Have you taken a look at the latest update to labels? You can now assign custom colors for easier visual cues about your data. In honor of the latest enhancement to a true fan favorite, here's a refresher and tips and tricks for labels.
What are Labels?
Labels are a tool to organize your Submittable data. You can apply them, filter by them, and then take bulk actions and/or report on them. For instance:
Use labels to assign all applications of a certain type to a specific group of reviewers
Use labels to send a particular group of awardees a specific Additional Form
Use labels to more easily find and keep tabs on applicants for various reasons, such as those needing extra scrutiny, those who have requested a deadline extension, etc.
Use labels in lieu of running a report for quick insights on key questions such as, "how many applicants do I have in XX demographic category?"
Use labels as a filter in Standard Reports
How to Use Labels
Here are the basics:
Applying labels
Labels can be applied manually on the submission list (including in bulk) or individually on the submission details page.
Labels can also be applied automatically, based on a response to any single or multiple select question on any form.
When applying labels automatically, in many cases you'll choose to use a custom label, in which case you can adjust the exact text of the selected response to make more sense as a label, such as:
Replacing "yes" or "no" responses (e.g., "YES FIRST TIME APP"),
Shortening a long response to an acronym or internal shorthand, or
Adding a year or other identifier to differentiate the same label in a different program (e.g., "26 SPRING CALIFORNIA").
Filtering by labels
You can filter by a single or multiple labels.
You can filter by whether the selected label(s) is included or excluded.
You can filter by whether a submission does or does not have any labels by choosing "No Label".
When using new custom colors, you can now also filter by label color (include only).
Once you've applied your label filter, you're now ready to dive into your data, or to take a bulk action.
Hot tip: Click on any label for a shortcut to apply that label filter:
Permissions and labels
By default, labels can be seen, created, and deleted by any role (Levels 1-5). Labels can be edited by Levels 1-3.
With new Custom Roles, you can inhibit the ability for a role to create, edit, or delete labels. To add Custom Roles to your account, contact our support team. Note that you cannot remove the ability for users to see labels.
Custom label colors
We recently released custom label colors! The biggest value-add of custom label colors is an improved visual experience of your data. To take advantage, you'll need to take the time to categorize your existing labels into no more than 22 logical color categories. Head to Configurations > More > Labels to turn on custom label colors. For more tips on making the switch, join our upcoming webinar, or see the Product Roundup email sent by me on March 10.
Visit the Help Center for more details about using labels.
Tips & Tricks
Get the most out of Labels with advice and hacks from Submittable experts.
Concealed fields: Turn off labels on questions that should be concealed information. Again, labels are visible to all internal team members, regardless of permission or submission conceal thresholds.
Use codes: Alternatively, you can use an internal code, such as colors, for labels you'd like to only make available to certain team members (e.g., demographic information or fraud screening status).
Yes/No questions: Always use the Custom Label option for Yes/No questions: a label that says "Yes" or "No" won't make much sense for long. (If you forget, edit your label as soon as you realize it!)
Managing labels: Keep stock of your label library! From the product, navigate to your Labels (Configurations > More > Labels) to manage each label, and identify which labels need to be combined or removed.
Use symbols: Labels are alphabetically stored in your label library. Use emojis, asterisks, or numbers at the beginning of your label to move important labels to the top of your drop-down list (and avoid scrolling!). You can always remove these symbols later when the label is no longer top of mind.
Formatting tip: Want to distinguish between Auto-Label and Manual Labels? Try using ALL CAPS FOR AUTO-LABELS, and lowercase for manual labels.
Compact view: When your labels feel visually overwhelming and you're not actively using them, you can make them disappear from your view. Click the gear icon to the right on your submission list page to switch.
I hope you found this information on an oldie but a goodie helpful. Share your favorite label hacks, or how you're using new custom colors, and we'll pass along the tips at our next webinar.