How do I set up Credit Certificates, Certificates of Attendance, or Speaker Certificates in the EventPilot meeting platform?

Modified on Fri, 20 Dec at 3:56 PM

Overview

The EventPilot Conference App and Online Planner offer an integrated credit claiming and certificate download module. Please check with your project manager to purchase the module. 


 Steps to offer Credit Certificates for Attendees



Step 1 - Assign Credits and Credit Types to Sessions (for Credit Certificates)


In order for a user to claim credit, each accredited session must be assigned the credit type and the number of credits available for the session. Keep the credit type label as short as possible using the common abbreviation, for example CME, CE, APA, etc.


One single credit type

If each of your sessions only has one single credit type, for example CEthe required data can be included in your Agenda data import itself. 



Credit Types support alphanumeric characters (a-z or A-Z and number 0-9) and hyphens.
Credit types with symbols or other unsupported characters will not be imported.
For example: CME, CNErx, CE-CEU, etc.


Maximum number of characters: 20 (recommended 2-5 characters)

       


Your agenda import data would require the inclusion of the following two columns: 

  • one column for the credit type acronym
    • alphanumeric (allows for hyphens - and underscores _)  e.g. CE  or CME_rN
  • one column for the number of credits per session
    • numeric values only

The agenda supports up to 4 different custom filters. The credit type list is one of those filters. The credit type column will be imported into Filter Metadata 3 in your project by your project manager. 


If ATIV developed the data import for you, please contact your Project Manager to update the import to include the new data. 

If a different organization developed the data import for you, please contact the database administrator to include the required columns. 


Multiple credit types or limitations adding credit details to the agenda source data

If you offer different credit types such as both, CME and CNE, follow the steps in this article: How do I import session credits data if I have multiple credit types? 

Also follow that article if you are unable to include your single credit type details into your source agenda. 



Multiple Different Credit Types

If your want to support multiple different credit types and multiple different certificate types, you can create a separate spreadsheet with 3 columns.

  • Session ID
  • Credit Type 
  • Credits (credit hours)


If one session has credit hours for one credit type and hours for another, create two rows. For example: 


Session IDCredit TypeCredits
123CME1.00
123APA1.50


If a session has multiple credit types, users can only claim a session for one credit type. It is not possible for a user to claim the session for multiple different types at the same time. Users however can unclaim for one credit type and claim for a different credit type and change how they want to claim a session. 


Set up the Data Source

  1. App Builder > Add Ons > Credits > Credit Session page > This step is typically set up by your Project Manager.
  2. App Builder > Agenda > Sessions > Agenda > Your Project Manager will review the import and filter setup. 


Update the Data

All data updates to accredited sessions must be completed before the conference has started and before attendees start claiming credit. 

  1. Update the Credit Sessions page:
    1. update your Google sheet
    2. in the App Builder, select Add Ons > Credits
    3. on the Credit Session page, click the Import All Credits button
  2. Update your agenda filter 3, which is reserved for Credits and triggers the Credits button to appear in the session detail view. Use the Credit types in your agenda filter 3 data. This also allows your attendees to filter by the specific credit type they need to complete for their continuing education. 
    1. in the App Builder, select Agenda > Sessions 
    2. open the Import card to see the different data sources
    3. if your credit types are imported via the main agenda data source, click the Import button for that data source
    4. if you credit types are imported via an associated import, click the Import button for that data source



Step 2 - Set up Certificates

Before you start setting up certificates, ensure you have a PDF template created with sufficient spacing for

  • the user's name, 
  • If credit certificate: the total number of credits. 


Optionally you could also include space for the certificate download date and a unique certificate number.



You can add as many different certificate types as you need.


  1. in the App Builder, select Add Ons > Credits > Certificates
  2. click the Add Certificate button

Setup 

  1. enter a full label for the certificate (max 60 characters)
    Examples: 
    Continuing Medical Education Certificate
    Speaker Certificate
    Certificate of Attendance
  2. under Certificate Typechoose what kind of certificate you wish to create:
    1. Certificate of Attendanceyou can provide this for all your attendees to download. A transcript is not included
      1. Enter a Certificate Identifier which is simply an acronym for your own reference when setting up surveys (alphanumeric only)
        Example: CoA

    2. Speaker Certificate
      1. Enter a Certificate Identifier which is simply an acronym for your own reference when setting up surveys (alphanumeric only)
        Example: SPK
    3. Credit Certificate
      1. Select the Credit Type from the list 
      2. Choose if you want to
        1. Allow concurrent session credit claiming:can your users claim credit for a session in one time block and also claim credit for another session in a concurrent time block? This feature functions if the session start and end times match. 
          1. Allow partial session credit claiming: can users choose to only claim a portion of the credit? If you toggle this option to ON, the system automatically offers selection in quarters. For example, the attendee can choose to only claim 0.25 or 0.50 for this session.
        2. Enter the Max Number of Credits that a user is allowed to claim for this certificate
  3. Click the Next button to edit your Options


Options 

  1. Select a Availability Start date
    Choose the earliest date your attendees would be allowed to download a certificate
  2. Select the Availability Deadline
    Choose a date after which attendees can no longer download their certificate. Confirm the hosting end date with your Project Manager and ensure that your project remains hosted until the availability deadline you enter. 
  3. Enter the Acknowledgement text.
    Use text only, no HTML content. Keep this text as short as possible.
    Before users can download the certificate, they must agree to an acknowledgement.
  4. Set User Types
    If you have purchased the Targeted Content Add-On and user types (reg types) are set up as part of the user login, you can limit credit claiming and thereby certificate download to specific user types. You can select one or more user types per certificate.
  5. Toggle Name editing
    If your users need to have the ability to edit the name that will appear on the certificate, you can choose to toggle this option to ON.


PDF Upload

  1. Click the Upload button 
  2. Select your certificate PDF template PDF (Keep the file size as small as possible - ideally under 1MB)
    1. Note: The PDF must be a single page PDF. If you upload a PDF with multiple pages, they will be removed.
  3. Optional: you can upload a footer image that appears on the bottom of the transcript pages. This footer image could contain additional information about the accreditation and your organization logo.
    1. Design your footer at exactly 3,500 pixels wide and 500 pixels tall
    2. Save as JPG or PNG file
    3. Optimize the graphic using https://tinypng.com (upload your file, then download the optimized version)
    4. Upload the optimized graphic under the Optional Transcript Footer heading


Surveys

If you require users to complete a session evaluation before being able to claim a session or a general event evaluation before being able to download their certificate, set up the requires in the Surveys page of the Conference App Builder.



Text Fields

  1. Click the Add Text Field button to place the users name into the certificate. The name automatically fills in the users' first and last name.
    Available fields to add to your certificate: 
    1. Name
    2. Total Credits
    3. Date
    4. Certificate Label
    5. Certificate ID (each certificate downloads with a unique number displays on the PDF)
  2. Click Done


Note: When users download their credit certificate, their full activity transcript for claimed sessions is automatically appended to the certificate and included in the final PDF. 



Step 3 - Add Surveys

In order for users to claim credit or download a certificate, you can require them to complete session surveys, speaker evaluations, and/or a general meeting evaluation. 


 
Credit claiming is designed only for the parent session level. Ensure Parent Session Only is toggled ON when creating session surveys.

     


Learn more about surveys and available question types in this article: How do I create and add surveys to sessions directly in the Conference App Builder?


Session Evaluation Survey

  1. Click the Add Surveys button
  2. In the Name field, clearly label your survey. This label appears for your end users.
    Example: Session Evaluation
  3. For Survey Type select Session
  4. For Session Type keep All
  5. For Credit Type select the credit type where the session evaluation is required in order to download the certificate
  6. Toggle Only display to users claiming credit to ON if you only users who want to claim credit should see these surveys. 
  7. Click Next and Add Survey Questions as needed. 


If a survey is required for claiming credit or for downloading a certificate, users must at answer at least one question in order to claim/download the certificate, even if you do not have any questions set to required.


Speaker Evaluation Survey

  1. Follow the same steps as above but select Speaker in Survey Type

All questions are automatically repeated for each presenter listed in the submissions. If the parent session had moderators, they will not be included in the speaker evaluation. Only sub-session (presentation level) speakers will be listed in the survey. If the session does not have any sub-sessions (presentation level), all speakers associated to the parent level will be included in the speaker evaluation. 


If a survey is required for claiming credit or for downloading a certificate, users must at answer at least one question in order to claim/download the certificate, even if you do not have any questions set to required.


Meeting Evaluation Survey

  1. Follow the same steps as above but select General in Survey Type. A session type is not applicable for a general survey. 
  2. Select the correct certificate in the Credit Type field to make the general survey a requirement to download a certificate. 


If a survey is required for claiming credit or for downloading a certificate, users must at answer at least one question in order to claim/download the certificate, even if you do not have any questions set to required.



Step 4 - Settings

  1. Optional certificate page Description:
    Add a short sub title to appear on top of the certificate download page. Max 350 characters. 
  2. Complete the Help page
    Include the following: 
    1. details for attendees who wish to learn more about your offered credits and certificates
    2. links to your website with more information 
    3. contact details at your organization for questions about certificates and claiming
    4. any limitations or prerequisites in order to claim
    5. details about other credit types or certificates not included in the app and how to obtain them
  3. Once you are ready with all the settings, you can toggle Enable Credit Module to ON


Changes in Settings require a data publish to the app. If your app is in LIVE state, publish to LIVE to see your changes.




Final Review

  1. Double check that all the credit sessions have the correct credit labels and credit amounts. 
  2. Review your certificates - do you have a certificate for each credit type? Did you correctly set the dates? Are the certificate templates correct? 
  3. Review your surveys - if you require attendees to complete a session evaluation for each CE session, did you associate a survey with the CE credit type? 



Users & Reports

Users

The Users page displays the list of all users who have claimed credits. You can search by a user's first and/or last name as well as by email address. 


If you see 'null' listed in the Username field, a data publish may be required. 


Click the Info icon in order to 

  • see / edit / delete the user's claimed credits
    • Note: you can override how many credits a user can claim for a session above that session's allowance. Maximum manual override is 16 credit hours for one session. 
  • download a CSV file for that user's credit data with the following information
    • Credit Type
    • Session ID
    • Credit Hours (claimed)
    • Session Title
    • Session Type
  • download/email their certificate and edit the name that appears on the certificate



Records & Reports

Use the Records & Reports page in the Credits section of the App Builder to download:

  • Certificate Report
    • Certificate ID
    • Certificate Name
    • First Name
    • Last Name
    • Username
    • Email
    • DownloadDateTime
    • TotalCredits (if credit certificate)
    • CreditType
    • Sessions (comma separated list of session IDs)
  • Session Credit Summary Report