Feature focus: What are workspaces in Award Force?

Award Force is a single, online location for all participants in your program to interact with your awards. 

Using an extensible system for defining user roles and associated system use permissions, your program participants only have access to views and functionality relevant to them, whether they are entrants, judges, nominators, the public and of course, you and your team.

By accommodating all the different program participants in one location, awards program managers benefit from: 

• The ability to test the entrant and judge experience, fast
• Easily troubleshoot the program configuration
• In-context editing of content, help and hints
• Zero confusion between entrants and judges (there is only one location they need to know)
• Manage one location. No need to manage multiple, separate portals for entrants, judges or stakeholders. 

To serve all the different potential participants in your program, Award Force uses what we call “workspaces” to help switch between the different participant contexts.

Workspaces are role specific, and logically separate manager, entrant and judges views and functionality. To access these workspaces, you can simply click the appropriate option in the top menu, aptly labeled Manage, Enter and Judge.

The manager workspace

Accessed by clicking Manage in the top menu and for exclusive use by program managers and their teams, the manager workspace contains all of the configuration settings and program management views and functionality. 

The left hand menu only contains links to views available to the program managers and their teams. 

The entrant workspace

Accessed by clicking Enter in the top menu and for use by entrants, the entrant workspace contains all the current and future views and functionality otherwise required by an entrant to create and submit their entry. If enabled, they’ll also see a menu link to the about page. 

The left hand menu only contains links to views relevant to the entrant role.

Important notes:

• If no “About” page content is present – there is no need for a left hand menu and it will be hidden for a better user experience. 
• Entrants do not see links to either the manager or judge workspace in the top menu (unless they have been provided a judge or program/chapter manager role). 
• Program managers have access to this workspace in order to test the entrant experience and see what an entrant might see in the process of applying to your program opportunities. 

The judge workspace

Accessed by clicking Judge in the top menu and for use by judges, the judge workspace contains all the current and future views and functionality required by a judge in your program. If enabled, they’ll also see a menu link to the about page and gallery. 

The left hand menu only contains links to views relevant to the judge.

Important notes:

• If there is only one judging round enabled and neither a gallery nor any about content configured – there is no need for a left hand menu and it will be hidden for a better user experience.
• Judges do not see links to either the manager or entrant workspace in the top menu. 
• Program managers have access to this workspace in order to test the judging experience and see what a judge might see in the process of adjudicating entries to your program.

Workspaces are a powerful way for program managers to both test, edit and manage the participant experience in your awards program but they also play a crucial role in keeping everything nice and simple for the program manager. 

Want to try out the Award Force platform for yourself? Watch a demo or book a live demo with one of our friendly team members.