Create comments in a comment bank

After you create a comment bank, define the comments that are available within the bank.

When you create a comment, you can use variables to call information specific to the record or student the comment is being entered for. For example, if you use the variable {{person.firstName}}, the system inserts the student’s first name where the variable appears in the comment text:

{{person.firstName}} is a pleasure to have in class = Jane is a pleasure to have in class

To create comments in a comment bank:

  1. Do one of the following: 
    • For the District: Log on to the District view. Select Admin > Data Dictionary. On the Data Dictionary side-tab, click Comments.
    • For an intermediate organization: Log on to the Intermediate Organization view. Select Admin > Data Dictionary. On the Data Dictionary side-tab, click Comments.
    • For a school: Log on to the School view. Select Admin > Comments.
    • For staff members: Log on to the Staff view. Select Tools > Comments.
  1. A list of any comment banks already created appears. Select a comment bank, and click Codes on the Data Dictionary side-tab.
  2. Select Options > Add. The New Comment Bank Code page appears.
  3. In the ID field, type an identifier for the comment, such as a number or short combination of letters and numbers to identify the comment for users. Users can use this ID to search for the comment.
  4. In the Preview field, type the text of the comment to let users know what will be inserted in the field if they select this comment. This does not have to match the value you enter in the ID field. For example, you might type (Student) is disruptive in class so that users will know the student’s name is inserted once they select it.
  5. In the Code field, type the actual comment. You can include a variable, which is text enclosed in double curly braces {{xxx}} and a filter, which is pipe-delimited text after a variable (hold the Shift key while clicking the backspace key to create the | symbol). For example, {{studentName|capitalize}} prompts the system to insert Jon instead of jon.
  6. Use the following table to enter the available filters in your variables:

  7. Filter Type

    Description

    		 If you type this: This appears in the comment:

    Count

    The number of elements in a collection.

    		 {{student.conductIncidents|count}} 2 (the student has two conduct incidents on record)

    Capitalize

    The system capitalizes the first letter.

    		 {{person.firstName|capitalize}} Elizabeth

    Titlecase

    The system enters the text in titlecase format.

    		 {{"parents and caregivers"|titlecase}} Parents and Caregivers

    Ordinal

    The system enters a numerical value in ordinal format.

    		 {{person.firstName}}'s {{student.conductIncidents|count|ordinal}}incident was the last documented offense. Timothy's 3rd incident was the last documented offense.
    Upper The system enters the text in all uppercase. {{person.firstName|upper}} JANE
    Lower The system enters the text in all lowercase. {{person.firstName|lower}} jane
    Trim The system enters the text with all white space trimmed. {{person.physicalAddress.addressLine01|trim}}, such as xxx123 Main Streetxxx 123 Main Street (the address without any spaces before or after the text)
    Gender The system enters the gender term based on "Male" or "Female".

    {{"Male"|gender:boy,girl,they}}

    OR

    {{person.genderCode|gender:He,She}}

    Boy

    OR

    He or She

    Length

    The number of characters in text.

    		 {{person.firstName|length}}, such as Jane

    4 (number of characters in the student's name)
    Note: You can chain filters by adding more filters separated by pipe (|) characters. For example, if you wanted to lower a text and then immediately capitalize it, you could use {{variable|lower|capitalize}}.
  1. In the Category 1-3 fields, you can enter specific names for the categories defined for the comment bank itself. For example, if the comment bank has Category 1 defined as Department, Category 2 defined as Course, and Category 3 defined as Level, the specific categories you might enter for a comment could be English, Creative Writing, and AP.
  2. Select the Disabled indicator checkbox if you do not want this comment to appear in the pick list for any users. For example, this would let you remove it from view without deleting it permanently.
  3. Click Save.
    Note: Staff members who create comment bank codes for school-owned banks will lose the codes if they move to a different school. However, codes created for comment banks owned by a district or intermediate organization will remain if the user who created them changes schools within the district or intermediate organization.