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View, moderate, and export participation tool submissions View, moderate, and export participation tool submissions ========================================================= Updated 15 hours ago · 8 min read Search Search **View participation tool submissions details and export them in a XLSX. format.** When public users fill in a survey, a poll or make any other submission to a consultation, Civio Engage records their responses in a specific tab, accessible from your admin interface. To view participation tool submissions -------------------------------------- 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects**. This will show you all projects you currently have access to. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. In the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, click on the tool type for the submissions you want to review. This will bring up a list of all participation tools available within this tool type. 4. Click on the participation tool to open it. It opens on the **Submissions** tab, which is the participation tool dashboard. 5. The submission totals and graph sit at the top of the tab. Scroll down to the **list of submissions**. ![A participation tool dashboard for the idea board Your Ideas for Riverside: the submission count and graph at the top, and below them a table of three individual submissions with their ID, Status, Location, Title and Description.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/UqeM1joLpY28Yw6nJ3LIj9snhiWLx1Blt4TEd2HO.png) To navigate to the detail of an individual submission ----------------------------------------------------- 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects**. This will show you all projects you currently have access to. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. In the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, click on the tool type for the submissions you want to review. This will bring up a list with all participation tools available within this tool type. 4. Click on the participation tool to open it. It opens on the **Submissions** tab. 5. Scroll down to the **list of submissions**. 6. Select a submission by clicking on the **View** button. This will open a page with details of the submission, where you can view the user fields, moderate, track past revisions, and delete. ![A submission detail view, with the moderation controls alongside the submission's title and description.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/XromGxG4ky3hoJ9JGYMvhNS8hxMythGQ9nfYUDsW.png) ![A submission detail view, with the moderation controls alongside the submission's title and description](/storage/articles/10509603295375.png) Moderation Options ------------------ ### Automatic Moderation Automatic moderation streamlines the review process for public submissions by screening content against community guidelines before it goes live. #### How it works 1. A community member submits content through a participation tool (e.g. an idea, a question, or map feedback). 2. The system automatically screens the submission for inappropriate language, offensive content, and spam. 3. If the submission **passes**, it is automatically **Published** and appears on the public site immediately. 4. If the submission **fails**, it is marked as **Rejected** and will not appear publicly. ![A diagram of the automatic moderation workflow, showing the passed, rejected and requires approval paths](/storage/articles/11197222303631.png) #### What happens when a submission fails A rejected submission is not permanently lost. When automatic moderation rejects a submission: 1. The submission appears in the tool's **Submissions** tab with a **Rejected** status. 2. Your team can open the submission by clicking **View** and review the content. 3. If you decide the submission should go live, you can manually change its status to **Published**. This means automatic moderation acts as a first filter, your team always has the final say over whether a submission is published or stays rejected. #### What is screened Automatic moderation checks submissions for content that does not meet community guidelines, including: - Inappropriate or offensive language - Spam or irrelevant content - Content that may breach community standards Automatic moderation also applies to **comments on ideas** when commenting is enabled on an idea board. #### Setting up automatic moderation 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects** to view the projects you have access to. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. In the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, click on the tool type for the submissions you want to configure. 4. Open the participation tool and navigate to the **Edit** tab. 5. In the right-hand sidebar, find the moderation dropdown and select **Automatic moderation**. 6. Click **Publish** to apply the change. There is no **Save** button: the second button on the form reads **New draft** on a tool that is already published, and **Save as draft** while you are still creating one. ![The moderation dropdown in a participation tool's settings sidebar, set to Automatic moderation.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/0dwYr3AKfLuReGSarHh6DPByKKMAZjJlZXdT60Gl.png) #### Note You can view all moderation activity, including whether a submission was auto-published, auto-rejected, or later manually overridden, by clicking the **Logs** tab in the submission details view. ### Manual Moderation Ensure you have the appropriate permissions to moderate submissions. Check your [user role](/articles/9176861358095-User-roles) permissions to verify if you have moderation access of participation tools. 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects**. This will show you all projects you currently have access to. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. In the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, click on the tool type for the submissions you want to review. This will bring up a list of all participation tools available within this tool type. 4. Click on the participation tool to open it. On the **Edit** tab, check that **Submission moderation** in the right-hand sidebar is set to **Manual moderation**, then open the **Submissions** tab. 5. Scroll down to the **list of submissions**. 6. Select a submission by clicking on the **View** button. This will open a page with details of the submission. 7. Tools whose submissions are visible to the public, such as idea boards, Q&A boards and map feedback, show a **Status** column in the submissions list. A submission waiting on a moderator carries the status **Requires approval**. You choose how new submissions reach that state on the tool's **Edit** tab, under **Submission moderation** in the right-hand sidebar: **Manual moderation** and **Automatic moderation** both hold new submissions for review, and **Publish immediately** does not. 8. To moderate a submission, open it with **View**. The bar at the top of the submission offers the actions available for its current status: a submission with the status **Requires approval** or **Rejected** offers **Reject** and **Publish**, a published submission offers **Reject** and **Unpublish**, and an unpublished submission offers **Publish** on its own. 9. Clicking one of those buttons opens the **Moderate submission** window. Add a **Revision message** describing why you are making the change, then click **Confirm**. The message is required when you reject or unpublish a submission. ![The detail view of Submission #400, marked REQUIRES APPROVAL, with the Reject and Publish buttons on its Moderate map feedback bar traced. Below the bar are the Location map and the Map feedback panel.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/jIWBaHF8kOdK0w9rHu1axubcX4UimeW7VlBVx3b8.png) ### Publish Immediately For tools where submissions do not need a review, set the tool's moderation to **Publish immediately**. Submissions are then public as soon as they are submitted, with no moderation or approval step. 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects** to view your accessible projects. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. In the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, select the tool type for the submissions you want to configure. 4. Open the participation tool, go to the **Edit** tab, and set **Submission moderation** in the right-hand sidebar to **Publish immediately**. Then click **Publish**. ![The moderation dropdown in a tool's settings sidebar, set to Publish immediately.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/SPomAftm4krt5pT7iMIFflR3Owu9J8mnrySXuPrE.png) ### Site Default: Any of these moderation options as your site-wide default in [Settings](/articles/9175641395215-Settings). This means that when you create a new tool, the moderation setting will be pre-configured according to your default choice. #### Note You can also view the moderation activity logs by clicking the **Logs** tab in the submission details view ![The moderation log for a submission, listing each action, status change, note and date](/storage/articles/10509959891983.png) Dashboard elements ------------------ The participation tool dashboard has two main sections. - A header block holding the total number of submissions, a progress bar, the number of submissions per day, and the **submission graph** showing submissions over time. Hover over the graph to reveal its toolbar, which downloads it as an SVG or PNG image, or the underlying figures as a CSV file. The submission total and the submissions per day are whole-of-tool figures, and no date filter narrows them. - A **list overview** of the tool's submissions, shown a page at a time. Between the two sits a row of sub-tabs: **Submissions**, the list itself, and **Questions**, which shows the answers to a single question you choose. A **Natural language filter** block may also appear above the submissions table. It is an experimental feature and will not appear on every site. ![An idea board's submissions dashboard with its two main sections traced: the submission count and graph at the top, and the table of individual submissions at the bottom. The Natural language filter block between them is outside both traces.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/UGWtxULdv3VUkJRM2nHzud6VpgbBrm7D6JmBQeUt.png) Filtering submissions by response --------------------------------- You can narrow the submissions list using the answers people gave, instead of exporting everything and sorting it in a spreadsheet. This is useful for finding a particular group of participants or reviewing how one question was answered. 1. Open the participation tool and stay on the **Submissions** tab. 2. Click **Filters**, then **+ Add filter**. 3. Under **Where**, choose the question you want to filter on. 4. Set the **Comparison** to **contains**, **equals** or **not equals**. 5. Enter the **Value** you want to match. 6. Click **Apply filters**. ![The submissions list filtered by a response, with the Filters panel showing the question, the contains comparison and the value](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/eJrmNAKz7C0eSrzww6EtoU95gVi7PqETYjDgNiQJ.png) Add further conditions with **+ Add filter**. A submission has to match every condition to stay in the list. Remove a single condition with the delete icon beside it, or clear them all with **Reset**. Applied filters are held in the page address, so a filtered view can be bookmarked or sent to a colleague and it opens exactly as you left it. To export the submission data from a participation tool ------------------------------------------------------- 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects**. This will show you all projects you currently have access to. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. From the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, select a tool type. 4. Select a participation tool from the list. Click on the **ellipsis** on the right hand side of the listing. 5. Select **Export submissions**. 6. The Excel download will automatically start. A confirmation message on the bottom of the screen will appear. You will receive an in-app notification when your download is ready. ![The ellipsis menu on a participation tool's listing, with the Export submissions option highlighted.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/1q1yegQYi1kPWgRIkLCavoiogDrHZsNVi16GLyGL.png) ![The confirmation message and notification shown after exporting submissions, letting the reader know the download queued rather than finishing instantly.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/9ZutpjgK7KNOJi4A0heL8TUSTHnnkrKAvGyvmpjG.png) To download submission attachments ---------------------------------- 1. In the left-hand menu bar, click **Projects**. This will show you all projects you currently have access to. 2. Click on a project to open it. 3. From the project sub-menu, under **Participation**, select a tool type. 4. Select a participation tool from the list. Click on the **ellipsis** on the right-hand side of the listing. 5. Select **Download attachments**. 6. If there are any attachments associated with the submissions for the selected tool, they will be downloaded as a zip file containing all the relevant attachments. ![The ellipsis menu on a participation tool's listing, with the Download attachments option highlighted.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/xEihHAIkmLqgcYqn1zAgd91nYINbYrZz0aAKMhNa.png) Was this article helpful? ------------------------- Your feedback helps us prioritise what to rewrite. Yes No [ Back to Participation tools ](/articles?category=13) On this page ### Still need help? Raise a request in the support portal and track it to resolution. 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