In this guide we’ll look at how you can use Quick Reports to create a Web Merge document. including how you can include Assessment Results and Attendance Data. Scroll down to watch a recording of Quick Reports Assessment Web Merge.
- Setting up a Report
- Including Attendance Data
- Including Assessment Data
- Creating a Template
- Running a Web Merge
Access: The minimum permissions required to access Quick Reports can be found in the Reporting module from within Config > Setup > Roles and Permissions.
Note: Permissions for individual Report Domains are managed through Report Design Permissions.
See Also: How to Manage the DMS
To watch a recording of Quick Reports Assessment Web Merge published in Bromcom Community see here.
Setting up a Report
Go to Reports > Quick Report > Quick Report
Next, select the Domain you would like to use from the dropdown. For most Web Merge reports Students (Basic) will contain the information you need.
A report created in Students (Basic) will automatically include Preferred first name, Preferred Last Name, Admission Number and Year Group Name. You can add any other required data items to the report either by scrolling through the list on the left, ticking them and then clicking the Add button at the top.
Alternatively, you can click the Magnifying Glass and search for the Data Item you would like to include, then select it from the list to add it to the report.
If you intend to publish the document to MCAS you will need to include the Student ID data item. If you are using the Students (Basic) domain, this Data Item is already added to the report but will be hidden by default. To unhide it turn on Advanced Mode in the top left hand corner.
Then click the red eye icon on the right hand side of the Student ID Data Item. The eye will disappear, indicating the column is now displaying.
To add Attendance Data or Assessment Data to the report go to the Including Attendance Data and Including Assessment Data sections of this guide.
Once you’ve added all the required information to the report, click Save in the top left hand corner.
In the pop up that appears, enter a name for the report in the Report Title field, select a folder to Save the report to, check that the Permissions for the report are correct and whether the report will export as Landscape or Portrait (Note: this does not apply to the Web Merge document, only if you export the report itself) Once you’re happy, click Save.
Including Attendance Data
To include Attendance Data we would recommend selecting the Students (Basic) domain from the dropdown at the top.
Then, turn on the Advanced Mode toggle in the top right hand corner.
Then, to add the required Attendance information, click the + button and select Add Attendance Summary.
In the pop-up that appears, name the column in the Column Label field, then select whether you would like to report by Attendance Meaning or Attendance Mark. Then select which Attendance Meaning or Mark you would like to report on, and the Period Types that you would like to be included in the calculation, then choose to display a Percentage or a Count.
In the bottom half of the pop-up select which Interval and Relative Year you would like to include in the figures. If you select anything other than Custom Date Range then the Date Range fields will be greyed out. Once you’re happy click Add.
Including Assessment Data
To include Assessment Data we would recommend selecting the Students (Basic) domain from the dropdown at the top.
Then, turn on the Advanced Mode toggle in the top right hand corner.
To add the required Assessment information, click the + button and select Add Assessment Results.
In the pop-up that appears, first select whether to use Tracker Assessments or Stage Assessments
If you select Tracker Assessment you will need to select the Assessment Type, Term, Year Group and Subjects that you would like to include on the report. You will need to ensure that you include any that you would like to include on the final Web Merge Document.
Note: Try to only include the Assessment Types, Terms, Year Groups and Subjects that you would like to use this report to report on as including too many fields can affect the performance of the report and the speed of the Web Merge process .
You then have the option to select which Assessment Attribute to include in the report.
If you would like to show the Grade Colour turn the Show Grade Colour toggle on.
Finally, you can choose what order you would like the columns to appear in on the report. Choose to order either By Assessment Type or By Subject
To add Stage Assessment information to the report, select the Stage Assessment Tab.
You then need to select the Stage, Subjects and Components you would like to add to the report, you also have the option to select a Method and Res Qual if you would like to further refine the results but these are not mandatory.
Once you’re happy, click Add.
If you then turn off the toggle for Advanced Mode in the top right hand corner you’ll see that the assessment data has been added to the report. For Tracker Assessments the column labels will automatically be formatted Assessment Attribute – Assessment Type – Term – Year Group – Subject, for Stage Assessments the column header will be the name of the Component. However, you can rename them by right clicking on the column heading and selecting Edit.
Then change the Column Label and click OK to save.
Creating A Template
You will need to create your Web Merge template as a Word Document. Any information that you would like to be read from a field in the report should be contained within brackets for example for a Students Preferred First Name you could use <<preferredfirstname>>.
When including Assessment Data in the report, if at all possible we would advise that you use the column header as the tag to enable the system to map the fields automatically. For example if you are including the Target Grade for English in the Spring Term for Year 7 Students, you could use <<Result-Target-Spring-7-English>> . However, this is not necessary as you will be able to map them manually in the next step.
Running a Web Merge
When you’re ready to run your Web Merge report, go to Reports > Quick Report > View Reports.
Select the folder that you saved the report in from the menu on the right, locate the report and select it using the tick box on the left and then press Run.
When the report initially loads it will be in Preview Data mode. This allows the report to run faster but limits you to the first 500 records, for larger reports you will need to turn this off using the toggle in the top right hand corner.
If you would like to filter to only specific students, hover over the column header that you would like to filter on and click the 3 lines.
In the box that appears, you can use the dropdown, the search box and the tick boxes to refine your results to just the students you would like to run the report for. Once you’ve selected all the required results, click Apply.
The report will update to just the selected students.
Click Web Merge.
In Step 1 – Template use the Browse button to locate the word document you created.
Select the template file and click Open, it will then appear in the pop-up. Once you’re happy click Next.
In Step 2 – Merge Fields you need to map the fields on the report with the tags in your document using the dropdowns. The system will attempt to match them as closely as possible however we would advise that you check that the mapping is correct before proceeding. Once you’re happy click Next.
In Step 3 – Advanced Options there are 3 sections: Merge as Label Report, Custom Filters and Report Properties.
If you are using the report to create labels and will have information for multiple students on one page, you can select Merge as Label Report.
In Custom Filters you can filter the web merge to only produce documents for certain students by clicking Add Filter, then select the Attribute and the conditions to filter by.
In Report Parameters, if you are including Assessment Results and would like to apply the colour from the marksheets to the Web Merge, tick Apply Assessment Column Colour Styles, once you’ve ticked this option a new box will appear to allow you to Use Result Colours Where Grade Set Colours Do No Exist.
You also have the option to Remove Empty Rows which can be useful in the instance that Students are taking different options but you are using the same report for all of them, as this allows you to remove any rows where the Web Merge finds no data.
At the Bottom, you have Sort and Page Break By and Focus.
Sort and Page Break By determines the order in which the Web Merge Documents will appear in the export file and how it splits the students. If you would like to produce individual documents for each student, it is a good idea to use a unique identifier such as Admission Number or Student ID as if you use Last Name for example, and you have more than one student with the same last name then they will be grouped together.
Focus is used to determine who the document is linked to in the system. If the focus is set to anything other than Student ID you will not be able to publish the document to MCAS or Student Portal and it will not appear on the Student Profile automatically.
In Step 4 – Output select whether to export as Word or PDF, then select from the following options.
- Copy To DMS – This saves the Web Merge Documents to My Documents within Bromcom. If you leave this unticked a copy will be downloaded to your PC but it will not remain on Bromcom. Note: in order to publish the report to MCAS you will need to select Copy to DMS.
- Single Document/ Multiple Document – This applies to how the file stores within MCAS. If you select Single Document if you run the Web Merge for multiple students then all the documents will be stored in the DMS within 1 file. If you select Multiple Document then each document will be stored separately according to the Focus you selected in Step 3. Note: In order to publish the reports to MCAS or Student Portal you will need to select Multiple Document.
- Publish to Parents (Via MCAS) – Selecting this will publish the reports to MCAS as soon as the Web Merge has finished processing. We would recommend that you process the report once without ticking this before publishing it to MCAS to allow you to ensure that the document is how you would want it before making it available to parents.
- Publish to Students (Via Student Portal) – Selecting this will publish the reports to Student Portal as soon as the Web Merge has finished processing. We would recommend that you process the report once without ticking this before publishing it to Student Portal to allow you to ensure that the document is how you would want it before making it available to Students.
Once you’re happy click Save and Process and the documents will be generated.
If you have selected Copy to DMS the documents will be available to view in there. For more information on how to manage Reports in the DMS please see How to Manage the DMS.
IMPORTANT: If you selected Publish to Parents or Publish to Students the documents will be published to MCAS or Student Portal immediately.