for a question. See “Related Articles” below for information on configuring other elements within the template.
Default Value Options
Overview | Custom Default Value | Source Default Value (“Default from Source”)
Overview
Default options vary by field; most fields offer the option to define a “custom” default.
A smaller set of fields will offer the option to default a value from another source like the associated term or course.
Custom Default Value
Custom defaults pre-populate a field with the value provided.
The custom default option will be determined by the question type.
Most text-based fields will allow administrators to define a free-form value. For example, Section Number can be defaulted to 001.
Fields with a predefined list of options will allow the administrator to select from those options. In the example below, Grade Mode has Letter, Pass/Fail, and None options. A drop-down with corresponding options will be shown within the custom default field.
Source Default Value (“Default from Source”)
Overview | Available “Default from Source” Options | “Default from Source” Limitation
Overview
Some fields in the section template offer the ability to default values from other entities like courses or terms. That is because they have that field in common. For example, a section can define a default start date using the values specified in the term it is associated with.
If you wish to use “default from term” functionality on the “Start Date” field, you should not make that field required. This is because the default functionality will result in the field displaying an inherited value (from the Term or Part of Term start date), rather than a true value. Our best practice recommendation for scenarios like this is to set “Part of Term” as a required field instead in the Section Template, which will ensure the correct dates are then populated in the “Start Term” field.
Available “Default from Source” Options
The table below summarizes “default from source” options. Note that some fields may be specific to certain SISs and integrations.
“Default from Source” Limitation
Fields that do not currently support other sources will display a message indicating that is the case.
Defining a Default Value
PATH: Academic Scheduling > Settings > Templates
Step One:
To set a default value, navigate to the template you would like to modify.
For example, to modify defaults for Call Number within the Section template navigate to “Academic Scheduling > Settings > Templates > Section Template".
Step Two:
Click the pencil icon on the field you wish to edit.
This will open a “Question Settings” panel on the left-hand side of the screen (you can view default options here).
Step Three:
Input the preferred Default Value.
To input a “custom” default value, select the “custom” tab.
To default from a source, when available, select the “source” tab.
Seeing Default Values in Forms
If you input a “custom” Section Number of 001, this is how it will appear on the form.
