The Petition feature allows you to run online petitions about issues that affect your community. The signatures are gathered in a digital format and can be emailed or printed off.

Enabling the Application

  • From the Home page click Edit This Page
  • Choose the Applications tab
  • Beside Petitions click Enable
  • Type a new name for this Application into the text box if you wish - default is petitions
  • Click OK
  • You are now back in the Applications page
  • You have the options to Rename, alter the Permissions or create a Petition by choosing Manage this Application.

To find out more about generally managing Applications or altering the Permissions please see Help Sheet 3 - Adding Applications or Help Sheet 22 Users & Permissions respectively.

Accessing Petitions

Once logged in you can access the petitions admin pages from either the public or from the administration side.  All these routes take you to the Petitions Administration page where you can create your petition

Public side

  • Follow the link Petitions in the side navigation menu
  • Click Manage Petitions on the Petitions page 

Administration side

  • From the Home page click Edit This Page
  • In the Content Management tab choose Applications
  • Beside Petitions follow the Manage this Application link OR
  • From the Home page click Edit This Page
  • In the Content Management tab, and click Petitions in the Site Map

Creating a petition

  • Click Create a Petition
  • Complete the fields – Principal Petitioner (the commissioning organisation), Name and Description
  • Under Set Schedule use the drop downs to set a Start Date, which must be in the future, and Closing Date
  • Click OK
  • This takes you back to the administration page.  To make it available to the public you need to ensure that Ready is displayed in the Petition State column.  If Awaiting Approval is displayed under Petition State click Approve

Editing a Petition

  • From the Administration screen click Petitions to see the a list of your petitions
  • Select the one you wish to edit and click its name in the Petition column
  • You can amend the basic details
  • Click OK to save the changes
  • Click Petitions at beside Administering Application page to return to the list

Changing the Schedule

  • You can access this action in the list of petitions either from Action column in the main list or by choosing a specific petition as above and choosing the Schedule button beside Details
  • You can start your petition now by clicking Make Current and then OK.  This will make your petition available to sign by the public immediately
  • If you want to end your petition earlier than you had originally scheduled click Make Current
  • Similarly you can Conclude and Archive your petition immediately.

Downloading Signatures

  • In the list of Petitions click Download Signatures next to the petition you want
  • You will then be asked whether you want to open or save this file. You can save it either as a csv or an excel file. This can be opened and edited using Excel or other spreadsheet program
  • The detail contained in the csv / excel file is the signature, petitioner, address and postcode

Note: This page opens in the same window so use the Back arrow in your browser to return to the administration page

For more information on the process please visit Documentation>Petitions

 

You can reach the Help Desk at support@essexinfo.net