Comment Bank Administration
Overview
The Comment Bank can be used to allow staff to choose from a preselected collection of responses for reports.
If you previously used a Comment Bank in Accelerus or ReporterPro we can import this comment bank into the system for you. Send through a full backup of your SQL database from either Accelerus or ReporterPro to support@compass.edu.au . For the import to be successful the staff codes in your previous reporting package must fully match the staff codes in your school's SIS. If you previously used QuickVic/Markbook you can import your comment bank yourself through the Import option within your Comment Bank on Compass.
You can also create a comment bank directly in Compass if you do not already have one, this is explained more fully below. Alternatively if you would prefer to set up a comment bank from scratch in Excel (as opposed to directly in Compass), please contact the Support Team and we can send you through a document to use as a template, which you can later import through Compass as if it was a QuickVic/Markbook comment bank.
Comment Bank Configuration
To configure the Comment Bank for the school through Compass, if you choose to use one, click the Comment Bank Editor link under the Teaching and Learning menu (pencil icon) in the navigation bar. Every user will see two Comment Bank folders - "My Private Comment Bank" and "School Wide Comment Bank".
As an administrator you will need to set up the School Wide Comment Bank if you have not imported one already, as standard users will only be able to use these items, not add to them. How you choose to set them up will depend on the school. We have found that many schools prefer to set primary comment groups by subject, and then create subfolders for individual classes or year levels, but the system is flexible and works just like folders on your computer, so it can handle a variety of folder configurations.
Comment Groups are used to organise the Comment Bank, but do not contain comments on their own. The comments are stored in Comment Lists, which inhabit the Comment Groups. Much like how documents are stored in folders on your computer, the folders themselves are simply labels, whereas the documents contain all the information. In this case the comment lists are documents, which contain a selection of comments, and the comment groups are folders.
This will create the folder and allow you to name it. Clicking the Enter key on your keyboard will save what you have typed in. You can always edit the title by double clicking on it. You can create a subfolder by clicking on the name of the folder you want the new folder nested under, and then clicking that same "Add Comment Group" button you clicked before. If you wish to delete a folder simply click the folder icon with the red minus symbol that says "Remove Comment Group" when you hover over it.
You can also right click on a folder name using your mouse, and this will bring up the same options you have using the buttons at the bottom of the screen: Delete Group, Add Group, and Add Comment List.
Writing Comments
Once you have typed your comment click anywhere outside of the comment entry box to create the entry. To delete the comment you can click the red “X†on the far right of the row. If you wish to edit the comment just double click on it. This page auto-saves as you enter the comments.
Student and Gender Specific Placeholders
You can tailor the comments to the student by using the "Student and Gender Specific Placeholders" at the bottom of the screen. If you include one of those placeholders in your comment the system will choose the correct word and automatically fill it based on the students name or gender. You must use the exact formatting found in the list, so ensure that you use the proper brackets or braces, as well as the relevant punctuation.
For example: "{name} always brings {hisher} materials to class. {HeShe} has applied {himselfherself} very well this semester."For a female student named Sarah it would appear as
"Sarah always brings her materials to class. She has applied herself very well this semester."
Comments in Reports
Overview
Whether you choose Closed Comments or Open Comments determines how the comments will be displayed on the published reports. As you will see in the examples below, Closed Comments display as bullet points, and Open Comments display in paragraph form. Regardless of whether or not the teacher used comments from a comment bank when writing comments in Open Comment form, they will still always display in paragraph form.
If you have an even number of comments they will be organised in two columns, like in the screenshot above. If you have an odd number of comments they will be organised in two columns except for the last comment, which will be the width of the page. This formatting is built into the system and is not able to be changed.
There is information for staff members on how to set up and manage their Private Comment Bank in the Knowledge Base article titled Comment Banks.
Exporting Comment Banks
If you need to review/update Comment Banks in bulk, you can use the export option to download the existing Comment Bank to either pdf or csv.
To do so, on the Comment Bank page, click the 'Export' icon and then select the part of the Comment Bank you need to export and the file type.
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