10. Adding (and Updating) Default Petition Content
Looking for something specific? Skip ahead:
Need information about how to set up an effort? Go to Step 1.
Adding Default Content
Usually, default petition content is added during the effort's wizard setup. However, if you chose not to add a template at the time of creation, you can enter this text later.
Note: If you're seeing a banner on your effort's Decision Makers page that says, "Petitions cannot be automatically generated for decision makers in this effort, because there is not a complete set of default petition content. You can set default petition content on the Petition Content page.." It is because you've not yet reviewed/entered the default petition text.
To get started, go to the admin homepage > Efforts > name of your effort > Petition Content. From here you can enter default text, choose a default petition image, and pre-select petition categories.
The text you enter here will be pre-filled into the petition creation form when a user goes to create a petition in the effort. A couple of hints to keep in mind:
- Title
- The title text you enter will only be the first part of the title. Each petition will have a custom title based on the decision maker associated with the petition. Generally, this will take the form of "[Default Title You've Entered]: Decision Maker."
- You should ensure that the default title you enter is short enough to allow the decision maker information to be appended without going over the 100 character title limit.
- We automatically add a colon after the text you enter, so you don't need to add one yourself.
- If you want to override the default formula we use for titles, you can do so by using effort variables.
- Who
- The who field is often left blank. If you want the petitions' who fields to be updated based on each petition's target, then you should leave this field blank. If each petition should have the same who field, but an updated location, enter the who field info here.
- Effort variables can be inserted into the default petition text. This allows the petition content to be automatically updated for each petition's unique decision maker. Learn more about effort variables.
- By default, petition creators will be able to edit the text you enter. If you want to prevent campaign leaders from editing the default text, click the lock icon next to the corresponding field.
- From this page, you can also decide if you want to display the signature progress bar on petition pages.
When you've finished adding default petition text, click Save Effort.
Editing Petition Content
If you need to update the effort's default text, including the suggested text for future petitions and the text of active campaigns, you can do so by going to the effort's admin page (org admin homepage > Efforts > name of the effort > Petition Content.
From the Petition Content page, you'll have three options: Edit Effort Defaults, Edit Effort Defaults and Existing Petitions, or Bulk Edit Existing Petitions via CSV.
If you choose to Edit Effort Defaults you can enter new default text, which will be used for newly created petitions only. Updating the default text using this option will NOT change the text for existing petitions in the effort.
If you choose to Edit Effort Defaults and Existing Petitions, the new text you enter will be used for newly created and existing petitions. Updating the text using this option will override the text of all existing petitions included in the effort and update the template for newly created petitions. To edit a field, click the Edit link. When you've finished your update, click to Save Changes. If you want to lock a field, and prevent petition admins from editing the text, click the Lock link. From this page you can also bulk update the moderation status for all petitions in the effort.
Please note: If any of the petitions in the effort have been customized, using this option will remove the customizations. Bulk updating a field from this page will update all existing petitions to use the same language.
Finally, you can choose to Bulk Edit Existing Petitions via CSV. Using this option will update existing petition content only. To bulk update by CSV, you'll first need to export existing petition information to CSV. Then open the CSV (in google sheets, excel, etc.) and make any desired edits. Save the file and return to this page to upload the edited file. When using this method of updating petitions, please note:
- It is not currently possible to add new targets and petitions to the effort using this workflow.
- The fields you can update are: title, who, what, why, moderation status, and successful status.
- When updating petition content, you should not update the petition's ID or slug. The petition's slug is its unique identifier within our database, and the ID is used to match edits to the correct petition. Updating these fields will not work and may cause display issues.
- For a hint on quickly updating a column, see the bottom of this article.
- We'll display a progress bar as the CSV is uploaded and you'll receive a success message when your upload is complete.
As a reminder, you can quickly update a column by adding new text to one cell, and then dragging the cell to the bottom of the column. Like this:
Next we'll look at effort reporting.