Enhanced Parent Portal

Note: EPP currently does not support PowerTeacher Pro based sections. As a result the scores page page fragments may need to be removed to show assignments correctly.

Districts not utilizing the new pages added via EPP should evaluate if the stock PowerSchool SIS features are sufficient. Starting with PowerSchool 9.2 the core application provides controls to disable functionality which is also honored by the Mobile App. These settings can be found under Start Page > School Setup > Parent/Student Access.

Version 5 released! This update includes 3 major improvements:
1. Localization of all the new pages. Future updates should include other language packs as well.
2. Separation of the Parent Demographic Change files into its own plugin. This will allow you to make modifications to that page without future EPP core updates overwriting your changes
3. Database Extension table created for the demographic modify fields included.

Please install as a plugin even if you plan on using custom/web_root for your files. This will allow the localization tags and db extension to install. You may still install the web_root files within the zip to your custom/web_root if that method of customization is desired.

IMPORTANT - PowerSchool no longer allows students to edit their own student record. Because of this 1x Class Registration ONLY works when logged in as a Guardian. Students will have full Class Registration ability if 1x is enabled. I am unsure of what version this happened in, just fyi.

This is a new Parent Portal with more options for student screens.

Allows a school or district to show or hide icons on the public portal. The solution now cleans up the automatic e-mail page options when those options are hidden from normal view and displays a message when the grade & attendance page is hidden. Incorporates Roger Sprik's customization that allows a student to submit course requests just one time.

Stock PS pages that you can control;
Grades and Attendance
Score Detail
Score Detail Setup (Traditional or Traditional and Standards)
Historic Grades
Historic Attendance
Email Notification
Teacher Comments
School Bulletin
Class Registration
Balances
My Calendars

Added pages by EPP that you can control;
Grad Progress
Graduation Progress Setup (Grad proggress or Grad planer)
Demo Update
Honor Roll
Test Scores
Next years schedule (for in building grade changes)
Discipline Log
Access Log
Fees
School Info

V 1.0 - 2.X Changes included in documentation.

V3 (6/30/2011)
PowerSchool 7 Edition

  • Updated ALL pages for PS 7 UI changes
  • Added an option to select at the school level if the Graduation Progress or Graduation Planner is used. By default Graduation Progress is used
  • Added an option to select the use of the stock Scores page or if you would like to use a scores page that that combines Traditional and Standards Assignment scores
  • Custom links on the left hand side in the guardian pages do not have icons at this time if you were looking for them. :)
  • Removed Willington example for initial release

V 3.0.1 (7/4/2011)

  • Thanks to Joshua Schoeneck for modifying the EPP 2.x images to make them PS 7 compatible. Images for the links are now included

V 3.1 (8/16/2011)

  • Updated guardian_header and guardian_header_yui wildcards to correctly redirect on first logon. Also fixed unclosed span tag
  • Updated admin\schoolsetup\portals.html to correct first logon screen
  • Updated eppdialyredirect.txt to correctly redirect on first logon
  • Updated guardian\parentdemographics.html javascript to capture the Guardian name using a change in the FTL file
  • Added guardian\bulletin2.html so users can be directed to the bulletin on logon
  • Added \ftl\guardian\studentList.ftl. Added a hidden input to enable JS to capture the Guardian’s name easier

V 3.1.1 (9/8/2011)

  • Updated \guardian\scores.html fixed un-named if’s that cause all sections assignment scores to show.

V 3.1.2 for PS 7.0.1+ (11/8/2011)

  • Updated guardian_header and guardian_header_yui wildcards. The random icon (demo update, class registration) not showing when it should when switching students should be fixed
  • Updated \guardians\Scores.html added the ability to see the Weighting of final average. (Thanks MT @Shelby for all the help testing)
  • Updated admin\schoolsetup\portals.html to add on/off for the showing of the weighing
  • Updated the following files to correct the “String Key Not Found!” on 7.0.1+
    • Luncbal.html
    • Teachercomments.html
    • Termgrades.html
    • Requests.html
    • Requestform.html
    • Autuemailsetup.html
    • Scores.html

V 3.1.3 for PS 7.0.1+ (11/8/2011)

  • Updated scores.html and tgscores.html. The scores pages were not correctly handling assignments there were not published. This has been corrected

V 3.2 (1/13/2012)

  • All pages were touched in some way
  • Fixed issue where Class Reg’s submit button was off the screen
  • Fixed UI issues that become apparent on several pages after the PS 7.1 upgrade
  • Added the ability to remove the download grades link used for Alleyoop and other websites
  • Added term weighting to the Grades History Score page
  • Added standards grades to Grades History Score page
  • Removed some code from the bulletin2 (first page of day) file that will hopefully clear up the error some people were getting. I never got the error in testing

V 3.3 (2/29/2012)

  • Fixed UI issues on ppstudentasmtlist.html
  • Added link to home.html for previous page if scores page is not disabled
  • Added mobile version of the parent portal. Files in \guardian\mobile\
  • Added mobile detect code to home.html to redirect to mobile version of the portal
  • Updated tgscores.html and scores.html to fix future assignments not showing issue
  • Updated guardian_header and guardian_header_yui files to include version information. New clickable link will be added to the bottom of the page
  • Updated all guardian files to add version information

V 3.3.1 (4/12/2012)

  • Updated redirect code on pages to handle if parent is denied access but student is allowed access
  • Fixed comment/section description wrapping issue
  • Class Request page now shows the next_schools name instead of the current schools name
  • Added a full year list schedule to the bottom of the My Schedule screen

V 3.3.2 (7/30/2012)

  • Updated district\home.html to include 7.2 data validation
  • Updated wildcards to include 7.2 code
  • Added Teachers Comments page back in to prevent students from bypassing the wildcard security

V 4.0 (8/27/2017) BETA

  • Updated pages to be compatible with 8.0+
  • This download is currently not in plugin form!
  • Existing users should remove existing customized versions of /admin/district/home.home and /admin/schoolsetup/home.html. This version adds links using page fragments

V 4.0 (8/28/2014)

  • Plugin Version
  • Uses page fragments on all Pearson pages rather than customizing directly
  • Added page fragments in the /admin/schoolsetup/portals.html page so you can add new on/off switches without customizing the customization. This allows you to take future versions without redoing your customization(s)
  • Replaced /admin/district/home.html and /admin/schoolsetup/home.html with page fragments. If you have older versions you can now remove these custom pages.
  • /admin/students/more2.html now has page fragment to insert link
  • Replaced /admin/students/schedulesetup.html with page fragment. Please remove custom page if it exists from previous version of EPP
  • Replaced /wildcards/guardian_header.txt and /wildcards/guardian_header_yui.txt with page fragments. Please remove custom page if it exists from previous version of EPP.
  • Replaced customized versions of standard PowerSchool pages in guardian portal with page fragments. Please remove custom page if it exists from previous version of EPP.
    • /guardian/autosemailsetup.html
    • /guardian/home.html
    • /guardian/requests.html
    • /guardian/requestform.html
    • /guardian/schoolinformation.html
    • /guardian/scores.html
    • /guardian/teachercomments.html
    • /guardian/termgrades.html

V 4.0.2 (10/21/2014)

  • Fix for the scores page issue in some setups
  • Update page fragments to do different things when 7.x vs 8.x to account for the change from tables to lists

V 4.0.4 (02/12/2015)

  • Fix for the admin student menu issue that caused the link to show up multiple times
  • Add in link that will show in the upper left side of the admin home menu if there are any updates from the parent portal to be acted on. The link will go away once all have been completed.

V 4.0.5 (03/04/2015)

  • Fix for menu items not showing when Account Preferences is not an option for the user
  • Fix for request form. Previously would auto redirect if the checkbox value was True instead of 1. Now checks for either 1 or True.

V 5.0.0 (07/27/2015)

  • Localization tags added to all pages so that schools can localize any EPP page as needed. Future updates should include more language translations as they are being worked on right now. This modification was sponsored by Orleans Public Schools.
  • Fix for 8.3 - My Schedule page. Will not use built in schedule page if 8.3 or later and the EPP schedule page if the version is earlier than 8.3
  • Move demographics modify page into it's own plugin. This will allow you to update that section without future updates of EPP overwriting your changes
  • Migrate demographic update custom fields to a new database extension. All pages were updated to use the DB Extension. This should improve performance.

V 5.0.2 (08/20/2015)

  • Added DB Extension for 1 field in the schedule setup page
  • Update the schedulesetup fragment to use the new db extension field
  • New plugin for demo modify to fix the missing options in the portals menu and to change the fragment on the home page to use the DB Extension to speed it up

V 5.0.3 (09/11/2015) *Demo update only

  • Fixed the localization tag in html pages. Localization code existed, the tag was incorrect (thanks to cboyle for pointing it out)
  • Remove /admin/javascript/parentdemo.js
  • Update /admin/students/parentdemochange.html to have javascript inside. Update fields and buttons to use cleaner methods. Previously had not updated how the page works since v3. (thanks to vinit for pointing out how old the code was)
  • Update /admin/students/studentpages/parentdemochange.html to properly include the frn (thanks to cboyle for pointing it out)

V 5.0.4 (09/29/2015) *Demo update only

  • Fixed the approve buttons on the admin side
  • Added custom insertion points in /admin/students/parentdemochange.html and /guardian/parentdemographics.html. Insertion point is called pdsdemochange.footer. Thanks to those at PSUG-MI 2015 for the suggestion.

V 5.0.5 (10/25/2017) *Demo update only

  • Fixed performance issues by making home page query more efficient.
  • Removed pre 8.0 support
Sponsor: 
Orleans Public Schools

Customization:

Contributor: 
Brian Andle
Jason Treadwell
Matt Freund
Roger Sprik
Images: 
Plugin: 
Y
CPM Import Friendly: 
Y

Comments

Is there any way I can see what this screen looks like? In this new version, is there any way to be able to put a link to our Course Catalog (pdf) document on the class registration screen?

The Class Registration screen looks exactly like it does stock. You can add a link to you course page simply by editing the guardian\requestform.html page.

I just installed EPP. All the extra screens are great however the Demo Update icon is not showing on the Parent screen. I have checked the school and district Parent Portal Settings to make sure they are unchecked. I can see the icon and page in the custom folders. I have tried it with SSO enabled and without. Is there a setting somewhere that I have missed?
Thank you so much for your time.

You will need to enable the setting on the student level as well as per the documentation.

I appologize but I don't see any documentation in the download....

I apologize. I missed the documentation during the site move. You can now download the documentation.

Brian,
Thanks for your work on this. However, I'm not finding where to setup this up for students. When logged in as a parent, they cannot see Demo Update even though the option is unchecked. All I find in the documentation (page 15) - "*Additional controls are available for the Demographics update page. One can set an entire school to have access to that page, but then has the ability to remove that page from individual students at the school. This level of control can be used with separated families or in other unique situations that may warrant it."

Where are these additional controls?

-Swaney
ICS-Lima

Hi, we have the same problem here. Demo Update icon not being displayed in EPP. I am seeing there are some reports of the same problem but not a clear answer yet. I reviewed the current documentation available and I found exactly the same paragraph John Swaney mentioned above. Any guidance from anybody in PowerData Solutions would be much appreciated.

Hi, I just installed EPP and am having the same issue of the demo update icon not showing up. I am not sure what to do. This is the one feature that I really want. On the Custom Student Screens page I do not see any new screens, just the ones I already had. PowerSchool hosts my server and I'm not running database extensions yet. Any help would be appreciated. I do happen to notice that the Demographic Change icon is not shown on the screen shots on pages 1, 16, and 17 of the documentation either.

An update to my previous post: I reset the server and now the Parent Demographic Change custom screen shows up on the admin side and I can get the Demographic Change icon to show up for a student on the parent side by marking the "If this box is checked, any guardian can see demographics data..." checkbox. After doing this, I see the new custom field enabledemoupdate with a value of 1 in DDE for this student. I am still testing, but hope I can set the value of this field for all students using Student Field Value.

After we did an upgrade I lost all of the enhancements. When I reinstalled in enhanced parent portal files, the parent demographic does not show up in the custom screens. It appears that all of the files are there.

Where do we go specifically to enable the setting on the student level? I am not seeing this anywhere. The icon seems to be showing up on some of our parent screens but not on others.

Same here-I reinstalled and restarted report works. I checked all settings and everything looks ok. What am I missing ?

Thanks for the updated version 3.3! In testing this we found that the Grades Last Updated On field only gets updated when the teacher records a traditional score in the assignment column. Our teachers ONLY enter a standards score in the standards tray and that doesn't get reflected in the parent portal under Grades Last Updated. Page = scores.html. It looks like it's using a field ~(LastGradeUpdate) with some logic. Is this something that is easily fixed? Thanks!

I would suggest making a enhancement request on PowerSource. The cc.lastgradeupdate field should really be changed to reflect entry of assignment standards scores.

Thanks Brian. I added a support case first, but expect it will be turned into an enhancement request. In the mean time parents are calling teachers and admins. I guess it will be a "education" issue.

You could remove that tag and just not even list it on the page.

As expected, I was told to submit an enhancement request. Please vote for enhancement id 3034 :) so the Grades Last Updated will reflect both traditional and standards scores. Thanks!

Brian -- can you help?!

this EPP 5.0.2 is displaying my % on the parent portal instead of the dash (–) for the numerical grade. How do I hide the % on the historical grade tab?

When you print the Quick Lookup/Scores (scores.html) page using the PS print icon, any section description that was copied into the gradebook appears as a single line and does not get wrapped appropriately. This also happens on the stock Quick Lookup/Scores page (scores.html). At PSU Orlando, Jason thought he might have a fix to this. Thanks.

Similar to this post from 2 years ago, we notice the same behavior on the teacher comments screen. Does anyone have a fix for this issue?

Could I upload the files to powerschool through the Custom Page Management system under PS Administrator?

Yes, anything marked CPM Import Friendly = Y can be imported directly. Images/Binary files will need to be uploaded individually due to a CPM flaw.

So I would just click Import/Export button and the select the unzipped folder. Then go back in put in the pictures and binary files correct?

NM, I figured it out. Just import the zip file.

Hi there - the documentation for EPP provides a link - www.powerdatasolutions.org/content/customization-basics. I cannot seem to find this. I was at PSU last week and took both courses - The Foundations of Customization and Introduction of Powerschool Customization, but wanted to have a look at the documentation here as well. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Marie Prescott

The documentation link references the old sites link. So I need to update that. You can find install instructions here: www.powerdatasolutions.org/content/how-install-customization-pds

We just upgraded to 7.1.2 last night and found that our Class Registration screen shows the "wait while the page renders" issue. We do have an image server but I've copied over both the stock and custom scripts and images folders several times now to no avail. I've got the most recent Enhanced Parent Portal customization on...do you have any suggestions for where I can look next? Thank you!

Carrie Newnam
Director of Student Accounting
Mid-Del Public Schools
405-671-8615 ext. 4415
cnewnam@mid-del.net
carrie.newnam@yahoo.com

Thought I'd put some updated information out there in case someone might be able to help...we are really stuck! When we did our upgrade, we had issues because our SIF server was left running during the upgrade. Before Pearson support discovered that was the cause of our upgrade problem, they had gone in and "truncated the ps.server_config and ps.server_instance files...I'm wondering if something with that would cause this issue?

Carrie Newnam
Director of Student Accounting
Mid-Del Public Schools
405-671-8615 ext. 4415
cnewnam@mid-del.net
carrie.newnam@yahoo.com

Does it work with customization off? If it doesn't then it's a PowerSchool issue, if not it's EPP.

Is there a way to add the entire zip file and/or do you need to load the files separately.

Marie Prescott

Thank you, Brian. I appreciate your help and patience. So very helpful!

Marie Prescott

Hi All:

I'm new here ... hoping someone may provide some help.

Recently upgraded to PS 7.x.x.x Still working out a few small bugs. Can't figure out why my menu pane in Student Selection view is being displayed like my old version of PS. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Craig

That would be from a PS 6 version of the \admin\students\more2.html file.

Thank you , Brian. Can I just import that page ?

p.s. William Parrott at PS is a big fan of yours.

You would need to extract the file from the zip and rename and then upload that file. We didn't keep it names more2.html because we didn't want to overwrite someones customized version.

Have you ever thought about going on the road? You guys are so great! Thank you for the documentation on uploading zip files, etc. I am trying to upload the EPP zip file, but the file does unzip when trying to do so. What am I missing? I am embarassed to put this out there - YIKES! Once again - thank you.

Marie Prescott

Got it!

Marie Prescott

I am wondering if anyone uses the EPP for re-enrollment for the next school year? We have a custom screen that we currently use, that we want the input from the re-enrollment process from the parent portal to flow through to. Any thoughts on this from anyone? Thank you.

Marie Prescott

The demographics change page can serve as a template to do something like that. If you aren't comfortable doing it yourself let me know but in general you can follow how that page works and do what you are looking for by expanding on it.

Jason Treadwell
Custom Solutions Specialist
jason@powerdatasolutions.org
www.powerdatasolutions.org

Sorry, Jason, I did not even see this reply to my inquiry - thanks so much. I would appreciate some help to make this happen - just when you have the time. Thanks so much. I have created a custom screen - quite an easy task for sure, but have not been successful with the custom page. I am learning thanks to you guys!!

Marie Prescott

Hi, It seems like something is blocking the demographics area of the epp from showing. How do I go about finding out what it is?

Thanks,

HL KIDD

Hi Everyone - I have sent this off a few times, but am thinking that there may not be anyone who has the re-enrollment process available on their parent portal. Does anyone (Brian, Jason) know how to make this happen and/or what the scenario and/or coding might look like? Thanks.

Marie Prescott

Are you using InfoSnap?

Johanna Johanson
Rio Rancho Public Schools

Hi All - just looking at the demographic information that is showing on EPP - it is a bit jumbled and the phone number, etc. is not correct. Thoughts on this?

Marie Prescott

The fields you use for demographic information may be different then the stock fields. The demo update page included in EPP is only a example and it's based on the stock fields. If you use different fields you will need to rewrite the pages to match your setup. If you would like to hire PDS Inc to do this then you can contact sales@powerdatasolutions.org

You guys are great!

Marie Prescott

Thanks so much, Brian.

Marie Prescott

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