Signatures are gathered in a digital format that can be downloaded to your computer then emailed or printed.
You can run several petitions at the same time. Visitors are presented with a list of open petitions which they can choose to sign if they wish. Members of your site with Contribute permission can also apply to run a petition themselves, using the Apply link on the application's public pages - you'll get an email when they do, so you can review it before opening it up to signatures.
To enable the application, go to the Content Management tab of the administration pages, then go to the Applications page, and click the Enable button next to Petitions.
Once enabled, you can get to the administration pages for the application in one of two ways:
- Click Manage Petitions on the public pages of the Petitions application on your website (you must be logged in as an administrator to see the button).
- From within the administration pages for the website, go to the Content Management tab, and click on Petitions in the Site Map.
Concepts
After creation, a petition goes through three states - handy for keeping track of where you are if you're running several at once.
Ready - immediately after creation, whether you created it yourself or a member applied to run it. The petition exists but visitors to your website cannot see it or sign it yet.
Open - visible on your website and accepting signatures.
Closed - still visible on your website, but visitors can no longer sign it.
You can switch a petition from one state to another at any time, or you can setup a schedule to automatically switch the status at a predefined date in the future.
Creating a Petition
- Go to the administration pages for the Petitions application.
- Click Create a Petition.
- Enter the name of the principal petitioner (defaults to your own name).
- Enter the name and description of the petition.
- Optionally enter a starting date - at this time the petition will automatically switch state from Ready to Open.
- Optionally enter a closing date - at this time the petition will automatically switch state from Open to Closed.
- Click OK. You will now see the new petition in the list of petitions. It will be created in the Ready state.
Administering Petitions
From the list of petitions you can change the name and description, change the state, setup a schedule, or download the signatures as a CSV file.
Changing the Name and Description
- Click on the name of the petition, or on the edit icon
- Change the details and click OK.
Changing States and Schedules
The Schedule button allows you to setup a schedule for automatic changing of state, and lets you instantly change the state. Once you have clicked the button you will see a list of states. The state in bold is the current one.
The buttons are:
Make Current - immediately changes the petition to that state.
Schedule ... Date - lets you set a day on which the petition will automatically switch to that state.
Download Signatures
The Petitions application allows you to download a CSV file of the signatures. This can be loaded in to Excel or any other spreadsheet program. From there you can print out the list.
- Click on Download Signatures next to the petition.
- Choose a suitable location to save the file, or load it into a spreadsheet.
- The detail contained in the CSV file is a unique signature id number, the name of the person signing, their address, and their postcode.
Permissions
To configure the permissions, go to the administration pages for your website, select the Content Management tab, and then the Applications page. Click the Permissions button next to the Petitions application in the list. For further details of how to use Permissions, see the Permissions section of the manual.
- Users with Admin permission can manage all petitions.
- Users with Contribute permission can apply for a petition.
- ALL website visitors, regardless of permission, can sign petitions.